Emmie After getting a text from Shane, I wasted little time. Leaving Mia with Layla and Jesse, I grabbed Nik and pulled him out the door.

It had taken ten minutes to get to the restaurant by taxi. When we walked into the exclusive eatery, I ignored the hostess and headed for the table that I'd reserved for Shane earlier that day. From the look of the other patrons, Nik and I were severely underdressed in jeans and T-shirts. I hadn't known what Shane had planned, only that he was meeting Harper's mother. Of course, Lana had told me a few hours ago that Harper and Mommy Dearest weren't exactly a happy match.

Nik was right behind me as we walked through the dining room. I heard the murmurs of other diners, mostly the females, as they realized who Nik was. Sighs and giggles reached my ears, but they didn't bother me like they once had. I was more confident in Nik's love for me these days.

I spotted Shane at his table and could tell right away that there really was a problem. Shane was running his mouth, his face almost purple with his temper as he spoke loudly to the two women across from him. Meanwhile, Harper was just sitting there like a statue. She looked pale, and there was something in the set of her shoulders that told me she was less than amused. The way she was looking off in the distance made me wonder if she was even aware of the conversation going on around her.

"...I'm a rock star, b.i.t.c.h!" Shane's words filled my ears and I rolled my eyes. Whatever was going on, it seemed more like a p.i.s.sing contest than anything else.

"You're trash," came the retort of the older woman at the table that I a.s.sumed was Harper's mother. She looked nothing like the sweet girl I had met just a few days ago, so I had to make a guess.

Hearing that old biddy speak to my friend like that did nothing for my own temper. I stopped just behind Shane and glared down at the older woman that smelled like a perfume factory and looked like an advertis.e.m.e.nt for clown school with all the makeup she was wearing. My mouth opened and I wasn't even sure what was about to come out when a strong hand covered my lips.

I shot Nik a glare, but he just grinned down at me. "Sorry, baby girl. We want to stay and your mouth will get us kicked out."

Of course he was right, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"High paid trash, actually," Shane informed the older woman with what sounded like a smirk in his tone. "With big connections. One phone call and that cushy modeling contract you have will no longer exist."

Oh, I liked that idea. I didn't know if Shane was bluffing or not, but I planned to follow through on it. Mentally, I rubbed my hands together in glee. Nik, seeing the wheels turning in my eyes, laughed and released me.

Before I could step forward, Harper stood. She murmured something about the ladies' room and hurried away. Shane started to follow her, but I put a hand on his shoulder. I felt some of the tension leave him when he realized that I had arrived. He knew I had his back and would always do so.

"Hey."

I grinned down at him. "Hi. I would ask how your evening is going, but I caught the last five seconds of your conversation." My gaze went to the two women seated across the table. "Why don't you show these two delightful ladies to the door while I go talk with Harper?" I suggested with frost in my tone.

"She's so upset..." Shane's voice cracked ever so slightly, making my heart squeeze for him.

"I'll be gentle," I promised. After everything that had happened with Lana, I had learned my lesson. It didn't matter that I had only been looking out for Drake. I should have treated Lana better. Unfortunately, it had taken her nearly dying for me to realize that...

Pushing those thoughts away, I followed after Harper.

The bathroom was empty except for the beautiful girl standing by the long sink frowning at her reflection. Shane had told me so much about her over the last month or so. I hadn't really believed him about her self-esteem problem until now. I mean really? She was gorgeous with her thick, silky caramel hair. And that body? f.u.c.k, I would kill for that a.s.s. And those eyes? I had to spend a good ten minutes on makeup to get that wide eyed, soulful look even behind those kick a.s.s chic gla.s.ses.

"No offence, but your mom is a b.i.t.c.h," I told her.

She stiffened at the sound of my voice, and I watched her eyes fill with annoyance in the mirror. I didn't blame her. She probably thought I had come to put my two cents in. I was sure that Lana had vented to her friends about me, and I only respected Harper more for being loyal to Lana.

But instead of sounding annoyed, Harper's tone was just tired when she agreed with me. "Yeah, she's always been like that."

I sat down on the little sofa. I still couldn't understand why there was one in the ladies' room at these snotty a.s.s restaurants but appreciated it in that moment. "I can relate. My mother was a real monster."

Harper turned to face me. "She told you on a daily basis that you were ugly and would never compare to your incredibly beautiful stepsister?"

