Chapter 23
CHAPTER
TWENTY-THREE
OLIVE
I haven’t heard from Harrison all day which is unusual. Usually, he texts me long before now. I glance at the time again and then decide to call him. I can’t stand the idea of standing outside a restaurant waiting for a date that never shows up.
The phone rings twice before he answers.
“Hi!” I say, unable to hide my enthusiasm at hearing his voice. “How are you?”
“I’m fine.”
Ut oh, that doesn’t sound good. “An okay kind of fine or an I-don’t-want-to-talk-about-it fine?”
“The second one.”
“I’m sorry, is there anything I can do?” I ask, genuinely concerned.
“It’s just work stuff…”
“Well, I won’t keep you. I just wanted to check and see if we are still on for dinner tonight?”
He pauses for so long that I think for a moment he’s going to say no. I do my best to prepare for disappointment. The last several days we’ve seen each other but only because he’s come to my place late in the night after work. He’s been working so hard; I feel guilty even asking him about dinner.
“Yes, we’re still on,” he says, sounding happier than he did when I first called.
“Good… see you soon.” It takes me a great effort not to say more… like how excited I am to see him. How happy he makes me… any various number of things that are words of affection.
“See you soon, angel.”
Dinner is fantastic, but I can tell that Harrison is distracted.
“Do you want to talk about whatever it is that’s bothering you?” I finally ask, even though I know it’s none of my business.
He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. “Someone is embezzling money.”
My eyes widen, and my lips part in shock.
That is not what I expected to hear. Harrison might be an exacting boss, but I know his employees love him because he treats them well and pays them what they deserve.
Deb and I have talked about what it’s like working for James Financial, and she has nothing but good things to say about not only Harrison but how he runs his business.
I can’t imagine anyone being unhappy enough to steal from him.
“Do you know who it could be?”
He shakes his head. “Not yet. I have one of my accountants working with a forensic accountant to get to the bottom of it.”
“That’s awful,” I say, reaching across the table and holding his hand. “I’m so sorry someone would do that to you.”
“It’s not your fault. There’s no need for you to apologize.” He turns his hand, threading his fingers through mine. “I’ll get to the bottom of it.”
I give him a pleased smile and squeeze his fingers a little. I love these little intimate moments. He’s always reaching for me or accepting my touch when I reach out for him. It’s everything I’ve ever hoped a relationship would be.
“I know you will. I’d offer to help, but I don’t think my love of the written word will be any help,” I say with a teasing smile.
He reaches across the table and runs his fingers across my cheek gently. I nuzzle into his touch, loving how tender he is. “Just being here is exactly what I need from you, angel.”
“Well, that I can do,” I say with a wide smile. What I don’t say is that I will be here for him forever if he would only keep me.
We haven’t made each other any promises.
We haven’t even really discussed what we are doing together, but it feels serious.
At least on my side of things. He seems to be on the same page, but it’s hard to tell because I know he’s not really the relationship type.
As far as I know, he’s thinking of this as a temporary thing.
A jolt of sadness rockets through me at the thought of him not being as committed to me as I am him. I brush the thought aside because that can’t be the case. He wouldn’t be spending so much time with me if he weren’t looking at us as more than a fling.
Would he?
We eat dessert in companionable silence.
Harrison doesn’t let go of my hand, and I’m okay with that.
Once we finish, he leads me out to his car where Carl is waiting for us.
He gives me a friendly smile as I get in the backseat.
Carl is the strong silent type. Sometimes I get the feeling that he’s more than just a driver…
maybe security too. Millionaires have that, don’t they?
I’m too embarrassed to ask about it, but it’s fun to imagine a life so crazy that my boyfriend needs a security detail.
Harrison slides in beside me and grabs my hand, once again threading his fingers through mine. I’m so totally falling in love with this man.
“I need to go back to the office,” he says, his tone showing obvious regret.
I nod in acknowledgment, even if I hate that our night is over so quickly. We pull up in front of my apartment building, and he gets out and reaches a hand in to help me out like the gentleman he is.
As soon as I’m standing, he pulls me against his muscular chest and kisses me like his life depends on it.
I open for him, and he deepens the kiss.
