Chapter 14 #2
“Oh, come on,” Ben laughed. “You’ve never heard of it? It’s been on for twenty years. I took over for Mark Sanders.”
“Oh!” Harrison said, playing up the lightbulb moment. “Him, I’ve heard of. So they brought you on to play a side character on his show, Ken?”
“It’s Ben,” he gritted out, his smile visibly forced. “And it’s my show now. I am the lead.”
“Sure you are,” Harrison nodded along agreeably. “Good for you.” He couldn’t have sounded more dismissive and condescending if he’d tried.
Scratch that. He was trying, and he was succeeding beautifully.
Ben’s smile shifted into a sneer. “If you want to hear more about it, Gwen could fill you in. This one knows all about me. She’s like my number-one fan.”
I glared at him, silently, because of course I didn’t have a witty comeback.
Harrison draped his arm over my shoulder. “Well, that must’ve been a long time ago, because your name hasn’t come up. Are you holding out on me, sweetheart?” Harrison asked me.
The sensation of being tucked against his body made my heart surge. It was all for show, to prove a point, but it sure felt amazing.
I glanced up at him. “Never! I guess my tastes have changed.”
Our eye contact veered into eye fucking, and that seemed to be enough to make Ben finally realize he’d lost this round and that it was time for him to make his exit.
“Hey, I’ll let you two get back to it. Maybe I’ll charter one of your jets the next time I have back-to-back engagements or something. Awards season is coming up, you know?”
Harrison nodded, still staring at me. “Yeah, maybe. We have a bunch of options for people who don’t normally fly private. Our bronze package might be a good fit for you.”
Ben looked suitably stung.
I heard the opening notes of Scarlet’s next masterpiece. “Oh my God, it’s ‘Sunshine Baby’! Babe, she’s playing our song!”
Harrison and I didn’t have a song, but Ben didn’t know that. He disappeared, and Harrison and I moved to the front of the box.
“Well played,” he said out of the corner of his mouth.
“Teamwork makes the dreamwork,” I countered.
Harrison bobbed his head along to the music. I had a feeling the dream was just beginning.
How we’d managed to not make out during the second romantic encore was beyond me.
We’d both been feeling it. I got a little weepy, and Harrison had run his thumb down my cheek to catch a falling tear. We’d shared a secret smile as Scarlet sang about first dances and second chances.
Was this our second chance?
I didn’t stop chattering during the ride back to the hotel, wired with adrenaline, half from post-concert excitement and half from anticipation of what was to come, because by the end of the show, it had felt like a date.
And what usually happened at the end of a date?
By the time we arrived at the hotel, it was late and my adrenaline rush was starting to crash. I was exhausted, but at the same time I was hopeful something might spark up between us in the last few minutes before we said goodnight.
We slid onto an overcrowded elevator, and when we hit my floor, Harrison exited with me.
“I’m walking you home,” he explained when I gave him a puzzled look.
“Always the gentleman,” I replied. “One never knows what sort of riffraff is roaming the halls in this five-star hotel.”
“You know how I feel about safety,” he said with a wink.
This is it, this is it, this is it, I chanted to myself as we got closer to my door. This was the part where he’d sweep me into his arms, carry me across the threshold, and have his wicked way with me.
My heart hammered. I needed to act surprised when he finally kissed me, but not unhappy about it. I didn’t want to give him the chance to think twice about doing it.
“And here we are,” Harrison said once we arrived at room 1143. He handed over the $125 Scarlet Rush tour hoodie he’d insisted on buying for me.
“Thank you,” I said, clutching it to my chest. “For an incredible night. I’m still starstruck.”
“I think we both deserved some fun. Been a rough couple of weeks.”
I chuckled and leaned against the door. “Understatement.”
“As for tomorrow, we’re wheels up at nine. No need to worry about breakfast; it’ll be waiting for us.”
“Okay,” I said softly.
Why was he explaining how the morning was going to unfold when he was going to be waking up beside me?
“Meet in the lobby at eight thirty?”
My heart sank. He was serious.
“Sure, yeah,” I said, hoping I didn’t sound as dejected as I felt.
He held my gaze for a beat. “Good night, Gwen.”
“Good night.”
Harrison started to walk away, but Sarah’s words were echoing in my head, about letting fate guide me. It turned out that fate was currently letting me down, so I took matters into my own hands.
“Hey,” I called after him.
He turned to me as I marched over to him.
“You forgot about this part,” I said.
Harrison’s expression was confused right up until I went up on my tiptoes, paused a second to build up my confidence, then pushed my mouth against his.
Instant heat, and the memories of what else Harrison’s mouth could do. He wrapped his arms around me and kissed me back like nothing between us had changed in the months since Aspen.
“Oh, Gwen,” he murmured as we kissed.
Yeah, he felt it too. How right we were together.
But…why did I have to initiate the kiss? I tried to focus on how damn amazing it felt, but nagging thoughts kept pulling me out of the moment. If Harrison wanted it, he would’ve done it first. Sure, he seemed like he couldn’t get enough of me, but…why did he leave it up to me?
The doubts kept piling up until I finally pulled away.
“I’m sorry. Good night.”
I jogged back to my door without looking back at him. I could feel him still watching me as I slipped into my room and slammed the door.
The flight home was going to be awkward AF.