Harmless: Finding Love, #6

By Paris Hansen

A cross-country road trip with a stranger. What could possibly go wrong? 

 

Sylvia Greene knew she should've stayed home for Christmas, but the promise of cuddling her new niece was too good to pass up. If dealing with her disapproving parents and their snide remarks wasn't bad enough, terrible weather is making getting home nearly impossible. With flights grounded for the foreseeable future, the sexy stranger she meets in the airport is her only hope of staying sane and getting home. What's a little stranger danger if it means getting the hell out of Dodge and back where she belongs? 

 

With the last remaining rental car in all of Dayton, Logan Grainger is happy to come to the rescue of a damsel in distress. Two drivers are better than one, after all, but no matter what, he can't let himself get distracted by the beautiful woman sitting next to him. 

 

But between a moose named Sheldon and a quaint town that loves Christmas, Logan and Sylvia are on a collision course toward love, and neither of them has a chance of getting away unscathed.  

 

The Finding Love series: 

Restless (Savannah and Gabriel) 

Powerless (Finley and Liam) 

Speechless (Meghan and Oliver) 

Breathless (Brooklyn and Declan) 

Priceless (Andi and Braeden) 

Harmless (Sylvia and Logan) - A Finding Love Holiday Romance

 

The books in the Finding Love series can be read as standalones, however, for optimum enjoyment, they are best read in order. 

 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Paris Hansen
• Release date: Dec 9, 2019
• ISBN: 9798201364441

Paris Hansen

Paris Hansen currently writes both crime fiction and contemporary romance novels filled with strong heroines and sexy heroes. She has a moderately unhealthy obsession with Chris Evans, so if you happen to see him around be sure to send him her way. When she's not writing, Paris loves to curl up with a good book and a glass of wine or watch sports with her nephew.  

Book preview

Chapter 1

When her finger twitched while she was putting on her mascara and she accidentally poked herself in the eye, she should have taken it as the omen it was. Instead, she shook off the pain, finished her make-up, and packed up the rest of her stuff. The fact that she was finally going home was enough for Sylvia to forget all about the red spot on her eye, and the irritation that came with it.

She should never have made the trip back to Dayton. She should have known that her adorable baby niece wasn’t going to be enough to counteract the toxicity of her parents. From the moment she arrived, they were nothing but assholes to her, making her feel less than welcome in her childhood home.

Shaking her head, Sylvia took one last look around the room to make sure she didn’t forget anything. Any item left behind would end up in the trash. There was no way in hell she was going to deal with the hassle of asking her mom to go out of her way to ship it to her.

Stuff could be replaced — her pride...not so much.

Once she left this time, it was for good. No more forced phone calls. No more trying to have a relationship with people who obviously hated her. She’d make the effort to stay in contact with her sister, but that was it. Once and for all, she was done with them. Sharon and Bob Greene could go fuck themselves for all Sylvia cared. Her life and her mental health would be better without them in it.

Grabbing her bag and purse, she took a deep breath, then made her way to the stairs. She felt like she was about to run the gauntlet to get to the front door instead of walking through the house she grew up in. As she made her way down the stairs, she heard a car honking outside. Right on time.

Sylvia, your ride’s here. Please don’t make them honk again, her mother yelled from somewhere in the house.

She was a little surprised her mother wasn’t waiting for her at the front door. Sylvia expected her to be there to usher her into the cold, maybe give her a swift kick to her ass on the way out. With her hand on the doorknob, she heard the rustle of clothing behind her.

Thank you for letting me stay here, she said without turning around.

It was all your sister wanted for Christmas. It was the least I could do since she’s been so good to me. I couldn’t deny her.

The words stung but didn’t surprise her. Sylvia knew her mother hadn’t let her stay out of the kindness of her heart. She didn’t have a heart when it came to her eldest daughter.

She’d made one mistake; did one thing that she couldn’t take back, and her parents had decided she wasn’t worth their love. Not that they’d given her much of it to begin with. Hell, according to her therapist, that was why she’d done what she’d done in the first place. Of course, neither of her parents would ever take any of the responsibility for what happened. Instead, they blamed her for ruining the family reputation and practically disowned her as punishment.

Well, the joke was on them. They’d never completely severed the ties between them, instead they strung her along for the last seven years. But she was done. She was finally going to do what she should have done years ago. Even though she’d been preparing for this moment for days, Sylvia’s chest ached. Once she walked out the door, it was over. She’d no longer have any form of relationship with her parents. She never wanted it to end like this, but they’d really given her no choice. Their relationship was toxic and painful and a constant reminder of a time in her life that Sylvia just wanted to forget.

