“Thank you, Harper.” I place a hand over hers, hearing a quick intake of her breath. I pull my hand away. “I apologize.”
“You’re welcome, Liam.”
“Liam, your final meeting is with Luxe Cuisine," Glenda announces.
We stand, and a statuesque woman enters the conference room. “Mr. Walsh, I’m Lydia Hamilton.”
“Nice to meet you, this is Harper Price our event coordinator and liaison.” The title stuck after the first meeting. This would give me a clean escape when I’m ready to pass the tasks off.
“Harper.”
I notice the curt tone, and apparently, Harper does too, her eyes slip towards me as we retake our seats.
I nod in Harper’s direction allowing her to take the lead. The questions are the same as before except Lydia is directing all of her answers to me. And the more she blatantly ignores Harper the more I’m ready to toss the rude woman out.
“What is your specialty, Miss Hamilton?”
“I prepared a few custom menus featuring clients’ favorites.” She pulls out several printed menus passing them to me. This earns her the signature Harper eye roll.
“Miss Hamilton we appreciate your time.” I slide the menus back across the table, planting my hand on the table prepared to see this obnoxious woman out when Harper’s hand rests on mine. I freeze.
“I got this,” she whispers, and I fall back in my seat.
“Miss Hamilton, you’re about to lose a hundred thousand dollar contract for your company, and the potential of future contracts. Is that your intent for this meeting?” The cut in her tone sends ice water down my spine. If I hadn’t asked her to marry me, I’d ask her a million times right now.
“Well…no.” She snaps her mouth shut.
“Then I suggest we conduct ourselves in a manner that shows you want to work with WEJ. Shall we?”
“Yes, Miss Price.”
The rest of the meeting went without issue.
“Thank you for your time, Miss Hamilton, we’ll be in touch.” Harper stands, and I do too. The moment Miss Hamilton leaves the room Harper spins in my direction.
“Liam, you can’t bark orders at people.”
“Actually, I can. This is a major opportunity. People have to want it, or they’ll squander it.”
Harper chuckles shaking her head. “What am I going to do with you?”
“Marry me.”
“Liam have a seat.” I gladly sit next to her. “Why are you eager to get married? Do you have an inheritance to gain?”
“No.” I smile.
“Lose a bet?”
“Nope. Not my thing.”
She chews the inside of her jaw as if totally focused. “Then I don’t get it.”
“What is there to get? It’s you, Harper. You’re the reason, and I plan to ask you every chance I get.”
“You do know this could be considered sexual harassment?”
“Do you feel harassed?”
“No.”
“Then it's a moot point.”
“Impossible,” she mutters.
“I’m just waiting for you to believe that it's impossible to change my mind.” I lean forward. Harper handled the meetings in record time. Seeing her in action turned me on in the hottest way. Who knew Harper in her zone would be so damn hot? “You’re sexy as hell. Do you know that?”
She stares at me for a long time. “Do women come on to you like that all the time?”
“No. I don’t know. I guess.” I shrug. I know she’s referring to Lydia Hamilton. “Do you plan to change the subject every time I compliment you?”
“You mean every time you hit on me. Yes.” She closes her planner. “And what type of answer is that? Yes or no Liam. Do they?”
“Here lately yes. But not normally, at least as far as I know.”
“What changed lately?”
“I was featured as one of Austin’s most eligible bachelors. Want to grab some lunch?”
“Of course you are,” she mumbles. “No, I need to run a few errands.”
“I’ll join you. We can stop and pick up something to eat while we’re out.” I leave the conference room with her calling my name. “Glenda, we’re heading out. Want me to bring you something back?”
“Maybe. Call me when you decide.” She follows me into my office. “How’d it go?”
“You’re right. She’s good. We finished the interviews. I think we have a winner in the bunch. Now if we can nail it down this week, I’ll be ecstatic.”
“How did she do?” She glances towards the door. I did too not seeing Harper.
“Great.”
“Yay! Now, your job is to not run her off. Now get going.”
I shake my head. “Glenda.”
“Time is ticking, Liam. Now skedaddle.” She pushes me towards the door, and I head back to the conference room.
“I’m ready. Where are we going?"
“Shopping for Hunter’s baby shower gift.”
Chapter 7
Harper
Why am I really saying no? I consider as I watch Liam search through baby clothes. He is having too much fun on this shopping trip. I thought he’d run for the hills and again this man surprises me.
“What is it, sweetheart?” The endearment bursts through another barrier.
“I can’t keep fighting off your advances. We have to come to some middle ground here.”
His sinister smile makes me ache. “I told you.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. You told me. Now make it stop.”
“There’s only one way.” He places a handful of decorated onesies in my basket. Then stops in front of me. “Say yes.”
“I can’t," I whisper. And I can’t tell him I’m scared shitless of the feelings I’m feeling. I can’t say I want to throw caution to the wind, scream yes, and experience a new type of normal with him. I can’t because it is insane to meet a man, fall in love, and marry him after two days. I can’t!
“But you can. Just say the word.” His confidence should hold a patent.
“How can you be so sure?”
