Done (Harmony Haven #1)

Chapter 35

Chapter Thirty-Five

JESSE

“I don’t mean to pry,” Ms. Ellison settled onto my couch with a cup of coffee, “but I have the candle that qualifies me to ask things that a nosy neighbor needs to know.”

My smile was hard to contain when she made a point like that. Afterall, she hadn’t asked about Easton in nearly a week, and that had to have been driving her crazy. I should have known she was bound to cave before the weekend. Using the candle I gave her as her justification to probe only made me love her more.

“Easton has sent a few text messages, but he hasn’t come by,” I explained, without her even having to ask.

“Well that’s because you have your car in the garage now. It wasn’t until I saw you and Max playing in the front yard the other day that I even knew you were home.”

“He knows where my car is,” I assured her. “But I think he knows I’m feeling a little guilty about my lack of parenting skills. I did exactly what I swore I wouldn’t do. I got distracted and Max ended up getting hurt.”

“Jesse, dear. Max getting hurt had nothing to do with your ability to parent. In fact, it was good that Max had Easton there and you know it. So what else is happening?”

Licking my lips, I shook my head and took a deep sigh. The conversation that I overheard in the gas station before I left for Atlanta replayed in my head. Remember what he did to Rory Marte?”

“What do you know about him and Rory Marte?”

“Rory?” Ms. Ellison sat back, looking confused at first then glancing up at me as if something had just struck her. “It is no secret that she has been in love with Easton since they were in high school. Then she left town for a few years after they graduated. I don’t know the whole story, but it was rumored that Easton took her innocence and left her heartbroken.”

“I don’t want to end up like that when I need to be strong and put together for my son. I can’t afford to be one of Easton’s victims.”

“Well that’s a pretty harsh word for a man that has no control over how women respond to him.”

“What if he’s still seeing her? I mean, besides a working relationship?”

Ms. Ellison turned white, and her jaw popped open before she closed it tight and shook her head. “No.”

“I overheard some things,” I confessed.

“As did I. But I never believed it. If I had, I’d have told you and kicked his ass.”

I believed her. I trusted that she would have warned me. But it was still my sign to let him go. It still mattered to me, even if it wasn’t the way Ms. Ellison thought it was.

Maybe it was time I called Easton and put us both out of our misery.

He tossed his keys from one hand to the other as he walked up the driveway. He looked nervous and I could see his throat moving up and down as he swallowed his feelings.

Before he could make it to the porch, I stepped out and greeted him. It was a simple smile and a small wave, but he stopped in his tracks and instantly looked at ease. As if seeing me had made everything he was feeling just disappear.

“Hey baby,” he breathed, making my knees wobble from the way that nickname sounded with his deep tone.

“Hi.”

“You okay?” He motioned to how I had started holding on to the post of the porch and was squeezing so hard my knuckles were white.

“Um,” I took my hands down and wiped them on my pants. “Yeah.”

He walked closer, keeping his eyes on mine and a small smile on his face. There was a wary gaze in his eyes, but he didn’t speak again until he was on the bottom step and even with my height.

“I was glad you asked me to come over.” He reached for my hand and caressed it with his thumb, before pulling it to his lips. “I just hope everything’s okay.”

“It is, or it will be.” I pulled his hand and led him the rest of the way up the porch stairs, then into the front door. Originally, I thought I’d stay outside, but I could see someone lurking across the street, a few doors down from Ms. Ellison. The neighbors were nosy, and I bet they all wanted to be the first to report when Easton and I were no longer seeing each other.

“Max okay?” Easton asked as he sat on the couch. “I’ve missed him.”

His tone was sad as he spoke about Max. No matter how sure I was that he and I needed to be friends, I was twice as sure that he loved Max and missed him. I vowed to let him and Max remain friends as well.

“Max is good, back in school. I really am sorry for the way I snapped at you at the clinic, by the way. I know you were?—”

“Hey,” Easton spoke softly and grabbed my hand, pulling me to sit beside him. “You don’t have to apologize, Jess. It was scary, and stressful, and to be honest, you were right. You didn’t owe it to me to tell me you were heading to Atlanta. I shouldn’t have even asked at that moment why you didn’t.”

Tears brimmed my eyes because I expected him to be a little more disgruntled about that moment. It would make what I had to say next that much easier. Why did he have to be so… perfect?

“We’re done,” I bluntly spit out, scared if I said anything else I’d forget why I had called him in the first place.

“You think so?” He smirked, almost looking bashful.

“We have to be.” Why didn’t he seem shocked or angry? Why didn’t he look taken aback from my words? Why didn’t he seem to be taking me seriously?

“You warned me, didn’t ya?”

I nodded, swallowing the ache that coursed through my body. The urge to climb in his lap and tell him to forget what I had just said was overwhelming.

“But I warned you too, remember?” He continued, lifting my chin slightly so that I was looking directly in his eyes. “I can wait as long as I have to.”

“Easton,” I shook my head, my voice cracking. “You don’t mean that. You?—”

His mouth against mine silenced me, and my arms wrapped around his neck. It had been my intention to tell him that it wasn’t just about me and Max, and that I knew he had unfinished business with Rory.

But that all was lost because what I really wanted was exactly what he was giving me. He had a way of making me forget, taking me away from all the things that seemed like trouble when I was alone and left to overthink.

“I’ll wait,” he mumbled against my lips, “I mean it more now than I did the first time I said it.”

He trailed his lips away from my mouth and down my neck, moaning against my skin as his tongue snuck out to taste. An involuntary tremble coursed through me, and tears once again ran down my cheek. Not in sadness, but in need.

“Please let me touch you,” Easton begged.

I was already nodding my head, wanting him too badly to finish the conversation I had brought him there to have. That conversation could be had later, and I rationalized that we needed a proper goodbye. The last time we were together wasn’t supposed to be the last time.

“Touch me,” I practically demanded, which was such a contrast to the last words I had tried saying.

Easton’s fingers slid up my inner thigh, slowly making their way under the dress I was suddenly thankful that I had worn. When he reached the apex of my legs, he snuck one finger under the fabric of my panties and gently rubbed his knuckle over my clit.

“I’m gonna let you finish telling me whatever you need to tell me, baby. You deserve to say anything you want to me, even if I’m not gonna like it. But before you do, I need the chance to remind you how perfect we are together.”

He growled the word perfect, making me nod in agreement. Then his mouth was back on mine, his tongue pushing between my lips, and his finger grinding harder between my legs.

Without meaning to, I let out a loud moan that would have woken the neighbors if it hadn’t been the middle of the afternoon. Thankfully there were dogs barking, someone mowing a lawn, and cars driving by to drown out the noise. Based on how Easton was already making my body pulse, we were going to need all the background noises we could get to hide how vocal he was making me.

“Take me to bed,” I pleaded.

Without hesitating, he lifted me into his arms, cradling me as if he had just rescued me from a fire. My head rested on his shoulder as he climbed the stairs and kicked open the gate I kept at the top.

“I’ll fix that.”

When he laid me down on the bed, I thought for sure he was going to tear my clothes off. But he hesitated, hovering over me, our eyes staying locked. His breathing was erratic, as if he was holding himself back from chaos.

“You’re gonna break my heart,” he whispered matter of factly, then leaned down and kissed me. Not giving me the chance to tell him how impossible that felt when it was clear I was too busy breaking my own.