by Diana W.
“Really?” Harley beamed. “You’re finally taking my advice about going to school?” Harley always thought Gianna was so much more than the odd jobs she took sporadically, especially that job at Madam Sinclair’s. She never judged her for the type of work it involved because how could she given the illegal shit she was doing herself? She just wanted Gianna to leave the dark and unconventional type of jobs to her because she was better built for it. Gianna had a gift when it came to hair, but for whatever reason, never pursued it.
“I said I’m looking. I haven’t decided on anything.”
“Yet,” Harley emphasized, “it’s your calling, stop running from it.”
“Like you ran away to take this so-called house-sitting job?” Gianna bit back.
“Gianna,” Harley started.
“Save it, Har,” Gianna sighed, knowing her sister was probably somewhere doing things she had no business doing. It was her MO. “As long as I know you’re safe, we’re good.”
“I am. I promise.” Harley adjusted her body on the beach towel. “And if you’re worried about how you’ll pay for tuition...don’t. You know I always got you covered.”
“Just like the rent?” Gianna scoffed. “Nah, I’m good. Classes aren’t that expensive.”
Harley refrained from letting her attitude-filled response fly and decided to exit the conversation before it headed in a direction she didn’t want it to go. Her reason for calling was to check-in, not for any of the extra stuff.
“Ok. Well, I gotta get going.”
Gianna wasn’t ready for the call to end, but she knew Harley hated when she spoke on her lifestyle. She never understood why Harley thought following in their father’s footsteps was the only route she had in life. If she could put half the effort into a hobby or legitimate hustle that she put into her scams, Harley would be rich. She had the business sense Gianna lacked but only applied it to activities that could land her in a six by eight concrete room.
“Ok,” Gianna replied solemnly, regretting saying anything at all. Even though she did a good job of hiding it, she hated having Harley mad at her. She was her best friend, the only person in this world that had matching internal wounds from their upbringing. Their being at odds created an emptiness that was never filled until they spoke again.
“I love you.”
Harley twisted her mouth to stop her emotions from overworking. "I love you too.”
When they disconnected, Harley closed her eyes and sighed. She wished Gianna, for once, could understand the reason why she did the things that she did or at least respect her enough not to judge her for it. But she couldn’t devote any more energy or thoughts into their conversation, not while she was in the middle of paradise.
“Nope, not today,” Harley muttered and turned over on her stomach to allow her back to get some sun action. She must’ve dozed off at some point because she awoke to a fingertip circling her bare shoulder.
From behind her oversized shades, she lazily smiled at Justin who was lying next to her on his own towel. He was now dressed in a white t-shirt and navy-blue swimming trunks.
“How was your meeting?”
“Productive,” he responded and continued to caress her. “I would ask you how your day is going, but based on how peaceful you looked sleeping, I assume you enjoyed your time without me.”
“I did, but don’t make it sound like that,” she smirked.
“Like what?”
“Like I was having such a blast because you weren’t around.” She playfully rolled her eyes as if he could see them. “This is all your doing, remember?”
“Hmm.” He leaned in closer to her. “So you’re saying you’re glad I’m here?”
Harley welcomed his flirting. “That’s exactly what I’m saying.” She rose off her elbows to meet his lips for a kiss.
The harmless peck turned into two, and at three, Harley deepened it, holding him by the nape of his neck until she heard him make a subtle groan. Picture-perfect weather and the freedom of being away from home made her slowly snake her hand into his trunks, and she boldly inserted her tongue into his mouth. She wanted more, not just another one of their make out sessions.
“Hold up.” Justin grabbed her hand before it made contact with his erection. “Let’s head up to the room. I don’t need strangers in our business.”
“Look who’s stopping who now,” she teased as she stuck her tongue out and sat up. Together they stood to their feet and collected their things.
Hand-in-hand, they walked back to the hotel on a quiet commute as anticipation prickled their skin. Inside the elevator, Justin made sure to press his body against the back of hers as other guests made their way on and off during the ride up. It was either to conceal his erection that could break boards like a Kung Fu master or to let her know that he was about to put something serious on her. Either way, she subtly grinded against it, much to his enjoyment.
Harley dropped everything in her hand the second they crossed the threshold of their suite and shoved Justin against the door, making him involuntarily do the same. She held him by the neck to pick back up where they left off on the beach.
“Damn, baby,” he murmured against her lips. Justin knew he was infatuated with Harley’s body the minute he memorized her silhouette at the gala, but to be able to grab and jiggle her ass in her bikini bottom was a different kind of obsession. He was already making plans to kiss and nibble on those cheeks every chance he could.
Overcome with insatiable lust, Harley stopped assaulting his lips and stared into his big brown eyes.
“I want you to fuck me.”
The declaration caught Justin off-guard but only because he was usually the aggressor between the two of them. The shit was so sexy that it had him on mute, staring at her in amazement.
At his lack of action, she shoved her hands back into his trunks. “I said,” she pumped him slowly, “fuck me.”
“Shit.” The back of his head hit the door as she kissed him across his neck.
