Page 71 of From the Start

“I am not messaging you the next time he mows the lawn,” Jade complains.

“No worries.” She points to the woman on the other side of her. “She’ll message.”

I grab the package with Harper’s present from the front seat before jogging back to Harper. I tag her hand and lead her to the garage.

“Boo!” the women scream.

I ignore them and shut the door behind us.

“This is for you.” I try to hand the bag to Harper but she holds up her hands.

“No more expensive presents.”

“This isn’t an expensive present,” I lie. I’m betting on her never finding out how much these earplugs cost.

Her eyes narrow on the package. “What is it?”

I shove it into her hands. “Open it up and find out.”

“Fine. But if it’s expensive, I’m giving it back to you.”

Her words are grumpy but the twinkle in her eyes gives her away. She’s excited to receive a gift. How often does she receive gifts? I doubt her dad buys her birthday and Christmas presents. That shit stops now. I plan to spoil Harper.

She rips the package open. “Earplugs?”

“To help you sleep when your dad is snoring.” I remove them from the box. “They’re supposed to be comfortable. And they’re Bluetooth enabled. You can listen to music or a podcast while you fall asleep.”

“This isn’t fair.”

“What? You don’t like them? I can return them. I kept the receipt.”

She slaps me with the giftbag. “Not what I meant.”

I run a hand through my hair and her gaze drops to my chest. She licks her lips and my cock twitches. It wants to feel her tongue on it. I grit my teeth before I get hard. Not the time.

“What did you mean?”

She drags her gaze from my chest back to my face. Her eyes are blazing. I groan. I can resist a lot of things. But Harper staring at me like she can’t wait to touch me? I can’t resist her.

I meld my lips to hers. She sighs and I thrust my tongue into her mouth. Vanilla and beer. It’s a combination that shouldn’t work but does. It more than works. It’s addicting.

Her hands latch onto my shoulders and her fingers dig into my skin. I growl as I wrap my arms around her waist and draw her near. Her body collides with mine. I can feel the pinpoints of her breasts poking me. I draw my hand up the side of her body to the underside of her breast before—

Knock! Knock! Knock!

I wrench my lips from Harper’s to glare at the door.

“Sorry, boyfriend. Just wanted to let you know the entire neighborhood can see you.” Jade points to the window in the garage door.

I lean my forehead against Harper’s. “How mad would you get if I bought you a new garage door?”

She bursts into laughter. It’s the most beautiful sound in the world. I’d do anything to make her happy.

Chapter 21

“This day did not turn out the way I expected.” ~ Harper

Harper