Jana looked out over the water and reached for Harper’s hand. “You’ll be there if I need you?”
Tears stung Harper’s eyes, and she noticed Jana’s were glassy, too. “Always. But I know you’ll be fine.”
“Thank you.” Jana sighed and said, “On another note, are you going to take a chance and submit your pages?”
“Yes—when they’re done. I’ll have to see if my agent will take me back, or I might try to get another agent. I know a few people who had friends and managers pitch for them. I have to figure that out. I’m working on writing the second episode, and then I have to read, revise, polish. You know the drill.”
“I’m so glad. Are you going to submit to the guy you chewed out on the plane?”
Harper had almost forgotten she’d told her about him. “Only if I get desperate and everyone else turns me down. The last thing I need is to be reminded of that day. God, I was such a bitch to the poor guy. You know what? He might have lied. Maybe he’s not even in the business. In any case, please don’t mention that I’m going to submit to anyone yet. I haven’t even told Gavin I’m definitely going to do it yet. I don’t want to jinx it, and I don’t want to disappoint him if I get turned down. You don’t think that counts as lying, do you?”
Jana shook her head. “Definitely not. Wait until you get good news to celebrate.”
“And if I get bad news?”
“Then you tell Gavin, cry on his shoulder, and get great cheer-up sex.”
Harper laughed. “You have it all figured out.”
As they headed back the way they came, Harper realized she was getting ready to take a leap of faith with her script, and that felt right, even if it was scary. Maybe it was time to take one with Gavin, too.
Chapter Fifteen
SUNDAY MORNING HARPER lay on Gavin’s bed in her underwear, reading on her phone and listening to Gavin pacing the living room. He was on the phone with his brother. Every few minutes he’d laugh or exclaim, “No way!” or “Holy shit.” They’d been staying together every night since she and Jana went to the play a week and a half ago, and she loved their everyday life. Gavin had cleared space for her clothes in his closet and drawers, and when they’d stayed at her cottage, she’d done the same for him. Their days were busy with work, and sometimes they hung out with their friends and other times it was just the two of them, but they always fell asleep wrapped up in each other’s arms. It was the best feeling in the world. She was surprised at how the blending of their lives had eased her worries. When they had dinner with Harper’s family, Harper had confessed that to Jana, and her sister had said it was because Harper was born to be married and that maybe Gavin was, too. That had started Harper thinking about the future in a bigger way. She imagined celebrating the holidays together, attending Brock and Cree’s wedding, ringing in the New Year, and maybe even toasting the success of her new script. She was getting ahead of herself, but she felt blessed to be with a man who she wanted a future with.
Her phone vibrated with a text from Chloe. Are you still coming to the inn for breakfast? Over the past few days, Chloe and the girls had told her all sorts of funny dating stories, giving her new ideas for her script.
Harper thumbed out, Yes, added a smiling emoji, and sent the message.
Gavin was going riding with Justin, Dwayne, and a few other guys, and Harper had plans to join all the girls for breakfast and then hang out on the beach for the morning with Steph, Chloe, and Jana. She couldn’t believe she’d been in LA for months and had never just relaxed on the beach. Her life had been go, go, go, and she’d never slowed down. But between Gavin treasuring his downtime and her girlfriends’ pursuit of the perfect tan, she was falling back into the laid-back lifestyle of the Cape and loving every second of it—and every second of this cohabitating thing they were doing. Later that afternoon, she and Gavin were going shopping for new living room furniture. He was still figuring out exactly what to do with the sunroom, or maybe he was holding off because she’d been using the floor to organize her papers, though he didn’t seem to mind. Every few days he brought home flowers and refilled the vase they’d brought from her cottage. It was still in the sunroom, along with two others they’d picked up last weekend.
Gavin’s laughter floated into the room, and her thoughts returned to last night, when they’d gone out on the rowboat. Gavin had wanted to do some night fishing, and she’d brought her Kindle so she could read the next novel for their book club. She’d read the sexy passages aloud to him and was surprised she hadn’t been the least bit embarrassed. They had fun critiquing the scenes, and when they’d eventually gone inside, they’d acted them out. Or at least they’d started to, but they’d quickly gotten lost in each other and forgotten to think at all.
Another text from Chloe rolled in. Serena said please ask Gavin for the Wharf folder and bring it with you.
The Wharf was a restaurant Gavin and Serena were redesigning. Gavin had shown Harper some of the designs they’d come up with, which were gorgeous. It was fun to learn more about his job and to watch him in action. He was as passionate about finding the right products and themes for his clients as he was about everything else he did, including discussing Harper’s work. She loved that about him. She was getting closer to submitting her script, and her articles were coming along well, though her editor had delayed the article about Harvey Fine in order to fit in other articles about events that had popped up. She was glad for the extra time. She wanted the article to be perfect, something Harvey would be proud to read, and she’d been endlessly tweaking it.
She typed, Will do, and sent the text to Chloe.
Gavin glanced into the bedroom as he passed. He stopped, took two steps backward, and then his big, sexy body filled the doorframe, wearing only a pair of black boxer briefs. His eyes raked hungrily over her, causing her insides to sizzle.
Harper quickly thumbed out another text, I might be a little late, and sent it to Chloe.
Gavin covered the mouthpiece of his cell phone and said, “I thought you were getting dressed to meet the girls.”
He wasn’t leaving for another hour to meet Justin, so she rolled onto her side, giving him a view of her bare breasts. “I was, but I lay down on the bed to read a chapter or two for the book club, and then Chloe texted. Serena wants me to bring the Wharf folder to breakfast.”
He stepped into the room and said, “Uh-huh.”
She wasn’t sure if that was meant for her or Beckett, but when his eyes trailed down her body again, he got hard, and she decided to tease him a little more. She set her phone on the nightstand and rolled onto her back, stretched her arms above her head, and sighed dramatically. “I told Chloe I’d be a little late.” She trailed her fingertips between her breasts and down to the edge of her panties.
His jaw tightened and he said, “Beck, I gotta go.” He set his phone on the nightstand and crawled over her with a sinful look in his eyes. “You are such a tease.” He lowered his lips to hers, giving her lower lip a tug between his teeth.
She slithered down the bed and hooked her fingers into his briefs, pulling them down as she said, “I’m only a tease if I don’t follow through.” She had never realized how much of herself she’d held back until she’d been with Gavin, and now she never held back at all.