Sequel: In Unexpected Places

Against the Odds

Chapter Thirty Five

“Are you about ready?” Harry asked, poking his head into the bathroom attached to Alex’s old bedroom; the bedroom they were in for their visit to Texas.

She smiled wide at him in the mirror as she worked her curling iron over her long blonde locks. “Five minutes?”

“Okay,” he smiled back. “I’m going to go downstairs. I heard Emma running around and yelling something about pancakes.”

“Ha! Dad must be making them for her. Emma loves his pancakes.”

Harry nodded. “I remember you telling me that. I’ll see you down there shortly.”

She nodded and he winked at her before moving out of the door. He opened the door to the room and stepped out into the hallway, closing the door quietly behind him. He made it about four steps down the hallway before his eyes flashed to the walls and stopped dead in his tracks. Maybe it was the light streaming through the windows or maybe it was that the night before he had been too caught up in Alex to notice, but the walls in the hallway were just lined with pictures.

With a giant grin Harry forgot his mission to go downstairs in search of pancakes and focused on the framed photos on the walls. They seemed to be in chronological order, documenting Matt and Alex from when they were babies and then on from there. There were pictures of both of them as babies, as toddlers, as small children. Harry stopped on a picture of Alex when she was probably about Emma’s age and he smiled softly, his fingers coming up to the frame to touch it gently. It could have been a picture of Emma; they looked so alike at that age.

He moved through the years slowly, taking in Alex and Matt through their teens. There were pictures of them playing sports, pictures of them at school dances, and pictures of them at their individual high school graduations. And it wasn’t very far after Alex’s high school graduation picture that he came across a picture that made his heart slam into his chest with such force that he immediately pressed his hand against chest, as if that could calm it. His breath caught and his lips parted as he stared at the photo.

The photo was in black and white and there was Alex with a big, excited, smile on her face; young and beautiful and very, very pregnant. She was sitting on her couch, her legs crossed under her, her arms wrapped around her belly.

He was mesmerized.
Of course, he knew she had been pregnant. He knew she’d had a baby, obviously. But he had never seen a picture of her pregnant. She didn’t have any displayed in her flat, and he had really never thought anything of it until right at this moment. He stared at it, not really able to process the visual image of Alex, his Alex, the woman who was his future, pregnant.

He didn’t hear her as she approached; he was so caught up in his own thoughts. It wasn’t until she was behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her chest against his back that he knew she was there. He smiled softly and leaned back into her slightly. His hands moved up to cover hers where they rested on his stomach. She stood on her tip toes and peeked over his shoulder, pressing a kiss to it through his shirt.

“I was really, really pregnant there,” she said softly. “She was born the next day.”

“You are really, really beautiful there. God, Alex. Happy and so beautiful,” he responded. His voice was low, reverent.

“You think so? Even with my big ‘ol belly?” she joked, a small giggle escaping. But then Harry turned in her arms, and the laughter died on her lips. His eyes were dark and full of emotion and his arms went around her, pulling her incredibly tight against him. “Whoa…Harry…”

“I’m sorry,” he said. His hands flattened against her back, his fingers rubbing through the material of her shirt. “It’s just…I’ve never seen a picture of you…” he blinked before giving her a slow smile. “Pregnant.”

Her eyes widened a bit as she caught on to what was going on in his head. “I didn’t realize you had never seen it…I guess I don’t have any pictures up in my flat. I don’t know that I even have any…”

He shook his head. “I’m not…I…” he laughed at himself as he trailed off, not being about to articulate in any way shape or form what he wanted to say, what he knew he wasn’t supposed to be saying to her.

“What is it, Harry?” she asked softly. Her hands moved up his arms and over his shoulders before wrapping around his neck. She pulled him down so his forehead rested against hers. “Tell me.”

“I can’t…” he breathed with a wide smile, his eyes crinkling at the sides. He knew she understood. He knew she was following his train of thought.

“Why?”

“Because it’s against the rules, Alexandra.”

She grinned. “So break the fucking rules, Harry.”

“Alex…” He shook his head slowly, his forehead moving against hers. And because he couldn’t help himself, he took two steps forward, moving her backwards and into the wall behind her, pressing her up against it with his body. He brought his hands to her cheeks, cupping them in his hands and tilting her face to his. “Are you sure?”

“Yes…” she breathed; her eyes wide, her smile even wider. She was completely and totally enthralled with this moment, with him.

