Chapter 8 Harrison
The morning air was cool and quiet as Harrison pulled his SUV out of Kelsey’s apartment complex.
Soft bands of sunlight filtered through the windshield, warming the dashboard and catching the faint tension that sat between them.
Kelsey had been quiet for most of the drive, her hands folded loosely in her lap while the city moved past in familiar blocks of brick storefronts and early weekend traffic.
She watched the road ahead through the passenger window, her expression thoughtful, but Harrison’s attention kept drifting back to the way she held herself.
He had spent most of his adult life reading people.
Running Oasis demanded it. Every bartender, every server, every patron who walked through the door carried their own energy with them, and Harrison had built his success on recognizing those shifts before anyone else did.
People told the truth with their posture long before they opened their mouths, and Kelsey Kincaid was holding something in.
He let the silence stretch for a while before finally speaking.
“How are things at the restaurant?”
Kelsey turned slightly toward him, surprise flickering across her face before she answered.
“They’re good,” she said lightly. “Busy, but good.”
Harrison kept his eyes on the road.
It was a lie.
Not a particularly convincing one either.
Her voice had been too quick, too rehearsed, like she had already prepared the answer before he finished asking the question. He drove another block before speaking again.
“You’re sure about that.”
Kelsey shifted slightly in her seat.
“Yes.”
The word came a little sharper this time.
Harrison slowed at the next red light and finally turned his head toward her.
“Kelsey.”
She looked back at him, wary now.
“You’re lying to me.”
The color drained from her face.
“I—”
He didn’t raise his voice. He didn’t need to.
“I’m going to say this once,” Harrison continued calmly, his gaze steady. “I do not tolerate dishonesty.”
Her breath caught.
“I wasn’t—”
“Yes,” he interrupted quietly. “You were.”
The light turned green and he eased the car forward again, his tone remaining even as he continued.
“I understand pride. I understand wanting to handle your own problems. I even understand stubbornness. Those things don’t bother me.”
He glanced at her briefly.
“But lying to me about something that matters is not going to work.”
Kelsey stared straight ahead now, her fingers twisting slightly together in her lap.
“You don’t even know what I was going to say,” she muttered.
“I know enough.”
He turned onto the street leading toward Archer’s house, the familiar neighborhood lined with wide yards and quiet sidewalks.
“Consider this your warning.”
Her head snapped toward him.
“Warning?”
“Yes.”
His voice stayed calm, but the weight of the words settled between them.
“The next time you lie to me, Kelsey, you’re going to find yourself over my knee getting your bottom spanked long and hard until the lesson sticks.”
The words landed like a spark.
Heat rushed up her neck instantly.
Mortification hit first, followed by something far more complicated.
Her pulse quickened.
He had said it so easily, so matter-of-fact, like it wasn’t a threat but an inevitability.
Like a rule she simply hadn’t learned yet.
Kelsey swallowed and turned her attention back to the window.
“Noted,” she muttered.
Harrison’s mouth twitched faintly.
The rest of the drive passed in a quieter tension, neither of them speaking again until he pulled into Archer’s driveway. Kelsey’s car sat exactly where Cassidy had parked it the night before, the sunlight catching the windshield as Harrison shifted the SUV into park.
“You feeling steady enough to drive?” he asked.
She nodded quickly.
“Yes.”
He studied her for a moment before reaching across her and releasing the seatbelt with a soft click. The movement brought him closer than either of them had been since the kitchen that morning, close enough for him to catch the faint scent of her shampoo.
“Good,” he said quietly.
He stepped out of the vehicle first and walked around to her side, opening the door before she reached for the handle. Kelsey climbed out slowly, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear.
“Thank you,” she said softly. “For the ride. And… last night.”
Harrison held her gaze for a moment, his expression steady.
“You’re welcome.”
Kelsey lingered beside her car longer than she meant to, her fingers resting on the door handle as the quiet stretched between them.
“I’ll see you around,” she said.
“Yes,” he replied easily. Then, after a beat, he added, “Tuesday.”
Her brows knit slightly. “Tuesday?”
“I’m taking you to dinner.”
The words landed so calmly it took her a second to process them.
“Oh,” she said, blinking. “Harrison, you don’t have to—”
He lifted a hand slightly, stopping the protest before it could fully form.
“Do you have plans Tuesday night?”
