Page 21 of The Attraction

“Well, you clearly don’t want to be here, and I’m not holding you here against your will, Harper, so I’ll tell Sandon and Rem that you need a full-time bodyguard to be in your apartment.”

“You’re enjoying this, aren’t you.” I can feel the irritation with him building inside me, along with the frustration that my life is not mine right now.

“Not really. Look, we need to talk to sort out how this is going to work. Can you manage to get home a bit earlier tonight? I will cook you dinner, and we can chat, calmly. We are two grown-ass adults who should be able to co-exist in an apartment, for the good of your safety.”

God damn it, why does he have to be nice to me? Just keep being a grumpy dick and then I don’t have to turn off my inner bitch like I’m trying to do right now.

“Okay.” It’s all I have to say, and I then turn to walk toward the door and open it.

Then there is this overwhelming hesitation, and I don’t know if I can step out of the apartment on my own.

His footsteps approach from behind, and the gentle way he places his hand on my shoulder sends a tingle through me that I haven’t felt before, and surprisingly, I don’t shrug it off.

“Just give me five minutes to grab my things and I’ll walk with you down to your car. Will you wait for me?” The softness in his voice is comforting.

I nod, and he leaves me standing there.

“Thank you,” I whisper, though I know he won’t hear.

Because the fear that just washed over me and the memory of my dream left me without a voice, and I need those five minutes of him being away from me to talk myself out of the panic attack that is about to overtake me.

I know the tools, and it sucks that I need to use them again, but I’m just so grateful for the hard work I have done years prior to now, because it will get me through this.

By the time Forrest is walking back toward me, I wouldn’t say I’m my usual self, but at least he isn’t seeing me at my worst.

I’ll never let that happen.

Nobody gets to see me weak.

FORREST

“I don’t give a shit what Sandon says, you get me in that meeting with this Ashton guy.” I’m leaning with my clenched fists on Remington’s desk, waiting for him to acknowledge my concerns.

“Calm the fuck down and take a seat.” He is looking at me like he wants to kick me out of his office, but he knows there’s no point because I’m not letting this go. “I don’t know much yet, and I doubt Sandon does either. Ashton will be in touch once he arrives in the country and then a meeting will be set.” He points his finger at me to sit down like he told me to.

“Why didn’t Sandon sort that out when he spoke to him? Why are we wasting time? Some lunatic is out there stalking Harper, and we are here sitting on our freaking hands doing nothing while we wait. Are we forgetting how useless the Kentwall team was when we had the sex tape problem with Flynn and Felisha? They are incompetent.”

“Wow, you really are worked up, aren’t you. I think you need to cut Sandon some slack here. His hands were tied, and he was being deliberately contained, not able to do his job properly. Ewan made sure that no one was really looking after Felisha, and it was just lucky that she had Flynn, which meant she also had us and we were watching her back.” He sighs and takes a breath, and this time, he just rolls his eyes at me, as I’m still standing in front of his desk and couldn’t sit still in a chair even if I tried.

“But this time it’s different. Felisha is in charge, and there is no way that she will let anything happen to her best friend, and sure as shit, I won’t either. Forrest, I know there is some weird kind of dynamic between you and Harper, because the two of you are like caged animals around each other, but you need to back off a bit. Remember what happened the last time you got like this with Cherie?” And his words hit harder than I would like to admit.

“Don’t even compare this to that,” I hiss at him.

“It’s the same damn thing. You are in my office demanding things because you want to sweep in and save the damsel in distress. Can’t you see that?”

“It’s different,” I swear as I turn and walk toward his window so I don’t have to look at him. “Last time was just wanting to protect a woman because I don’t like seeing them in danger with the potential to get hurt. A friend was putting herself in danger, and it was stupid.” I huff at the frustration of having to explain myself to him.

“But with Harper.” I turn back to him and thump my chest. “It’s like a burning pain in here, and I don’t know how to turn it off or contain it.”

My hands are at my sides, tightly clenched in fists, and I can feel the blood pumping fast in my body. What the hell is wrong with me?

Not saying a word, Rem just stands and walks to me, placing his hand on my shoulder and looking straight at me. “I haven’t known you that long, Forrest, but in the five years since we met and you became one of my best friends, I have never seen you like this, and it’s about damn time.” He smiles at me smugly, like he knows some special secret.

“Like what?” I demand.

“Turned inside out over a woman. Meeting Cherie knocked on the door of that titanium wall of yours, but she was never going to be right for you.” Putting his other hand up onto the other shoulder and patting it, he continues. “But Harper, now that’s a different story. She is yelling and screaming at you through those walls, and you don’t know how to deal with that. You want her to kick them down, but she isn’t interested. And that, my friend, is confusing the fuck out of you. So welcome to the club of men who have no damn idea what goes on in women’s heads, but we love them anyway.” He looks so sure of himself with his big speech of wisdom, but he’s wrong.

“Okay, Yoda. You might be in love, but I am far from it. And Harper…” I step around him and start pacing again. “She’s just…” I throw my hands in the air in frustration, trying to find a word, and the only two that come to mind are, “Annoyingly complex.”

---