“Someday…someday I want that…” He slid a hand from her face and down to her stomach, fanning out over her lower belly. She took a deep, shuddering breath at his action. “I want to make your belly swell like that. I want to put my babies in there…in here…” His fingers flexed on her belly and she couldn’t help the small moan that escaped her lips. His head tilted to the side and his eyes opened even wider; hopefulness and honesty flooding them. “I want that, desperately…with you.”

“Someday…” she repeated softly. She wasn’t even sure she said it loud enough for him to hear. Lord knows she didn’t hear it, not with the blood rushing through her veins, pounding in her ears.

“Yes, love. Someday. Babies. With you,” he murmured. He watched her then with baited breath. He knew she could accuse him of overreacting to a picture, of going too far, of saying things they had agreed not to say. But he also knew that they had moved into a deeper part of their relationship in the past twenty-four hours and that she felt that just as much as he did; had felt the shift in their dynamic.

And then she brought her hands down to his shirt, fisting her hands in the material there and tugging him closer to her. Her eyes flashed down for a moment before she turned them back up to him. And what he saw there absolutely slammed him right in the gut. The same want - the same need - he felt was reflected right there in her big blue eyes.

“I want that too, Harry,” she whispered. Her eyes filled with tears but her lips were smiling. “I want to make babies with you…someday.”

“Yeah?” he barely choked the word out.

She nodded slowly. “Now, you better kiss me Wales, or I’m…”

And his mouth was on hers, not letting her finish what she was going to say. And truthfully, the second his lips moved over hers, the second his tongue thrust into her mouth, she forgot whatever it was she was going to say. All that mattered to her was this man, this amazing, sexy, smart, loving man who was pressing her into the wall, completely turned on at the thought of making babies with her.

“Oh God, Alex,” he murmured against her mouth as he leaned into her, pushing her harder against the wall. She felt him, hard and pressing against her and she couldn’t help but reach for it, pushing a hand in between them and running her hand along his length. “You’re killing me…”

“No, you’re killing me,” she breathed, squeezing his length in her hand. “Eating ice cream from me, fucking me in my parent’s pool, telling me you want to put your babies in my belly…you’re killing me.”

“Stop it,” he grinned against her mouth. “Unless you want me to do it all again.”

“Oh, I want you to do it all again, Harry.”

“Alex…” he warned with a shake of his head. He was so close to taking her back to their bedroom and ripping her clothes from her body it wasn’t even funny. “Stop.”

“I don’t want to stop.” Her bottom lip stuck out in a playful pout as she squeezed his length again. Her eyes were pulling him in, beckoning him. “I want to keep going. I want more.”

Groaning and hating himself even as he did it, Harry reached down and pulled her hand from him. He pinned it down by her side and looked at her with the sternest face his could manage in that moment. “We can’t do this here and you know it…”

“But…”

He chuckled and put his fingers to her lips. “We have to go downstairs and have pancakes with your parents and Emma. And then we are all going to the Zoo.”

“Fine,” she sighed, although the playfulness remained about her. “But later on, Wales, you’re mine.”

With a quick, soft, kiss he pulled back from her and make quick work of adjusting his clothes and himself as she did the same. He shot her a cocky, smug smile and winked at her. “I’m always yours, baby.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Alex chuckled. “Until you want pancakes and then I’m second string.”

“Well, you did say your dad made excellent pancakes.”

“I have something better than his pancakes.” She wiggled her eyebrows at him.

“Jesus Christ,” Harry laughed. He grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the wall and in front of him, guiding her down the hall to the stairs. “I don’t know what is in the air in Texas, but I like it.”

**************

“Harry, what was your favorite animal of all of them?” Emma asked on their way back from the zoo. The entire group had spent the majority of their day there, enjoying a guided tour that Harry had made arrangements for. They were now on their way back to Mike and Donna’s house for the evening. Harry, Alex, and Emma were being driven back in one of Range Rovers, while Mike had Donna, Matt, and Charlotte with him in his SUV.

“Hmmm. Let me see, Em. What was my favorite animal? Maybe my favorite animal to see were…the snakes,” he said with a grin.

Emma just rolled her eyes. “Harry, snakes are not animals. They are reptiles. I mean, did you not learn anything today?”

“Ha!” Harry laughed, along with Alex. “I guess not, Em. Can I choose again?”

“Yep,” Emma said with a nod.

“Okay. How about the elephants? I really liked the elephants.”

