Chapter 19
Chapter Nineteen
Harrison
“Are you insane? I cannot believe you told them we had a one-night stand.”
I glance over at Delaney in the passenger seat, just in time to see her shrug casually. Her expression is fairly neutral, but there’s an unmistakable air of smugness about her.
“It worked, didn’t it? It threw them off our trail. They didn’t believe me, anyway.”
“Yeah, for now. Trust me—when Ruthie wants to know something, she’s relentless.”
“She’s not bad. She trained me for over a week, and we got along great.”
“Yeah, you’re not the one receiving daily dirty jokes or semi-risqué photos of septuagenarians in your text messages.”
“Really? ‘Septuagenarians?’ Nerdy much?”
Delaney breaks out in laughter. It’s a sweet sound, and I realize I haven’t seen her laugh like this before. Even if it’s at my expense, I’m glad I’m the one to make it happen.
I pull the car into the small parking lot of the building department, put it in park, and turn it off. Then, I turn to face Delaney.
“Listen, before we go in, there are a few things you should know. Susie—Ruthie’s arch-nemesis, as you may recall from the conversation at the restaurant—is sweet, but she’s a little touchy-feely with me. So, if things get awkward, I’d appreciate a helping hand.”
“So, what you’re telling me is you have a seventy-something-year-old admirer? Does it bother your girlfriend?”
There’s a seriousness in her tone that makes me wonder where that question came from.
“My girlfriend?” I cock my head at her. “Is there something you want to ask me, Bets?”
“Uh, no.” Delaney looks away when she says it, and her jaw tenses a bit. She’s lying. She totally wants to know if I have a girlfriend.
“Oh. Okay. Let’s go then.” I hop out of the car and race around to her side to open the door before she can get out herself.
Once she climbs out of the car, I close the door behind her and move to grab the documents we need from the back.
“Well? You didn’t answer whether you have a girlfriend.”
My back is still to her, so I allow myself to smile for a second before I flatten my expression. I spin to look at her.
“You’re right. I didn’t answer because you didn’t ask a question. Remember?” I move closer to her. “Do you have a question you want to ask me, Delaney?”
Her back is against the car now, and there’s barely a foot between us.
She’s beautiful. I don’t think she even knows it, which is crazy to me.
I can’t tear my gaze from her face or those gorgeous eyes, wide and gawking back at me.
She’s biting her lower lip, and it’s sexy as hell.
A single strand of hair falls from her loose bun and brushes against her cheek with the light breeze in the air.
It takes everything in me not to reach up and tuck it behind her ear.
What are you doing, Harrison? She’s an employee. You don’t do relationships. You don’t do girlfriends.
Just when I’m sure she’s going to ask, her facial muscles tighten. The stunned look in her eyes disappears, replaced with stubbornness.
“We should go in now,” she says. “I have a lot of work to do back at the office, so we shouldn’t waste time.”
I take a step back, and Delaney moves away from me, practically running toward the building’s entrance.
A few minutes later, we’re standing in the office of the building department.
As usual, Susie is working—and smiling seductively in my direction.
Like always, I’m extremely uncomfortable because of it.
I place the necessary paperwork on the counter and then take a few steps back, out of Susie’s reach.
Delaney is close enough to me that I can feel her upper body shaking as she laughs under her breath.
“Excuse me a moment, please,” she says, turning away from Susie and me. I’m still close enough to hear her take a few deep breaths, clearly trying to get a hold of herself.
Susie picks up the paperwork and flips through the pages.
“Harrison, can you just clarify this right here for me?”
“What is it?” There’s obvious suspicion in my voice.
“Come here, and I’ll show you.” Susie grins.
Ugh. This is a trick. I know it is. Still, we need to get back to the office, so I move forward and look at where she’s pointing. I make the mistake of placing a hand on the countertop, and Susie is quick to place hers on top of mine.
“Oh, silly me. My mistake. That makes sense now that I’m reading it again.”
“Okay, good. Is everything set? Is there any way to get this one rushed a little bit?”
She hasn’t let go of me, and when I gently try to pull away, her grip tightens.
“Well, you might be in luck. You’re aware Donnie retired, right? We have a new engineer. He’s much faster, among other things, than Donnie was.”
