Defending Harlow (Mountain Mercenaries #4)(59)

Deciding she was going to clear the air—even though this wasn’t exactly the best place, not with the other couples around and with the whoosh of the burner going off intermittently—Harlow took a deep breath. She licked her lips, then blurted, “This has been one of the best dates I’ve ever been on.”

Then she held her breath to wait for his reaction.

She was fairly certain he wasn’t going to be shocked at her words. For as slow as she’d been on the uptake, it was more than obvious that they were dating, even if their courtship had been unconventional.

“Me too,” he said simply.

Letting out the air she’d been holding, Harlow smiled at him.

“So you finally clued in, huh?” he asked. His thumb rubbed up and down her side, making sure to press just hard enough so he wasn’t tickling her.

She shrugged. “It took my mom to point it out.”

“You aren’t freaked?” he asked.

“Not really. I mean, I get it. I’d flat-out told you that I didn’t want to date. You slid under my radar so smoothly, I didn’t even realize what was going on.”

“It’s what I’m good at,” he said without conceit.

“I see that,” she told him. “But for the record, you can rub my feet, but I’m not sure about you wanting to have sex with them; stealing napkins from restaurants is out of the question; and if you need to masturbate, my stuffed animals are off-limits.”

He threw his head back and laughed, and Harlow found the arch of his neck extremely fascinating. She didn’t get nearly enough time to satisfy her curiosity before he lowered his head and kissed her. It was a short and fast kiss, unlike earlier that morning, but no less exciting. “Got it,” he said.

“Okay, folks, we’re getting ready for touchdown. Brace yourself and hold on,” the pilot announced.

Lowell turned her around and once again stepped up behind her. Harlow could feel him flush against her back, hips, thighs. He stood against her, bracing her—and she knew at that moment that she was in way over her head. She could easily fall in love with him . . . if she wasn’t already. Which was crazy, because he’d come right out and said he wasn’t looking for a long-term relationship, and even just a few days ago, she would’ve said the same thing.

But standing there, safe in Lowell’s arms, she knew without a doubt that he’d never let anything happen to her if he could help it. Just like her dad felt about her mom.

Harlow had a feeling that she’d managed to find the man she was meant to spend the rest of her life with. The problem was, she wasn’t sure he felt the same.

Shaking her head and telling herself to take things one day at a time, Harlow vowed to enjoy her time with Lowell, no matter how long it lasted.

She was a realist. She knew he liked her now, but if things got even more serious, would he back away? Would he decide that he didn’t want to continue with a relationship because of the expectation of marriage? She had no idea, but she was willing to take that chance.

The thought of having to reenter the dating game had been abhorrent. Lowell had managed to slip in stealthily and make it extremely painless, and that was all right with her.



Black crossed his arms over his chest and forced himself to stay where he was. He was once again at the shelter, watching Harlow finish up in the kitchen before she left with him.

The last several days had been amazing. The morning of the balloon ride, he’d finally gotten to taste Harlow, and it was everything he’d dreamed of and more. She’d lit up in his arms. And every time he’d seen her since, he’d stolen a few more kisses.

He was hungrier for her than ever.

This afternoon, he’d escorted her inside the shelter, then left to talk to Meat and the others while she was busy in the kitchen. Tomorrow, Arrow and Ball were going to hunt down Brian Pierce and “invite” him to come speak to them. Black would meet up with them and the rest of the team and see what they could find out from him. Black had no worries about roughing him up. It wouldn’t be the first time they hadn’t played fair to get information, and it wasn’t as if Black was going to kill the man—he just wanted all the facts of the case, and the quicker Bear gave up what he knew, the faster he’d be returned to his street corner.

With that set, Black felt a little calmer. The last thing he wanted was something happening to Harlow or any of the residents at the women’s shelter. He’d hung around enough lately to have gotten to know everyone fairly well. The kids were adorable, and a great reminder why he and the Mountain Mercenaries did what they did.

He’d put in hours at the gun range now and then, and things were running smoothly there as well. He had great employees and managers, and they didn’t need him around to keep the place operating efficiently.

And since Rex seemed distracted lately, there weren’t any other cases on the horizon either. So Black was free to concentrate on Harlow and whatever was going on at the shelter. Maybe it was nothing. Maybe Rex was right to not seem overly concerned. But Black didn’t think so. He had an itchy feeling on the back of his neck, and that never boded well.

But he had to set it aside for the moment. Tonight, Black was going to take Harlow to his apartment, let her feed him, then hopefully get some more kisses from her. He wasn’t worried about rushing them into bed. He was enjoying the chase. Now that she was aware of the fact they were dating and was okay with it, they could see where things took them. Black had a feeling things would move fairly fast if the chemistry between them, and how hot their first kiss had been, was any indication.