Ian stared at his brother and furrowed his eyebrows. “Does that mean I get to hang out with him tomorrow? Like, all day?” He mimicked Juliet’s tone of voice and grinned.
Harry hopped out of the Jeep and shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“I assume while they hang out…” Ian gestured between Juliet and Willow as she climbed out of the Jeep. “Julz will get all the gory details on why you guys look like sex personified. I don’t want to be left out of the loop.”
Willow’s jaw dropped and embarrassment blazed across her cheeks while Juliet slapped her fiancé on the arm and Harry laughed.
“Hey, you know it’s true. I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” Ian wrapped an arm around Juliet. “Come inside with me so we can give them the privacy they’re gonna need to say goodbye properly.”
Willow watched them wander back into the house and rubbed her lips together, fighting a grin. “Sex personified, huh? You think it’s that noticeable?”
“I think my brother just knows how to read me.” Harry crossed in front of the Jeep and drew Willow into his arms. “And I think it’s clear as all hell that there’s something between us. Sex. Connection. Friendship. Something more...”
Soulmates, Willow found herself thinking and blushed. “I feel that ‘something more,’ too. I can’t believe I’ve only known you for a couple days.”
Harry ran his hands up her back. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s just enjoy this gift we’ve been given.”
“I can do that,” Willow said, determined she would really try. Overthinking things was a forte of hers. But, with only a handful of days ahead of her before she had to head back to the city, it would be a tragedy to waste any of them on worry.
Harry kissed her, obliterating the concerns she wasn’t supposed to be feeling as happiness rose up, pure and sweet, inside her. She lifted herself up on her toes and flung her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, pulling away more out of duty than because she was actually ready to say goodbye.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For you. For today.” For some reason, she wanted to say for changing everything, but she didn’t understand exactly what that meant and didn’t want to scare him or ruin the moment or any number of things she wasn’t supposed to let into her headspace. She raised her brows, a new line of thought catching her attention. “What were you thinking when we were talking to Juliet and Ian? I’m pretty sure it was something dirty and therefore wonderful.”
“I was thinking about one particular skill I’d like to give you the chance to master.” He shrugged as if conceding a point. “Well, several skills really, although they’re all related”
“Oh yeah? Related to what?”
Harry grabbed her hand and put it on his dick—his mostly erect dick. She couldn’t help herself, she gave it a squeeze and his eyes went hard and sultry.
“Related to that,” he said, his voice tight in his throat.
“I look forward to mastering any and all skills related to that.” Willow stroked the length of him through his jeans. “When can we get started?”
“Not tomorrow,” Harry said sadly before he pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, kissed her on the tip of her nose, and said goodbye. Willow watched him pull out of the driveway and disappear before squaring her shoulders and steeling herself for the million questions Juliet was sure to have as soon as she stepped foot in the house.
From inside her purse, her phone buzzed. She pulled the thing out and smiled as she read a series of texts from Harry. She pressed the phone to her chest and sighed up into the brilliant blue sky before reading them again.
Harry: Thank you for you, too.
I miss you already.
You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Willow
The night flew by in a series of texts that ended when Willow finally passed out holding her phone. She woke to a scary-low battery and a handful of messages from Harry that came in after she fell asleep. A few that went along with the very explicit conversation they were having, and then, when Willow didn’t respond, Harry sent:
Harry: Willow?
You sleeping?
And then, a few minutes later:
Harry: Goodnight my angel. Sleep well.
Willow flopped back on her bed and smiled up at the ceiling. Her body ached from where he’d been inside her, but damn it was a good ache. A private reminder of her time with him. Memories of their afternoon together consumed her while she brushed her teeth and hair.
An image of his hand disappearing under the hem of her shorts.
The smell of the Jeep mingling with the smell of the ocean in a way that would forever mean Harry.
His words, so sweet during the day and so perfectly dirty when it mattered most.
She shot him a message before heading down to breakfast and coffee.
Me: Woke up to find your texts. Can’t stop thinking about you.
She pushed send and hoped if he was still asleep, it wouldn't wake him. Then she cringed, afraid that was exactly what happened, when he immediately replied. She stopped on the stairs to read, holding the phone close to her face and leaning against the wall.
Harry: Good. Don’t stop.
Have a great day.
She sent back a string of smiley faces because that was exactly how she felt—smiles building upon smiles upon smiles upon smiles. When she received a string of happy emojis in return, she skipped the rest of the way downstairs.
A fresh pot of coffee sat on the counter, with Ian and Juliet already awake and enjoying each other’s company on the deck, while Lulu stretched on the ground in a long beam of sunlight. Willow joined them for coffee and conversation. They chatted away during breakfast, and somehow, Juliet understood that Willow wasn’t in the mood to discuss Harry. She didn’t want to talk about how
