Then what? Would she and Harper see each other while she was there? Could they grab dinner, maybe? Would Harper even want to see her? Or would she be riddled with guilt and want nothing to do with her? Or worse, there would be no guilt at all and Harper would be playing the dating game. Perhaps Dani was nothing more than a bridge for her…a bridge taking her from Jan onto the next woman she could fall in love with.

She sighed, again looking over at Harper as she slept. Her face was in the shadows, but Dani knew every curve of it. She’d memorized it long before she’d actually met Harper. She wondered if that’s how it would be…a memory in the back of her mind, a memory she took out from time to time, a memory that was real and not just the etching of a photograph.

A slamming of a door brought her back to the present and she jerked to attention, her gaze darting around the room. She heard a car start up then drive off, and she relaxed again. As relaxed as she could be, sitting on guard, holding a gun in her hands.

Chapter Forty-Four

Harper woke with a start, disoriented for a moment as she reached a hand out next to her. Finding the bed empty, she sat up. In the darkness, she could see Dani in the chair, watching her.

“What time is it?” her voice still thick with sleep.

“Nearly four.”

She groaned and lay back down. “You were supposed to wake me at two.”

“I know, but you were sleeping so soundly, I couldn’t bring myself to.”

Harper patted the bed beside her. “Come here. You’re bound to be tired.”

“Yes, I am.”

Harper took the gun and placed it on the table beside the bed—and the other gun. As Dani lay down next to her, she wished they could get undressed and under the covers, but she didn’t want to let her guard down. It was four though. If he hadn’t come by now, he probably wasn’t going to. Still, she didn’t completely relax. She leaned back against the pillow and pulled Dani closer. Dani snuggled next to her with a tired sigh.

“We don’t have to leave early, do we?”

“No.” She closed her eyes. “You can sleep.”

Dani snaked an arm across her waist and burrowed down beside her. Harper was surprised at how familiar it all felt—holding Dani this way. Not Jan, but Dani. She opened her eyes a little, seeing the mass of blond hair spread out around her. She closed them again and pulled Dani a little closer.

* * *