“Me too,” Emma smiled. “I wish I could have touched one like we saw the people feeding them do. They looked so friendly.”

Harry nodded and glanced over at Alex, who was watching them with a smile. “Some of them are.”

“Have you ever touched one, Harry?”

“An elephant? I sure have.”

“Really?” Emma squeaked. “Where?”

“In Africa.”

“Wow,” Emma breathed. “I’m so jealous.”

“Aw. Well…” he glanced at Alex again and smiled. “Maybe someday I can take you and your mum to Africa for a holiday. We can definitely find an elephant for you to meet and probably quite a few other animals as well.”

“Please don’t be joking with me, Harry! Please!” Emma cried. A look of pure excitement and hope was plastered on her cute little face.

Alex couldn’t help but chuckle. “I don’t think he would joke about that, Emma.”

“She’s right, Em. I would never joke about that. Maybe on your next school break?”

Emma nodded emphatically and Harry reached over to ruffle her hair. He grinned as she giggled and then leaned into his side, resting her head on his chest. He moved his arm around her and held her there. He glanced up at Alex and smiled softly at her.

Alex’s heart was full to bursting with love for him in that moment; it had been all day really. She couldn’t help but look at him every chance she got today. And she had constantly wanted to be touching him, to have some sort of contact; whether it be holding hands or leaning her head on his shoulder or letting him hug her as they stood and waited for the next part of their tour to begin. This moment was no different, especially with her daughter snuggled up next to him so easily, so comfortably.

She reached her arm across the seat, over Emma’s head, and placed her hand on Harry’s cheek, caressing his smooth skin softly. “I love you,” she mouthed to him.

He leaned into her hand, his heart beating wildly, with Emma in his arms and Alex looking at him like she was…like he was everything to her. “I love you,” he mouthed back to her. He turned and kissed her palm then, his eyes never leaving hers. “So much.”

She held his stare, not moving, not wanting to move, for a long minute. Then, peeking down at Emma and seeing that she had fallen asleep, she looked back to Harry. “Do you want to go somewhere after we get back to my parent’s house?”

“Where?”

She smiled wide. “Somewhere I want to show you.”

“Then yes,” he said, smiling softly. “Of course, yes.”

******************

“Hey Matt,” Alex called out when she found her brother with Charlotte in the living room after they had all arrived back at the house.

“Yeah?” he asked, swinging his head around to her as she walked into the room.

“I have two favors to ask of you,” she said with grin, holding up two fingers.

“Shoot.”

“First, can I borrow your old truck?”

Matt nodded. “Sure, but why?”

“I want to take Harry out to the creek.”

Matt laughed. “Ahhh. The creek, huh? Well, sure. It’s not here though, it’s at my house.”

“That’s fine. The POs will take us over. I just need to know where the keys are.”

“In my pocket,” he said. He reached into his pocket and pulled them out, holding them out in front of her before narrowing his eyes and snatching them back from her at the last second. “Hold on little sister, what the second favor?”

Alex smiled sweetly at him and tilted her head. “Can you guys watch Emma while I take Harry out there?”

“Of course,” he laughed, handing the keys over. “Be careful.”

“Thank you!” she called as she turned and sailed from the room. “I always am!”

****************

“Care to tell me where you are taking me?” Harry asked as they climbed into Matt’s truck at his house. “I mean, you tell me to wear clothes that I can get dirty, you’re all secretive with my POs, and now we are climbing into this massively high truck…what’s up, Alex?”

She started the ignition and Matt’s old Chevy roared to life. She shifted into gear and turned on the lights and then she finally turned to him, a wide smile on her face. “We are going down to the creek.”

“The creek?” Harry asked, a smile tugging at his lips. “And what are we doing down at the creek?”

“Goin’ muddin’.”

“Muddin’?”

“Yep.”

“As in, you’re going to drive this thing through the mud?”

Alex’s eyebrows lifted. “Yeah. Is that a problem?”

Harry laughed and held up his hands. “No way. Just making sure I was clear on what we were doing.”

“Excellent,” Alex grinned as she pressed the gas and the truck launched faster than she had anticipated. “Shit. Sorry,” she laughed as she threw an apologetic look at Harry. “It’s awhile since I’ve driven this thing.”

“Should I be scared?” he quipped, his lips tugging upwards in a smirk of a smile.

“Shut up,” she laughed. “I’ll get the hang of it again.”

