Abbi Glines - Take a Chance

Always worrying about someone else. It was what she did. It was one of the things I loved about her. But right fucking now, I wanted her to think about herself. Kiro was used to the paparazzi. He was used to being in the media and rumors spreading about him. He had kept Harlow out of the limelight and now she was about to be thrown into it.

It wasn’t like the world didn’t know she existed. They just didn’t know that much about her, so they ignored her. She was boring, and Kiro’s exploits were a lot more fun.

“Tell me what to do and I’ll do it. Just tell me what you need,” I told her as my heart felt as if it was being broken with each sob.

“I need to go back to Rosemary and pack,” she said, simply.

Pack? Why? “Why are you packing?” I asked, feeling the first pulls of panic.

“I have to leave. Nan will be less interesting to the media if I’m not there. I need to go back to L.A. and hide out. I’m good at that.”

“I can’t work in L.A. but I’ll call Dad and tell him to deal,” I told her.

She shook her head. “No, you don’t need to come. You need to stay here and stay out of this.”

I gently grabbed both her shoulders and pushed her back so I could see her face. Her tear-streaked face and big eyes stared up at me. “I’m not letting you leave me. Ever. Don’t you understand that?”

She just looked at me. Emotions flashed in her eyes that I wanted to cling to, and others I hated. She doubted me . . . she doubted us. I thought we’d moved past that.

“Harlow, I won’t let you leave me.”

She wiped at the tears on her face. “You will,” she said with a sad, defeated sound. I hated it.

“Sweet girl, ain’t no amount of paparazzi gonna send me away from you. I can handle any shit as long as I have you.”

Harlow shook her head and looked away from me. “You say that now. But you don’t know. It isn’t worth it.”

She was worth anything and everything that could be thrown at me.

“I’ll take you back, but I won’t leave your side. I won’t let you deal with this alone, and I’m not going anywhere. Do you hear me?”

A sad smile touched her face. “I know you think that, but it’ll be too much. You’ll know soon. It isn’t what you think. Stuff will come out, and you won’t be able to deal with it. And I’ll understand.”

She didn’t trust anyone. I was losing this fight. I was gonna win her heart, dammit. She had mine, and I was gonna do anything I could to prove to her she had my heart. Telling her wasn’t enough. Words were weak. I had to show her. And I would.

I kept Harlow tucked beside me. We didn’t listen to the radio. I was pretty sure it was already being talked about on every station. I didn’t want to upset her. This wasn’t going to be easy, and I was liable to beat the shit out of someone before it was over, but I’d show her I meant it. That she was it for me.

When we rolled back into Rosemary, TV station vans and cars lined the streets. I turned around and headed for my apartment.

“What are you doing?” she asked, sitting up and looking at the paparazzi already surrounding Nan’s house. They were taking pictures of her car and the house.

“Taking you to my place,” I informed her.

“I need to face this now. It’ll just get worse. I want them to leave so everyone in Rosemary can go back to normal.”

“Harlow, if I let you out of the car and they come at you, I’ll end up in jail. Do you understand me?”

She glanced at me with a frown. “Why?”

“Because I’ll fucking snap. That’s why.”

“Oh,” she replied. She let me drive to my apartment without any more questions.

When we pulled in, I felt like breathing a sigh of relief. I was afraid they had already figured out who I was and would be waiting here, too.

My phone rang when I stopped the truck, and I grabbed it. Rush’s name was on the screen.

“Hey,” I said, opening the truck door. I wanted to hurry and get Harlow safely inside.

“Where’s Harlow?” Rush asked.

“With me.”

“Where?”

“Just got to my apartment,” I replied.

“Get her inside and don’t fucking leave,” Rush barked.

“Already ahead of you,” I told him, annoyed that he thought he needed to protect what was mine.

“She knows?” Rush asked.

“Yeah. Kiro called and warned her.”

“Did she know about her mother?”

“Yeah, she found out when we went to find her dad in

Vegas. I was there.”

“They’re already talking about Harlow. Keep the TV off,” Rush said.

“Planning on it. I’m taking care of her. I don’t need you telling me how the fuck to keep my woman safe.”

