Tryst - Forbidden Hearts Series Book 4

42| Eeny, Meeny, Miney, Moe

"Jackson, are you ready? Gwen's plane arrives in an hour. We need to get a move on or we're going to be late." 

I cursed under my breath before I swiped my wallet off of the bedside table and slid it inside my back pocket. After the cake-tasting and lunch yesterday, we went to see a few bands. Out of the six that we saw, Harper loved two of them. I didn't mind either one. They were both pretty talented and would suit the wedding well. When Harper told me to pick which one I liked, I replied to her that it was going to end up being a case of eeny, meeny, miney, mo. Didn't matter though. It was what came after that that now had me walking out of my bedroom and straight to where Harper was waiting for me in the kitchen. 

She was putting some of the clean dishes away when she turned and saw me in the archway. "Hey. You ready?" When I didn't say anything, she sat the plate she was holding down on the counter. "Something wrong?" 

Was there something wrong? Bloody hell, but that was the understatement of the century wasn't it? Besides the times we were apart, and the passing of my mum, keeping this secret from Harper was one of the hardest things I've ever had to deal with. When I woke up this morning, with her soft naked body in my arms, I knew I wouldn't last another day without telling her the truth. Which brought us to right-fucking-now. 

I cleared my throat once. Then twice. And a third time. "Princess, there's something I need to tell you. Something...There's something that I've done."

"That you've done? That doesn't sound good." She looked away from me, her eyes dropping to the blue plate. "Were you with someone else?" 

My mouth dropped open. "What? No! Fuck no. I would never do that. Ever."

In all fairness, I couldn't be offended that her mind went there. She knew who I was before we met. Add that with me saying that I've done something wrong, it wasn't surprising that that's where her mind went. But fuck, did it still hurt. 

"Then what is it?" she asked softly. Even though her voice was steady I didn't miss the hint of fear in it. 

I inhaled a deep breath before I confessed, "I went to see your mum."

Her lips parted slightly. She blinked repeatedly. Then the expression on her face was more confused than angry. "You went—when? When was this?" 

Tell her everything, I told myself. "Before girl's night. I went there because I knew you were still hurting after you tried to invite them to the wedding. I wanted to—to, I had to do something to try to get them to be there. I'm so sorry that I went behind your back, Harper. I was just hoping that—"

"I can't believe this!" 

Ah, there it was. Fuck. Fucking motherfucking fuck. I knew the minute I decided to even go see her mum that this was going to backfire—and I had no one to blame but myself.

"Jackson, I specifically told you not to get involved with the issues between my parents and me. Not only did you ignore that, but you weren't even going to tell me!."

She knew me a little too well. "I know. I know and I'm sorry." I ran a hand through my hair. "What can I do, princess? What can I do to make this right? To get you to forgive me?" 

I would do anything she bloody wanted me to. I would gladly sleep on the couch. Or at Ayden's, if that's what she wanted. Hell, I would get on my needs and grovel. Anything. I would do anything for this women. 

I waited patiently while she paced around the kitchen. I knew we were already on a time crunch to pick up Gwen from the airport, but I couldn't rush this. Even though it seemed like hours before she finally turned and came to stand in front of me, it had only been a few minutes.