"No, sweetie. She beat me daily. That is when she wasn't stoned out of her mind." I patted the spot beside of me on the sofa when Harper's face paled.

After only a small hesitation, she moved and sat beside of me. "I...I'm sorry."

"Don't be. That part of my life was over when she overdosed." And that was when my real life began on the road with my guys-my family, if not by blood then by choice. "There are different types of child abuse, though. And I think you were just as much a victim as I was."

Harper shook her head. "No, my life was perfect compared to yours..."

"So you enjoyed being called ugly?" I rolled my eyes at her. "Verbal abuse leaves wounds too, sweetheart." She clenched her jaw and I sighed, not wanting to argue with her. "So tell me about it. Tell me how it was growing up with that hag out in the dining room."

She was quiet for so long that I started to wonder if she was even going to talk to me, but then she grimaced. "Monica and my dad divorced when I was young. Neither of them really took an interest in me, not that I cared. Less than a year later, she married my stepdad. He had more money than my dad...but Cecil was sweet. He cared about me. Still does."

"That's great. I'm glad you have him. Shane's told me about him and the few times that you guys have gone out together."

Violet eyes flashed with surprise. "Really?"

"Of course. Shane is always talking about you. I'm seriously getting tired of hearing all about Harper Jones." I was only half joking because, really, I couldn't call Shane without having to hear about the girl.

"I knew Ariana even before my mom married her dad. Our mothers were best friends. I was being compared to her from birth, actually. But when she became my stepsister it got worse. Then she started the modeling and life went from bearable to not so great in the blink of an eye. Of course p.u.b.erty sucked a.s.s." She ran a hand through her hair. "I had horrible skin, thick gla.s.ses, and braces. Really, I was hideous."

I couldn't contain my snort. "That's just teenage years. They suck for us all, babe."

"Yeah, well it's hard when you're surrounded by perfect models and the att.i.tude that goes with them," Harper informed me, and I tried to see it through her eyes. I had never really had a girl as a friend until I had met Layla, but I knew that teenaged girls were nightmares from the one year I'd spent in high school before I'd gone to live with the guys. Girls were truly evil. I could only imagine the horror of being surrounded by those types of girls that also got paid for their looks.

All of that on top of being told by the one person that should have been supportive but was nothing but negative would have given any girl a complex.

"Isn't your best friend one of those girls though?" Shane and Lana both had told me that Dallas was an ex model.

A small smile teased the corners of Harper's Cupid's bow mouth. "Yeah, but Dallas isn't like them. She never wanted to be a model. Her mom is even more of a nightmare than my own. She forced Dallas into beauty pageants back in Texas until she was discovered and her mom signed her life over to a modeling agency until she turned twenty-one."

"That sucks."

"It hurt Dallas a lot. She always dreamed of being a nurse. She's really caring under all that att.i.tude."

"I believe you." I had actually really liked the other girl, her tattoos and piercings only drawing me to her more.

For a good twenty minutes I sat and talked to Harper. Then Shane started texting me, and I figured it was time to go out and let him work things out with this girl of his. I stood but Harper remained seated. "Come on, let's go out and have some dessert," I urged her. "I know you have a weakness for lemon cake."

She gave me a small smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. "You go. I just need another minute or two."

I shook my head. "He really is sorry, Harper. Shane cares about you and would never willingly hurt you."

Her jaw clenched and she didn't answer, but I wasn't going to get in the middle. Not this time. I had learned my lesson with Drake and Lana...

When I returned to Shane and Nik it was to find that Lady Tremaine and the ugly stepsister look alike were long gone. One look at Shane told me that he wasn't doing too great. His face was pale, his eyes glazed with a mixture of tears and alcohol. I sat down beside him and grasped his hands.

"Talk to me."

"I've f.u.c.ked up. I played a game with my relationship with Harper and lost." He tossed back the last of what looked like bourbon in his gla.s.s.

I couldn't disagree with him. I'd seen for myself how upset Harper was, but that didn't mean he lost her. Just as I'd seen how upset she was, I'd seen a little deeper than the other girl had liked. Miss Harper Jones was in love with one of my guys.

Harper I waited until the door was closed behind Emmie and then started counting. Slowly I reached one hundred and grabbed my purse.

Tonight had been a disaster!

