Just a little business and an easy life.
I glanced at the rings on my finger.
Nothing easy about that.
Or the fact that I hadn’t taken the rings off yet.
I couldn’t explain why other than I feared losing them. I could lose anything. Even my mind and all sense of decision making which is why I ended up married after one night with Tyler. But in all seriousness, I was famous for losing stuff. And if I lost the engagement and the wedding ring I would feel like crap. Eventually I would have to give them back to Tyler so he could get some money back. They weren’t super fancy, but they weren’t cheap either.
That was another thing we hadn’t talked about yet.
How much did he pay for the rings and the wedding? And could he really afford it?
The questions swirled in my head as I refreshed my email, hoping my client had some changes or something for the pet store design.
Lucky for me, Cara decided to pop in.
With coffee.
Joanie came over shortly after.
I wasn’t a fan of pop in visits from them but this time I needed it.
We sat at the kitchen table, all of us drinking coffee, talking, but avoiding the obvious situation at hand.
Until Joanie had enough.
“So, I’ll start,” Joanie said. She had brought her own coffee from a different place. “What’s going on with Brian? And your husband?”
“I haven’t heard from Brian since… whatever,” I said.
“You can’t be over it,” Cara said. She touched my hand. “Please tell me you’re facing this.”
My mind flashed the images of Tyler standing behind me in the shower, pumping his strong and hard body in and out of me. Leaving me at the point of losing feeling in my legs, his hands the only thing holding me up.
“I’m facing it,” I said.
“Please tell me your husband is fucking you,” Joanie said.
“Joanie,” Cara said. “That’s not real.”
“She’s wearing the rings,” Joanie said.
“And he’s fucking me,” I said.
Cara gasped.
“Good girl,” Joanie said with a sly grin.
“Are you serious?” Cara asked.
“Why not?” I asked. “Tyler is hot.”
“Fucking hot,” Joanie said. “I’d go commit a crime just for a pat down from him.”
I felt a little jealousy at Joanie’s comment. I didn’t want anyone else being touched by Tyler.
Ut-oh.
“So, you’re still married and you’re getting fucked,” Joanie said. “Good marriage.”
“Will you stop saying fucked?” Cara asked.
“Why?” Joanie asked. “They’re not making love. It’s not romantic.” Joanie looked at me. “Is it romantic?”
“No,” I said without hesitation.
Even though I thought about the moments before Tyler took me in the shower. When he confessed why he became a cop. And that his mother had died when he was young. I didn’t ask him about it yet.
Maybe I never would.
It wasn’t my business.
Making it my business would make things more serious.
And I didn’t want that.
Maybe.
I was in the kitchen when Cara cornered me.
“Are you really okay with all of this?” she whispered to me.
“With what?”
“This fake marriage thing.”
I shrugged my shoulders.
“Harper…”
“Look, it’s simple. I was the one who initiated all of this. And at the very least, I’m having a little fun. I deserve that. Brian had been cheating on me for a long time. And not just cheating but creating another life. Am I over it? No. Of course not. But I’m not ready to just sit around and cry. Tyler is actually on board with making Brian jealous.”
“Doing what?” Cara asked.
“Not sure,” I said. “But I want to get him back. I want to make Brian feel like the piece of shit he is.”
“You know what would do that? You being happy.”
“Who says-”
There was a commanding knock at the door.
Joanie looked up from her phone, her eyes rolling from swiping so many times, looking for the perfect one-night stand.
“Should I get that?” she asked.
“Go ahead,” I said. “Tell whoever it is I’m not home. Probably someone selling cheaper electricity or something stupid.”
Cara touched my shoulder. “I worry about you. I care about you. I want you happy.”
“Cara, I promise you, I’m not doing anything-”
“Hey, Harper!” Joanie’s voice called out.
“So much for me not being here,” I said with a sigh.
“What do you want?” Cara called out.
“Tell Harper her husband is here looking for her.”
Tyler filled the doorway. And then some.
In his uniform, he was even hotter. Much hotter than the night I met him. His shoulders looked twice their size. His chest filling out the shirt with force. His arms bulging with beautiful biceps against his short sleeves.
And all that equipment he carried…
“I think I committed a crime,” Joanie said as Tyler stood there waiting for me to do something.
“What crime is that?” Tyler asked.
“Who cares? Just cuff me.”
“Splash some water on her,” I said to Cara.
“Come on, Joanie,” Cara said.
“Hey,” I said to Tyler.
“Hey, darling,” he said with that panty melting grin.
Poof! My panties are now gone…
“What are you doing here? How did you…”
“I’m a cop,” he said. “I only have a few minutes. Just wanted to say hey to my wife.”
“Oh, god, he’s so hot,” Joanie murmured from the kitchen table.
I shut my eyes for a second. “Sorry about that.”
“Nice friends you have,” he said. “I’m going to meet them.”
I opened my eyes and Tyler was inside my apartment.
He walked right by me.
