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His chest heaves, his beautiful blue eyes clouded with pain of his own. He reaches down with his good hand to brush a tear I never noticed from my face.

“I want to want it.”

The cuff on my wrist catches the light, and when he lifts my hand and presses his lips to my wrist right below the bracelet he bought to tell me he wasn’t leaving, I feel a glimmer of hope for him.

Hope for us.

24

RAE

“Shit. We’re supposed to bring a gift,” I call as I fasten my earrings in front of the powder room mirror.

“Only if you want to be invited back.”

“It’s Tyler and Annie’s housewarming. They’re not going to un-friend us, right? And he’s already been living there for ages.”

I duck into the hall to see Harrison stepping into his shoes at the front door. He looks breathtakingly sexy in dark trousers and a button-down shirt. No jacket.

It’s a win.

The past two weeks have been a struggle, but we’re moving forward. I can tell he’s having a difficult time, but he always finds a smile when I’m around. I wish he didn’t try so hard for my sake.

One piece of good news is that Zachary Whelan is in jail and was denied bail. But thanks to the delays in the planning department, some of the most important renovations at the new club are on hold. It’s eating at Harrison.

“I have a gift for you,” I inform him as we step into the elevator and hit the button for the ground floor.

I hold out the notification on my phone.

“The zoning was approved?”

“This morning,” I confirm.

Disbelief fills his handsome face. “How the hell did you get that before I did?”

“Leni.”

“Fuck.”

He crosses to me as the doors open, taking my face between his palms.

He kisses me, long and deep, before coming up for air.

“I need to check on the club on the way. Make sure everyone’s on the job working twice as fast.”

“No, you don’t,” I say quickly, and he grimaces.

“I’ll pull up the security footage. Just to make sure everything on the exterior is on schedule.”

As we exit the elevators at the lobby, he reaches for his phone.

I try to bat it away. “Don’t you trust Leni?”

His frown is exasperated. “I did until she booked me to give that presentation yesterday to a group of LA entrepreneurs without telling me. It was out of character.”

It’s also why I’ve been working on something special the past few days, something that requires him to be far away from the club in order for it to be a surprise.

In the end, he’s too strong and I can’t get his phone.