Page 16 of Secret of His Soulmate

“You need to go say hello,” Daphne says through her smile.

I whisper back, “I know, but I don’t want to. I’m the villain in this story.”

Still, I get up and walk over to the St. James women.

“Hello, Mrs. St. James. Hi, Ivy.” I smile, but I’m sure it looks fake as hell. “How are you?”

“Hey, Harper, I’m good. I was so sorry to hear about your house. Wilder said it was a disaster,” Ivy answers while Mrs. St. James just looks me over.

Yep, she hates me now. I hurt one of her boys and she’ll never forgive me. I remember how she used to feel about Scarlett. This woman can take it to extremes when it comes to her children. In the dictionary next to the phrase Mama Bear is a picture of Mrs. St. James.

“Ivy, can I talk to Harper for a second?” Mrs. St. James asks.

Ivy looks at me with sympathy, but says, “Of course, I’ll go look for more things for Jovie.”

“Harper, let's go sit over here.” Mrs. St. James leads me to a table by the window and we sit together. “How are you doing? I know the stuff with your house must be stressful.”

“Yes, not having my own space and seeing the thing I worked so hard for like that has been hard, but I’m okay.”

“I’m not going to beat around the bush. I know something happened between you and Miles, but I have no idea what that thing is. Miles won’t say anything that might come around to hurt you, but that boy misses you. I’m assuming something romantic happened and maybe you got frightened.”

“Um.” I’m not sure what to say, but suddenly I want to talk to this woman who just exudes maternal energy. “I ran like a coward. Our relationship was changing and I’m so scared that I will lose that man. He means everything to me. So, instead of telling him that I couldn’t live without him, I left in the middle of the night and have been ignoring him for the last several days. I don’t deserve someone as wonderful as Miles St. James.”

“Nonsense.” Mrs. St. James huffs. “Miles is wonderful, but he also has faults. You are building him up in your head to be perfection and he’s not. Did he tell you how he felt? Did he reassure you that your friendship wasn’t in danger because of whatever romantic steps you did or didn’t take? The whole family has known his feelings for you since he met you, but he’s always been afraid to voice them to you. If you are a coward, then so is he.”

My heart beats fast as I listen to what she says. I start to say something to Mrs. St. James in response, but she cuts me off.

“I don’t think either of you are cowards, you’re just young people figuring everything out. It would be easier to do if you were honest with each other, but you’ll get there eventually. Now, the test will be if you’re happy or not. I think that’s what you really need to think about. What will make you the happiest for the rest of your life, and if you don’t know, be honest about that.”

I jump up from the table, my whole body feeling flushed. I need to talk to Miles. I lean over and hug Mrs. St. James. “Thank you so much. I really needed to hear this. I’ve never really had a mom who cared and I’m so glad that Miles and all the St. James kids have you.”

“Harper, you have me too. Whenever you need anything, I’m here.”

I wave to everyone and run out of Cosmic Books. I hope Miles will meet me at his house. Looking at the clock on my dashboard,I see that it’s only one in the afternoon. Maybe I should text him to meet me there? I send him a quick message asking if we can talk, and he immediately responds saying he can be at his place in thirty minutes. That gives me time to run to Bridget’s house, change clothes, and pick up Titan.

Chapter 16

Miles

I rush homefrom Harper’s house and manage to take a quick shower before she gets here. I’ve missed her like crazy. I’ve spent the last couple of days thinking about what I really want out of our relationship, why I wasn’t completely honest with her before, and how I will handle it if she doesn’t feel the same way.

In my mind, I’ve always blamed Harper for our relationship never changing from friendship to something else, but I realize that isn’t fair. I was scared I would lose her, so I just let it be her fault and kept my feelings a secret. That’s on me. I should have told her years ago how I felt.

I hear her car pull up and open my front door. My heart pounds and I can feel sweat gathering in the small of my back as I watch her get out of her car and walk to me. Titan jumps up to greet me first. “Hey Titan, have you been a good boy?” I scratch behind his ears, and he runs into the house, immediately jumping into his chair. Both Harper and I laugh as we watch.

“Well, we know he’s missed you,” she softly says.

“I’ve missed you, Harper.” I stare into her eyes, looking for some sign that everything is going to be okay, but I can’t read her expression. “Come inside and we can talk.”

She nods and walks by me. I inhale her vanilla sent and my dick hardens. It hasn’t just been my heart that missed her, but this is not the time to get turned on. Behind her back, I adjust myself and hope that she can’t tell the effect she’s having on me as we sit down. I never want her to think this is just about sex for me.

“Can I go first?” Harper asks after we awkwardly sit next to each other for a few seconds.

“Of course.”

“First, I’m sorry for running away. That was stupid and I never should have left that night, but you know me. I always run.”

“It’s okay,” I tell her honestly. “I knew it was happening the second you left my bed.”

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