“What are you doing?” I called out.
Tyler walked right up to Cara and Joanie. They stared at him in awe.
“Nice to meet you both,” he said.
He offered his hand and they both shook it.
Joanie made it weird by smelling her hand.
Tyler nodded. “How does my hand smell?”
“Like a bad decision is about to be made,” Joanie said.
She looked ready to drool.
“This is Cara and Joanie,” I said. “They are my best friends. Don’t mind Joanie. She hasn’t had sex in a long time.”
“Excuse me?” Joanie asked. “I do just fine. Cara is the one with cobwebs between her-”
“Joanie!” Cara cried out, her face going flush.
“Hey, I’m not here to judge,” Tyler said. “I just wanted to meet you. All things considered, I should apologize that you weren’t at the wedding.”
“Oh, god,” I said and slapped my forehead.
“Yeah, about that,” Cara started to say.
Tyler reached for my hand. “We will make it up to you. Someday soon.”
“Or never at all,” I said. I ripped my hand away. “You need to leave, Tyler.”
“I just wanted an embarrassing story or two,” Tyler said.
“Like after the first time she… you know… she cried,” Joanie said.
“Joanie,” I growled.
Tyler looked at me. He grinned.
“What are your intentions with Harper?” Cara asked in a bold voice.
“I never give away my plans,” Tyler said.
“I’m going to leave,” I said. “I’m going to get into my car and drive away.”
“No need,” Tyler said. “I’m actually here for a different reason.”
“What?” I asked.
He reached into his pocket. “Yo
u left your hair tie on the dresser.” He grinned. “Wasn’t sure if you needed it.”
My cheeks burned hot.
I took the hair tie from him. “You came here for that?”
“Yup,” he said.
He leaned down and planted a kiss on my cheek.
“What about me?” Joanie asked.
Tyler just laughed. “You ladies have a good day.”
“I’ll set this place on fire to bring him back,” Joanie muttered.
I watched Tyler leave.
“Harper, I think he actually likes you,” Cara said.
I looked at the stupid hair tie. I had a million of them. He drove it over here just to be a jerk. And a jerk like him… maybe that was his way of saying he did like me.
I closed my hand around the hair tie.
The way my heart raced proved something I refused to say… I liked him too.
20
(Tyler)
I shut my locker and threw my bag over my shoulder. I hadn’t been in touch with Harper for almost a full day, which wasn’t like us. To be fair, from the moment we met, we had seen each other at least once every day. Whether we were drinking, kissing, flirting, getting married, or tearing each other apart in my bed, this whole full day not together thing was new.
I laughed because I had actually calculated it in my head.
Harper was something special.
I knew that from the second I saw her ready to throw a rock through her ex’s window. Now, to be fair, maybe a smart man would realize a woman that wild and angry wasn’t worth chasing down, but when I saw her eyes, I knew there was more to her.
She was hurting. She was hidden.
And I was bringing her back to life.
And in some way, she was doing the same for me.
“What the fuck are you doing? Praying?”
Joey rubbed his jaw and checked himself in the mirror. He insisted leaving smelling like a cheap gossip magazine cologne insert, ready to hit the local cop bar for a drink and then hit other bars for a woman to keep his attention until it was time for another shift.
I slipped my left hand into my pocket, my wedding band on my ring finger.
“So, women fall for this pretty boy cop act?” I asked him.
“Like ice cream in the sun,” Joey said.
I raised an eyebrow.
“They melt,” Joey said.
“But doesn’t ice cream in the sun smell after a little bit? And if you have ice cream, which is good, and it melts, which is bad…”
Joey shook his head. “You have issues. You need to get laid.”
I grinned.
Joey had no idea.
He was messing around with girls looking for a little fun.
I had a woman. A real woman. A woman that had a body to die for. Curves that could kill. Eyes that could break a man’s heart. And she was smart as hell.
I walked with Joey down the hallway as the station continued to bustle.
The job was truly never ending.
Cap had given some information on a couple local busts that had gone down. He told me to keep my eyes open on something. The department was going after a big player in a regional drug ring.
Kordell popped out of nowhere and pointed at me. “You have company.”
“I do?”
“Yeah. One of your leftovers is here.”
“Leftovers?”
“Some pretty one is here, demanding she speak to her husband.”
I laughed.
“Husband?” Joey asked. “Is that what you’re promising these days to get a woman into bed?”
I stared forward and saw Harper on the other side of a glass door. Dressed in jeans with premade little rips in them. And she wore a flannel pattern shirt that hugged her curves top to bottom. The top few buttons were undone, showing off an undershirt that pressed tight against her cleavage.
She was fucking radiant.
She almost stole my breath.
“How are you going to handle this one?” Joey asked me.
I took my left hand out of my pocket and rubbed my jaw.
Kordell saw the wedding ring before Joey did.
“I guess I’m going to go talk to my wife.”
“What do I owe this visit?” I asked Harper.
