Page 66 of Country Contract

Harlow’s ivory face is flushed. It trails down her neck and even blossoms at her sternum. I know I’m handsy and like to pinch, pull, and grab. Harlow doesn’t have a handful anywhere on her, and yet I am entranced by the beauty that is her body.

I free her from her jacket and toss it behind me, hopefully landing in on the lounger. I push her back until her thighs hit Silas’s desk and seat her there just on the edge. The thin straps of her lacy bodysuit are freed from the tops of her shoulders and dangle off the sides. I pull the cups free and stare at her gorgeous, flushed flesh—creamy, almost iridescent. Her pebbled, blush nipples stand at attention, and I notice a freckle just to the side on her left.

“Fuck, your body is . . .” I look her over again, noting her cheeks are brighter than before. “Your body, it’s unbelievable. It’s truly a work of art. I’ll remember every line of your body for the rest of my life.”

Placing my hat crown down on the desk, I grasp her hips in my hands.

“One day, when I’m older, I’ll open old sketchbooks and find a whole collection of illustrations that are all based on you.” I kiss her harshly on the lips. “These lips,” I say against them before I move to the small space between her jaw and neck. I feel her pulse there, pounding in a steady rhythm.

“This jaw and all its hard lines.” My tongue drags down the large vein in her neck.

“Your swan-like neck.” When I reach her collarbone I kiss over it, before opening my mouth and biting down like a horse on a bit. She gasps loudly before I release and then lick over the indents I’ve left.

“Your collarbones will be a focal point. So defined and sharp.” I look up to see Harlow’s lips slightly parted and I smile against her skin.

I trail kisses down her sternum; I feel the bone distinctly under her flesh, and it’s something I’ve never experienced. Off to the left, I see her pert flesh waiting for my attention.

“These magnificent breasts, the most beautiful I’ve ever laid eyes?—”

“They can’t be, they’re so small.” I take her nipple captive in my teeth and apply a small amount of pressure. It’s enough to shut her up. I release the tip and look back up to her.

“They’re perfect.” Tracing my tongue around the peaked center of her breast, I move slowly out toward that freckle I caught sight of earlier. With a gentle kiss there, I continue to worship her chest. She basks in my attention, running her fingers through my hair, letting out soft groans. My fingers move to the button of her pants when the door swings open. Shooting up, I stand to cover Harlow, quickly pulling her bodysuit back into place.

“Harrison?!” It’s no doubt Silas. I recognize his voice, and it has a worried tone.

“Yeah?” I say without turning to look at him.

“First of all, is everything okay? A woman was just telling me she saw a man crying before he went into the bar office? Second, sorry Harlow, didn’t mean to interrupt. Finally, what the actual fuck, you guys? This is my personaloffice! And on the busiest night my bar has ever had. Jesus. Just go home and fuck if you can’t keep it together in public.” Oh, he’s pissed. I’ve heard him use this tone on CeCe and me when we really fucked up.

“Yeah, yeah. We’ll be out in a minute. Shut the damn door and cry to CeCe later.”

All I hear is the slam of the office door and then silence. I’ve been staring at Harlow’s face as she looks away from me, keeping her eyes down.

I’m about to say something, but I catch a smirk before she says, “You really did cry.”

Straight-up whiplash.

“You punched me in the fuckin’ throat, witch. What do you want from me?”

Harlow’s body starts to shake in my arms as she kisses my cheek and laughs against my skin.

“We’re proud of my fight response, remember?”

“Oh, trust me, I’ll remember.”

That’s all it takes; for a minute I’ve forgotten about our contract, that guy hitting on her, and the fact that I can’t have her tonight because her friend is in town.

Will I ever actually get to have her? Will we take it “all the way”?

A large part of me is desperate for it, but another part of me knows that if I do take it there, Harlow will be leaving with a bigger piece of my heart than I intended.

Chapter 28

Harlow

Heath: Any plans for Halloween?

Me: Just relaxing with Meg, we’re going out for a drink. We made a friend out here, and they know a nice local spot.

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