As her jerk game grew faster, Justin swatted her hands away, picked her up by the waist, and carried her to the king-size bed. She was slightly disappointed as her expectations were set on explosive, spontaneous sex against the wall, a residual effect courtesy of Cornell. She wanted to slap herself for even drawing the comparison in the heat of the moment.
Justin’s phone began ringing from his pocket, but Harley continued to kiss him, hoping it would distract him enough to ignore it. She was in the zone and wanted him to stay there too. He placed her on the bed, and she pulled the strings of her bikini bottom loose, enticing him with a tug on her lip.
His eyes were glued on the package she was unwrapping until his phone started up again, sending a frustrated crease to his forehead. He pulled the nuisance from his pocket and stared at the number. “Shit, hold on baby. Frank, what do you need?” he barked breathlessly when he answered.
Harley, who was growing more sexually frustrated by the second, began massaging her still-covered breasts, hoping it would make Justin hang up on whoever he was talking to.
“Does it have to be right now?”
He leaned forward and flicked his tongue over the material covering her right nipple.
The act felt sent a jolt straight to her core, and her head dropped back, but she knew his preoccupation on the phone that their session was about to be over before it could even begin.
“Ok,” Justin sighed. “I’ll be there shortly.”
At those words, Harley closed her eyes and placed an annoyed hand on her forehead. She was two seconds away from having an all-out tantrum and wasn’t above throwing a few pillows at his head.
Just as she reached for her fluffy weapon of choice, Justin placed a series of gentle kisses down her stomach.
“I promise I’ll make this up to you.”
His lips grazed her recently waxed bikini line, sending a wave of goosebumps down to her toes.
“Go to the spa and unwind for me, and I swear we can do any and everything
to each other when I get back.”
“Ughhh,” Harley opened her eyes and stared at the palm leaf ceiling fan, wishing it would magically turn into a bamboo dildo.
“Give me a kiss.” Justin moved up to her mouth.
She reluctantly obliged and he could sense her frustration, but he’d make it up to her when he got back. He was just as eager as she was, if not more, but their entire reason for being in Fort Lauderdale was for business, no matter how bad it was a current cock block.
Still in the same spot he left her, Harley watched from the bed as Justin put back on his khakis and polo shirt. He reminded her about scheduling a massage right before he gave her another apologetic kiss goodbye.
Once she heard the room door close, Harley contemplated chasing the orgasm she failed to get from him but ultimately decided against it, figuring that waiting would make their first time together that much more eventful. She discarded her bikini and threw on the grey cotton maxi dress and black thong slippers she packed for the short walk downstairs to the spa.
She was surprised that they were able to take her right away. The hotel was super busy when they’d arrived, and the front desk informed them of two conventions that were happening in the city. Harley took the minor miracle as a sign that her day wouldn’t be a total bust.
The spa worker brought her to a dimly lit room lined with candles and left with her with a set of instructions to prepare for the massage. Harley took a deep inhale of the peppermint scent and proceeded to discard her clothes and slippers, placing them neatly on a chair near the door. She tucked her body under the thick white sheet of the massage table and sighed in delight at the feel of heat radiating beneath her. She placed her head face down into the designated area of the cushion and waited patiently for her massage therapist while listening to the artificial yet highly effective sounds of rainwater.
The serene environment almost sent her to sleep until she heard the room door open and close. The person’s entrance was absent of a greeting but it didn’t bother her. She hadn’t had a real massage in years and was too eager about it to worry about manners.
The sheet covering her back was lowered, just under her hips, and then she heard them rubbing their hands together. When the warm hands touched her waist, Harley involuntarily groaned. It was a man. She could tell by the firm kneads. Not to say a woman couldn’t produce the same result, but there was something masculine about the touch. Harley let her eyes close and her mind drift back to the rainwater. She wished she could live in this space forever. Thoughts clear. Energy at peace. Body relaxing further and further by the second. Even though she was mad at Justin, she was going to have to thank him for pushing her to make the appointment.
The strong hands carefully worked her shoulders and then made their way down her back. When they began kneading her ass cheeks, she silently gasped. The move was unexpected yet felt too good to complain about. Other than someone trying to sleep with her, she’d never had her butt massaged and now she felt slighted by past massage therapists who never even offered the service. There weren’t enough adjectives to describe that level of yes.
“Are massage awards a thing because I may need to speak with somebody about you,” she chuckled to herself.
When the man didn’t offer a response to her attempt at humor, she felt some kind of way. Not that she needed him to talk. Hell, she wished Uber drivers would take heed to his ways, but something was off. Or maybe it wasn’t. She was more than likely overreacting, and he probably didn’t hear her. For all she knew, he was focused on the artificial rainwater, too, or just doing his job.
“Did you hear me?” Harley lifted her head from the nook and looked back.
The color instantly drained from her face, and she scrambled to sit up.
“What the fuck are you doing here?!” She yanked the sheet over her bare breasts. “And touching on me?! she screeched. “Are you crazy?!”
“Harley.” Cornell stood there with his hands up and an unreadable expression. He was too calm for her, given the psycho level situation at hand.
