Take me Somewhere

Chapter 2

Harper pulled into her driveway and turned off her car; all the while staring at the light illuminating the porch from the living room and kitchen windows. Daren had obviously forgotten that she’d told him last week she was going to have dinner with her friends tonight. There really wasn’t any movie they were going to go see but she didn’t want to have to explain to her friends that Daren just got really upset when he felt like he wasn’t in control.

She saw him turn on the porch light and got out of the car to meet him at the door. She knew there would be an argument but he would calm down quickly now that she was home and they could finish the evening together.

Harper’s heels clicked on the ground as she made her way to Daren. He was leaning against the porch post and his face was shadowed from being back lit. She could tell from the set of his shoulders that he wasn’t very happy.

“Hi babe. Sarah and Julie said to tell you hi.” She leaned in to give him a kiss and he backed away.

“Where the hell have you been?”

Harper eyed him nervously and started to walk past him into the house, “I told you last week I was meeting up with Sarah and Julie to have dinner. We finished up early.” Another lie but she knew when to choose her battles.

She felt him following behind her as she walked into her bedroom and started to kick off her black strappy heels. Daren had his own place across town but he had all but moved in at this point in their relationship. They had been together for three years and though they had talked about moving in together he never seemed to want to give up his apartment. Harper thought it was silly to be paying for two mortgages when the other place was barely used but she didn’t fight him on it.

She started to unzip her matching black dress when he gripped her shoulder and spun her around. She would have fallen over from being startled but his hands were on her shoulders and he had his face level with hers, “You didn’t tell me anything about having dinner with them tonight.” His dark eyes skimmed over her body and came back to her face, “Did you go out tonight in this outfit just hoping to get some guy to hit on you? Is that what you want now?”

“Daren, please, you know I would never do that.” His dark hair was falling into his eyes and instead of giving him the rakish model look that caught her attention when she first met him it was now coming off as sinister. He had never been this upset with her before.

His grip started to tighten and Harper winced from the pressure, “Daren, you’re hurting me, please let go.”

He immediately eased off and pulled her into his arms, “I’m so sorry baby; you know how protective I am. Just the thought of another man looking at your beautiful body in that dress infuriates me.” His hands were in her hair now and she buried her face into his neck. Her heart was beating so fast.

“It was girls night, we got dressed up for each other, no one else.” She felt him pulling the zipper the rest of the way down and he stepped back from her so he could let the dress fall off her shoulders.

Daren had always been the jealous protective type, but as Harper let the dress fall and pool around her feet she found it hard not to acknowledge how much more intense he had been lately. She didn’t want to come home tonight because she knew he would be upset, but a year ago it wouldn’t have been an issue at all. Something was changing with him but the thought left her mind as he fell to his knees in front of her and placed a kiss on her stomach.

“You know I love you baby. I need to keep you safe.”

