I stretched in my hotel bed, welcoming the creaking of my sore muscles. Last night with Harper was well worth it. After our first bout of love-making, we fucked against the wall, then on a  blanket on the floor, then in the shower. I've never been so completely spent and sated in my life. I fell asleep with the woman I loved in my arms and now I was waking up beside—

"What the bloody hell..." I reached out to find her side of the bed empty. Since the bathroom door was wide open and the light was off, it was obvious she wasn't in there. Gone. The little minx left before I woke up. Was she ashamed by what transpired here? She sure seemed into it last night. I didn't need a mirror to know that my back was probably scarred red from her digging her nails into it. 

I reached for my phone on the bedside table when I heard a knock at the door. Maybe that was her. I got up from the bed and slipped on a pair of running pants. I rubbed my hand over my face, trying to fully wake up. Last night was the most sleep I've had since we broke up. It just went to show that I needed to do whatever it took to get back into our bed with her permanently. That was my main goal. 

Since I was hoping, and assuming, it was Harper at the door, I didn't bother checking the peep-hole. I opened the door and my smile turned into a frown when I saw a hotel employee with a meal cart in front of him. 

"Hi," I greeted him awkwardly. "Can I help you? I didn't order room service." 

The employee smiled. "There was an order put in by Harper Lewis. She said for it to be delivered at 9:30 sharp for you, sir."

Harper...ordered me breakfast? She even knew what time to have it here. That's when it dawned on me. Today was Saturday. When we were together, I would always wake up at the same time Saturday mornings and cook us breakfast. I still didn't understand what this all meant, though. Why did she leave? What about the breakfast? Did that mean something? Christ. I sounded like a bloody woman. 

"Let me get you some cash," I said to the employee. 

When I took a step towards the dresser where I kept my wallet, he stopped me. "No need, sir. The breakfast was paid for."

I arched a brow. "And your tip?" 

"She was very generous, sir." 

That she was. She was generous with everything in life, including tipping. I reached for the food cart and offered my hand to the employee. "Thank you for bringing it up."

He shook my hand with a smile. "No, sir. Thank you. Have a great day." 

I pushed the cart towards the small table and took the lid off. I couldn't help but smile. There was a plate with eggs, sunny-side up, and some bacon. There was a glass of orange juice...and a note. I reached for the note first and sat on the edge of the bed. 

I opened it and recognized Harper's elegant handwriting immediately. 

Good morning, Jackson. 

I'm sorry to have disappeared on you so early. I got a call from Lanie and she asked to meet up. She said it was important. I just wanted you to know that last night was one of the best nights of my life, and I don't regret being with you. I know I still have some issues to work out, and I promise I'm doing that. I still see a future for us, Jackson. Don't ever doubt that. I'm not trying to string you along and I am so sorry if it feels that way. We still have some things to talk about, and hopefully I'll be more level-headed in a few days. As for now, enjoy your breakfast, lover. And thank you again for an incredible night. 

Forever Yours,
Princess

I had no idea how many times I re-read the letter—but it left me feeling a wide range of emotions. I was so happy and relieved that she enjoyed our night together and didn't leave because she was ashamed. I loved that she ordered me this breakfast. I hated that she was dealing with her 'issues' alone. She leaned on her best friends when she needed someone to talk to, but with this, I knew she was tight-lipped. 

Hoping to clear my mind, I went into the bathroom to brush my teeth before eating my breakfast. While I enjoyed the meal, I missed sharing Saturday morning breakfasts with Harper. She was with Lanie right now—no doubt at a café of some sort. Was she eating egg whites and grapefruit right now? Most likely with a mimosa? 

On the other hand, if she was stressed out, probably ordered a venti double whipped peppermint mocha with an extra shot. My gut instinct told me it was the latter.

Ring-ring-ring

I reached for my phone and noticed Nate's name on the caller-ID. "Nate. Good morning."

"Hey, Jackson," he replied into the receiver. "Are you working tonight?"

"I am," I replied before taking a bite of my eggs. "Why? What's up?"

I really hoped that Nate wasn't going to ask to take my shift tonight. After the amazing night I had with Harper, I really didn't want to sit alone in my hotel room today. I was actually looking forward to going into work and keeping busy.

