Page 19 of The Assistant
It’s clear that she doesn’t want to be here. She can’t wait to get away from me.
“Is something the matter, Harper?” I ask when I’m finished with the Penelope debrief.
Harper looks up at me with exhaustion in her eyes, and she shakes her head. “What is wrong with you?”
“That’s no way to talk to your boss,” I say, crossing my arms and looking down at her.
“Well, I’m talking to my asshole of a stepbrother right now,” Harper says, her voice low to make sure nobody else wandering around the office behind us can hear. “How can you be so casual about all of this? What happened last night should never have happened. I think it would be best if we just maintain some professional distance.”
I laugh and shake my head. “I already told you last night that you’re mine. Nothing this morning has changed my mind about that.”
“You’re ridiculous!” Harper huffs.
I move closer and reach over to grab her chin, forcing her to look up at me. She doesn’t fight back against it, and I smile.
“I know you think you can pretend like nothing happened last night, but I can’t. I dare you to forget what it felt like when I touched you,” I say, dropping my hand from her chin to her neck and gently tracing my finger along the curve. “Forget what it felt like when I made you come three times on this desk. Forget what I felt like inside you. I dare you to forget how good you felt when I fucked you. I bet you can’t.”
Her throat bobs up and down as she reluctantly tears her eyes away from me. She squeezes her legs together, and I know this conversation is turning her on. She’s trying to fight against the memory of last night, but she’s failing. I would give anything to splay her out on my desk right now and taste the arousal building between her legs.
I have to have her again. Soon.
The phone on my desk rings, and I look over to see it’s my dad. Horrible timing, but I know I can’t ignore his call. He’ll keep calling until I eventually call him back, then I won’t live down how I didn’t answer the first time.
“Get to work,” I say, walking back around my desk and taking a seat. Harper walks out of my office quickly, and I watch her the entire way. When my door is closed, I pick up the receiver and answer the call. “Hello?”
“Dawson, is Harper with you?” Dad asks before anything else, and I’m a little confused.
“We just got here. She’s in her office now.”
“Great. Make sure you keep a close eye on her, okay?” I nod as if he can see me. “I wanted to talk to you about the pool party the other night. You need to be careful about parading her around in such skimpy outfits where anyone can see her.”
This has to have something to do with Diana. She probably told him to call me because she hated seeing her daughter in that bikini. She couldn’t handle it herself after the comment I made, so she’s making him do her dirty work.
“It was a pool party, and she was covered up in a caftan most of the time,” I reply, sighing at the annoying conversation I’m having to have again.
“Regardless, she needs to maintain her modesty,” he says. I roll my eyes and don’t fight him on this. “I have a set up a meeting for you with Malik for tonight. I want Harper to go with you. Make sure she wears something sexy.”
What the hell? One second he wants me to make sure she’s modest, then immediately after, needs her to be sexy? I only have a moment to think about that before I realize Harper is going to a meeting with Malik of all people.
Malik is an arms dealer. He’s not even one of our legitimate partners at that. I don’t know what business we could possibly be doing with Malik, and I don’t understand why Harper needs to be there.
On top of that, Harper is only aware of one side of the business. She knows about the front end, defense and infrastructure bullshit. She doesn’t know about the real business. The real reason my father and I have accrued the fortune we have. Involving her in a meeting with Malik will open her up to a lot more information.
“Why would Harper need to be at a meeting with Malik?” I ask, the confusion evident in my voice. “Everything she’s doing here is for the legitimate business. We should keep her focused on that instead of the other part.”
My dad sighs on the phone, and I can practically hear him shaking his head in frustration. “Just do as you’re told.”
Before I even have a chance to argue, he hangs up the phone, and I’m left sitting in my office, confused and angry about the prospect of what’s happening.
Chapter 10
Harper
I didmy best to avoid Dawson at work today, which was incredibly hard because he’s my boss. I’m contractually obligated to do everything he says, and he likes to take advantage of that.
All day long, I could feel his eyes on me. It felt like there was a weight on my shoulders just from his constant ogling of me. The worst part is I don’t know if I’m opposed to it.
Yesterday was... unusual, to say the least. But I did like what happened between us in a way. It caught me off guard entirely, and it’s not how I’ve always imagined losing my virginity—it was intense.