And she did. It only took about ten minutes to get to the creek from Matt’s house, but by the time they got there, Alex had gotten familiar with the old truck again, the truck her brother had taught her to drive. Once they reached the point where they would go off road, Alex rolled down the window and signaled to the POs trailing them and pointed to a cleared area about fifty yards from where they were. Then, with an excited smile towards Harry she pulled them onto the grass and dirt and down towards the creek.

“It rained late last night, so…” she said, concentration furrowing her brow. “There should be plenty of….” Her face broke out into a huge smile and laughter bubbled from her lips as they slid, and she expertly maneuvered the truck. “Mud!”

Harry couldn’t help but laugh with her as she drove them through, making donuts and figure eights in the muddy area. “Where did you learn to do this?” he called out to her as he watched, impressed, as she maneuvered the huge truck.

“Matt taught me,” she returned. “Brave, huh?”

“Ha!” Harry laughed. “Well, he did a great job.”

She winked at him and then continued to play for a few more minutes before she pulled the truck to a stop in the middle of the field. She took the truck out of gear, put on the brake, and killed the lights. Then, she reached for the radio dial and turned it on, quickly tuning it to her favorite country station, turning the volume up so the familiar music filled the cab of the truck.

“What are you doing, baby?” Harry asked with a smile as she unbuckled her seatbelt and turned to him.

She moved then, pulling herself onto her knees and scooting to him. She leaned over and pressed the button on his seatbelt and she pulled it from him as it unhooked. She turned her eyes up to his then and he sucked in a sharp, deep breath. He knew that look. He had seen it last night and he had seen it this morning…and he was seeing it now. It instantly made his blood run hot in his veins.

“Alex…what are you doing?” His voice was deep and throaty as she moved over him, placing her legs on either side of his, straddling him.

“Isn’t it obvious, Harry?” she grinned as she settled against his lap. “I’m about to have my way with you.”

“Here?”

“Now,” she nodded. Her eyes were sultry, heated. “God…I’ve wanted you all day, Harry. Ever since you pushed me up against the wall this morning and told me you wanted to put your babies in my belly…” She sat up straight and held his eyes as her fingers moved to the buttons of her shirt, popping them open one by one. “Ever since then the only thing I’ve wanted…the only thing I can think about…” She opened the last button and pulled the shirt open, revealing her lace covered chest to him. “Is putting you inside of me.”

“Fuck…” Harry breathed, his eyes raking over her body, his cock instantly growing hard in his pants.

“Yes,” Alex nodded, her lips pulled into a wide, mischievous grin. “That’s the idea.”

*M*

His hands moved to her, moving over her hips to her waist. She gasped when his hot hands met her bared skin, caressing upwards until he cupped her breasts in his palms and thumbed her nipples through her bra, bringing a small moan from her lips. And then his hands moved higher still until they were on her neck, cupping her face; his thumbs rubbing her cheeks. He pulled her face down to his, until their lips were almost touching, their breath mingling together.

“You are so fucking sexy, do you know that?” Harry murmured with a cocky smile.

“You make me sexy, Harry. It’s all for you, because of you,” she answered with a cocky smile of her own. “Now, are you going to let me take your clothes off and help me fog these windows up or…”

With a laugh he tugged her lips to his and she sighed as his mouth open under hers instantly. Her tongue slid in to tease along his and he groaned into her mouth. His hands moved from her face to her hips and, gripping her almost roughly, he pulled her tighter against his lap. That action and the need within him it represented shot the up the intensity in the cab of the truck, between them, instantly.

Harry pushed Alex’s shirt from her shoulders, his hands running down her arms and sending shivers through her as he pulled it from her body. His lips moved to the soft, flushed skin of her chest. He pressed hot, wet kisses to her cleavage and his fingers moved to pull at the straps of her bra, tugging them down and loosening the material covering her breasts.

“Ohhh…” she moaned when he dipped his hands into the cups of her bra and pulled her breasts out, cupping them in the palms of his hands. His thumbs came up and thumbed her sensitive nipples, smirking as she squirmed in his lap.

“You like when I do that…” His voice was low, throaty. Her eyes instantly snapped to his and she nodded, her teeth biting into her lower lip.

“You know what else I like?” she whispered.

He lifted an eyebrow. “Show me.”

