The rain pounded on the roof, the wind picking up until the windows rattled a little bit, but mostly, all I could hear was my own pulse hammering in my ears. Harrison’s body felt too good against mine, towering over me despite the fact that I was still wearing heels.
He licked the seam of my lips, kissing me like he’d been denying himself and hadn’t been able to wait even another second, and I let him. I parted my lips and melted into him, letting the heat and the weight of him against me erase every rational thought from my mind.
Between us, the ring seemed to be burning against my skin, as if it had magical powers that were being ignited by the kiss, but I knew that wasn’t true. I knew that it only felt that way because we were getting married and we were finally giving into the connection that had been brewing between us since the very first day.
Until now, I’d thought those two things were separate, the marriage and the connection, but as his tongue swept into my mouth and another groan vibrated through him, I knew I didn’t want it to be. In that moment, I wanted everything with him, the business, the future, this.
I tightened my grip on his hair, moaning when I felt him shiver against me. My heart was doing leaps and jumps, every nerve ending sparking to life with longing to take this further. I didn’t know if I wanted to beg him to take me to bed or shove him away and demand to know what this was.
A voice in the back of my mind was screaming at me to put a stop to this, stubbornly insisting on reminding me that this wasn’t part of the deal. Harrison and I were supposed to be all about business, dreams, and goals.
Friendship was as far as we should go on a personal level, or else we would risk it all falling apart. But as his hips rolled against mine and frissons of pleasure shot through me, I didn’t want to stop. Harrison was tall and fit, his shoulders broad and his arms strong. I could feel how hard he was all over and my mind conjured up all sorts of images of him—on top of me, behind me, underneath me.
From the feel of things, what he was packing wouldn’t be a disappointment in relation to the rest of him. In fact, it felt like he was perfectly proportional, but there was still that annoying voice, shouting unnecessary reminders that I didnotneed to know that about him and absolutely should not be imagining him naked.
When we broke apart, he was the one to break the kiss. For one wild moment, I just looked up at him, breathless and torn between wanting him and being pissed off about what had just happened. So I did nothing.
Harrison’s forehead dropped to mine, his chest heaving but his eyes closed. There was a furrow in his brow that I could feel against my own, like he was fighting himself about something too. It made me think I wasn’t the only one who was torn in half.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered, his voice hoarse.
The apology sliced through me sharper than a knife.He’s sorry? Sorry for what? For kissing me, or making me never want him to stop?
“I’m so sorry,” he repeated, quieter this time, as if the words were meant more for himself than for me.
I stood there, my chest rising and falling too fast, my lips tingling, my coat still damp from the rain. My thoughts scattered in every direction, my emotions as out of control. I wanted him something awful, the ache inside not stopping simply because he’d pulled away.
Anger was brewing deep within too, though. Overall, I just felt confused as hell, and I still didn’t even know why he’d come over to my building in the first place.
But he’s sorry, so there’s that.
I should’ve said something back. Maybe I should’ve just laughed it off, teased him, or done something else to cut through the sudden tension between us. I couldn’t do any of that, though. All I managed was a stiff nod before my hand found the doorknob behind me.
“Goodnight, Harrison,” I whispered, my voice foreign even to my own ears.
I slipped out into the rain, closing the door in his face when I felt him move to follow me. The downpour soaked me again, but at least it cleared my head as I ran back across the street and a little ways down the block.
What the fuck was that?
When I’d agreed to marry him, it had been an arrangement. A business deal. We’d come up with a strategy and we were following through with it.
We had an empire to build and this was the way we were going to do it. It would’ve been safe, manageable, and controlled. Hell, promising me no drama and no messy breakups had been one of the most convincing points of his sales pitch.
That kiss hadn’t been business, though. Not one little bit.
Last night’s kiss had been a spur of the moment sort of thing, a mere brush of our lips that had felt like a slip. What had happened between us a few minutes ago had not been that. God, I’d nearly started stripping his clothes off, for heaven’s sake.
What was Harrison’s objective with that? Was this an actual marriage or a business deal? Because that kiss had made it feel like it was moving toward the real thing, and that was not what I’d signed up for.
CHAPTER 21
HARRISON
Weak, early morning light filtered in through my office window, bouncing off the polished wood and illuminating tiny dust motes in the air. I should’ve been focused on work, anything that required actual brainpower.
Instead, I watched the shimmering dust and all I could think about was her. That kiss yesterday had been insane.
Hot as hell, but absolutely insane.
