It was a slow build. Torturous and perfect, starting at her toes and climbing up her body with every push and pull of his hips. Her mouth fell away from his, her eyes closing as she gave way to the pleasure.

“Harper.” He whispered her name and her eyes opened again. All she could see was the green gold of his gaze, the adoration clear. Adoration for her. “Just wait.”

She wasn’t sure if she could; it was all coming to the surface. Her heart was pounding out of her chest. She couldn’t get enough air into her lungs. Couldn’t hold off the release that was building at the very core of her.

It was all too much. Too much to take. Too much to understand. And the way he was looking at her? Watching her? Seeking her pleasure with every move he made? How could she wait?

“I can’t,” she gasped. “I can’t hold on.”

“You can.” His hips slowed as he kissed her gently. “Stay with me,” he said against her lips. “Stay with me, Harper. We’ll get there together. Slow, remember?”

“Slow.” She nodded, grabbing on to his biceps, her nails undoubtedly scoring his skin.

He did it three more times, building her right up to the edge of an orgasm before pulling back and slowing down. She wasn’t sure she could handle another one. Wasn’t sure if she’d survive it.

“Please,” she begged. “Please, Liam.”

This time his hips didn’t ease up. No, they moved faster, harder, slow apparently a thing of the past. And the result was mind bending.

Her orgasm slammed into her, taking over her entire body. Her hips bucked wildly, her hands clawed at Liam’s back, her lungs were going to explode. But even with all of that, her eyes didn’t leave his.

The pleasure in his face was incredible. Pleasure he found in her. Pleasure they found in each other.

He didn’t stop moving until they were both good and truly spent. His arms were shaking as he gave her one last kiss on the mouth. And then his lips were moving to the spot just under her left ear, his tongue rasping against her skin and making her entire body shiver as another spasm contracted her core, squeezing around the length of him that was still firmly inside of her.

“You’re incredible,” he groaned. “Every part of you.” And then he rolled off her, pulling from her body as he fell to his back.

Neither of them moved for a minute…or five, staring at the ceiling.

“What the hell was that?” he asked through a hoarse voice.

“I…I have no idea.” And that was the first lie she told him. She knew exactly what it was.

Her heart was still beating out of her chest. A thrumming so loud she could feel it in her ears. And she couldn’t catch her breath to save her life.

She’d gone and done it. She’d fallen in love with him. Fallen in love with a man who she didn’t even know.

How the hell had that happened?

How was it even possible?

And what in the world was she going to do?

Chapter Four Lost

Liam knew before he even opened his eyes the following morning.

The sheets next to him were cold and empty.

The house eerily quiet.

No note.

No good-bye.

No anything.

Harper was gone.

Chapter Five Not Alone

June 13th…five weeks later

Harper stared down at the line of pregnancy tests on the bathroom counter.

All five of them had the same answer.

Just like the five she’d taken the day before.

And the five she’d taken the day before that.

Fifteen tests and they all said the same thing: she was pregnant.

A soft whine at Harper’s feet had her looking down at Luna. The little French bulldog was sitting back on her hind legs and staring up with wide black eyes. She stood, taking a couple of steps forward and laying down right across Harper’s feet as she whined again.

Luna always did this when she sensed that Harper was upset…which was pretty much all the time these days.

Harper bent down, picking Luna up and cradling the small dog in her arms before she turned and slid the rest of the way down the cabinets. She sat on the bathroom floor, petting the dog’s back and waiting for the world to right itself.

But that wasn’t going to happen.

“I’m pregnant,” she whispered, thinking that if she said it aloud she’d believe it.

Nope. Not the case.

It had been five weeks since Nashville. Five weeks since she’d walked into that bar and gone home with a man she’d just met. Five weeks since she’d spent two nights having the most mind-blowing sex of her life. Five weeks since she’d run away. Five weeks since she’d left a sleeping Liam in his bed. Five weeks since she’d turned into a coward.

She thought about him daily…multiple times a day in fact, and every time she did it hurt like hell.

She didn’t get it. She hadn’t even spent forty-eight hours with him and she missed him more than she’d ever missed Brad.

How? How was that even possible?

She’d gone over it all thousands of times. Replaying it in her head and trying to figure out if she could’ve done things differently.

But what other choice did she have? Two days with him and he’d had more power to destroy her than anyone else ever had before.

That last night with him, she’d lain there for hours memorizing the moment. Memorizing him. His arms wrapped around her body, his steady deep breaths on her skin, his lips on her shoulder.

When she’d pulled away from him it had been physically painful.

But she knew the pain was nothing to what it would be if he was the one to walk away from her. So in the long run what she’d done was best…

Or at least that was what she kept telling herself. What she had to keep telling herself. But really it was a big lie. A massive lie.

She’d driven to her aunt’s, letting the numbness overtake her because as soon as she started to really feel things, she was going to lose it. Celeste had been home, asleep on the sofa with a marathon of her favorite cooking show lighting up the otherwise dark living room.

The second the door had closed behind Harper she’d started sobbing. To Celeste’s credit it had only taken her about thirty seconds to go from asleep to fully aware of the situation. It was well into the morning before Harper had stopped sobbing. By the time she’d gotten a hold of herself she’d been desperate to get out of Nashville, needing to put as much distance between her and Liam as possible. If she didn’t, she probably would’ve found herself on his doorstep again.

And that could not happen.

Celeste was the only one who knew what had happened with Liam. All of her friends and family were under the impression that her current state of mind still had to do with Brad.

They were all incredibly wrong.

She’d been forcing herself to function over the last few weeks, thinking it was going to get better. Turned out she was just biding her time, denial her greatest friend.

She’d ignored the fact that her period had been late…one week running into two and then turning into three. And then the morning sickness had set in two weeks ago.

Morning her ass.

She was nauseous all the freaking time. She’d kept telling herself that she was coming down with something.

See, denial.

But the proof was sitting on the counter behind her. This was the third morning in a row that she’d looked at those positives. There was no more hiding. Reality had just caught up to her.

The corner of her eyes prickled, that familiar constricting sensation taking over her throat.

You are not going to cry.

You are not going to cry.

You. Are. Not. Going. To. Cry.

These were your decisions. You went home with him. You slept with him…half a dozen times. You got pregnant.

She closed her eyes, taking deep steady breaths through her nose, trying to calm down her now rolling stomach. Or stop the steady stream of tears tracking down her face.