“What does that mean to me today?” I force a smile, knowing that a little sweetness goes a long way with her.
“Just that I can get him to check it today, if you’d like.”
“That would be wonderful. Could you do that?”
She squeezes my hand. “Yeah, I can do that for you.” Without releasing me, she picks up the phone, presses a button, and a few seconds later, she’s asking someone, who I assume is the new engineer, to come out and check the plan. Bingo.
At this point, Delaney has pulled herself together and leans up against the counter, close to Susie and me, smirking like a kid who knows something no one else does. She repeatedly glances down at my captive hand, then meets my eyes and wiggles her eyebrows.
My situation with Susie amuses her. But not me.
What’s probably only a minute later—but feels like an hour—a deep voice resonates from behind us.
“Good afternoon. I’m James, the new civil engineer.”
Delaney and I both turn at the same time, and I use it as an opportunity to tug my hand from Susie’s. Delaney instantly straightens up.
I was expecting a balding man with remnants of lunch on his short-sleeved, button-up shirt because Donnie was like that. Instead, there’s a man who is probably a few years younger than me standing in front of us. I’m a guy, but I can’t deny he’s damn good-looking. Great.
He shakes my hand, then turns his attention to Delaney.
“Now, I grew up here, and I’m one hundred percent sure I would remember you if you did. Are you new in town?”
He shakes Delaney’s hand, but instead of letting go immediately, he adds his other hand and holds onto hers with both of his.
It irks me, especially because she’s staring up at him with wide eyes and a slightly open mouth.
I want to slip a finger under her chin and press until those pretty lips touch.
He doesn’t get to see her with that sexy mouth of hers looking so damn inviting. No one else does.
I reach over to pull Delaney closer to my side, but I stop myself. That would look weird.
“I am new in town. Just a few months, actually.”
The man is tall, just about my height, with wavy hair—a full head of it, slightly messy.
It’s a look women seem to love these days.
He smiles at her, and he has dimples. Freaking dimples.
He’s wearing dress pants and a button-up shirt with a tie.
No food on his shirt, either. I don’t like him already.
“Have you had a chance to explore much? Maybe the National Park? Or how about our pizza place? If you haven’t been to our pizza place, you need to go. It’s great.”
“No, with work and Mo—” Delaney interrupts herself, and the tension around her eyes in this moment implies whatever she was about to say is something that makes her sad or stressed. My chest constricts at the thought. “I haven’t had a chance to explore much. But I’d like to...”
She’d like to?
I can show her anything she wants to see. We don’t need this man involved.
“Oh well, if you’d like to—”
I grab the papers from the counter and basically shove them in front of him.
“Can you check these out, James? Ms. Larson reminded me on our arrival that she’s in a hurry to get back to the office.”
James tears his eyes off Delaney to meet my gaze. He watches me for just a hair too long before he gives me a perfunctory smile.
“Sure thing. Give me a few minutes, and I’ll see if we can get this signed off.” He takes the papers from me and walks away, tossing a flirty smile Delaney’s way before he does. I assume he’s gone to his office.
Susie leaves the counter to pick up a ringing phone a few desks away, and I step back several feet. Delaney follows.
“What the hell was that about?” she whisper-yells. Her glare is so fierce, it only makes me want her more. Whoa, hold up. That can’t be right, can it?
Shit. I want her.
I’ve been jealous the entire time she’s been working for us whenever any dickhead is at her desk, flirting with her. There have been many, including Holden. Now I’m jealous that she showed a bit of interest in James.
“Harrison? I asked you a question.”
When I don’t return my attention to her quickly enough, she pinches me. Fucking pinches me, right on my left tricep. It gets my attention back on her, for sure.
“Ow! What was that for?” I rub at the sore spot and watch as Delaney crosses her arms over her chest.
If she’s trying to get me to focus on her face, that’s the wrong move. Her pose pushes her breasts up and draws my focus right to them. God, they’re perfect. I remember how soft they were as I planted kisses on them that night, a few months ago. How her hard nipple felt against my tongue…
I force the thoughts away, or I’ll get lost in them, and I certainly don’t want to feel her wrath again.
“What? He was flirting with you. It was unprofessional.” I work hard to keep my voice even so that I won’t expose my true feelings.