With a wide, confident grin she rose up a bit on his lap and leaned forward, brushing a nipple against his lips, swollen from their kisses. He groaned at her actions and his cock pulsed from the confines of his pants. He took her cue and his lips closed around the nipple she offered to him. He never took his eyes from hers as he worked her breasts with his mouth, first the one she offered and then the other. He watched as her eyes grew heavier, as her hips began to turn against him, as her breathing became shallow.

“Oh God…Harry…” she whimpered as she wound her hands into his hair and then tugged him from her. “Fuck…when you do that…” she offered him a sultry smile. “It makes me so wet…”

He shook his head slowly at her. “If you talk to me like that tonight, Alex…” he took a shuddering breath. “After all day of wanting you, if you talk to me like that right now it’s not going to take me long to get there, baby.”

Alex’s eyes flashed wicked and she leaned over him, pressing her lips to his and pushing her tongue into his mouth. Her hands went down to his shirt and she tugged, bringing it up and pulling back from him only to tug it over his head and throw it down on the seat beside him. Then she was back, kissing him, pressing her chest against him, her hands running down his body to the waist of his pants. He groaned and his hands moved to her hips as she scooted back a touch, allowing her enough room to unbutton and unzip him. Her hands were inside his pants, inside his boxers within seconds, finding him throbbing and hard for her.

“You don’t want me to talk to you, Harry?” she whispered as she stroked him. She bit playfully at his lip and his eyes snapped open to hers.

“Alexandra…” he warned. She was walking dangerously close to the edge; an edge where he wasn’t sure he could control himself with her.

“You don’t want me to tell you how much I love when you’re inside of me and your mouth is on me and your hands are on me?” She stroked him faster and she watched as his jaw clenched and she felt his fingers dig into her hips. She wanted this so badly. She wanted him to lose control. She wanted him to fuck her senseless and she was determined to drive him there. “You don’t want me to tell you how good it feels when you are so deep inside of me that I can’t tell where you begin and I end?”

“Alex…” he breathed. His eyes were intense, his voice gravelly and low. “You know what you’re doing, don’t you?”

“Yes,” she nodded instantly. She knew exactly what she was doing. She squeezed him harder in her hand to prove her point.

“Fuck…” he growled as he wrapped a hand around her neck and pulled her mouth to his. His tongue thrust instantly between her lips and she moaned, her hand moving faster against him. His hand immediately moved to her wrist and he pulled her from him and moved her hand around her back, holding it there. With a sly grin against his mouth she immediately tried to get at him with her other hand but he was too quick, immediately wrapping the fingers of his other hand around that wrist and pinning it behind her as well. Her eyes slid open then to find his already open, looking at her with so much want that she wanted to burst into flames right then. And they sat there like that for a few beats, all harsh breaths and emotions flying. Alex watched as Harry tried to check himself, tried to keep the control he was so good at keeping.

“Stop, Harry,” she whispered. She watched as his eyes focused. “Don’t hold back on me. I don’t want you to. Give me everything you have, baby.”

And Harry lost it.

His hands released her wrists and moved immediately to her jeans, unbuttoning and unzipping as she reached around her own body to undo the bra that still hung around her arms. She flung it off just as he was pushing her jeans and panties down over her hips frantically. Not to be outdone, Alex leaned down and dug her fingers into the waistband of his jeans and jerked. Harry lifted his hips even as Alex lifted hers, both of them trying to get the other pants off at the same time. Alex managed to get Harry’s over his hips and down to his knees but hers weren’t so easy.

“Shit, Harry…” she gasped as she tried to toe off her boots so he could get her pants off and she could climb back on top of him, where she desperately wanted to be. “My boots are fucking tied…I can’t…” she panted in frustration.

Harry wasn’t to be deterred. “This way,” he commanded, turning her body around and wrapping a strong arm around her waist.

And then, with his pants around his knees and hers around her ankles, he pulled her back tight against his chest, he pressed his lips against her neck, and positioning himself under her, he pushed her down onto to him. He groaned against her skin and her nails dug into the arm that was wrapped around her as she sank down onto him, the relief at him being inside of her instantaneous.

“Jesus…” she moaned. “Oh my God, Harry. You feel so fucking amazing.” Her head fell back against his shoulder and she reached up a hand to tangle in his hair, the other still gripping at the arm tight around her waist. She rose up a bit and sank back down on him, bringing groans from both of them. “Please Harry…”

And because it was as simple as the fact that he couldn’t resist her or anything she wanted right then he moved, thrusting up inside of her. “Fuck…Alex, you feel…” He held on tight to her as he picked up the pace, pushing her down to him even as he thrust up sharply into her body over and over again. Little cries left her lips every time he slammed home. Her breath came in sharp bursts, as if he was pushing it from her lungs with every thrust. “Is this what you wanted, Alexandra?” he demanded as he pounded up into her even harder.

