Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
E aston woke up, and for a second, he wasn’t certain where he was.
He wasn’t in his bed.
He blinked. His face was buried in a cloud of blonde hair. He was flat on his back on his couch, with a sleeping Harlow stretched out on top of him.
Damn .
He stayed still and appreciated the feel of her. She wasn’t quite snoring, but she was making cute little snuffling noises. He found them outrageously attractive.
He’d had plenty of women in his life. Beautiful, elegant, and accomplished women. But he’d never slept on the couch with any of them.
Harlow stirred. She lifted her head, and her eyes were heavy with sleep. “Hey.” Then she stiffened, her eyes going wide.
Before she panicked, he clamped an arm around her to hold her in place. “Good morning.”
She stayed silent, but he could practically hear the wheels turning in her mind.
“What’s going on in that head of yours?” he asked.
“I’m wondering if I ignore you, if you’ll disappear. Like a figment of my imagination.”
“How’s that working out for you?”
She groaned and shifted. Her body brushed against his.
Which had his wakening cock jabbing into her belly.
Those eyes got wider.
Shit . “I really want to kiss you.”
“No. No kissing.” She rolled off him and stood. She thrust her hands into her hair. “I can’t believe we slept together.”
“Fully clothed. On my couch.”
“I don’t—”
Easton reached up and grabbed her arm, then tumbled her back on top of him.
“Easton!”
He kissed her. She resisted for about half a second, then she fisted a hand in his hair and kissed him back.
Fuck . He wanted to tear that dress off her. He reached down and bunched the fabric, and started pulling it upward. She moaned into his mouth, then bit his bottom lip.
“You should come with a warning label,” she complained.
He dragged his hands up her thighs. “Oh?”
“Yes. Hot, potent, and causes women to make bad decisions.”
“You want to be bad, Harlow?”
A cell phone rang.
She froze. “That’s mine!”
She leaped off him, and he narrowly avoided a knee to the groin. As she dashed to her handbag, he tried to get his aching cock under control.
“Shit, my battery is almost dead.” She thumbed the screen. “Dad?”
“Harlow.” Charles Carlson’s flustered voice came through the speaker.
Easton sat up.
“Are you okay?” There was slick panic in Carlson’s voice. “Where are you?”
Harlow flicked Easton a glance, worrying her bottom lip. “I’m fine, Dad.”
“I went to your apartment and you weren’t there.”
“Um, I stayed with a…friend.”
“The dinner went all right?”
Her nose wrinkled. “It was bearable. Dad, we need to talk about the next steps.”
“There have been some developments,” her father said.
“For me, too. Some men tried to grab me off the street, Dad. And Antoine swore it wasn’t him.”
“ No.” Her father’s voice was a harsh croak.
Easton frowned and moved closer. Her father’s voice showed signs of stress. Easton looked at Harlow. He hated seeing the worry lining her face.
“Princess, meet me at your place in thirty minutes. We’ll talk then.” The line went dead.
Harlow fished around in her bag and found a hair tie, then pulled her hair up in a messy knot. “I need to get to my apartment. I need to shower and change, and meet my dad.”
Easton nodded. “Let me change first. Help yourself to something to eat.”
He went upstairs to his master suite. Today, he didn’t take in the breathtaking views of the Bay, with the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz Island in prime position.
In his large master closet, he stripped off the clothes he’d slept in, then headed into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he brushed his teeth, and pulled on a clean shirt and suit. His hair was still damp when he rejoined Harlow.
She pushed a mug of coffee at him. Beside it was a plate holding a bagel.
“Coffee, black with one sugar. Bagel with cream cheese and smoked salmon, and a few capers.”
Just how he liked it. “Thanks. You didn’t have to.” He pulled out his phone and called the office.
“Mr. Norcross’ office.”
“Gina, it’s Easton. I’m going to be late.
Can you cancel my calls for the morning, and reschedule the Buxton meeting to this afternoon?
” He listened to Gina throw questions at him, watching Harlow look at the shelves beside the TV.
“Harlow’s going to be late, too, so that’s why I need you to do it.
We’ll be in the office in about an hour or so. ”
Harlow turned and whisper yelled, “ No . She’ll know we’re together.”
“Thanks, Gina.” He ended the call. “We are together.”
“God, office gossip won’t be a wildfire, it’ll be a nuclear explosion.” Harlow threw her hands in the air.
He drank his coffee, then bit into the bagel. He chewed and swallowed. “It’ll be fine.”
She glared at him.
Easton quickly finished his breakfast. As they headed to the elevator, he saw her looking around his place. She peered into the formal living area that he rarely used and her eyes widened.
“Oh, my God. Your views.” Large windows framed the Bay.