All I wanted was to go home and hide under my covers. I felt like I was eleven years old all over again, wanting to hide from my mother and stepsister and the disdain I knew they felt for me. I had no idea why my mother hated me so much that she felt she had to constantly beat me down with her mean, vile words. Ariana was different. I knew all her reasons for hating me, and I hated her right back. Even if at one point in our lives I had hoped that we could be friends.

I was thankful that the bathrooms were close to an exit that most of the servers used as their entrance to work. I rushed outside and down the little alley to the street, my arm already raised to flag down a cab. A small part of me felt like I was being devious, sneaking out on Shane the way I was without so much as a goodbye, but I didn't think I could handle seeing him right then.

All day I had been on cloud nine. Half in love with a guy that treated me like I was the only thing that mattered to him. A job that I had only ever dreamed about waiting for me to step up and grasp with both hands. Now... Now I felt like a kicked puppy, that same feeling that I was always left with after seeing my mother. Only this time it was intensified by a thousand because Shane had set me up for that pain.

From the moment I had seen Monica and Ariana sitting at our table I had shut down and completely tuned Shane out. I was aware when he spoke, when he so much as moved beside me. But what he said had been lost in my numb mind. He had broken something inside me that I hadn't even known was so fragile, something I hadn't even been aware I had given him.

Trust. I had trusted him wholeheartedly.

And he had tricked me into meeting with my mother and stepsister tonight. For what gain? I was clueless to the answer. I knew that it wasn't because he wanted to meet the semi-famous model, Ariana Calloway. Shane had met his fair share of models much more beautiful and more popular than my stepsister.

The taxi stopped at a red light. Swallowing hard around the dry lump in my throat, I pulled my cellphone from my bag and called Dallas. It rang five times before going to voicemail. Figuring she was already at the club waiting to celebrate my new job, I just left a message telling her I wasn't going to meet her and Linc. I had a headache and was heading home to sleep it off.

It wasn't exactly a lie. My head was pounding. Turning off my phone, I threw it into my purse.

Traffic was h.e.l.l. It took twice as long to get home as it had to get to the restaurant in the town car earlier that evening. When the cab finally stopped in front of my building, I tossed the driver all the cash I had in my purse. It must have been enough, plus a decent tip, because he didn't argue when I stepped out and headed toward the front door.

Curtis, the night doorman greeted me, but all I could manage was a weak smile as I stepped into the thankfully waiting elevator. It only took a few moments to get to the twelfth floor, but my head was really starting to ache so it felt longer. When the elevator stopped, I stepped out, my attention on getting my keys from my purse.

"I'm sorry!"

My head snapped up at Shane's voice and I stopped. It hurt to look at him, but I did. His dinner jacket was gone, his once white shirt soaked in his sweat. He was panting and I knew that he must have run all the way from the restaurant. A glance at his once perfect Italian shoes told me that he had scuffed them up to the point of ruin after running that distance in them.

I couldn't find the words or even the will to yell at him. I was equal parts hurt and in awe. What had been the point of tonight? To see if I was breakable? If that was the case, then the answer was a definite yes.

Strong, sweat dampened arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me into his hot body. He tucked my head under his chin, and I pressed against him. His heart was racing as fast as a champion race horse in my ear. Those strong arms actually trembled as he tightened them around me.

"I'm so sorry."

Still, I didn't speak. My vocal cords felt paralyzed, so I just let him hold me for a while longer.

I wasn't sure how long we stood there like that, but Shane finally stepped back and took my keys from me. I felt cold, lost, and alone those few seconds he was gone from me. He opened the door to the apartment and turned back to me. I saw the gla.s.siness in those blue-gray eyes as he lifted me like I was a fragile gla.s.s doll and carried me inside.

My eyes had been dry all evening, but now as he gently carried me into my apartment and then to my bedroom, I felt my eyes fill with scalding tears. A broken sob escaped me and I felt him tense.

Tenderly, Shane placed me on my bed. I watched through my tears as he tore his shirt off and then came back to me. His eyes were bright and it shocked me when I saw a tear escape. It rolled down his cheek and fell, landing on my own cheek.

"I'm sorry, beautiful," he whispered.

"Wh-why?" I finally got out in a hoa.r.s.e voice.

"Why what, baby?"

"Why did you do that?" The question exploded from me. "What did you have to prove?"

He closed his eyes, shaking his dark head. "I don't even know any more. It all kind of clicked into place when I talked to your stepsister this morning. No matter how many times I tell you that you are the most beautiful thing I have ever seen, you never believe me. I realized that Ariana and your mom must be behind all of that." He sucked in a shaky breath and another tear escaped his eyes. "I thought I could make you face your demons and prove to you that no matter what you will always be breathtaking to me."

