7. Evgeny #3
“It was years ago. Young, naive me,” she says with a soft laugh that’s devoid of all humor.
“I was just starting college, and I fell for a senior. He was everything I wasn’t.
He came from a wealthy family, was popular and good looking, and I couldn’t believe he’d actually set his sights on me.
” She looks at me with a wry smile playing at her lips.
“I’d really like to go back and punch that naive girl. ”
“You didn’t know any better, and that guy was an asshole. I’m actually insulted that you thought I was an ass because it puts me in the same category as him. You want to tell me his name?”
“Why?”
I shrug and finish my own coffee before setting my mug next to hers. “Just curious if he ended up being one of my clients.”
She laughs at that. “Definitely not. Archer Davenport is not the kind of man who will ever end up convicted of a crime. His mommy and daddy will always make sure of that.”
I commit his name to memory while saying, “Well, count yourself lucky that you found out what kind of man he really is. Can you imagine being married to someone like that?”
“God no.” She shakes her head to rid herself of the image while I refuse to even allow my mind to bring one to life.
I don’t want to think about Harper with another man.
I never expected her to be a virgin like me, but that doesn’t mean I want to think about it.
I’m having a hard enough time forgetting the pictures Niki showed me of her having lunch with her old boyfriend Devin.
I don’t need another man thrown into the mix.
“He ended up marrying some blonde socialite whose daddy owns some overseas tech company.”
“I’m sure they’ll be very happy together,” I say, and she smiles at my tone.
“Thanks for all this, Ev,” she says. “You were surprisingly kind tonight, and I’m still not sure what to make of it, but thank you.” She looks over her shoulder to where Watson is still sleeping. “Watson thanks you too for the patch of grass and the soft couch.”
“He’s a great dog. How long have you had him?”
She looks back at me and brushes her short hair behind her ear.
It’s a nervous habit she has, along with fidgeting and chewing her bottom lip.
I listen while she tells me about the article she’d been writing and how it had ended with her adopting Watson.
I know the article well. I’ve already read it, along with everything else she’s written that I could find online.
When she’s done talking, she looks at her phone, and I’m surprised to see it’s already after midnight. “Sorry. I didn’t realize it was so late. I should be going.”
I want to stop her when she gets up, but I can’t think of a single reason that sounds legitimate for her to stay later than she already has on a weeknight when we both have to be at work early tomorrow morning.
“Don’t apologize,” I tell her instead of reaching for her like I want. “I’m used to going on little sleep.”
“Me too, and I hate it. Even if I can sleep in a bit, Watson wakes me to use the bathroom, and I can’t even get mad because he’s so cute.”
“It would be impossible to be mad at him,” I agree when he lifts his head from the couch to look at us while he stretches his long legs.
“I think he knows that and takes advantage of it,” Harper says, but it’s obvious she’s not even remotely mad at him for using his looks against her. She’s clearly smitten with her dog. I try to be the bigger man and not be jealous about it.
While she walks over to him, I grab the leftovers from the fridge and put them in a bag for her. When she tries to protest, I say, “They’ll just go bad in my fridge. I’ve got a big day tomorrow, and I’ll be gone for most of it. Please take it. You can have it for lunch.”
When she relents, I feel oddly relieved at knowing she’ll at least get one good meal in tomorrow.
I walk with her and Watson as they take the stairs back to her car.
She stops in front of her hatchback, and I bite back the smile I want to give at seeing it parked next to my Audi, not because it’s so much less expensive, but because it reminds me so much of her at this point, and I like the way it looks here, mixed in with my things.
She opens the door and Watson hops in, exchanging my couch for the backseat with his blanket. I reach in and give him a pet, hoping it’s not the last time I get to see him but knowing it most likely will be.
Maybe it’s that knowledge, that knowing that this moment is about to slip through my fingers, and once it’s gone, I’ll never get it again, that makes me turn to Harper and step in closer.
She looks up at me, surprise lighting up her blue eyes before something darker chases it away.
I recognize the desire in her eyes, because I have no doubt mine are looking the exact same way.
