Page 111 of Sins of the Father

17

Steven

Besides my timein bed with Harper this morning, my day has consisted of one fire after another. My exes are taking full advantage of their five minutes of fame and did another tell-all in several gossip magazines. I’ve been chosen as a top bachelor to snag by some list I’ve never heard of but everyone else on earth has. There’s a photo shoot I’m expected to be at before the list is published. I turned them down, but then Dudmeyer sent me an email about how all this new press is excellent for the company. Apparently, he’s friends with the editor who called him to say how disappointed he was I turned them down about the photo shoot, and I couldn’t be on the list if I didn’t do it. Dudmeyer took it upon himself to commit me to the list and assured him I would be available for whatever they needed me for. So I’m officially mortified further.

During every crazy situation that popped up at work today, all I can obsess over is how to get Harper not to take a job with her old firm in New York. Mix in my anxiety about seeing Maximillion, throw in how to dance around my distaste for him with my boss all night, and I can’t concentrate on anything.

And then there’s my mother. She will undoubtedly be beaming with pride one minute and throwing daggers at Maximillion’s wife the next. At the end of the night, if it’s like the last event I had to attend, as soon as the crowd dies down and Maximillion has left with his beloved family, she’ll be cozied up to the bar, two sheets to the wind. I’m sure I’ll have to figure out a way to get her home without causing a scene and then get her in bed and leave before she cries on my shoulder for hours over the sperm donor.

By the time I rush home to shower and throw on my tux then get to the penthouse in time to pick up Harper, I’m cursing myself for not allowing her to grab my tux today. If I’m late, I’m going to hear about it from Dudmeyer. He already sent me an email today reminding me to bring my checkbook and show my gratitude.

The last thing I ever wanted to do was kiss Maximillion’s ass. My boss seems to want me to lick it. So I’m ready to hide my head in the sand and never come out.

But I can’t. And when I see Harper, the crater forming in my heart only grows. Like anytime I look at her, she’s stunning. It doesn’t matter if she just woke up or is dressed up like now. She steals my breath and creates a chaotic ache in my body.

Keep it casual. It’s what she wants.

Find a way to make her stay.

That requires her not wanting to leave.

When we get in the car, she slides as close to me as possible and puts her hand on my thigh. I clench my jaw, and my body tenses further.

“Are you going to act like we’re strangers all night?”

I close my eyes and sigh.

Stop being a dick.

I turn to her. “It’s not intentional.”

She smiles and traces my jawline. It twitches under her fingers. “I know you’re stressed. And I caused it. I’m sorry.”

Her green eyes are full of remorse, and it pains me to see them.

“The office was a shit show today. This event... I’m sorry.”

She moves onto my lap and puts her arms around me. “What can I do to help you?”

Any resilience to not touch her leaves. Her fresh citrus and jasmine scent zings through my senses. Her pouty lips, red and a tad shiny, beckon to me. I already know what those lips can do, and it’s like giving a kid a cookie and trying to take it back.

I aggressively fist her hair and taste her, licking her lips before my mouth touches hers, and her hands grip both sides of my head and pull me toward her.

She grinds her ass on my growing hard-on, rocking on me with hitched breath.

“How long until we get there?” she whispers.

I groan. “It’s only a few minutes.”

“Tell him to pull over,” she insists, her eyes burning with desperation. “We can be quick.”

I continue kissing her and put the divider down an inch. “Pull into a parking lot and go for a walk. I’ll text you when you can come back.” I roll the window up.

I’ve never told Ted to do anything of the sort before. But something about Harper makes me unable to think or make my regular, rational decisions. And I’m probably going to be late, but if I don’t have her now, my aching balls will torture me all night.

Ted pulls over, and the car door opens then shuts.

Harper pulls the length of her dress up and pulls off her panties.

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