Stealing Harper (Taking Chances #1.5)(58)

Brian and Jeff started arguing over who got our next kid, and I loved how Harper interacted with my friends. She was so relaxed with these guys, and to be honest, I’d been worried about that. I knew she loved my work, but loving what I do and being all right with the guys I worked with are two completely different things. So to have them all instantly accept each other was a huge relief.

The call-in walked into the shop, and I gave Harper one more kiss before going over to talk to him. Tattoo was simple and would take no time at all, he just wanted his wife’s initials on his ring finger. I turned to look at Princess talking to Trish and smiled to myself, knowing that she was already tattooed on me. I wanted to tell her, but it had just never come up, and though she knew I’d been in love with her all this time, I had no clue how she would react if she knew I’d drawn that up so soon after meeting her.

After giving the guy the call-in a book of different fonts, I walked back over to where the girls were talking, and Trish smiled wide at me. “Hey buddy, great girl you’ve got here!”

“Yeah, isn’t she? You gonna stay and watch, babe?”

Harper turned and after a brief look at me, looked down to the ground. “No. I need to go meet Bree. I’ll see you at home.”

“All right, let me walk you out.” As soon as we were outside and next to her SUV I pulled her into my arms again. “Thanks for coming, they’ve all missed you.”

Nodding twice, she started searching through her purse.

What the hell? “You okay?”

“Not really. No.” She sighed heavily and finally looked up at me. “I don’t like Trish.”

“What? Trish is awesome.” I swear her and her girlfriend should switch places, she acted just like Brian, and if she didn’t look like a Suicide Girl, I would swear she was a guy. “Why don’t you like her?”

“It might have been the fact that she refused to return my greeting, or that she let me know she was going to “take care” of you while I’m not around.”

I laughed and squeezed my arms tighter. This was just another thing I loved about Harper. She didn’t bullshit the way some girls did. If she was mad, she let you know. And while I didn’t like that she was uncomfortable, I’m not gonna lie. It felt real good knowing she was jealous. “Aw, Princess, she’s just joking with you. You don’t have anything to worry about. She’s gay.”

“I promise you, she isn’t.”

“Yeah she is; she told me yesterday.”

“Okay, Chase. I really do have to go, I love you. See you when you get home.”

Kissing her soft lips, I pulled away slightly to catch her gaze. She still look worried when I brought one hand up to cup her cheek. “Cheer up baby, I love you, too.”

I watched her pull away and walked back into the shop. Catching the call-in’s attention, I took him back to my station, where Trish was still sitting.

“Dude.” She smiled and jerked her head toward the door. “Your girl is head over heels in love with you.”

The corners of my mouth tilted up. Feeling was definitely mutual. “I’m a lucky man.”

“I’d say, even pregnant, she’s f*cking hot.”

Brian, Jeff, and the call-in all grunted agreement, and I glared at them before teasing Trish. “You got your own girl, so stay away from mine.”

She shrugged and jumped off my counter to go help people who were done looking through art on the wall, and I gestured for the call-in to sit in the chair. “Let’s do this.”





Chapter Thirteen



PULLING MY VIBRATING cell out of my pocket, I checked the messages and saw there was a text from Trish. I suppressed a groan and silently prayed shit wasn’t hitting the fan at the shop. This was my first night off since Princess and I had gone to the bed-and-breakfast well over a week ago. And I wanted nothing more than to finish hanging out with my family and take her to bed.

Trish: Hey buddy . . . gf is working graveyard 2nite. Wanna come over 4 dinner when I get off?

“Are you kidding? Of course we did! That lady was hilarious, there was no way we weren’t giving her money.” Standing up from the table, Breanna started showing us a dance this homeless lady had been doing earlier when she was out with Konrad. I laughed and tapped out a quick text back to Trish.

Can’t, sorry. Spending time with Princess

“Chase, you should go find that woman,” Dad said on a laugh. “She would probably teach you to dance for a few bucks.”

I snorted. “At least I don’t look like a dying fish when I dance.” I glanced at him meaningfully, and he started laughing at the same time Harper gasped loudly and gripped my arm.

“You okay?” I turned to look at her, and she was looking straight down. Looking at her line of sight, I couldn’t see anything wrong and looked at my parents, who seemed just as confused as I was.

“Say something, Chase.”

The hell? I leaned closer to her, trying to look into her eyes, “Sweetie, what’s wrong?”

Harper started laughing and glanced at me quickly before looking straight down again, “He’s kicking! He’s kicking whenever you talk!”

Oh my God. My knees hit the ground, and I pushed my way in between Harper’s legs while letting my hands cover her rounding stomach. My heart was racing, and I had to take two deep breaths before leaning in close, my nose almost touching her belly. “You kicking Mom?” I kept my voice low, and said slowly, “C’mon, Gummy Bear, Daddy wants to feel you kick, too. I love you so much—” A light nudge hit my hand, and my head shot back to look at my princess. “Oh my God!” Bringing my head back to her belly I swear I fell in love with our son even more while I continued to talk to him. Each time, I was rewarded with a soft nudge, and I couldn’t help but laugh shakily at how amazing it was.