“They’re better from my bedroom upstairs.”
She stepped into the elevator. “Please tell me you didn’t just say that.” She nervously played with the strap of her handbag. “No more talk of bedrooms. We need to meet my father.”
She was quiet on the drive to her place. Easton studied the lines of worry bracketing her mouth.
“Relax. We’ll get this sorted.” Vander would find out what the hell was going on.
She made an unhappy noise.
Easton found a parking space a few streets away from her building.
“You don’t have to come up,” she said.
He got out of the car and shot her a look across the hood of the Aston.
She sniffed. “Bossy.”
When they stepped out on her floor, there was no sign of Charles Carlson. Harlow let them into her place. She plugged her cell phone in to charge, and then disappeared into her bedroom.
When she came back, she paced across her living area, while Easton took a seat on the couch. She kept glancing at her watch. Her father was late.
“I like your place,” Easton said. There were lots of pops of color. Her personality was stamped on the apartment.
“My apartment would fit into your kitchen.” She shrugged a shoulder. “My dream is my own slice of San Francisco. I’d love an old Victorian or Edwardian place to renovate and flip.” She looked at her watch. “I’m going to take a quick shower and change. Can you let my dad in when he rings up?”
“Sure.” Easton watched her disappear again, and spent the next few minutes not thinking about her naked in the shower, water sluicing down—
He cursed under his breath and readjusted himself.
When she’d talked about renovating a house, her face had lit up. And now her savings account was zero, thanks to her father.
She was quicker than he’d expected. She wore a fitted, black dress with a thin metallic belt at her waist. She held a small, gray jacket in her hands. Her golden hair was pulled back in a messy twist.
“He’s not here?”
Easton rose and shook his head.
Her face fell. Then she marched to her phone and stabbed at it.
“Dad, I…” She made a noise of frustration. “It went straight to his voicemail. Dad, where are you?” She slammed the phone down on the counter. “What if something happened to him? What if—?”
“Hey.” Easton cupped her shoulders. “Let’s not start second-guessing. Let’s wait until we hear from him.”
She nodded.
“You’re not alone, Harlow.”
Her gaze met his, and it was drowning in misery.
“I’m right here,” he murmured.
“I don’t think he’s coming. We’d better get to work before I cry or have a meltdown.”
Easton lifted her jacket, and she turned and slipped into it. The damn thing hugged her body and accentuated her curves.
He wanted to back her into her bedroom, and take the damn jacket and dress off her.
“I’m ready.” She lifted her chin. “Dad will call soon. I’m sure of it.”
* * *
Sitting at her desk, Harlow tried to focus. When they’d reached the office, Easton had gone straight into meetings, and she had a stack of messages and emails to deal with.
Between those and worrying about her dad, she had no time to wonder if people were looking at her and Easton funny.
She’d slept with Easton.
Okay, not slept slept, but she’d spent the night wrapped up in his arms. She hadn’t stirred once during the night. She’d slept like a rock.
She blew out a breath and checked her phone. Nothing from her dad.
Where was he?
A sick feeling was growing in her stomach. She’d left her father another voicemail, and several text messages.
“Hi, Harlow.”
The female voice made her spin in her chair and whack her hand against her desk.
Ow . She pulled it to her chest and saw Saxon Buchanan and a beautiful, petite woman with a mass of dark hair set in loose curls.
Gia Norcross. Easton’s sister.
“Hi, Gia. Saxon.”
The tall, handsome man kept an arm around his fiancée. “I called Easton,” Saxon said. “He’s expecting us.”
Just then, Easton’s door opened. His gaze met Harlow’s. “Did you hear from your father?”
She shook her head, worry churning in her stomach.
He strode out and touched the back of her neck. Then he spun and hugged his sister.
“Hello, big brother,” Gia drawled, watching them with interest.
“Saxon, you have anything?” Easton asked.
“Not as much as I’d like.” The men walked into Easton’s office.
“I don’t know all the details,” Gia said, “but I know you’ve got troubles. As someone who recently had some of her own unfun troubles, how are you holding up?”
There was sympathy in Gia’s brown eyes.
Harlow liked dealing with things herself. She’d always been too busy to have loads of girlfriends to unload with. She caught up with friends occasionally, especially Christie, but she didn’t have lots of people that she bared her soul to. She liked keeping her soul to herself.
But the understanding in Gia’s face broke Harlow down. “I’m hanging on by a thread here. My father’s in debt to a really bad guy. Said bad guy blackmailed me into having dinner with him.” Harlow swallowed. “And don’t tell Easton, but Antoine—”
“The bad guy?” Gia hitched a hip up on Harlow’s desk.