“Who is actually certain of anything in life? Nothing is what it seems. Nothing is what we expect. All you have is your word and your actions. That’s it.” He slips a hand around my waist, pulling me closer and this time I don’t push him away. “I promise you, I may seem brash, but I don’t take this lightly. I’ve never proposed marriage to a woman before. I’ve never really given it a lot of thought except to know that my wife will have to be a very exceptional woman.”
“Why’s that?”
“Because I’m known to drive people mad.” He shrugs dismissively.
“Oh really, who would have ever thought that?” I chuckle.
“I know.” He jokes, and I step closer.
“Harper.”
“Uh huh.”
“Can I kiss you?” His finger caresses the side of my face, and my eyes slide closed.
“In the middle of Target?”
“Anywhere, Harper, I’d kiss you anywhere.”
Liam’s words are like a blinding white light. I can’t see anything but him, and I can’t look away from the raging need reflecting in his eyes. Then his lips cover mine. Soft kisses at first. Not pecks. Not deep. But enough to feel the warmth from his nearness and the heat from his tongue when I open my mouth to him.
He’s probing, stroking, giving, taking. His scent filling my nose, and I taste the citrus sweet tea from lunch. And it’s better than I imagined.
Can he feel my heart beating wildly? Can he feel his kiss transforming the dynamic between us? Can I let go long enough to accept that maybe, just maybe Liam is serious about wanting me as much as I’m starting to want…desire…need him?
Liam pulls back resting his forehead on mine. Our breathing in sync, ragged, strained. “Please, Harper.”
“What if I’m not who you think I am?” My voice cracks and I pray I’m the woman who makes him happy. Because my foolish heart is falling fast.
“What if
I know I’ll be better, we’ll be better, together?”
His emphasis on “know” shimmies from my confused brain and settles in my heart. I feel it warm, throbbing, and it’s cementing this complicated, arrogant, protective man to me, and I’m willing to take a chance on us.
“Yes, Liam. Yes, I’ll marry you.”
Chapter 8
Liam
Harper is shaking in my arms. “You won’t regret it, sweetheart.”
I reach in my pocket and pull out a black velvet box. I drop to one knee.
“Are you serious right now?”
“Harper Price…”
“In the middle of Target, in the baby aisle…”
“I snore, a little,” her lopsided smile is killing me, “I leave hair around the sink. I am impatient, I am needy, I am loyal. My mother told me I’d know the moment I found the one. Then I found you.” I glance away for the briefest second, I can’t stomach the tears in her eyes. “And I know this may be selfish, but I want you forever. Will you marry me?”
I peel open the box. Last night after hours of tossing around, rock hard, wanting Harper, I went to my safe. I dug around and pulled out my mother’s ring.
“Liam…” She gasps with tears running down her cheeks.
“It’s not big, I can get you another one.” I swallow. “It was my mother’s.”
“I love it.” She cups my face, scratching at my beard. “Are you sure, Liam?”
“I’m sure, Harper. But if you take this ring, we are in it together. It’s not about anyone but us.”
“What do you expect from me as your wife?”
“That you know it’s about you and me. I expect honesty, fidelity, friendship, companionship, and that one day you’ll come to love me.” Like I love you. “I’m gruff, but I want a traditional old fashion marriage, minus the quick engagement and vows.” I smile. “What about you, what do you expect from me as your husband?”
“The same, but we have to tell my parents when I’m ready. I need time for this all to sink in.”
I nod. We’ll work out the details. I want to shout for joy but not until we make it official. I pull the ring out slipping the box back in my pocket. “So, Harper, will you do me the honor of being my wife?”
“Yes, Liam, I will.”
Chapter 9
Harper
“I want you.” I inhale deep, the essence of this man crawls inside me. I drove like an insane woman back to the office. The reality of this moment settling in and I surrender to it. I reach for his waistband, kicking the door closed. I pull him to me as my back hits the wall.
“Yes, ma’am.”
His nose flairs and his mouth covers mine. His tongue is in my mouth, and I suck it knowing I’m asking for another mistake because Liam is passion and heat and lust and I want everything he has to offer. I’ve lived a million mistakes. What’s one more?
“Please, Liam, take me now.”
“Baby I apologize our first time shouldn’t be in my office,” he says between rushed kisses. My neck. My shoulder. Then his hands grip my hips, yanking at the fabric of my dress. I feel the cool air brush my skin as his hands grip my bare ass. He pulls back, lust staring at me. “You don’t have on any panties.”
I shake my head. For all my proper ways, I prefer no panties, and today I’m glad for it.
“I’m about to show what happens when you bless with me such an amazing gift.” Liam snakes down my body, the bottom of my dress is around my waist, he’s gripping my ass, and he lifts me to his shoulders without effort. I gasp. I’m no lightweight, and he’s kissing the inside of my thighs.
“Liam.”
“Shhh…I’m trying to focus.” His tongue slips past my folds and dives into my heat. Gasp. I whimper from the sweet ecstasy and the precision of his quest. I hold my breath trying to climb up the wall as his tongue assaults me. He holds me tighter, and I grab handfuls of his hair holding on for dear life.
He manages to whisper, “I can’t hear you.”
