Page 53 of Archer

Because there’s a push and pull to everything, I thought. Just like the tides.

I sighed.

“For the record, I’m pissed that you kept that from me,” I said. “You can’t do that again. No matter what your reasoning may be, you can’t withhold information. And never lie to me.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

“I mean it, Archer. No exceptions.”

“I will. I promise.” He took a step closer, and I let my arms fall to my sides.

“I’m still mad at you,” I said.

“I know.”

“And we’re going to have to figure out how to communicate better. Both of us.”

“Agreed.”

“I can’t do this if you’re going to shut me out or decide what I can handle. This is my life. I need to be part of the decisions. You aren’t keeping me safe by excluding me.” Maybe that was partly my fault. I should’ve taken more of a lead from the start. “The idea of having private protection is new to me, but I’m not usually someone who sits back and waits for life to happen around her. I can see now that I’ve let the stalking and Gram’s loss push me into a reactionary role. I’m not going to do that anymore.”

Archer took another step, carefully closing the distance between us. “From now on, I will be complete transparent with you.”

We stood there on the deck, cold ocean air lifting my hair and morning sun warming my cheeks. Attraction simmered beneath the surface of my skin and electricity crackled in the air between us.

“For what it’s worth,” I said, “I know the timing’s wrong, and this whole situation is impossible, but I think about you too.”

Archer lifted a hand to my cheek and slowly brushed the backs of his fingertips across my skin. I leaned into the touch and his pupils dilated. Long fingers curled along my jaw, and I moved forward until the toes of our shoes touched.

My phone rang, and the moment burst like a bubble.

He stepped back as I checked the screen. “It’s my manager,” I said. “I should take this.”

“Hello, Alexis.” I turned away, fixing my eyes on the horizon above the ocean, breathing deep and centering myself for the business call.

“Harper.” Alexis’s voice was tight. “I hope your security detail is making progress.”

I pressed my lips into a line and swallowed a groan. Everything was imperative in Nashville, but my nerves were already strung tight for too many reasons to match her energy. “Good morning to you too.”

“Sorry. I’ve just gotten off an excruciating conference call, and the label is getting nervous. You’ve been gone nearly three weeks. They want you back in Nashville making music and doing promo.”

I walked to the deck’s corner, needing space from my watchful Marine. “I can’t come yet. I don’t know when I can, or if I can.” I still didn’t know if the shadow in that video was my stalker standing outside the cottage last night.

“You have a deadline approaching. A spring release means we need masters soon. That’s⁠—”

“I know all of this, Alexis.”

“Then you know we’re running out of time. How many songs do you have finished? They all need recorded asap.”

Well, the upside to my writer’s block was that we’d already recorded everything I had. But that definitely wasn’t what she wanted to hear.

“I’m working on it.”

“Harper.” Her tone shifted to something gentler. “I understand you’re going through a lot, but it’s not worth throwing away your career. Do you know how many opportunities I’ve had to turn down for you this week alone? Interview requests, performance offers, a duet with⁠—”

“I can’t help that.” I cut her off before I heard the other artist’s name, because it would probably break my heart. “I would be there if I could, but right now, I can’t leave.”

Silence stretched across the line.