Without another word, she opened the door and walked out of the house, saying a silent goodbye as she closed the door behind her. The bracing cold felt good against her hot cheeks. Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them back. She didn’t want to cry. The situation didn’t deserve her tears; neither did the people that caused her pain.

She made her way down the walkway slowly, the cement slick with newly fallen snow. The white stuff was falling quicker than it had only an hour earlier. She was getting out of dodge just in time. With the way things were going, if she’d waited a few more hours, she would have been stuck there, in her own personal house of horrors.

A minute later, she was bundled up in the back of a stranger’s car on her way to freedom. Her flight to Seattle wasn’t for another few hours, but there was no way she was going to wait it out in her parent’s home. She’d rather spend an extra couple of hours sitting next to the guy who went viral when he stripped down to his boxers and bare feet for his flight across the country, then be in the presence of two people who couldn’t care less about her very existence. At least boxers guy was probably friendly.

The drive to the airport took longer than usual because of the snow and the day after Christmas traffic. Sylvia crossed her fingers the entire way there, hoping that the storm wouldn’t impact her flight. Dayton wasn’t the snowiest place on earth, but it snowed enough that the airport should be used to it. Not like in Seattle, where if it snowed an inch, the entire city shut down.

As Sylvia said goodbye to her driver, she continued to hold out hope that things weren’t going to be a disaster when she got to the other side of security. She’d checked into her flight the night before, and everything was fine. Her app was set up to send notifications if anything changed, and so far, she hadn’t heard a peep. Things could change at a moment’s notice, though, so she turned the volume up on her phone just in case.

The security lines weren’t as crazy as she’d expected given the number of people that were milling about. She’d just started to have a good feeling about her luck when she looked at the departure board and saw that her flight had a two-hour delay. It wasn’t ideal, but two hours still left her with plenty of time to get to her connecting flight in Chicago.

Knowing she had time to kill, Sylvia hit up one of the shops on the concourse for snacks and a drink, then made her way to her gate. She quickly found an empty seat that was both in a corner and had a place for her to plug in her charger in case her phone or Kindle batteries got too low. Settling in for the wait, Sylvia put her headphones in her ears, turned on her music, and then opened her Kindle to the romance she’d started reading the night before. Might as well make the most of the extra time she had and devour a good book while she waited.

THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING.

I’m really sorry, miss. I wish I could help you, but we don’t have any other cars available. I just rented the last one. You could always try coming back tomorrow. We have a few that are scheduled to be dropped off then, although, if the weather continues like this, I can’t guarantee they’ll show.

I can’t stay here another night. There’s no way I can face them again, and there aren’t any hotel rooms available around here, Sylvia said, her shoulders slumping in defeat. I never should’ve come back. I just want to go home.

I’m really sorry, miss.

No. I’m sorry for the outburst. I just can’t be here anymore. Renting a car and trying to get ahead of the weather was really my last chance. I guess I’ll have to figure something else out. The chairs in the airport aren’t the most comfortable ever, but they’ll have to do for a makeshift bed tonight. Thanks, and I’m sorry again for creating a scene.

Turning around to walk away from the rental car desk, Sylvia blinked back tears. She hated that she was letting it all get to her, but she was supposed to be going home. She was supposed to be heading back to Seattle, where she was loved and wanted. Her friends were all the family she needed. She had honorary nieces and nephews. She had people who cared about her well-being and wanted her to be happy.

They may not know about her past, but she knew they wouldn’t judge her if they found out. That was just the kind of people they were. Meghan especially. She knew Sylvia had a secret, but she didn’t push her to divulge it. They’d talked a few times about how horrid her parents were, but Sylvia could never bring herself to tell her the rest.

Someday she would because she had to.

The heaviness of her secret weighed her down more than she cared to admit but going back to her childhood home made it abundantly clear. She’d never be free of the mistakes she’d made if she couldn’t own them. Her therapist had told her that more times than she could count, but it hadn’t really clicked until she realized her parents were still punishing her for what happened. It didn’t matter the other truths that had come out when Sylvia’s betrayal had been discovered. All that mattered to the Greene family is that their oldest daughter was the worst of the worst. She had done the unthinkable, and the entire family had to pay for it.

Lost in her thoughts, Sylvia had no idea she’d made her way over to a sitting area across from the rental car desk until she nearly tripped over it. Pulling her cell phone out of her pocket, she tried to figure out what her next move was. She didn’t want to stay the night at the airport, but after they’d announced that her flight was canceled, she’d checked the hotel availability in the area, but everything was sold out. If she could find someone to drive her a couple of towns over, she could probably find something, but it would all cost more than she wanted to spend.

