She closed her eyes, trying to clear her mind of thoughts of Mize and Reid…and the stalker. The stalker who had managed to snatch Dani up in a matter of seconds. Harper hadn’t been prepared. She’d let her guard down. And Dani? Dani had thrown herself out of a moving vehicle to avoid capture. How much courage had that taken? She was damn lucky she wasn’t hurt. Or worse.

She opened her eyes when she heard the bathroom door. Dani stood there, her hair damp and tucked behind her ears. Like Harper, she was wearing a matching white robe. She looked so…so young, so innocent. Vulnerable. Her face was fresh and clean, no makeup to mar her natural beauty. The sight of her simply left Harper breathless. As their eyes held, Harper could see the sadness in Dani’s, the remnants of tears. What was making her sad? Was it the stalker, the events of the day, the week? Or was it something else? Was it her lonely life? Her only brushes with intimacy were stolen moments with a roommate in college, and again, stolen moments with a married woman. Two affairs that were physical, never emotional.

Had anyone ever truly made love to Dani?

The answer to that question was hidden in Dani’s eyes. Hidden in plain sight and it nearly broke Harper’s heart to see it. She didn’t think about Jan—not for one second—as she stood and walked slowly toward Dani. Their eyes were locked together as Harper stood in front of her. She reached out to gently touch the scrape on Dani’s cheek, feeling the slight swelling beneath her fingers. She moved her hand lower, along the front of the robe. She could see Dani’s pulse throbbing in her neck, could sense her uneven breathing…could almost hear Dani’s thundering heartbeat. Or was that her own she was hearing?

It didn’t matter which. Like the matching bruises on their cheeks, their hearts were beating the same tune.

She opened Dani’s robe, thankful there were no undergarments covering her. Her breasts were full, her nipples erect, but Harper paused when she would have reached out to touch them. She looked back up, making sure this was what Dani wanted. She was shocked to see tears in her eyes.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered immediately, moving to close Dani’s robe again, but Dani stopped her.

“I need you,” Dani whispered back to her. “Now. I…I need to be—”

“Loved,” Harper finished for her. She wiped a tear at the corner of Dani’s eye. “Please don’t cry.”