“She started fussing at bedtime, saying that she wanted to sleep in her big girl bed. Nothing calmed her, so I brought her over here and let her have her way. I was too tired to fight with her and I was going to sleep in your guest room.”
“I’m sorry she gave you trouble,” Harlow said.
“She’s no trouble,” Gloria Jean said. “She’s a little angel.”
Harlow giggled, “Sure, Mama,” she said.
“Well, since your home, I’m going to walk back over to my house and sleep in my own bed. Night, baby,” she said, kissing Harlow’s cheek. She nodded to Ryker, “Good to meet you,” she said. He noted that she didn’t ask if he’d be staying, and Harlow made no move to tell her mother about the danger she was in. He’d need to talk to her about that because her mom’s house was only steps away. If Billows came looking for Harlow, he’d find her mother just next door. She’d need to be warned too—but not tonight.
“Your mom left her shotgun,” he said, nodding to the rocking chair behind her.
“Oh—that’s mine,” she said.
“You have a shotgun?” he asked.
“When you live out in the middle of nowhere—just two women and a toddler, you get yourself a shotgun,” she said.
“I guess that makes sense. I just never had you pegged as a gun owner,” he said.
“There’s a lot that you don’t know about me, Ryker.” He watched as she grabbed the shotgun and started into her house. She was right, there wasn’t a lot that he knew about her, but the more time he spent with her, the more he wanted to get to know every last detail about Harlow.
She showed him around her house and checked in on her sleeping daughter. Was it crazy that he was nervous about meeting her two-year-old in the morning? He liked Harlow and he wanted her daughter to like him in return. He knew the score—if the kid didn’t like him, he’d find himself out on his ass before he’d even made his move on Harlow.
“This is that spare room that my Mama was saying she was going to sleep in. I hope it’s okay for you,” Harlow said.
He peeked into the room and nodded. “It’s nice,” he said.
“Great,” she said. “I’m afraid that I don’t have much in the fridge but help yourself to anything. I’m going to hit the sheets.” She turned to walk back down the hallway to her room and turned back around. “Oh, we only have one bathroom. Please make sure that you shut and lock the door so that my daughter doesn’t walk in on you.”
“Sure, no problem,” he agreed. “I’m just here until this mess is over, honey. Once Ace has Billows under control, I’ll be out of your hair, I promise.”
“Thanks,” Harlow said. “I know that you’re just here to help, but I hate having to have a babysitter.” He wanted to protest at the term she just called him. He wasn’t a damn babysitter. Hell, there was nothing more that he’d like to do than show her that he wasn’t her damn babysitter, but he backed down every time he wanted to follow his darkest desires with her. Harlow wasn’t ready for that, and there was no way that he’d risk her shoving his ass out of her house. Ryker was lucky that she offered him the guest room. Honestly, he would have been happy on her sofa, but he wouldn’t tell her that now.
“Night Ryker,” she said.
“Good night, Harlow,” he whispered, walking into the spare room. He was going to give her time to use the bathroom and then, he’d take a hot shower and try to wash away the day. All he wanted to do was sleep, but he had a feeling that he wasn’t going to get a whole lot of that tonight.
* * *
Ryker woke up early the next morning wanting to get a jump start on his day. He had fallen asleep last night while waiting for Harlow to have her shower first. He decided to take a quick shower since she was still sleeping. He grabbed the bag he’d packed for himself and headed across the hallway to the bathroom.
He liked Harlow’s place—it felt homey and comfortable. His apartment felt sterile and bland, but that was by his own choice. Ryker never really had any place that felt like home since his mother died. He had a bed, sofa, and television—and that was enough for him.
He washed his hair, soaped up his body, and was just about to rinse off and hop out of the shower when he heard the bathroom door open. “Hello,” he called, poking his head out from behind the shower curtain.
“Hi,” a little voice called back. He looked down to find a little blond hair, blue-eyed toddler looking up at him.
“Where’s your mommy, sweetheart?” he asked the little girl.
“Asleep,” she said.
“Can you go get her for me?” he asked.
The toddler shook her head and smiled up at him. “No, I take bath too?” she asked.
“Um, no, honey,” he said. He’d forgotten to lock the bathroom door as Harlow instructed, and now he wasn’t sure what to do next about her daughter barging into the bathroom with him.
“Harlow,” he shouted. “Harlow, I could use a little bit of help here,” he said. Ryker practically had the shower curtain wrapped around his body and the toddler stood by, not taking her eyes off of him. He wasn’t sure if she had even blinked since he found her standing in the bathroom.
“What’s going on?” Harlow asked, walking into the bathroom. She was dressed in just a t-shirt and was wiping her sleepy eyes. He could tell that her guard was down because her hair wasn’t down in her face. He could see the hint of what he thought was a scar on her left cheek. She was halfway through a yawn when she realized what was happening. “Oh, God,” she breathed.
“Yeah, I might have forgotten to lock the door like you told me,” he admitted. “I was about to rinse off when I heard the door open and well, there she was.”
“I’m sorry, but you were warned, Ryker,” Harlow said. She was totally right, but he hated admitting fault before even having a cup of coffee.
“Noted,” he said. “Would you mind giving me just a minute to finish up in here?” he asked.
“Sure,” she agreed. She had pulled her hair back over her face, covering her scar and he wondered if she’d ever share her story with him. Every time he asked, she’d shut down and tell him that she didn’t want to talk about it, but he was sure that it had everything to do with her ex-husband.
“I’ll take Iris down to the kitchen to make some coffee. Just come down when you’re dressed,” she ordered. Harlow picked up her daughter and started out of the bathroom, giving him one last look back. He nodded at her as he pulled the towel around his waist. All in all, things could have gone much worse. Her mother held him at gunpoint and Harlow’s two-year-old almost saw him naked. If he was going to impress her, he was going to have to do better, or at least try to anyway.