“Caroline?” Harley turned me, and rested warm hands against my face, tilting it up to stare into my eyes.
“Just breathe, darlin’. You’re safe here, I promise. I’ll punch him for that later.”
“I can do it right now, if you like,” I heard Grease offer, and their normal banter, and the way the room felt relaxed and easy, helped a little of my panic to ebb away. I still wanted to wash away the residual feel of his fingers against my skin, but I wasn’t already running. Harley was helping to centre me. He leaned closer, pressing his lips gently against my hair, and my breath caught. It was sweet and protective. It was like his approval washing over me. He was making me his, did he even realise that? Did he realise that every touch from him was becoming addictive?
He stared at me a moment longer, and smiled.
“You want to get back to your project?” God yes. I wanted that. I wanted to focus, and get back into the comfortable repetition of scanning, saving, and uploading. He understood me so muchbetter than I’d expected anyone to. I nodded and he chuckled, pressing another kiss against my hair before he released me.
“Go crack on, little lady. Thank you for taking a break with me.”
I practically scurried back to the desk and sat down, getting back into the flow in seconds. I heard a low murmured apology from Rocket as he passed me, but by then I could have been alone in this space because the whirr of the scanner, and the comfort of the activity, eased the last of my panic, and kept me in my little zone of safety.
I didn’t even hear the customer leave, or any of the conversation behind me, except for catching a low hum of noise now and then. I knew Harley would keep them back, and let me work, and I let that faith in him add a protective barrier around me. Every now and then a drink would appear next to me. More coffee. A bottle of water. He kept me hydrated, and let me relax into the project.
As I heard Rocket leaving, I turned to try and update him, because I’d finished one whole quarter of his folder, and it was already uploaded. I even had a URL to give him for it.
“Hey, there you are,” Harley said lightly as he came to crouch beside me.
“What time is it?” It was already dark outside, but it was late autumn, so that was normal for four thirty onwards most days.
“Almost five. I was thinking of closing up for the night, how’s that with you? Do you need more time?”
I did. I really did, but I was also hungry and tired.
“I can come back tomorrow, right?”
Harley nodded, leaning an arm on the desk.
“You’re always welcome here, Caroline. You could come in every day and I’d be happy to see you.”
I could see the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke, and it felt like the kind of moment where two people would kiss. A proper kiss.Not like what I tried the other day, where I blundered in with no idea what I was doing.
Harley cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you’d help me with another project actually. A paid one, obviously. Not looking for freebies.” The moment was gone, but this new one felt good too.
“I… sure, you need a website or something? An upgrade?”
He frowned. “My website’s not good? I paid a guy to do it.”
Oh god. I shook my head. “I… I’m sure it’s fine. What did you want help with?”
He scratched his jaw as he stood up, edged my chair back, and rested his butt against the edge of the desk, facing me.
“Kinda thinking I need help with my website now… maybe I have two jobs for you.” That easy grin returned, and I found myself smiling back. His new position put us closer than I’d realised at first. His legs were almost touching mine, and his body… it was right there. Barely any space between us at all.
I swallowed hard and waited for him to speak again.
“I told you I’m in a club, yeah?” I nodded, and he continued. “We’re looking at maybe razing the place, and starting from scratch. I wanted to put some ideas to them, you know, designs or whatever, but apparently my art skills… hmmm what was the term they used? Oh yeah, they suck.”
Chapter Fifteen
SHE GIGGLED, BUT SHE looked exhausted, and for the first time in my life, I wished I drove something with four wheels so I could take her home. If she were anyone else, I’d just insist on taking her home on my ride, but that’d mean serious touching, and she struggled with that. Still, I didn’t like the idea of her heading home alone like this.
“We can talk about that tomorrow, little lady. You look dead on your feet.”
Caroline blushed, lowering her eyes in that way that made me want to empower her, so she didn’t feel the need to hide her emotions. She was working her way deep under my skin, and my protective nature was making me see her as someone I wanted to look after.
“I… I didn’t sleep much last night. I mean, I don’t sleep well.”
