Page 33 of Singled Out

That was on me, but the sooner I could get her out of here, the better.

When I walked back into Danny’s room, I was stunned to find him snuggled up to Harper. I hadn’t been sure he’d go to her at all, but I damn sure didn’t expect him to relax and accept her so easily.

Understandably, he was hesitant with anyone outside our family. He was used to me, my mom, Levi, and Dakota. I’d never left him in anyone else’s care. If my family couldn’t stay with him, I canceled my plans.

It appeared my son had as hard a time resisting the allure of Harper as I did.

Any other time, I would’ve been relieved to see it, but at the moment, it was like rubbing salt into my self-imposed wound.

Biting down on my annoyance, trying to reclaim an ounce of calmness for Danny’s sake, I stepped toward her and reached for my son. “Let’s get you back to sleep, Danny boy.”

I was careful about how I took him back, touching Harper as little as possible, not wanting to catch her scent again. I’d be hard-pressed as it was to get her out of my mind.

Danny came to me as he always did, but he peered back at Harper with interest. She smiled and gave him a little wave.

“Can I do anything else?” she asked.

“You’ve done enough. Just go to bed so I can get him back to sleep.”

I didn’t realize how harshly the words came across until I saw Harper stiffen, her mouth open as if she’d been about to say something and then thought better of it.

She pressed her lips together, lowered her chin, and walked out the door without another word.

That was shitty of me and I knew it, but my priority now was getting Danny back to sleep, so I let her go.

Chapter Eleven

Harper

I slept for maybe two hours in Max’s guest room and woke up before the sun rose.

I lay there in that luxurious bed, so uncomfortable in my own skin it was as if I’d gotten blackout drunk last night and made irrevocable, bad decisions that would change my life forever. Except I hadn’t consumed anything but a couple of weak cocktails at the gala, and I hadn’t committed to any decisions, life-changing or otherwise.

I’d merely realized how badly I needed to.

And then there was Max.

Just before six a.m., I stuffed the few things I’d brought with me into my backpack and put it on.

When I snuck out through the guest room’s exterior door, the sun was just rising, casting the lake in muted pinks and yellows. In spite of my grouchiness, it was a sight to behold. I couldn’t help but wonder what it’d be like to live on the water and start every day with such a view.

I made my way around to the other side of the house, walked through the manicured lawn to the street, and took off in a jog toward home. I knew it had to be seven or eight miles, farther than I usually ran, but I hadn’t figured out a better way to get there. I had friends I could call, but I wasn’t up for explaining the Max situation to any of them and particularly not to Dakota. I didn’t want to talk about Max at all. As far as I was concerned, he could fornicate himself right off after the way he’d acted last night in Danny’s room.

Did I screw up by kissing him?

Probably.

Okay, resounding yes.

But there was no justification for him acting like an asshole when I’d only asked if I could help with anything else. I’d take the blame for the kiss but not for his son’s dirty diaper or the battery in the baby monitor going dead.

I would need the full eight miles to work off my bad mood.

I headed toward downtown, which was on the way home, thankful not many people were out and about yet.

I needed to stop thinking of Naomi’s house as home since it was clear I was no longer welcome. I wasn’t sure how I’d handle her jackass brother when I got there, if he was still there, but I’d figure it out. I hoped everything would be okay now that it was daylight and he’d had a chance to sober up, but I wasn’t going to lower my guard.

When I reached the town square, the only businesses that were open this early, as usual, were the bakery, the diner, and the gym. I went into Sugar to get a bottle of water since I hadn’t planned this third-of-a-marathon trek this morning and didn’t have my own bottle with me.