Page 54 of Theirs to Treasure

Forrest

Harper Pembrooke pushesevery one of my buttons, protective and otherwise. And with everything she’s been through, she’s having none of it.

Zev’s innate ability to calm her means she is much more likely to comply with what we want. When it comes to emotions, I’m an inept asshole. If I could fucking change that, I would.

“This is a lot to take in.” Zev’s tone is empathetic, a state I’m not sure I could reach even at the best of times. Since we met her, every moment has been a minefield, and I’ve misstepped more times than I can count.

If I wasn’t so damn attracted to her…

Or hell, even if I had a little more patience, maybe she’d already be living with us, instead of spending weeks in God-forsaken nowhere.

“It won’t get any easier if we’re not under the same roof.” Zev has continued to press our case while I battle annoyance.

“We’d like to get you in to see a doctor.”

In fact, she has an appointment with one of the region’s finest in an hour.

“Give us a few minutes?” Zev asks.

“We don’t have much more than that.”

Leaving them alone, I pace the confines of her small but cozy apartment, going out of my mind. Demanding to know where she spent the last month wouldn’t help either.

Hawkeye had promised she was safe and that no harm would come to her, but I hadn’t trusted the lack of intel. Since my normal resources hadn’t turned up anything, she was off the grid, which meant remote, and my mind spun with every possible bad thing that could go wrong.

I had been out of my mind enough to threaten to get in my SUV and drive every road in the entire country. Zev had talked sense into me, saying that she’d come home eventually.“After all, you ensured that she had somewhere to return to. We just have to be patient and wait.”

Fuck it all. Mining his goddamn asteroids had to be easier than what she had put them through.

It’s maybe fifteen minutes later when they come out of the bathroom, his hand around her waist as he supports her. “It’s a lot to take in for all of us,” he explains.

A need for action crawls around inside me. I solve problems by doing something. We need to move her into our house. Plan the wedding. Get everything settled for the baby. For something so tiny, it seems they need a lot of stuff.

Biding my time, I curl my hands into fists.

I’ve never experienced this kind of turmoil before, even with Emily—the woman I’d almost married.

Because of that, I will not rest until Harper is safe in our bed.

Zev helps her to sit on the couch, then tells me to go get her a bottle of water. I scowl.

“Do it.”

Which means he thinks he can handle her better than I can. Which is probably true.

When I return, her head is resting on his shoulder, her glorious hair spread across his chest.

“I just came from a job interview,” she’s telling him.

“How did it go?” Zev asks.

How did it go?As if that damn well matters. If I have my way, she won’t be working.

“It’s something I think I’d be good at and would love to do.”

“Where is it? What’s the job?” I ask.

Mutinously Harper looks at me and remains silent. “I’m not saying.”

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