Even though she’d grown up just outside of Dayton, she had no one left in the area that she was still close to. Her parents weren’t the only ones that dropped her like a bad habit once the scandal broke. She spent the last six months of her senior year as the school pariah. There wasn’t a single person that cared that she left the day she turned eighteen. Not even her little sister was all that heartbroken over it. Having Sylvia out of the house made Shannon’s life a hell of a lot easier, so she really couldn’t blame her.

Excuse me, someone said from beside her.

Looking up from her phone, she tried to see if she was blocking something or somehow in the way. As she looked over at the owner of the voice, she tried to plaster on a smile, but she had a feeling it made her look more deranged than happy. Standing next to her was a gorgeous man with a panty-melting smile, who, if she had to guess, was probably in his early thirties. He had thick brown hair and piercing brown eyes. He wasn’t Jason Momoa gorgeous, but her pulse started to race nonetheless.

I’m sorry, can I help you? she asked. She couldn’t figure out why he was talking to her but found herself eager to find out.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but I sort of overheard your conversation with the agent at the desk over there.

Oh god...I’m sorry, Sylvia groaned, her cheeks growing warm.

She was already embarrassed enough about her behavior but knowing that someone else had overheard the entire thing made her feel worse. She had no idea why the witness was now standing in front of her, but she wished she could slink away and hide.

No. Don’t be sorry. I’m the one who should apologize. I shouldn’t have listened in, especially when it got personal. Ummm...so that’s not really why I came over here...well it sort of is, but...I’m the one they rented the last car to.

Okay, she said flatly, a little taken aback as to why he would tell her this.

He continued to stare at her a little too long. Her brow furrowed in confusion. She had no idea why this strange man was talking to her, especially since he witnessed her embarrassing moment at the rental counter.

Congratulations? she offered, although it came out more like a question than a statement.

When he still didn’t say anything, she took a step backwards before speaking again.

I’m not really sure what’s happening right now, Sylvia admitted as she checked him out again. He might have been hot, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t batshit crazy. Was she making a huge mistake continuing to engage with him?

Seriously, this is not going the way I planned, he murmured.

Well, to be fair, you only had like three minutes to come up with the plan, so...

His laugh caught her by surprise. It was rich and deep and sent chills down her spine. The crinkles that appeared next to his eyes when he laughed were sexy as hell. His smile was one that probably had women dropping their panties all over wherever he was from. Seeing this, she relaxed a bit and kind of hoped it took even longer to get to whatever he came over for so she could continue to check him out.

So, the weather is pretty crappy between here and Chicago. Based on the news reports, it’s not looking good for getting out of here anytime in the next couple of days.

Gee...did you come over here to rub it in or something?

No...shit...I came over here to offer up a proposition. No...not like that, he said hastily when her mouth dropped open at the word proposition.

Okay, strange man I’ve never seen before, what did you have in mind? she asked warily.

She knew trusting a stranger was probably a bad call, but she didn’t get a creepy vibe from the man standing in front of her. Watching him carefully, she tried to figure out what was going through his head. As he ran a hand through his already disheveled hair, she found it endearing and adorable that he was rattled by the situation. It was strange to her that someone who looked like him would ever get nervous, yet there he stood in front of her stammering awkwardly. Sylvia wondered if this was a usual occurrence for him or if it was because of her. She really hoped it was the latter.

I’ve got a car, and you need a car. I’d love to have someone to share the driving duties with and split the cost of the car and gas with. Is that something you’d be...

Yes...Hell Yes, she answered impulsively before he’d even finished asking.

He laughed again, the sound music to her ears. I plotted out a course that takes us to Indianapolis, so we stay south of the worst of the weather. Of course, when I last checked, there weren’t any flights available out of there, and all of their hotels were booked solid, but we can check again when we get closer. I’m prepared to drive all the way to Seattle if I have to, but really we just need to find somewhere we can get flights from.

Wait, you’re heading to Seattle too?

Yeah, is that where you’re headed?

She nodded, still in shock that they were headed to the same place. What were the odds they’d both call Seattle home...or maybe he didn’t, and he was just headed there for a visit. Either way, she was starting to feel even better about their plan.

I feel like our crossing paths was meant to be, he said before extending his hand out to her. I’m Logan, by the way. Probably should have started with that before asking you to potentially drive across the country with me.

Sylvia, she said with a laugh as she took his hand in hers. His skin was soft, with the barest of calluses on his palm.

Alright, Sylvia. Should we get this show on the road? Hopefully, traffic won’t be too bad, but I have a feeling it won’t be great.

Probably better than Seattle, though, so we should be fine. I just need to make a quick phone call if that’s okay.

Sure. I’ll wait over there, he said as he pointed toward the revolving door that led out to the car lot.

She watched him walk away, enjoying the view probably more than she