“Yes!” she cried out, her fingers tightening in his hair. Her face turned to his and she held her eyes open to his, showing him just how much she had wanted what he was giving to her. And even as he was pushing her, pushing them both harder than he was sure he’d ever done before, being rougher with her than he ever had, her lips curved up at the corners and she whispered, “More…”

“Holy fuck,” he growled. “You are going to be the death of me…”

“More…” she whispered again as his hips continued their punishing rhythm against hers. And just as Harry was sure he could give her no more, that she really was going to kill him, Alex pulled on the arm he had wrapped around her. Her eyes never left his as she took his hand in hers slid it down her body and to her sex, her fingers sliding his down into her wetness. His rhythm inevitably slowed as she began to move his fingers for him. “Like this…” she directed, her bottom lip pulling into her teeth. “When I do this…when I think of you and do this…this is what I do…”

“Alex, stop…” he warned. He didn’t really mean it. Of course he didn’t mean it. She was showing him how she… “Fuck…” he gasped as her hand pressed harder on his, turning faster circles. She arched against him and her hand tightened in his hair before she released her hold there and found his other hand, bringing up to her breast. She wrapped his fingers around a nipple and forced him to tug.

“And this…” she breathed. “I do this too.”

“I can’t…” he whispered, his eyes wild. “I’m too close, baby.” And he was teetering dangerously close to the edge. She was making this impossible for him, her hands holding his, both of them pleasuring her as he thrust up into her incredibly wet, warm body. He wasn’t going to make it.

“Yes you…ohhh…” she moaned; her eyes fluttering closed for a brief second before snapping back to him. “Yes you can, Harry.”

“No…”

“Yes…”

“Alex. Fuck…come on, baby…”

“That’s it Harry, just like that…oh GOD…here it comes…” she cried out as she moved his hands faster against her body. And then her entire body tensed, her back arched, and her head fell back against his shoulder as she exploded around him. She saw stars as she clenched her eyes shut with the intensity of it. Her entire body pulsed over and over again around him, as he continued to move his hands against her, even as hers fell away.

“My god, you are so beautiful when you do that,” Harry whispered as he watched her, enthralled. And then, amazed he had held on as long as he had, but satisfied that she had what she wanted, he finally gave in and with one last thrust, he buried himself to hilt, sank his teeth into her shoulder and shouted his release against her skin, losing everything he had within her.

*EM*

It was several long minutes later before either of them moved; before either of them had the strength to do so. Alex was the first to stir, the first to be able to breathe normally again. She lifted her head from his shoulder and turned to look at him. She couldn’t help the laugh that bubbled from her lips when she saw the look on his face.

He turned towards her and blinked. “Are you laughing at me?”

“No,” she chuckled. “I’m not laughing at you. You just look…bewildered is all.”

He shook his head and brought his right hand up to her head, pulling her face to his for a slow, sweet kiss. “I’m not bewildered. I’m just…blown away by you right now. Blown away and totally in love.”

“Hmmm…” she murmured, kissing him back for a moment before pulling away. “I love you too. So much, Harry.”

He grinned at her and then he helped her to get her clothes back on and situated while getting his in order as well. He smirked as he looked at the fogged up windows and what they had done in here just minutes before. And then a thought occurred to him that had him bursting out in laughter.

“What?” Alex asked as she looked over at him from the driver’s seat, where she was pulling her seatbelt on.

His lips twitched as he pulled his own seatbelt on. “Well, I just can’t wait to see the look on your face when you have to hand the keys to this thing back to Matt.”

Alex’s face flushed crimson immediately. “Shut up.”

“Ha!” Harry laughed. “Don’t worry baby. I’m sure he wouldn’t be too upset to know what his little sister just did in his truck.”

Alex narrowed her eyes at Harry, but the twitch to her lips indicated that she wasn’t mad. “Well, if he is mad…it isn’t me who he would be mad at, would it…Harry?”

His face immediately straightened at her words, knowing she was talking about him. “And that’s why he will never, ever know.”

It was Alex’s turn to laugh loudly and she did, the sound of it warming Harry’s heart as she drove them off into the Texas night.