I am in Seattle, following my dream, alone, with no apartment because of Hardin’s possessive nature and the unwillingness of both of us to compromise over even the most trivial details.

“I don’t know, really,” I finally say when I can’t come up with a solid suggestion.

“Well, do you want me around still? Just for the weekends, at least?” he asks. His fingers twist and twirl my hair.

“Yes.”

“Every weekend?”

“Mostly.” I smile.

“Do you want to talk on the phone each day like we did this week?”

“Yes.” I loved the simple way Hardin and I spoke on the phone, neither of us even noticing the minutes and hours as they ticked by.

“So everything will be the same as it was this week, then. I don’t know about that,” he says.

“Why not?” It’s seemed to work for him so far, so why would he object to continuing the same way?

“Because, Tessa, you’re here in Seattle without me, and we aren’t actually together, you could see someone else or meet someone—”

“Hardin.” I lift myself onto my elbow to look down at him. His eyes bore into mine, and a lock of my unruly blond hair falls onto his face. Without breaking eye contact or even so much as a blink, his fingers move to tuck the fallen hair back behind my ear. “I’m not planning on seeing or meeting anyone else. All I want out of this is some independence and for both of us to be able to communicate.”

“Why is it so important to you to be independent all of a sudden?” he asks. His thumb and forefinger glide across the shell of my ear, sending a shiver down my spine. If he’s trying to distract me, he’s succeeding.

Despite his gentle touch and burning jade eyes, I continue in my quest to make him understand where I’m coming from. “It’s not a sudden thing. I’ve mentioned this to you before. I also hadn’t noticed just how dependent on you I was until recently, and I don’t like it. I don’t like being that way.”

“I do,” he says quietly.

“I know you do, but I don’t,” I say, refusing to allow the confidence in my voice to falter. A part of me pats myself on the back, then rolls her eyes at me because she isn’t buying it.

“Well, how do I play into this independent shit?”

“Just keep doing what you’re doing now. I have to be able to make decisions without thinking about having your permission or what you would think about them.”

“You definitely don’t think about having my permission now, or you wouldn’t do half the shit you do.”

I don’t want to have a fight. “Hardin,” I warn him. “This is important to me. I need to be able to think for myself. We should be partners . . . equals, neither of us should hold more . . . power than the other.” I struggle to find the words, sifting through my mind for a better way to explain what I want . . . what I need. I have to do this. This is part of who I am, or who I want to be. I’m working hard to find myself, to find out who I am on my own, with or without Hardin.

“Equals? Power? You obviously have more power here. I mean, come on.”

“It’s not only for me . . . it’s been good for you, too. You know it has.”

“I guess so, but what does that say about us that we can only get along if we’re in different cities?” he asks . . . putting into words the question that’s been nagging at me since he arrived.

“Well, we’ll figure that out later.”

“Sure.” He stubbornly rolls his eyes but softens the reaction by kissing my forehead.

“Remember what you said about there being a difference between loving someone and not being able to live without them?” I ask.

“I don’t ever want to hear that statement again, really.”

I swipe his damp hair off of his forehead. “You’re the one who said it,” I remind him. My fingertips graze along the outline of his nose, down to his swollen lips. “I’ve been thinking about it so much since then,” I admit.

Hardin groans in annoyance. “Why?”

“Because you said it for a reason, didn’t you?”

“Out of anger, that’s all. I didn’t have a clue what it even meant. I was just being a dick.”

“Well, either way, I keep thinking about it.” I gently tap on the tip of his nose.

“Well, I wish you wouldn’t, because there’s no difference between the two.” His words fall slowly between us, his tone thoughtful.

“How so?”

He gives me a small smile. “I can’t live without you and I love you: they go hand in hand. If I could live without you, I wouldn’t be as in love with you as I am, and I clearly cannot be far from you.”

“I’ll say.” I bite back the giggle that’s threatening to emerge.

He notices my lightness. “I know you aren’t talking about me . . . You nearly busted your ass running to tackle me when I arrived.” Even in the darkness of the room, I can see his bright, widening smile, and my breath catches as I take in the raw beauty of him. When he behaves this way, unguarded and natural, there’s nothing better in my world.

“I knew you were going to torture me for that!” I swat at his bare chest, and his hand flies up to catch my wrist between his long fingers.

“Are you trying to get rough with me again? Look what happened last time.” He lifts his head off the mattress, and the heat begins to spread down my body, resting between my already sore thighs.

“Can you stay one more day?” I dodge his remark about being rough. I need to know if I’m going to have more time with him tomorrow so we can spend the remainder of the morning hours . . . well . . . getting rough. “Please,” I add, snuggling my head into the crook of his neck.

“Fine,” he says. I can feel his jaw move as he smiles against my forehead. “But only if you blindfold me again.”

In one quick motion, he wraps his arms around my back and flips my body under his, and seconds later we’re lost in each other . . . again and again . . .

chapter

one hundred

HARDIN

Kimberly is sitting at the breakfast bar when I walk into the kitchen. Her face is free of makeup, and her hair is pulled back away from her face. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her without a shit ton of crap on her face, and for Vance’s sake I contemplate hiding the shit from her because she looks much better without it.

“Well, look who’s finally awake,” she says in a chipper tone.

“Yeah, yeah.” I groan and walk straight past her to the coffee machine nestled in the corner of the dark granite countertop.

“What time are you leaving?” she asks while picking at a bowl of lettuce.

“Not until tomorrow, if that’s okay. Or do you want me out now?” I fill a mug with the black liquid and turn to face her.

“Of course you can stay.” She grins. “As long as you aren’t being an asshole to Tessa.”

“Actually, I’m not.” I roll my eyes as Vance enters the room. “You need to get a tighter leash on this one, perhaps even a muzzle,” I tell him.

A deep bellowing laugh comes from her fiancé just as Kimberly raises her middle finger to me.

“So classy,” I taunt her.

“You’re in an awfully cheery mood.” Christian grins wickedly, and Kimberly shoots him a glare.

What the hell is that about?

“Wonder why that is?” he adds, and she elbows him.

“Christian . . .” she scolds, and he shakes his head. His hand lifts in defense to block her from repeating the playful assault.

“Probably because he’s missed Tessa,” Kimberly suggests and eyes Christian as he circles around the oversized island to grab a banana from the fruit basket.

His eyes twinkle in amusement as he pulls down the peel of a banana. “I heard midnight workouts will do that.”

My blood turns cold. “What did you say?”

“Calm down . . . he shut the camera off before the good stuff,” Kimberly assures me.

Camera?