Take a Chance (Chance, #1; Rosemary Beach #7)(66)

She shook her head. “It won’t make it go away. They will find me one day and until I face it—” she hiccupped “—they will be after me. I have to face this. And I need to check on my dad. This is going to be so hard on him.”

Always worrying about someone else. It was what she did. It was one of the things I loved about her. But right f**king now, I wanted her to think about herself. Kiro was used to the paparazzi. He was used to being in the media and rumors spreading about him. He had kept Harlow out of the limelight and now she was about to be thrown into it.

It wasn’t like the world didn’t know she existed. They just didn’t know that much about her, so they ignored her. She was boring, and Kiro’s exploits were a lot more fun.

“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Just tell me what you need,” I told her as my heart felt as if it was being broken with each sob.

“I need to go back to Rosemary and pack,” she said, simply.

Pack? Why? “Why are you packing?” I asked, feeling the first pulls of panic.

“I have to leave. Nan will be less interesting to the media if I’m not there. I need to go back to L.A. and hide out. I’m good at that.”

“I can’t work in L.A. but I’ll call Dad and tell him to deal,” I told her.

She shook her head. “No, you don’t need to come. You need to stay here and stay out of this.”

I gently grabbed both her shoulders and pushed her back so I could see her face. Her tear-streaked face and big eyes stared up at me. “I’m not letting you leave me. Ever. Don’t you understand that?”

She just looked at me. Emotions flashed in her eyes that I wanted to cling to, and others I hated. She doubted me . . . she doubted us. I thought we’d moved past that.

“Harlow, I won’t let you leave me.”

She wiped at the tears on her face. “You will,” she said with a sad, defeated sound. I hated it.

“Sweet girl, ain’t no amount of paparazzi gonna send me away from you. I can handle any shit as long as I have you.”

Harlow shook her head and looked away from me. “You say that now. But you don’t know. It isn’t worth it.”

She was worth anything and everything that could be thrown at me.

“I’ll take you back, but I won’t leave your side. I won’t let you deal with this alone, and I’m not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”

A sad smile touched her face. “I know you think that, but it’ll be too much. You’ll know soon. It isn’t what you think. Stuff will come out, and you won’t be able to deal with it. And I’ll understand.”

She didn’t trust anyone. I was losing this fight. I was gonna win her heart, dammit. She had mine, and I was gonna do anything I could to prove to her she had my heart. Telling her wasn’t enough. Words were weak. I had to show her. And I would.

?

I kept Harlow tucked beside me. We didn’t listen to the radio. I was pretty sure it was already being talked about on every station. I didn’t want to upset her. This wasn’t going to be easy, and I was liable to beat the shit out of someone before it was over, but I’d show her I meant it. That she was it for me.

When we rolled back into Rosemary, TV station vans and cars lined the streets. I turned around and headed for my apartment.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sitting up and looking at the paparazzi already surrounding Nan’s house. They were taking pictures of her car and the house.

“Taking you to my place,” I informed her.

“I need to face this now. It’ll just get worse. I want them to leave so everyone in Rosemary can go back to normal.”

“Harlow, if I let you out of the car and they come at you, I’ll end up in jail. Do you understand me?”

She glanced at me with a frown. “Why?”

“Because I’ll f**king snap. That’s why.”

“Oh,” she replied. She let me drive to my apartment without any more questions.

When we pulled in, I felt like breathing a sigh of relief. I was afraid they had already figured out who I was and would be waiting here, too.

My phone rang when I stopped the truck, and I grabbed it. Rush’s name was on the screen.

“Hey,” I said, opening the truck door. I wanted to hurry and get Harlow safely inside.

“Where’s Harlow?” Rush asked.

“With me.”

“Where?”

“Just got to my apartment,” I replied.

“Get her inside and don’t f**king leave,” Rush barked.

“Already ahead of you,” I told him, annoyed that he thought he needed to protect what was mine.

“She knows?” Rush asked.

“Yeah. Kiro called and warned her.”

“Did she know about her mother?”

“Yeah, she found out when we went to find her dad in Vegas. I was there.”

“They’re already talking about Harlow. Keep the TV off,” Rush said.

“Planning on it. I’m taking care of her. I don’t need you telling me how the f**k to keep my woman safe.”

Rush was silent a moment. “Okay. Fine. But if—” he paused. “Never mind. Call me if you need me.” He hung up and I took Harlow from the truck and slipped my hand into hers, and we both started running for the door. There was no one here, and I wanted to f**king keep it that way.