“Don’t you dare say my name!” Her breathing was unsteadied. Rage shook her hands. The thought of him walking away from her like some low-life prostitute was back at the forefront of her mind. “Why. Are. You. Here?! In my massage room?! Across fucking state lines?!”
Cornell licked his bottom lip, appearing more composed than he felt. He deserved everything flying out of her mouth. None of this went down the way he planned, or rather didn’t plan, and that was the entire problem. He was strategic by nature, yet everything he’d done since learning about this trip to Ft. Lauderdale had been irrational. And if he was being honest with himself, his rationality was fucked from the time he brought Harley to the warehouse for an interrogation. Everything changed when he found out who she was.
He’d been keeping tabs on her the entire day, and when he heard Justin tell her about the spa, he acted and the result was this massive ‘‘what the fuck’’ situation. And now, the time he was dreading was here. The reason he took a late flight out there last night. The reason he decided to stay in the same hotel as her and Justin’s. The reason he’d been listening like a fiend to every word that came from Harley or Justin’s mouth.
“Answer me or I swear to God I’ll call the police!” Harley grew more impatient by the second. “I don’t care about any of this shit anymore!”
Cornell ran his hands over his head. His emotions were at odds and compulsion was brewing. It was an unfamiliar phenomenon he didn’t know what to do with, but he knew his feeling like he was losing his mind was because of her.
“I needed...to see you.” He swiped a frustrated hand over his mouth. His words were stuck on his tongue, fighting to be heard.
“And you thought this inappropriate shit was the answer?! You saw me earlier this week, and you would’ve seen me when I got back for a debriefing. You gave me the okay to be here, so why are you still trying to babysit me? I’m fine! I don’t need you or anybody from your security team breathing down my neck.”
“It’s not that.” His jaw tensed.
“Then what the fuck is it then?!” Harley screamed.
She was infuriating him yet making his need to touch her more unbearable. Why did being in her presence make him so fucking crazy? Wanting to silence the turmoil, he stepped toward her so aggressively that Harley held the sheet tighter to her chest, fearing that he was about to harm her in some way.
He grabbed her face and went in for a kiss, hoping it could communicate the whirlwind of emotions that he’d been experiencing. Harley, similar to their first intimate moment, initially obliged but refused to fall for whatever game he was playing with her for a second time. She shoved him off and sent a righteous slap to his face.
“No!” She pulled the sheet from the table with her as she rushed to stand on her bare feet. “You don’t get to do that! You don’t get to pick me up and throw me away whenever you fucking feel like it!” Her chest was heaving with fury.
“That’s not what I’m trying to do.” Cornell circled the table but kept his distance. “Harley, I can’t explain it, but you did... you do something to me. Something that makes it hard not to think about you. And I don’t know what I’m supposed to do about it.”
“What?” she asked, unable to process whatever he was talking about. Nothing made sense. He treated her like shit since the night they crossed the line, and now, he was standing there having an Usher ‘‘Confessions’’ moment. “I can’t do this mindfuck with you. Whatever it is you have going on is only because I'm here with Justin.”
Cornell knew she wasn’t completely wrong, but it was more than that. It was the way she talked to Justin that had created this unhinged monster in him, a fit of jealousy that sprouted three heads. He had never cared about what any woman thought about him because it was never a concern. Business and family were his priority, drilled into his head by his father from the time he was old enough to understand what the right kind of money and power could do for y
ou. “Women will come and go like the sun rises and sets, but the only pretty colors we chase are green,” he used to tell Cornell anytime he found him getting too wrapped up with a female. It would reset him every single time and eventually, that reset became permanent. Women became accessories, shiny things to add to his presence at an event. Stress relievers to bust a few off with, but this mahogany jewel had him at the starting line, unwilling to wait for the gun to sound.
The more Cornell listened to Harley and Justin’s conversations, the more he wanted to know if Harley could ever laugh like that with him. Talk about her day with him. Feel comfortable with him. Her conversations with Justin seemed so lackluster to him, yet he could hear the warmth in her laughter as clear as day. Her interest wasn’t adding up. Harley was a flame that needed to be stoked, and Justin acted as if he could barely strike a match.
“No.” He cleared some of the space between them, “I’m here because of you.”
The muscles in Harley’s stomach clenched. The more she continued to observe Cornell, the more her anger simmered when she realized that he was serious.
“What are you saying?” Her fingers were starting to go numb from holding onto the sheet so tightly. Now that she’d realized the gravity of him being there, her thoughts were racing and malfunctioning all at once.
“I’m saying that since the day we met, unofficially and officially, nothing between us makes sense to me, and I’ve never felt more alive than when I’m around you.” He was so close that she could feel his words tickling her skin.
Her response was stuck on her tongue. As many times as she played out in her head how she would cuss him out if given the opportunity, she couldn’t have anticipated him not being an asshole or this whole confessional.
“Say something.” He reached up to push a stray hair behind her ear. The tips of his fingers made her lips shiver.
The door to the massage room suddenly flew open, and both Harley and Cornell’s looked in its direction. The worker who showed her to the room was standing there with a stern expression.
“Sir, you are not allowed in this room or this side of the spa.”