I’ve spent my entire life keeping people at arm’s length, and for the first time, I reach out and pull someone close.
I rest a tentative hand on her waist, and when she doesn’t pull back, I tighten my grip on her and pull her closer. My other hand reaches up to brush the hair from her cheek, hooking it behind her ear and then letting my knuckles graze her soft skin.
Her lips part as she watches me. “Is this another test?”
I drag the pad of my thumb along her bottom lip, nearly groaning at how good she feels. “No test, Harper, just a very bad idea for so many reasons.”
“Maybe we can forget about all that for a little bit,” she says, making it sound like the most solid advice I’ve ever been given.
The only problem is that I know a little bit will never be enough.
That knowledge doesn’t stop me from leaning closer, though, from lowering my face to hers so we’re only an inch apart.
My fingers dig into her hip even more, willing her to stay with me in this moment while I caress the side of her face and memorize every detail of her.
I never meant to feel this way about her.
I did the opposite, tried to not let her get under my skin, tried to force her from my mind, but there’s something about her that I’m drawn to.
Against all my better judgement, I want to pull her closer instead of push her away.
Knowing I can’t do that is a pain I hadn’t been expecting.
I’m used to denying myself things that I want, but it’s never produced this level of longing.
I’ve always been able to push my wants aside, maybe not happily, but I’ve done it easily enough.
Harper makes it difficult to do that. She’s the only woman I’ve ever reached out for.
I’ve pushed all the others away, never letting myself get physically close to anyone, but when she looks up at me and brings her hands to my chest, fisting my shirt and pulling me closer, the thought of telling her no never enters my mind.
As soon as I feel her lips against mine, I’m lost to her.
A needy groan escapes my body, one she quickly swallows as she parts her lips to deepen the kiss.
My fingers thread in her hair, cupping the back of her head and pulling her closer.
Her tongue brushes against mine, sending a rush of pleasure through me.
Every part of me aches for this woman. My cock strains painfully against my jeans, begging me for the one thing I’ve always denied it.
Feeling the hard length of me, she moans and clasps her hands behind my neck, demanding I get closer.
Pinning her against the car, I let her feel exactly what she’s doing to me, and instead of backing down, she tightens her grip around my neck and hikes her leg up, trying to wrap it around my waist. She feels me smile against her lips when she’s too short to fully manage it.
“You’re very tall,” she murmurs against my lips before dipping her tongue in again and teasing me to the point of insanity. “Help a girl out, Ev.”
Unable to resist giving her what she wants, I slide my hand down to cup her ass, lifting her up so she can wrap her legs around my waist. Even though we’d just been making out against her car, this feels more intimate.
Her body is flush against mine, legs wrapped tightly around me so the seam of her jeans is pressed firmly against my stomach.
Her arms cocoon my head as she brings her face closer to mine.
I’m surrounded by her, and fuck if it doesn’t feel like the most natural thing in the world, like this woman was always meant to be right here in my arms, looking at me like she wants nothing more than for me to take her to bed and make everything else disappear so it’s just the two of us.
The only problem is that nothing in my life is going to disappear, not even for one night.
Her lips softly brush mine while she drags her fingers along the side of my face, dipping them lower to graze my neck as she gives my bottom lip a teasing nip. Her tongue slowly licks at the seam of my lips before I feel her fingers drift lower.
With a groan, I squeeze the cheek my hand is still palming and bring my other one up to grasp the back of her neck.
Her legs tighten around me as she rocks her hips, and I can so easily imagine what that would feel like if she did it while riding my cock.
The graceful lines of her body moving in a hypnotic rhythm that I would never be able to look away from.
The moan I give is part desperate longing and part heartbreak at knowing I’ll never get to see it.
This woman is breaking my heart, obliterating it into a million pieces, and she doesn’t have the faintest idea she’s doing it.
She doesn’t understand what this is costing me, how the loneliness she’s about to leave behind is going to be unbearable, threatening to suffocate me as every inch of this place will now remind me of her, of how she’d felt and tasted while in my arms.