Page 48 of Take the Blame (Seaside Mergers #3)

He let out a huff of a laugh that fluttered something in my chest. He was being so serious.

At first I was so happy to have him here, but the longer he stayed, the more serious his mood became.

It was making me itch. So winning that one little laugh from him felt like an Olympic medal, even as he started to undress me like a child.

Harper let my arms wrap around his shoulders as he reached under me and slid my sleep shorts down my body.

He did absolutely all the work, removing the sopping wet shorts while I still sat in them.

And again rolling the hem of my shirt up and over my head even while my weak, flopping arms didn’t make it any easier for him.

He didn’t complain, didn’t rush, was no less caring than he normally was, yet somehow he seemed different. Checking my temperature with a hand every free chance he got and looking diligently over at his phone for some kind of list he pulled up, he just seemed… off?

When he got all my clothes off and I lifted my head enough to look at him, I still didn’t like the look on his face. I wanted him to smile again, laugh again. Be Harper again. Because the Harper I thought I was beginning to know had not stepped through that door today.

Frustrated and tired and maybe trying to get a rise out of him, I made a bad joke

“There,” I said. “Naked. The only way you like me.”

Snapping upward, his eyes pierced me and instantly I knew it was the wrong thing to say. I knew without doubt that he hadn’t been glaring before, because now he sure was. His gaze heavy and tight all of a sudden as he stared at me.

I held my breath, waiting for him to react. I half expected him to blow up at me from the way he looked. But after a moment, he only wrapped the towel around my shoulders again, covering me up as he eased me back on top of the vanity and started over with drying my feet.

I woke to the sound of an agitated voice again .

Seriously, what was wrong with him? If he didn’t want to be here, he could just go. The thought made it no further than that one bitter indulgence, because even I knew it wasn’t true.

After Harper dried me off, I felt somewhat better. Still, he insisted on carrying me into my room where he wrapped me up on the cozy lounge chair beside my shelf and proceeded to change my sheets.

While he worked, he pointedly kept his back to me and I assumed it was to give me privacy as I worked myself slowly into my pajamas. But as he carried me over to the newly turned bed, he averted his gaze from mine again.

I didn’t dwell on the brush off. I couldn’t.

Not when I was tucked away and comfortable underneath the blankets for the first time all week.

As soon as my head hit the pillow, I felt the dark start to take me under.

In my exhaustion, I latched onto Harper’s hand tightly while he crouched beside my bed.

I wanted to feel him there with me, and to his credit he stayed right there until blackness overtook my vision.

Rubbing my hair out my eyes and finally looking at me again, his stare intense .

Now as light slowly filtered back into my eyes I could hear his voice hissing, deep and agitated like I never experienced before.

“I need somebody who can do a house call… not for me, asshole. Someone else. Yes, her.” There was a pause and the soft rumble of a… growl? “Do you have to be difficult about everything? Okay… Yeah, okay. Thanks man, I owe you one.”

The silence that followed must’ve meant he hung up, the weight dipping the bed meaning he had returned to my side. Like it was glued there, his hand pressed against my forehead again and he cursed.

I couldn’t take this anymore. Reaching for him, I slid my fingers around his wrist in a pleading squeeze. “What did I do?”

“What?”

“You’re angry. What did I do?” I asked, opening my eyes to his.

Had there ever been so much silence between us? It stretched on for what felt like hours before he finally sighed. “Nothing, sweetheart. You’re just a lot sicker than I thought, and I’m out of my depth here. I’ll feel a lot better when the doctor comes. You will too.”

“I’ll feel better if you smile, Gus,” I said.

“Why are you calling me Gus now?” he asked.

“Because you feel like a Gus to me right now.”

“What does that mean?”

I swallowed, and it hurt. Traitorously, my eyes started to sting. “You don’t feel like you right now.”

Big sighs were the soundtrack of this night, and it was causing my heart to ache. I missed the lighthearted mess of our previous weekend together.

The feeling of him rubbing that calloused thumb underneath my cheek brought my eyes to him. And there, finally, I was greeted with a soft smile.

Carefully, he picked through his words. “ Lo siento , baby. ”

My heart panged. It was an easy phrase, yet there he went, saying it near perfectly after only hearing me say it once.

I smiled too, feeling relaxed as I sank into the pillows once again.

“Thanks for coming, Harper,” I said. Deciding to allow some truth to slip through, I added, “I missed you.”

His eyes crinkled as he looked at me, his voice lowering as he continued to pet me affectionately. “The doctor will be here soon. Want me to go?”

“No,” I said, plain and simple, because that was the last thing I wanted. “Stay right where I need you.”

He didn’t even hesitate. “Always.”