Harlow nodded. “He offered to wipe out my father’s debt…”
“In return for?”
“Me.”
“ Ew .” Gia nibbled her bottom lip. “Yes, best not to tell my overprotective big brother that bit.”
“Then, to make matters worse, some unknown men tried to grab me off the street last night.”
“Oh no.” Gia’s eyes widened. “Are you okay?” She pressed a hand to Harlow’s shoulder.
“Easton beat them up.”
“He looks elegant, but make no mistake, there is an Army Ranger under the Armani.” Gia squeezed her shoulder. “He’ll keep you safe, Harlow.”
“I feel terrible that I’ve dragged him into this mess.”
Gia snorted. “Easton doesn’t let himself get dragged anywhere.” She smiled and leaned closer. “You strike me as super smart and competent, so I’m guessing you haven’t missed how he looks at you.”
Harlow’s heart did a little flip-flop. “Like he wants to choke me?”
“That, but mostly like he wants to get you out of that super-sleek dress I’m coveting, and do very naughty things to you. And I’m being nice here, because I dislike thinking about my brothers doing naughty things. Believe me, having three hot brothers is a cross to bear.”
Harlow laughed, but her smile dissolved. “He’s my boss, and I just can’t go there. Especially not with all my unfun troubles.” Harlow clenched her hands together. “I was supposed to meet my father this morning and he never showed. He isn’t answering his phone.”
Gia squeezed her shoulder again. “I’m sorry, Harlow. Lean on Easton. He has very broad shoulders. And Vander, Saxon, and Rhys will help.”
Harlow let out a shaky breath.
“Harlow?”
Her head jerked up. Easton looked grim.
She shoved to her feet. “What? Is it bad?”
“Come into my office.”
Her chest locked.
His face softened. “There’s no word on your dad.”
The air rushed back into her lungs. “Okay.”
She headed around her desk, and Gia stepped in behind her.
Easton eyed his sister with an arched brow.
“I’m coming for moral support,” Gia said.
Easton closed the door. Saxon was in the guest chair in front of Easton’s desk, and Gia perched on the arm. He slid one muscled arm around her.
The couple touched each other a lot. They were clearly in love. Harlow felt a funny burn under her ribcage.
Easton pressed a hand to Harlow’s back and led her to the other chair. Then he leaned back against his desk.
“Saxon tracked the Suburban’s partial plate.”
Her pulse leaped. “Okay.”
“It’s registered to Incise Incorporated. Which is a shell company.”
Harlow frowned. “So, there’s no way to trace it?”
“We traced it,” Saxon said. “The Norcross Security tech guru, Ace, followed the trail. It led them through a bunch of companies, and ended with Pierced Enterprises.” Saxon leaned back. “It’s owned by Rhoda Pierce.”
Harlow glanced at Easton. The name meant nothing to her, but he didn’t look happy.
“She’s in her late forties, smart, sharp, and savvy,” Easton said. “She owns some private clubs, and an online casino, and runs an illegal gambling operation. High-stakes games for anyone with the money to buy in.”
Harlow frowned. “I don’t understand why she’s after me. I don’t gamble. I don’t even play poker or roulette, or whatever the hell people play at illegal gambling spots. I don’t know a Rhoda Pierce.”
“Does your father play?” Easton asked.
“What?” She shook her head. “He saves his gambling for business. I’ve only ever seen him play cards at a charity casino night my mother ran once.”
“Okay, well, Vander and I will make contact with Pierce,” Saxon said. “See what she has to say.”
Harlow slumped. “Everyone’s getting involved in this—”
Easton touched her jaw. “Hey. Keeping you safe is the most important thing.”
Her phone vibrated, then rang.
She gasped. “It’s my mom.” She felt a wild rush of relief. “Maybe Dad went up to see her. Hi, Mom.”
“Harlow?”
Her mother sounded distraught. “Mom?”
“Harlow, I can’t track down your father. He missed his doctor’s appointment this morning, and the medical center called me. He isn’t answering his phone.”
No . Harlow’s throat tightened. “Mom, try not to worry. He must have gotten caught up with something.”
“Harlow, he’s been upset for weeks. He always calls me at breakfast time when I’m away. He didn’t today.”
Harlow closed her eyes. “Okay. Relax. I’ll find him. You just enjoy your retreat.”
“Thank you, Harlow. I don’t know what I’d do without you. Call me when you find him.”
“I will,” Harlow replied woodenly. She looked at Easton. “My mom. Dad missed an appointment and she can’t get in touch with him.”
Easton cupped her face. “Don’t worry.”
“Easton—” All she could do was worry.
“I’ll find him.” His voice was laced with promise. “For you, I’ll find him.”