She Loves Me (Harmony Pointe #3) - Melissa Foster Page 0,91
dog falling as hard for Piper as he had, but he was glad.
Country music floated out of the bedroom, and he found Jiggs in the bathroom, watching Piper tile the shower. She was crouched on the floor, humming to the music as she pressed a tile to the adhesive. She’d already finished a few rows, and they looked fantastic. She’d changed into a tank top that had I BUILD COOL SHIT. WHAT’S YOUR SUPERPOWER? printed on the back and a pair of work jeans and boots she’d had in her overnight bag.
She didn’t turn around as she said, “How long are you going to stare at me?”
“Hours. Days. Years, if you’ll stay,” he said, scratching Jiggs’s head.
“You have a thing for watching women do manual labor?”
“I have a thing for you, and it gets bigger every time we’re together.”
She glanced over her shoulder with a heated look in her eyes. “Bigger, huh?”
He chuckled, and she went back to work, pressing another tile in place. “Want some help?”
“Have you tiled before?” she asked as she positioned another tile.
“No.”
“I can show you how, but I think crouching might be hard with your ankle, since we have to start at the bottom.”
“That’s probably true. How about if I wrangle up some dinner? Maybe by then you’ll be closer to the top and I can help.”
She remained crouched and swiveled around with a curious expression. “It really doesn’t bother you that I do this type of work?”
“I’m proud as hell of the work you do. Does it bother you that I work at the pub?”
“No. I like spending time with you there.”
He shrugged. “Then why would you ask if your work bothers me? Do I act like it bothers me?”
“No. It’s just . . . Never mind.” She turned back to tiling.
He went into the shower area, sat behind her, and pulled her onto his lap. “I’m not those other guys, babe, and I won’t ever become them.”
“I hope not. But we’ll see.” She started to get off his lap, but he pulled her back down. “Harley, the adhesive will dry.”
He released her, and as she went to work, he said, “I wish I could go back however many years it would take to erase all that shit from your past so you wouldn’t worry. But since I can’t, I’m going to just keep being me, and hopefully one day you’ll see that this guy, he’s the real thing. The only people who change on you are the ones who are pretending in the first place.”
Her hands stilled, her head bent forward, and her back rose with a deep inhalation. She set down the tile and moved onto his lap again. Her arms circled his neck, and she said, “You’re a pretty kick-ass guy.”
“You’re just realizing that?”
“I’ve known it for a long time. I don’t hang out with losers.” She brushed her fingers through his hair and said, “I’m crazy about you, Harley.”
The emotions in her voice made her words even more powerful.
“I don’t think I’ve been pretending to be one thing or another my whole life,” she said softly. “But I hope I can make a few changes, because I want to be able to tell you how I feel without fighting the walls that stack up inside me every time I think about it. I obviously have shit to work through.”
“Like not spending time together at your place?”
She frowned. “I’m sorry. It’s not you.”
“Pipe, it’s okay. I saw you cringe when I mentioned it this morning, and I heard what the girls said about your house. I’m okay with it. I’ll never pressure you to do anything you don’t want to. When you’re ready, we’ll spend time there, or we won’t. That’s up to you. I adore you, and I know I said I needed you to throw me a bone once in a while, but maybe that means I have some changing to do, too. I don’t want to ever make you feel like you have to say things you’re uncomfortable with. Just going out with me and letting us be a couple is huge. Having you stay over last night was like Christmas came early, and seeing you fall asleep with Jiggsy? I’m embarrassed to say that I was jealous of my own dog.”
They both laughed.
“I love being with you, and yes, hearing you say you’re crazy about me makes my entire world brighter,” he said honestly. “But if you never say it again, it won’t change how I feel