“Wait a second,” Joey said. “You’re married?”
“Happily married,” I said. “Right, darling?”
“Happily,” Harper said. She curled her lip. “Let’s just leave it at married.”
“What is this?” Kordell asked.
“Who are you two?” Harper asked.
Joey nudged by me and offered his hand. “I’m Officer Richardson. You can call me Joey. If you ever need anything. Midnight calls. I check for monsters under the bed. In the closet. I’ll spend the night…”
Harper slinked back. “Did you dry hump one of those cologne inserts in a magazine?”
Kordell belly laughed.
Joey stepped back and touched his neck.
“She’s vicious,” I whispered to Joey.
“I’m Kordell,” Kordell said. “I didn’t realize Tyler was married.”
“Funny thing,” Harper said. “Neither did he. Or I.”
“Is that so?” Kordell asked.
“Why don’t you two take off and leave me to my wife?” I asked. “It’s been a long day. And I could go for a little relief.”
Harper put a hand out. “Sorry, baby, but I’m not in the mood. I’ve been cooking and cleaning all day long. I know how much you like your gluten free organic pasta. And my goodness, you are losing a lot of hair. There were so many pubes all over the toilet. Ah, what an exhausting day for me.”
“Hey, you don’t have to worry about that with me,” Joey said. “I keep myself well groomed.”
“Don’t listen to him,” Kordell said. “He hasn’t hit puberty yet.”
Harper snorted.
I stared at her with a big grin.
She was fucking back at me for showing up at her place.
That’s what this was now.
We were fucking with each other.
Unsure of this marriage thing or what it meant, so we were just pushing buttons to see what would happen.
Yeah, maybe I was little pissed off, but I wanted to put her on the desk behind me and make her scream so loud that even Cap heard her all the way across the station in his big office.
“So, do you have any stories about Tyler for me?” Harper asked.
I curled my lip higher.
“You mean embarrassing?” Kordell asked.
“Yup,” Harper said.
“Like the time he pissed himself when he had to get tased?” Joey shot out.
“You pissed yourself?” Harper asked.
“Or the time he-”
“That’s enough for story time today,” I said. I looked left to right. “You two need to walk away right now.”
“Married, huh?” Kordell asked with a shit eating grin. He patted my back.
He and Joey left the station. Joey looked back and lifted his left hand and pointed to his ring finger. He mouthed what the fuck? and then switched his ring finger for his middle finger.
I could have chased him down and punched him, but my focus was on Harper.
“Feel good about yourself?” I asked her.
“What? I can’t come crash your shift?”
I inched closer to her. “You can crash anything you’d like, darling.”
“I think we should talk.”
“Then let’s talk,” I said.
“Not here,” she said.
“My place?”
“No,” she said in a hurry. “My place.”
“Your place?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.
“Yeah. So, there’s no funny business. We need to focus. Actually talk.”
“Right,” I said.
Harper turned and walked away.
My eyes moved down to her ass in those jeans I shook my head.
No funny business… but there
was certainly fucking business…
My hands slipped behind her ass and I pulled her up to angle her so I could go deeper. I slammed forward, and she scratched at my back. Her teeth sank into my left shoulder like an inaccurate vampire.
It took us all of two minutes in her apartment before I made one little pass at her and that was it. I had her in my arms, pinned against the shared wall to the apartment next door. We devoured each other, her hands scrambling to strip me as though she feared regret.
I took her to her room and had her stripped to nothing but her engagement and wedding rings in a matter of seconds. I paused to give her a chance to make a decision and she fell to the bed and opened her legs, inviting me to her beautiful core.
I held deep inside her as I kissed her neck, working my way down to her chest. As my tongue swirled around her left nipple, I pulled back and hammered forward again. She locked her ankles together behind me, ready for more.
As I took her to the edge of climax, my hands released their hold and slid up the side of her body. Those curves in my hands just felt so damn right. I put my hands to the bed and lifted up, putting distance between us so I could watch the way her body danced as she came.
Her hands clawed at my shoulders and down my chest. Her fingertips moved over the ridges of my stomach muscle. She stared and then crunched forward, her hands grabbing at my arms.
“Tyler, please,” she groaned. “I can’t… I’m com… oh…”
I thrust harder and held there again, feeling her pulsing against me as her body sought relief.
I quickly slipped a hand to the back of her head and pulled her up toward me.
We were basically sitting up on her bed, Harper straddling me, with me as deep as I could go inside. Her left hand on my shoulder, her right hand on the bed as she began to lift and lower herself, instinctively knowing what her body craved so much.
She put her head back as she gasped for air.
I savored the taste of her sweet skin, her sweat almost as good as the honey between her legs. My own body began to give warning that there was an internal countdown beginning. I gritted my teeth and groaned, putting my forehead to her chest, inhaling the smell of her skin. And the smell of our sex.
As I lifted my head, Harper was already locked on to me.
Under Your Influence Page 9