"I don't know if you know," he started, "but I ended up staying home with Karma last night."

Actually, I did know. It was all kind of my doing, but I didn't want to tell Nate that. The main reason was because I didn't want too many people knowing about the night Harper and I had.

The more people knew about it, the more questions I would be asked. They would want to know how it went, or whether or not our night meant she and I had gotten back together.

It was just...not something I wanted to talk about to anyone right now.

"Yeah, I heard." I tried to play it off. "How is Karma, by the way? She doing okay?"

Nate sighed on the other end of the line, and my gut told me he was probably smiling right now. "Yeah,  she really is. We had an amazing night together last night, and this morning she mentioned that she is ready to get back to work. It really feels likes things are getting back to normal."

Almost everything, I thought to myself. My relationship status with Harper was still up in the air. Once we were back together, then things would be back to normal.

"I'm happy to hear it," I said honestly. "So may I ask what your early morning call is in regards to?"

"Right," Nate laughed. "Sorry. Well, Karma has plans tonight and, since I took the night off yesterday, I was hoping to get in some hours at the bar. I know you're closing tonight so I didn't want to just show up without talking to you first. If it's not busy tonight, I can catch up on some paperwork in the office if you're cool with it."

I took a bite if my bacon. "I don't mind. Knowing my luck, it's going to be packed tonight. Feel free to come in and help out wherever. You know I don't mind your company."

"Aw, Jackson, stop that," my best friend teased. "You're going to make me blush."

"Shut the fuck up, mate, before I have you blacklisted from the damn bar."

Nate scoffed into the receiver. "Uh, I own that bar—same as you. Nice try, mate."

I rolled my eyes at Nate's attempt at mimicking my accent. He was a fucking New Yorker. His accent was more like someone from Boston than New York. There was no way in hell he could pull off a British accent.

I glanced over to the empty bed and my chest tightened. "Hey, Nate?"

"Yeah?"

"Back then, when you first had to leave Karma, how did you do it? I mean...how did you walk away?"

The silence on the other end of the line had me checking the phone to see if the call got disconnected. I waited quietly until Nate finally answered me.

"I've actually been thinking about that a lot lately," he said roughly. "But that's hard to answer. First time I walked away from her, I was eighteen. We were kids. Her mom convinced me that Karma's future was in Florida, and that moving was the best thing for her."

I listened closely while Nate continued. "The second time was worse. After we had reconnected. Even though we were apart for twelve years, I was still in love with her. I had been since the beginning. She was standing there in her bedroom, telling me she wanted to he with me. Begging me to just tell her what I was hiding from her. She said she forgave me for the past and that she loved me."

"Christ," I mumbled.

"Yeah, pretty fucking much," he sighed.

"So, how did you do it?"

"I wanted her more than anything. More than anyone. The reason I was able to walk away from her, was because I knew that if she knew the truth about what her mother had done, it would hurt her more than my leaving her. And I couldn't be with her if she didn't know the truth."

I thought about what Nate said for a moment. In a way, I understood his thought process. He was right—Karma was devastated when she found out what her mother had done. She wouldn't even speak to her mum.

I started to think about Harper and what she was dealing with right now. I started to think about everything that had happened since the night we met in the bar. Would things have been better for her if I had never come here from London? Would she be married to my brother? Would she be on speaking terms with her mum?

Even though Harper had always told me otherwise, I knew that I was the cause of the rift between her and Mrs. Lewis. I was also the reason for our current predicament. We were fine...until I wanted a baby. I was the one that changed.

"Why are you asking, Jackson?" Nate's voice had a suspicious tone to it. "You thinking about earning some frequent flyer miles, my friend?"

I cleared my throat and tried to keep my voice steady. "Now, why would I go and do such a thing like that?"

"Jackson—"

"I'll see you tonight, Nate. Later."

I hung up the phone and didn't bother answering it when he called me back right away. Instead, I threw the phone on the bed and picked up the letter that Harper left for me. As my eyes skimmed over her words, I couldn't help but wonder if the questions I thought about previously were true.

Would it have been better for her if I had never come to the states at all? If we had never met? Would it have kept her from going through what she was going through now?