Page 92 of Reckless

“Like I could even if I wanted to,” she told him lazily as he got into bed at her side and pulled her close. It was a good thing the dress she’d had on resisted wrinkles.

“I love you,” he said, kissing her with aching sweetness and she melted.

CHAPTERTHIRTY

Miles stumbled into the kitchen the following morning, following his nose and the sound of Harlow’s voice. She stood at the stove while Ryder perched on a nearby step stool watching as Richie and Harlow cooked.

Harlow looked up from the bowl she held, smiling widely when she saw him there. “Hey.” She put the bowl aside and came straight to him for a hug and a kiss. “Morning.”

He breathed her in and let that settle his worry. “Morning. Smells good down here.” He kissed the top of her head. “What can I do to help?”

“Nothing right at the moment. Come get a cup of coffee. Ryder’s been looking forward to seeing you,” Harlow told him with a wink.

He smiled a hello at Jenna as he grabbed a mug from the cabinet over the coffeemaker and filled it.

“Morning, Richie.” He put his mug down and squatted a little to get face to face with Ryder. “Hello, Ryder. I really like your pajamas. Your sister told me how much you love Bigfoot.”

“I watch with Pop!” Ryder said of the endless Bigfoot television shows Harlow said she watched with Richie every night when he was home. “Haryo too.”

“Yup. When I’m around, we watch together,” Harlow told her sister with a wink. “Oh, Poppy will be back shortly. She went for a swim earlier.”

“A poppy is a flower! She pretty like that!”

“Right now, nearly every sentence ends in an exclamation point. I’m hoping it’s a short phase,” Jenna muttered, making Miles laugh.

“It is a flower. Very good. My mum had a baby doll when she was a little kid, and her name was Poppy. When my sister was born, our mum looked at her and said she was as pretty as a doll and that’s the name they chose,” Miles told Ryder.

“I didn’t know that story,” Harlow said. “I love that.”

The moment Miles had seen Poppy’s sweet little face he’d appointed himself her protector. Sometimes though, it snuck up on him that she was the one doing the protecting.

“Did I hear my name?” Poppy came in, her shoulder length dark brown hair pulled into a bun. She looked more relaxed than he’d seen her in a while, clearly at ease around Harlow and her family.

She paused to give Miles a hug before grabbing a cup of coffee and waving at Ryder, who waved a spatula back.

“Let’s start taking this food to the table,” Richie said, pointing to several platters and bowls. “Ry, go with Mommy so you can supervise everyone.”

Ryder skipped off with her mom and they joined her shortly. Harlow sat on one side and Poppy the other.

There were pancakes, bacon and chorizo, fried potatoes, scrambled eggs, oranges fresh from the tree in the back yard along with strawberries, and some sweet breads Jenna had brought from a bakery nearby.

“I’m going to need to nap after breakfast,” Poppy said as she filled her plate.

Miles had wanted to get a chef in to prepare some meals, but Harlow had said she liked cooking with her father, and she thought it would be better if they just had groceries delivered. The following day they were all headed over to Omar’s house—he lived in San Diego when they weren’t recording or on tour—for a barbecue before their first show that night and Miles looked forward to time when Harlow was with his friends socially. Yes, they all hung out regularly backstage, but it was different and far more relaxed in someone’s back yard.

And the invitation while Omar hosted meant he accepted Miles and Harlow’s relationship. That made a lot of worry go away too.

That day however, Miles and Poppy were going to watch a movie with Ryder and Jenna while Harlow and her dad finally talked. The more they ate, the heavier the air became. He wished he could make this easier for her, but the only way out on this was through. So, he’d be nearby just in case he was needed.

Finally when all the food had been eaten, Miles stood. “Poppy and I will clean since Richie and Harlow cooked. Ryder can supervise.”

Harlow settled on a chair across from her dad in a library just a few doors down from the master bedroom. Earlier that morning she’d put a pitcher of water and some muffins along with an electric kettle and the ingredients for tea if they wanted.

She nearly told him he didn’t have to do this. More than once. But if she did and he accepted, it would have broken something between them. Harlow needed to know.

“I’m just going to start,” her dad said. “Jenna gave me a bunch of advice after she kicked my ass for letting this go on so long. I’m sorry for not telling you more when you were growing up. I guess I didn’t want you to feel bad if I brought it up.” He shook his head. “There’s a video Gloria put up. Most of what she said was a lie. But not all of it. I paid her over three million dollars. For you. To get custody.”

Miles looked up from where he’d just put away the snacks they’d had during their movie as Harlow came in.

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