Prince Charming Can Wait (Ever After) Read Online Free PDF

at his real estate business, taking off for only a few days at a time. Other times, he was absent for longer. This last time, he'd been gone for almost a year, which was the longest that anyone could remember him being out of town. And he was leaving again already? "Astrid misses you," Emma said quickly, instinctively trying to give him a reason not to disappear again. "You can't leave without saying hi."
    Harlan's gaze flicked to the house, and his mouth tightened. He made no move to join the celebration, and suddenly she realized that he felt the same way she did about invading that happy little world. He didn't belong to it any more than she did. Empathy tightened her chest, and she looked more carefully at the independent man that no one in town had ever been able to get close to. "You can stop by and see her tomorrow," she said softly.
    He didn't move, and he didn't take his eyes off the house. "She's happy? Jason's good to her?"
    Emma nodded. "He treasures her. They're so in love." She couldn't quite keep the ache out of her voice, and she saw Harlan look sharply at her.
    "What's wrong?" he asked. "Why did you say it like that?"
    "No, no, they're great. Really." She swallowed and pulled back her shoulders, refusing to let herself yearn for that which she did not want or need in her life. "She would kill me if she found out I let you leave town without seeing her. How long do you have until you have to go?"
    He shifted. "Forty-eight hours." The confession was reluctant, as if he hadn't wanted to reveal it.
    "So, then, come back here tomorrow and see her," she said, relief rushing through her at the thought he wasn't leaving town immediately. For at least two nights, she could sleep knowing that he was breathing the same air as she was.
    "No, not here." He ran his hand through his hair, and she saw a dark bruise on the underside of his triceps. "You guys still go to Wright's in the morning for coffee?"
    Emma's heart fluttered at his question. For a man who had held himself aloof, he seemed endearingly aware of what his sister did every day...and he knew that she was always there as well. "Yes. We'll be there at eight thirty."
    He nodded. "Yeah, okay, I'll try to make it then." He glanced at her again, and just like before, heat seemed to rush through her—
    Then he turned away, stealing that warmth from her before she'd had time to finish savoring it. "No." She grabbed his arm, her fingers sliding over his hard muscles. Shocked by the feel of his body, she jerked her hand back, but not soon enough.
    He froze under her touch, sucking in his breath. Slowly, he turned his head to look back at her. "No?"
    "Don't try to make it tomorrow morning," she said quickly, trying to pretend her panic had been on Astrid's behalf, not her own. "You have to make it. Astrid needs to see you. She wants you to meet Rosie. She's happy, Harlan, but she needs her brother, too. Jason is her family, but so are you, and you know how she needs to be connected."
    Harlan closed his eyes for a long moment, and she saw emotions warring within him. For a man so stoic and aloof, he was fermenting with emotions in a way that she'd never seen before. She looked again at the bruise on his arm. "Are you okay, Harlan? What happened while you were gone?" There was no way to keep the concern out of her voice, no way to hide that her heart ached at the thought of him being hurt.
    His eyes opened again. He said nothing, but he suddenly wrapped his hand around the back of her neck.
    She stiffened, her heart pounding as he drew her close to him. "What are you doing?"
    "I need this." Then he captured her mouth with his.
    She had no time to be afraid, no time to fear. His kiss was too desperate for her to be afraid. It wasn't a kiss to seduce or dominate. It was a burning, aching need for connection, for humanity, for something to chase away the darkness haunting him...everything she needed in a kiss as well.
    Her hands went to his chest, bracing, protecting, but at