Delaney shakes her head and rolls her eyes.
“Unprofessional, really? On whose part, mine or his?”
I don’t miss the sarcasm in her voice. One would think I’d be smart enough not to take the bait. They’d be wrong.
“Both.” Yep, I sound like a royal asshole.
She closes her eyes, takes a deep breath, and opens them again. I assume she’s prepping her comeback, but she moves, increasing the space between us, and turns to watch a young couple who have arrived and are talking to Susie.
Okay. Maybe she’s more mature than I am. I close the distance between us and stand shoulder to shoulder with her. I focus my stare on the couple as well.
“He held onto your hand too long.” My voice is hushed. “It was inappropriate of him.”
Nothing. She ignores me. I spin to face her.
“He was flirting with you. Right in front of me.”
Her shoulders tense, but she still says nothing. She doesn’t look at me.
“He was about to ask you out and—”
She whips her head to face me, her eyes wide.
“No, he wasn’t. Don’t be absurd.” Her words are full of incredulity.
I search her features for a moment. She really didn’t pick up on his vibe.
“Uh, yeah, he was,” I observe her pretty face as she takes a moment, and it’s obvious when she realizes I’m correct.
She opens her mouth to reply, but doesn’t get to because clean-shirt James is back.
“Hey, folks. Sorry, but this is going to take me a little longer to look over. How about I drop it off at the office near the end of the day?”
He’s looking at Delaney, not me. I fake a cough to get his attention.
“That won’t be necessary. I’ll send someone for it.” No way do I want this man showing up and getting another chance to talk to Delaney, especially unattended.
James smiles from ear to ear, and those damn dimples make an appearance. I sneak a glimpse at Delaney, and she looks mesmerized.
“It’s really no problem. I’m a runner and training for some races. Tonight’s a long run, so I do it in the national park. It’s got a nice path I can take to clock ten good miles. I’ll be passing right by.”
Big deal. I run, too. Every damn day, I pound my feet on the treadmill or the trails on our property. But never there anymore. Not in many years.
Ugh. Whatever. I need to get Delaney out of here.
“Fine. The address is on the application. We’ll see you later.”
I grab Delaney’s hand, and a tiny gasp escapes her.
It’s so small that I suspect only I caught it.
I lead her away from James, and we’re almost to the exit when she tugs on me enough to stop our forward motion.
She plants her feet firmly on the ground, so I can’t move her without some force, shoots me a glare, then looks over her shoulder.
“Bye, Susie. It was nice to meet you. Goodbye, James. I’ll see you soon.”
Not if I can help it.
She turns forward again and allows me to lead her the rest of the way out of the building. I don’t release her hand until I’m opening the passenger door, and I guide her in.
The drive back to the office is tense. She says nothing. Yeah, she’s pissed all right. She maintains the silent treatment even when I stop to pick up smoothies. It’s Thursday, so Ellie would have had an infusion today.
We travel the rest of the way back to work in silence, and Delaney literally races to get out of my vehicle and into the building.
I’m not in such a hurry. I stop at the front desk.
“Hi, Sally. I have a favor.”
“Hey, handsome. Anything for you.”
I grin at her. Sally is also the nanny for my nieces, and I know I’ve always been her favorite of all Henry’s brothers. It makes Holden nuts.
“If a guy named James stops in this afternoon and asks for Delaney, please call me, not her.”
“What’s he look like? You know, just so I spot him right away.” She’s smirking as if she can see right through me.
“He’s not bad looking. But he’ll probably seem excited and eager because he thinks he’s going to see Delaney. That’s where you come in.” I wink at her. “Help me crush his dreams, Sally.”
Her eyes widen, and she smiles with glee.
“You got it, boss man.”
I thank her and take the stairs up to our level. I stop over and leave one of the kale smoothies on Ellie’s desk. She’s not back from her infusion yet, but should be soon. When I get to the executive suite, Delaney’s not at her desk.
I place the pink smoothie there—the exact kind I remember she devoured when Holden brought her one—and walk to my office.
I close my door and then go to my desk and take a seat. Despite the amount of work I have. I don’t dive in. Instead, I lean my head back and rest it on the top of the chair.
It’s probably time I admit that I want my one-night stand to be mine.