Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(54)

Lowell: For the record, I have no doubt you would’ve kicked those stairs’ ass if you had to.

The tears in her eyes surprised her. Harlow blinked them back, smiled, and quickly typed out a reply.

Harlow: Damn straight.

Lowell: I had a good time this morning . . . you know, after I stopped being a dick.

Harlow: Me too.

Lowell: I’ll see you tomorrow. Text me before you leave home.

Harlow: I will. Sleep well.

Lowell: You too.

Smiling bigger now, Harlow fell over sideways on her couch, brought a pillow up to her face, and screamed into it. Then she dropped the pillow and said softly, “I’m dating Lowell Lockard. Holy shit.”





Chapter Sixteen

The next few days went by relatively smoothly—and that made Black nervous. He hadn’t seen Brian Pierce or his cronies, which set off his internal alarm. He escorted Harlow to and from the shelter every day. He’d had a few days to put into motion his next surprise for her, and he hoped like hell he didn’t screw this one up, as he almost had their last morning outing.

She’d be coming over to his apartment next Wednesday for dinner, and he couldn’t wait. Harlow hadn’t been to his place yet, and he couldn’t get over the idea that seeing her in his space would somehow be soul satisfying. His apartment wasn’t anything fancy. Unlike Gray and Ro, he didn’t have a huge-ass house overlooking acres of trees, but he did have a nice patio that he used as much as possible.

Before then—his next surprise. He just had to convince her to let him pick her up at the ass-crack of dawn once more.

He was leaning against the counter in the kitchen at the shelter, with Harlow at his side, watching Sammie and Milo take care of the dishes from dinner. They were rinsing them in the sink and putting them into the dishwasher.

“So . . . I was thinking I’d pick you up in the morning, and we could go do something,” he told Harlow as nonchalantly as he could. He wasn’t sure how much longer he could get away with setting up dates for the two of them without her realizing what was going on.

She chuckled. “How early this time?”

Black winced. “Four thirty.”

“Does it involve exercise in any way, shape, or form?”

He smiled. “No.”

“Are you sure? You’re not just saying that?”

“After what happened last time, you think I’d lie about it?”

She tilted her head and looked at him. “When you put it that way, probably not. Okay, I’ll bite. Sure.”

“You won’t regret it.”

Harlow looked at him with eyes so filled with emotion, Black wasn’t even sure where to start to try to decipher her thoughts.

“I know I won’t,” she said after a beat. “I have no doubt that you won’t let me down. You’ve proved that time and time again.”

Her words echoed in Black’s brain. She was right. He wouldn’t let her down.

A loud crash sounded in front of them, and Black immediately took a step forward, blocking Harlow from whatever was happening and keeping her behind him.

Sammie and Milo looked at him with huge eyes. A broken bowl lay on the floor at their feet. The little boy quickly looked from Black’s face to his hands—which were still in fists at his sides—and burst into tears. Sammie, not knowing what her idol was crying about, immediately joined in.

The next thing Black knew, Jasper had run over from the table and was standing between him and the crying kids at the sink.

“Easy,” Black said, taking a step away from the teenager.

“They didn’t mean it,” Jasper growled. “Don’t hurt them.”

Black was pissed off at Wyatt Newton, the man who had obviously taught Jasper to think a beating was an appropriate response for a broken dish.

He opened his hands and spread his fingers apart, then slowly held them out from his sides. “Nobody is going to hurt anyone,” Black said softly, in what he hoped was a conciliatory tone. “It was an accident. Accidents happen.”

“You stepped toward them with your fists clenched,” Jasper accused, not standing down.

“I was thinking about something else when I closed my fists,” Black told the teenager. “When I heard the crash, I stepped forward to protect Harlow from whatever was happening. It took me a second to figure out what it was. That’s all. I would never raise a hand to anyone here. Ever.”

Jasper looked from Black to Harlow. “Are you all right, Harlow?”

“Of course, Jasper,” she said quietly, and Black felt her hand rest on his upper back as she peered around him, but she didn’t push him out of the way. “Lowell and I were talking, and I wasn’t paying attention to what the kids were doing.”

“What in the world is going on?” Loretta asked as she came into the room, followed by Lisa and Melinda.

“Sammie, are you hurt?” Lisa asked her daughter.

“Milo? What’s wrong?” Melinda chimed in.

“A dish was dropped. That’s all,” Black informed the newcomers. “I think they’re crying because they were startled by it. And because they thought I might punish them. But Jasper came to their defense, and now everyone knows that I’m not mad. Harlow isn’t mad. Stuff happens. Dishes get broken. It’s not a big deal.” He kept his arms out to his sides and looked at the sniffling little girl and boy. “Do you guys think you can help your moms clean up the broken bowl so no one steps on it and gets cut?”