Rush was silent a moment. “Okay. Fine. But if—” he paused. “Never mind. Call me if you need me.” He hung up and I took Harlow from the truck and slipped my hand into hers, and we both started running for the door. There was no one here, and I wanted to fucking keep it that way.

When I had her safely inside, I closed the door and locked it.

“You okay?” I asked her.

She nodded and stood there and stared at me. I wasn’t sure what she was thinking but I could tell she was battling something.

I took a step toward her and she threw herself into my arms. I hadn’t expected that but I caught her and held her. I realized this was the first time in her life someone had made her the priority. The relief in her body as she pressed against me told me everything I needed to know. My overprotected Harlow had never been protected for her sake, but for the secrets in her family and a woman she didn’t know was alive.

“From now on, you have me,” I told her, and she nodded against my chest.

It took them only three hours to find us. Grant closed the blinds and curtains over the windows and glass doors leading out to the balcony. Cop cars were out there, too, and I knew Rush was using every ounce of power he had to get the vultures off me, but it wouldn’t do any good.

Grant was locked in his apartment like an animal because of me. I hated that. I watched him as he peeked outside, and I started to hate myself. I had done this to him. I was selfish and I let him stay with me. I should have run. I should have forced him to leave me. I should have told him that his fear of caring about someone whom he could lose was very real with me. I wasn’t sure how long I’d live. He could never get me pregnant. I’d seen him looking at Rush with Nate, and I knew he wanted that.

But he could never have it with me.

I was defective.

And now I was ruining his life.

Grant turned back around and saw me staring at him. He frowned and made his way over to me in a few long strides.

“I don’t like the look I see on your face. Ignore that shit out there.”

“I can’t. You’re locked in your apartment because of me.”

Grant raised his eyebrows. “You think I care about that? The only problem I would have with that is if you weren’t with me. But you are. And that makes this a damn nice setup.”

I couldn’t help but smile at the teasing look on his face. He never ceased to make me smile. “You’re gonna want out soon,” I told him, trying to remind him of a very real problem.

Grant didn’t argue with me. Instead, he crooked his finger at me. “Get up,” he demanded.

I did as I was told.

He reached out and caressed my cheek with the back of his hand. “Good girl,” he cooed. “Now, take off your clothes,” he said in a stern voice. It should have made me angry, but the dark, sexy undertones only got my attention in a very different way.

“What?” I asked, starting to breathe harder.

“I said to take off your clothes. I know you heard me correctly,” he said slowly.

I thought about arguing but the way he was watching me changed my mind. I reached for the zipper on my skirt and pulled it down, letting the skirt pool at my feet. I grabbed the hem of my shirt with both hands and pulled it up and over my head slowly. If he wanted to play games, I decided I would, too. When I dropped my shirt to the floor, his gaze burned into me. I could almost feel the heat searing my skin. I reached behind and unhooked my bra before letting it fall forward. I let it dangle from one of my hands then dropped it in front of him.

“Panties,” he said in a husky voice.

I took extra effort in shimmying out of them, then stood there while his heated gaze warmed my body and made it tingle in all the right areas.

“No man would regret being locked away with you,” he said in a low voice and reached out to cup one of my swollen, needy breasts in his hands. “Such responsive nipples. They don’t even need me to touch them. Hard as candy from just my gaze,” he murmured. I thought I should point out that any woman’s nipples would get hard if he looked at them like that. But I didn’t want to think about that. I just wanted to think about us. No one else. Just us.

“Waxing that pussy should be fucking illegal. It’s unfair. A pussy already that damn perfect shouldn’t be made even more irresistible. A man can only handle so much.” His hand slipped down to cup my bare mound, and I whimpered. I wasn’t sure what game we were playing now, but I liked it.

“Wet. Always so wet. You get wet so easily. What makes you wet? What is it I do to you that makes you wet?” he asked as his fingers slid over my moist heat.

“It doesn’t take much. Just a look from you and I get wet,” I told him.

A pleased smirk touched his mouth and he closed the space between us. “Just a look, really? That’s gonna make it hard for me to keep my hand out of your panties. I already think about kissing you and tasting you all damn day long. Knowing your pussy is wet is gonna get you fucked in some dangerous places,” he whispered as he kissed my neck.