“What?” I gasp.
She shrugs. “You brought me to a quiet corner of the room. And you gave me a blindfold like you don’t want me to see anything?”
“Are you mad?” I sigh. “I brought you over here to talk, that’s all. I need you, Harper. And Ineed to do things to you. Bad things.”
A cute smile curls her red lips. “How bad?”
“Really bad,” I whisper, stroking her blushing cheek.
“So you’re not embarrassed about liking me?”
I shake my head. “Not even a little.”
Fuck. She’s so irresistible when she bites her lip like that.
“So prove it,” she mimes at me.
I don’t need time to think as I lean closer to her perfect mouth.
“Fine, I will…”
TWENTY-NINE
Harper
The light around us fades.
The background chatter falls quiet.
And the air is sucked from my lungs as Chris Collins presses his lips to mine.
Grabbing my ass and pulling me tight against his rugged chest, his tongue rolls against mine, and I travel to another time and place.
I don’t know where I am, but I’m free here and nothing else matters but this moment.
Trying to breathe each other inside, this is way more than a kiss as we merge as one.
Every part of me aches for release.
Chris Collins is my escape.
We are a force to be reckoned with, yet I know deep down we can never be together.
Pulling back, his dark eyes pierce my soul, and I can see he feels it too.
I can still taste the bourbon on his tongue, but nothing compares to the fire he ignites within me.
His face contorts with a mixture of anger and desire.
“Wow,” I pant, never having felt so wanted.
“You go, girl!” Maria yells in the distance.
Chris rests his forehead on mine and closes his eyes.
“Yeah, wow,” he whispers. “No one should be embarrassed to be with you, Harper. You should be treated like a fucking princess. Never settle for less.”
I run my fingers across his tense jaw.
“My dad probably has spies in here,” I say.
“Probably,” Chris whispers, rolling his forehead against mine.
“So he’ll find out that you just kissed me.”
“Yeah,” he sighs, opening his eyes. “Ten seconds of kissing you or twenty years of friendship…it’s not even close. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”
Oh. My. God.
I know that look.
He means it.
“Then don’t leave tomorrow,” I tell him, staring into his mysterious, bloodshot eyes. “You can stay here, and you can be the one who treats me like a princess.”
Chris doesn’t need to respond in words.
His answer falls in a single, pained tear that rolls onto his quivering lips.
He wants to stay, but he can’t.
And I have to respect that.
“Okay,” I say, that single word causing more pain than I ever dreamed possible.
“I’m so sorry,” he growls, fighting with his inner demons.
Just like he’s done for me so many times before, I rub my thumb across his cheek and dry his tears.
“It’s okay,” I whisper. “I understand. It is what it is.”
Then I lift the blindfold and graze it across his lips.
“But like you said, may as well end things on a high…”
His hand clenches on my ass and he sniffs hard.
“Are you sure?” he asks.
I nod. “Positive. But you’re going to have to wait a teensy bit longer. I have to wrap up the show.”
“I’ll be waiting in your room,” he whispers. “But don’t be too long. I leave in twelve hours, and I havea lot of plans for you.”
His warm, ragged breath reminds me of the dream I had, and a cold shiver chases down my spine.
I can’t believe this is happening.
Chris kisses my forehead, and the vein in his neck strains as he struggles to part himself.
“See you soon,” he mimes, sucking in a deep breath. “Here. Keep this switched on at all times.”
I stare down at the tiny phone he’s just slipped into my hand.
“What’s this for?” I ask him.
So many answers twinkle in his dark eyes, but I know he’s struggling to release them.
“Just keep it switched on,” he says. “I have to look over my shoulder everywhere I go, Harper. It’s an occupational hazard when you live the way I do. You’ll be safer when I’m gone, but for now, just keep it switched on.”
The girl inside me needs to hear him say it.
“Why?” I ask.
Chris grinds his teeth. “Why did you have Bouncer micro-chipped?”
Just say it, Chris!
“Because we didn’t want him to go missing.”
Chris nods. “And?”
“And because…” I say as he looks away. “Because I loved him.”
He clenches both his fists.
“Just keep the phone on,” he tells me. “It can’t be traced. Pressone to contact me,two for your dad.”
Spinning on his designer shoes, Chris straightens his jacket and marches through the crowd.
“Oh my God!” Maria yells.
My best friend flings herself at me, and we both crash into the wall.
“That was the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen!” she squeals. “Harps! He kissed you! The silverfox kissed you!”
“I know,” I say, freeing myself to get some air. “I was there.”
Maria’s phone pings with a message and she pulls it from her bag.
“Tell me what it was like!” she shouts, tapping at her screen.
I don’t know where to start.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.