Kelsey hesitated.
“No…”
“Working?”
“…No.”
His gaze held hers, completely unbothered by her hesitation.
“Then it’s settled.”
Her mouth opened again, instinctively ready to argue, but nothing actually came out. The quiet certainty in his tone left very little room for negotiation.
“I’ll pick you up at seven,” he added, as if the conversation had simply reached its natural conclusion.
Kelsey stared at him for a second, her stomach doing a strange little flip.
“Okay,” she said finally, surprising herself.
Harrison gave a small nod, satisfied, and stepped back to give her space.
“Drive safe, Kelsey.”
She slid into the driver’s seat and started the engine, trying very hard not to think about the way her pulse had suddenly quickened.
Harrison returned to his SUV, and a moment later they pulled out of the driveway in opposite directions, the quiet certainty of his words echoing stubbornly in her mind.
Tuesday.
Seven.
Dinner.
Even as the distance grew between them, Harrison’s thoughts stayed with her.
By the time he stepped into Oasis later that afternoon, the familiar pulse of the club had already settled into its usual rhythm.
The bass vibrated softly through the floor while colored lights moved lazily across the bar.
Staff moved through the space with practiced efficiency, the quiet confidence that came from a place that ran well.
Harrison crossed the floor and headed straight for his office, removing his jacket as he entered before settling behind his desk. A neat stack of invoices and vendor paperwork waited where he had left them earlier in the week.
Work had always been simple. Numbers behaved logically. People rarely did.
He had just begun reviewing the week’s distribution reports when the door opened and Cassidy slipped into the office.
She stopped short when she saw him.
“Oh.”
Harrison leaned back slightly in his chair.
“Cassidy.”
She shifted her weight awkwardly.
“You’re here early.”
“I own the building,” he said dryly.
“Right.”
She stepped further inside, though Harrison immediately noticed the careful way she moved. The slight caution in her stride told him everything he needed to know about how Archer’s morning had gone.
His brow lifted slightly.
“Walking seems uncomfortable today.”
Cassidy’s cheeks turned bright pink.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
Harrison folded his arms.
“Mhm.”
She crossed her own arms in response.
“You weren’t even there.”
“No,” he said calmly. “But I’ve known Archer for years.”
Cassidy huffed.
“He overreacted.”
“Did he?”
“Yes.”
Harrison studied her for a moment before speaking again.
“You poured drinks strong enough—and often enough—that the three of you ended up completely wasted.”
Cassidy opened her mouth.
Then closed it again.
“…when you say it like that it sounds bad.”
“That’s because it is.”
She sighed dramatically.
“Well my bottom is the one paying the price.”
Harrison almost smiled.
“You seem to be walking like someone who learned a lesson.”
Cassidy pointed a finger at him.
“You’re enjoying this.”
“Immensely.”
She scowled, but the expression softened almost immediately.
“…but it was kind of worth it.”
Harrison chuckled quietly.
It was good to see her comfortable enough to let that bratty little edge show. Six months ago she would have been too nervous to say something like that in his office.
Now she trusted the people around her.
Still, he tilted his head slightly.
“You might want to get back to work before I call Archer and tell him he didn’t spank you hard enough.”
Cassidy gasped.
“You wouldn’t.”
Harrison raised one brow.
She stared at him for a long moment before quickly turning toward the door.
“Okay fine I’m going.”
She paused at the threshold and glanced back.
“You’re mean, you know that?”
“Get back to work, Cassidy.”
She stuck her tongue out at him before disappearing down the hallway.
Harrison shook his head with quiet amusement as the door closed behind her. The club felt comfortable again, alive with the familiar rhythm of music and movement. Yet as he returned his attention to the paperwork on his desk, his mind drifted back to the morning.
To Kelsey.
To the way her cheeks had flushed when he mentioned the consequences of lying.
She had been embarrassed.
But not entirely opposed to the idea.
That reaction had not gone unnoticed.
Harrison leaned back in his chair slowly.
He had meant what he said. He did not tolerate dishonesty, and sooner or later Kelsey Kincaid was going to learn that he expected honesty from the people under his protection.
Whether she realized yet how much she needed that protection remained to be seen.
Tuesday night would tell him a great deal.
And Harrison had a feeling that the next time she tried to hide something from him…
She would not get away with it nearly so easily.