Shane swallowed hard and broke my heart a little more as the tears began to fall faster. "But all I proved to you was that I'm a d.i.c.k."

With trembling fingers I wiped his tears away. I couldn't disagree with him. Tonight had not been good for us. But for just a moment, a really small moment, I had done something I never had before. I had stood up to my mother. Crazy enough, she and Ariana were the only two people in the world I cowered to. They had this insane power to make me feel weak.

And tonight, I had stood my ground-for about five seconds-but still I knew it was Shane standing beside me that gave me even that little bit of courage. It had also shown me something that scared the living h.e.l.l out of me.

Monica and Ariana no longer had the power to destroy me.

Because Shane now held all of that precious power in his big, calloused hands.

Chapter 16.

Shane When I realized that Harper had left the restaurant, I knew I was on the very edge of losing her. Terrified didn't even begin to describe how scared I was. I left Emmie and Nik still sitting at the table for four and rushed outside.

When I didn't see her on the streets, I wasted no time calling Dallas in a desperate hope that Harper had went in search of her friends. Getting the other girl's voicemail had made my fear rise a few levels, and I just started running. Ten blocks later I was tossing my jacket at some homeless guy I had seen in a side alley because it was slowing me down.

The streets of New York were always crowded, but tonight they had been especially so. I had to push through the ma.s.ses that slowed me down, not caring that I left people cursing at my back. By the time I got to Harper's apartment and questioned the night doorman, she still hadn't returned.

I was thankful that Lana had put me on her list of approved guests. The guy didn't stop me when I stepped onto the elevator. I was determined to see Harper tonight, even if I had to camp out in front of her door all night.

Now, as I stared down at the beautiful creature lying beside me on her bed, I realized something I should have already known. I could tell her I loved her a million times, but that would probably never register as the truth for her. I needed to show her, prove to her as well as say the words... And after tonight I was sure that I had only proved the complete opposite.

Blinking back my tears, I brushed a soft kiss over her forehead. I felt her tremble ever so slightly and knew that despite the disaster that tonight had been, she still wanted me just as much as I wanted her. "Can I make love to you?" I whispered, praying that she wouldn't push me away.

I watched as she swallowed hard, but after only the smallest of hesitations, she nodded. Some of the pressure around my heart eased, and I felt like I could take a deep breath for the first time that evening. I didn't give her time to think about her decision; I simply set out to prove to her how much I loved her with the one thing I knew I couldn't get wrong.

Just as tenderly as I had kissed her, I undressed her.

I brushed another kiss over her forehead, still tenderly but with all the love I felt weighing down on me. I inhaled the scent of her shampoo and was intoxicated by that delicate scent that reminded me of Harper. My lips trailed across her cheek to her jaw, lower to her neck, and over her collar bone.

I didn't go near her lips, refused to get too close to those sensitive b.r.e.a.s.t.s of hers. Right then all I wanted was to show her that I worshiped her body. If I let myself explore her hot mouth, or even those beautiful t.i.ts of hers, I would be just as lost as she would be. And this wasn't about losing our heads. This was about loving Harper.

I kissed across her right shoulder and down her arm, delighting in the little goose b.u.mps that popped up on her sweet smelling skin. While my lips left no place untended, my fingers were busy tracing every feminine line of Harper: down her hips, her outer thighs, and over her calves to her ankles. Her skin was smooth, perfect. I loved the feel of it under my rough hands.

I grasped her feet with both hands, ma.s.saging the arches until she groaned with pleasure. Slowly, I kissed my way down her body until I reached her tiny feet. My tongue licked over the little ball at her ankle, making her jerk in pleasure that neither of us knew was possible. Her toes curled in my hands, and I knew that she was aching for something only I could give her.

I took my time. There was no rush as I kissed my way back up her legs. When I reached her knees, I urged her thighs apart. She spread willingly for me, like a flower blooming in the morning sun. My breath was trapped in my lungs as I looked down at the gorgeous woman before me.

This girl was my destiny. Now I just had to prove it to her.

Her thighs were like silk. They quivered with need under my fingertips, making my d.i.c.k strain against the fly of my dress pants. I ached for her on a level that was nearly terrifying, but this wasn't about me and my needs. This was for Harper.