His hands roam over my back, one going to my backside, the other up to tangle in my hair.
The kiss quickly turns into something that isn’t appropriate for the sidewalk, but I can’t find it in me to care as I lose myself in the moment.
Finally, our lips break apart, and he’s as breathless as I am. “I should go before I can’t leave you.”
I rise up on my toes and push my lips to his again. “I don’t want you to go.”
His tongue delves between my lips, his kiss burning hotter by the second. My pussy is wet and needy for his touch. My whole body is dangling on a livewire, ready to accept anything and everything Harrison has to offer me. He pulls away way too soon. I whimper at the loss of his touch.
“If I didn’t have so much going on at work, I would take you upstairs and fuck you senseless.” He says it like a threat. All I can think is ‘threaten me harder,’ like the hussy I’ve become for him.
“I know…” I pout.
He nips my lower lip before kissing away the sting. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
I watch as he climbs back into the car and drives away.
“You’re home early,” Zoe says from behind me, scaring the crap out of me.
My hand goes to my heart as it tries to beat out of my chest. “Jesus, you scared me,” I say, slapping her arm.
She laughs. “Sorry, I thought you heard me. I guess you were still in your haze of lust. Hell, I think the whole block is still in the lust haze you two created just now.”
My cheeks heat with a blush at her comment. “Shut up, jerk.”
She bumps into my shoulder as we head inside. “I’m not the one who was tongue fucking a hottie in front of the building. You can’t blame a girl for enjoying the show.”
I shake my head as we climb the stairs to our floor. “What are you doing out so late?”
“Went for drinks…”
“With…?”
She waves a hand between us and makes a disgusted look. “Some douche from that dating app.”
“I take it the date ended poorly.”
Zoe snorts. “You could say that.”
“What was wrong with this one?”
“Let’s just say he had dead fish lips and smelled like onion soup.”
I make a gagging sound. “Sounds… awful. Yanno, you could always try out Rita Matches…”
“I’m not looking for love, Olive. You know that. I’m just looking for a good time.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I hear you. Maybe you could find someone who wants a good time too… someone a little less… oniony dead fish,” I tease.
Zoe just shakes her head. “How about you shut it and feed me ice cream and wine?”
“I can do that.”
We stay up late watching reruns and drinking wine. The whole time I wish that Harrison was here instead of Zoe, and that makes me feel like a total asshole. I love spending time with Zoe, but lately, all I want is Harrison.
That’s probably a bad sign for my heart. I’m getting in way too deep with him. It’s a scary thought considering we haven’t even discussed our relationship status.
“So, how are things going with Harrison?” Zoe asks as if she’s reading my mind.
“Good. Really, really good.”
“Are you guys together together?”
I shrug. “We haven’t really talked about it…”
“You’re spending an awful lot of time with him.”
I nod in agreement. “Every chance we get.”
“It sounds like you’re serious,” she says.
I sigh a sigh that comes from the tips of my toes it’s so big. “It’s hard to tell. I mean we are together basically every day, but at the same time, he’s not made any kind of verbal commitment.”
“Have you told him how you feel?”
I give her a wide-eyed look of surprise. “Are you nuts?”
She shakes her head. “One of you has to break the ice at some point.”
“What if he doesn’t feel the same as I do? Then what?”
“Isn’t it better to know if you’re on the same page? What if you fall in love and he’s not even reading the same book as you?”
I give her a sad look, knowing I’m already at the falling in love stage of things. Honestly, though, how could I not fall in love with him? He’s been nothing short of perfect.
“Oh shit. You’re already in love with him, aren’t you?”
I bury my face in my hands and groan. “I can’t help it. I’m obviously not the casual type.”
“That’s why you were supposed to go with a match from Rita,” she scolds. “So that you would be with someone on the same page as you from the start.”
“I know, I know.”
“What are you going to do?”
I shake my head, my face still buried in my hands. “I don’t know. Just keep going and hope that he’ll come around?”
Zoe snorts. “That’s a terrible plan.”
I look up at her, knowing she’s right. “Maybe, but I’d rather get every minute I can with him than lose him now.”
She gives me an exasperated look but doesn’t say anything. Instead, she pours me another glass of wine.