“Liam…I can’t.” I’m panting. Completion is near, and I can’t focus with him talking.
“You can and you will.” He sucks on my clit. I groan as a heated tickle blazes from my head to my toes. “What did I tell you about expectations?”
“I can’t talk…I’m about to…” My hushed whisper is strained. I grip the doorknob with my back pressed into the door for balance. I buck against his face reaching for the release just out of my reach. Then his mouth is gone. My eyes shoot to his. If looks could kill, I’d be dead…a thousand damn times. “Liam.”
“It’s about you and me, Harper. Now, do as I say if you want me.” Lick. “All of me.”
“This is extortion…or blackmail…or something,” I argue, trying to pull his face back to me.
“My way, Harper.” He nibbles the inside of my thigh, his beard tickling my skin.
“But Glenda?” I’m pleading now. “She’ll think I’m some sort of slut. Having sex in the boss’ office?”
“I pay the bills. I sign the checks. And I want to finish eating your sweet pussy, Harper. Give me what I want.” His eyes hold mine.
“Liam, you can’t always have your way.” I don’t have a leg to stand on, but this man is trying to turn me out, and I love every nanosecond of it.
“Baby, only you would argue with a man begging to please you.” He smiles then I see his thick pink tongue. He licks so slow and deep my eyes roll back in my head.
“I’ll be mortified, Liam.”
“Give me what I want, Harper. We’ll both be happy. Let me do this, love.” He’s teasing my pearl, and my body is revolting against my resistance to give Liam what he wants. “Please.”
His tongue plunges in, and I scream relieved to release the pressure building in my chest from holding my breath. His fingers dig into my flesh as he fulfills his promise, devouring me. I’m lost in the stroking, licking, caressing. Blacked out in a zone, I’ve never felt this way. Never, and I tell him so.
“Then come for me, baby.” His mouth is working, and I’m falling. The colors behind my eyes change from black to white. I’m pulling at his beautiful red hair trying to keep from falling. Not on the ground, because his strong shoulders are supporting me. But from falling for him.
The descent is fast and hot, and tension explodes. I squeeze my legs to control the shaking, yelling his name, calling him every deity since the beginning of time.
Chapter 10
Liam
“This is what happens when you let me have my way, Harper.” I carry her to my desk pushing all the contents to the floor, I lower her gently making sure her ass is hanging off the edge.
Her kind eyes are now beams of red hot light. I’m holding her up and trying to slip the condom on. She pushes my hands aside and rolls it down. Her eyes leave mine for the briefest second.
“Ready?” I ask.
“Yes.”
I wrap an arm around her lower back, and I plunge in. Her wetness holds me like a custom glove as her legs circle my waist. She’s taking it. I’m giving it as I inhale the sweet scent of her still on my lips.
Harper is panting. Then she moans, “Liam…”
“Let’s do this one together.” I lean over bringing her mouth to mine, swallowing her cries. My sweet Harper is a passionate goddess. Our bodies are joined, and I’m fighting my release, I don’t want it to end. Not yet.
But I feel her pussy tighten on my cock. “Harper?”
“I want it all.”
“Baby, it’s yours.”
Lost for words, we surrender sucked in by the newness and rawness of our connection. Then her scream collides with my groan as we both surrender.
I gather Harper to my chest carrying her to the couch. And it hits me, this is my fiancée. She’ll soon be my wife.
Her head is on my chest, and I’m spent. The sex confirmed my gut reaction to Harper.
“You can’t build a marriage on good sex,” she whispers, playing with a button on my shirt.
I smile, kiss
ing the top of her head, she still needs convincing. “You can build anything on great sex.” There’s nothing good or mediocre about us. No, together we’ll be unstoppable. “The strength of our connection only confirms what we already know sweetheart.”
“We don’t know each other.”
“We have a lifetime for that,” I counter.
“Do you propose marriage to all the women gullible enough to have sex with you in your office?”
I place a finger under her chin, lifting her face. The regret staring back at me pisses me off. “Care to repeat that?”
“How many women have you sexed in this office?”
“Harper," I warn.
“What do you do, give Glenda a bonus to slip off and ignore our screams of pleasure?”
“You really on some shit right now.”
“Tell me the truth, Liam. I’m a big girl. I can handle it.”
I flip her over, pinning her against the couch. Her legs wrap my waist without hesitation. Her brain is fighting us, but her body knows what’s up. “Stop fighting us, and trust yourself.” I’m pissed at her words.
“Get off me.” She pushes against my chest. “I shouldn’t have—”
“What let me taste you?” Her eyes cloud in a sexual haze. “You damn right. Because you’re mine now, Harper.”
She pushes again, and I sit back. I let my words sink in. She jumps up pulling her dress down.
“You really are something else.” She squares off her shoulders.
I laugh at the balls on this fine ass woman, still kicking and itching for a fight. “Thank you, Harper.”
I see a slight smile on her lips. “For what you incredulous man?”
“I know our marriage will never be boring.” I lick my lips for emphasis. I’m not backing down, and neither is she and I feel life pumping through my veins. This is like the ultimate high. “How about round two?”
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