Harper #2
The symbol stamped on the other side is the reason my blood begins to boil. The little jester symbol mocks me, for everything I’ve created and the ease with which they have been able to get in and out of not just my club, but also my office. Twice.
“This is good though, right? They fucked up, not knowing that I put cameras in here.” Sadie is beaming at her own initiative to increase the security levels in here after the whole theft incident.
“Yeah, about that,” I look at my sister and wince at the glare she sends me when she realizes there won’t be any footage for her to view.
“Are you fucking kidding me Harper? Why did you turn the camera off? And when did you turn it off?”
Just as I open my mouth to answer, the reason the cameras weren’t rolling walks in.
“Tessa wanted me to come remind you that the specialty bottles you ordered for a VIP arriving tonight are—” He abruptly stops talking when he lifts his head to a waiting audience, he starts to smile at Sadie and Wade before he catches that not one expression is happy. “I think I missed something.”
Sadie looks between Colton and me, her glare intensifying as mine sinks further and further into guilt.
“Okay, new rule: no more fucking in the office.” She lifts a finger at Colton. He barely has to pause, his response ready to go.
“Yeah, Wade! No fucking in the office,” Colton mimics Sadie, lifting a finger at him as he shouts across the room, forcing a giggle out of me and a splutter of indignation from Wade.
“And you!” Sadie turns on me, the giggle abruptly cutting off.
“No more turning the camera off, for any reason. I mean it, Harper. It stays on and from now on. I don’t care if Colton is with you at the end of the night, Wade escorts you to the car and home.
” I open my mouth to argue that between Colton and myself, I doubt anyone would really try anything.
Sadie holds up a hand, effectively shutting down any argument I could make before I even try. This is work Sadie, the loving little sister who wanted to tease me about a boy is long gone.
Colton raises one eyebrow in my direction, questioning what brought about our new chastity restraints in the workplace. I hand him the card, watching his face contort as he reads it. He hands the card back silently, rage emanating from him as he approaches, a hand settling on my back.
“The camera stays on,” he agrees, nodding to Sadie.
“And no more fucking in the office,” adds Wade.
“Eh, I can’t promise that,” Colton smiles at him and I snort, earning a glare from Wade.
“Thank you. Ugh I was so excited thinking you had gotten her a present.”
Colton laughs, the tension from a moment ago breaking.
He lifts his hand from my back, rubbing the back of his neck and shuffling around from foot to foot, the tips of his ears turning a rosy shade of pink.
His blushing gives him away so easily, and while Wade is happy to pretend he can’t see it—Sadie is not.
“Oh, so you did get her something? What is it?” Sadie is back to beaming, striking at Colton’s obvious embarrassment.
“Well, um, it’s nothing, really.” He looks to me for backup, barking up the wrong tree for an assist. I love watching him squirm. My picture-perfect good boy for everyone else, but a man who likes to take charge and push boundaries when it’s just us.
I love that I get to see that side of him, almost as much as he loves getting to see the side of me that let’s go of that control.
I didn’t think I would like the shift in our relationship, enjoying the feeling of letting go as much as taking the lead, but our roles haven’t reversed. They have become more fluid.
And it’s absolutely terrifying, to trust someone so completely, that you don’t have to tell them what you need from them, they just know. Colton just knows. When I need to take the lead, he feels it, and when I need to let go, he is there to take over the reigns.
“It was for something that we talked about the other night, that you uh…wanted to try?” he stammers, face turning a deep crimson as I smile innocently and bat my eyes.
“I can’t think of what you mean? Remind me?” I coo, loving the way his blush runs from his cheeks all the way down his neck. He shifts closer bringing his mouth to my ear.
“The thing we talked about with the plugs and the different sizes—”
“Okay! All done in here!” Wade moves so fast, it’s just a blur moving across the room, basically tackling Colton back out of the office. Sadie is laughing as Wade shuts the door behind them.
“You look happy,” Sadie says, studying my face.
“I am.” Now it’s my turn to blush.
“Good, now stay happy and alive. Keep the fucking camera on.” She crosses her arms over her chest for emphasis.
“Promise,” I assure her, criss-crossing my finger over my chest.
“They want their drugs back,” she says, the words from Bob cutting into the conversation.
Words we had been dutifully ignoring until now.
They know some of their supply has gone missing, and it seems like they confirmed who has it.
“Who knows where you stashed the stuff we found?” She looks at the note card again, flipping from side to side.
“Just me and Wade,” I tell her.
“Good, keep it that way. The fewer people that know the better. That was a lot of profit to lose. I can’t imagine they are willing to just accept it as a wash, especially if they owe someone the money it would have brought in.
” She sighs, tossing the card onto my desk.
“They are starting to sound desperate, and desperate people are dangerous.”
“Desperate people make mistakes.”
“Don’t I know it.”