She pushed her hands through his dark hair and met his gaze as he looked up at her, “I love you too. You don’t need to worry about me though; I’ll always come back to you.” As he moved up her body and his kisses became more aggressive Harper met her reflection in the mirror next to her bed and looked away before she could acknowledge the look in her eyes.

~~~~~~~

Liam Camden set at the desk in his home office and flipped over the small piece of paper he’d been given that night. The words ‘Sarah’ and a phone number stared back at him and he glared at it as if it were mocking him. He could call her and probably have her over at his house in a minute but for some reason he wasn’t in the mood for the casual hook ups he’d been having since his last relationship ended almost a year ago.

“Get a grip Camden, just call the girl.” He grabbed his cell and leaned on his desk as he punched in the number.

He glanced at the clock and grimaced when he saw that it was two in the morning. He ran his hands through his hair and leaned back in his chair as he listened to the line ring, “Real smooth…”

He jumped when he heard the line pick up, “This had better be good. I was almost asleep.”

He couldn’t help but smile as who he could only assume to be Sarah barked at him over the phone, “I’m sorry it’s so late, I wasn’t thinking.”

There was a long pause, “Who is this?”

“Do you give your number out to a lot of men at restaurants? And here I was thinking I was special.” He laughed as he heard fumbling in the background.

“Oh! It’s you!” He heard another knock and a muffled curse, “I didn’t think I’d hear from you.”

“What can I say…I was intrigued. I’m Liam by the way.”

“Well Liam, it sure is nice to put a voice and name with that beautiful face of yours. How can I help you on this wonderful night?”

He knew if he could see her right now she would probably draw him in with just the sexuality she was putting off if her voice was any indication. As he was gearing up to flirt right back and let her know she could help him by coming over, the image of Harper clumsily shoving the paper at him flashed into his mind. He didn’t know why but any thought of hooking up with Sarah left in a rush.

“I was actually calling to get your help.” He decided he really didn’t want this no matter how attractive she had been from across the room.

“I’m at your disposal.” He could hear the grin in her voice and felt bad for misleading her.

“I was wondering if I could get in contact with Harper; your friend who handed me your note.” He leaned his head back and stared at the ceiling. Could he be any more of a jerk right now?

He looked at his phone, thinking she had hung up the silence had been so long, and heard her speak as he put it back up to his ear, “You’re calling about Harper? As in little ol shy Harper?” He could practically see the offended look on her face through the phone.

“Yes…I’m sorry…I didn’t mean for the conversation to go this way but – “

“No no no no. It’s okay…it’s just…I’ve never been turned down like this before.”

“It’s not for a lack of anything. You’re quite beautiful.”

“Thank you…I think.” He heard some more shuffling and a door close, “Sorry, I didn’t want to wake up my dog. This will have to be a living room conversation.” He laughed, not expecting that, “Okay, I’m ready.”

“Well…can I have her number? Would she even be interested in me?”

“Who wouldn’t be interested in you?”

“Is that a yes?” He grabbed a pen really quick ready to write it down.

“Not exactly…”

His hand fell on the notepad, “What does that mean?”

“You see, Harper is just coming off of a serious relationship and she very very shy. Anyone I gave her number out to would have to be very casual in the way they approached her.”

“I noticed the shy part. I can be easy on the testosterone.”

Sarah laughed and continued on, “If I give you her number you have to promise me that you won’t tell her I said anything other than passing out her contact information.”

“Well of course I can do that.” He got his pen ready again, surprised that he was actually going to get Harper’s number at all.

Once Sarah had relayed the number and he’d tripled checked it he told her thank you, that he was sorry again, and he knew he came off kind of like an ass for asking for another girl’s number.

Sarah shushed him like it was no big deal, “Don’t you worry. This is just the thing Harper needs.” There was a pause and he waited for her to continue, “But if you hurt her in any way…if one single tear leaves her pretty blue eyes…I will murder you. I mean she better not even call me complaining that you’re being annoying; got it?”

He saluted the empty room, “Yes ma’am.”

“Good. Now hang up Liam and call Harper tomorrow at 8 AM. Not a minute sooner. Do you understand?”

His brow furrowed but he wrote down 8 AM and circled it, “Got it. Not a minute sooner. Thank you Sarah; I owe you one.”

~~~~~~~

Sarah stared at her phone as the call ended and couldn’t help but smile. One, she needed to take down her self-righteousness level, and two, she was going to hell for lying. She had been pretty offended when Liam hadn’t been calling for her and at least had the ware with all to feel ashamed about it before she ruined an opportunity for Harper. Harper was shy but she was showing a sad depressed side of herself the longer she was with Daren and Sarah was sick and tired of it. So what if she told Liam that Harper was done with her relationship? If all things went well Harper would be done with that jerk and on to newer and more handsome things. As long as Liam called at 8, after Daren left for work, and before Harper was on the road, everything would go just fine.

Sarah patted herself on the back as she snuggled back into bed and sent a text to Julie, “Is it possible to go to heaven and hell at the same time?”