by Brooks, Abby
“And more,” she murmured into his chest. “And more, and more, and still some more.” She ran her hand up his stomach and let it rest near her face. “And did I mention some more? Because there was definitely some more.” He could feel her cheeks pull up in a smile and he wrapped his arms even tighter around her.
“Oh, I’ll give you more. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about that. I’ll give you all the more you could possibly handle.” And he meant it. Lying next to her with sweat still drying on his body, with his heart still racing and his chest still heaving, his balls clenched and damned if his dick wasn’t coming back to life as he ran his hand up her lithe body.
She lifted her head from his chest, a smile gleaming in her eyes. “Surely, you don’t have more in you. Not already.” As she spoke, she ran her hand down his torso and wrapped her long fingers around his rapidly hardening dick. She widened her eyes. “You do!” She squeezed and moved her hand up his shaft. “Why, Harrison Moore, who ever would have thought you were such a beast?”
In one swift movement, he managed to flip them both over, with her on her back, her wrists pinned overhead, and him towering over top. “I’ll show you what a beast I am.”
* * *
After another round of orgasms and a shower—complete with a surprise orgasm of its own—Harry found himself sitting out on his deck with Willow, not sure what he was enjoying more.
The view.
The company.
Or the conversation.
Or maybe they all blended together to create the most perfect afternoon of all time. Because without Willow at his side, it would just be another chance to look at the ocean. And without her words in his ear, it would just be another voice responding to what he had to say. Maybe, his perfect afternoon was because of that perfect woman.
And holy shit, was she ever perfect.
“So,” he said, threading his fingers with hers. “I guess we should finally get to the real reason I called you here today.”
“That wasn’t the real reason?” Willow gestured back toward the house with her head. “Well, damn. Now I’m hurt.”
“Okay, you caught me. I fully intended to fuck you senseless today. But I have a secondary real reason for wanting you here.”
“You definitely succeeded at fucking me senseless. I’m still not sure I can trust my legs to hold me up. That thing you did in the shower…”
“You liked that, didn’t you?”
“I like you.”
Harry smiled and pulled her close, wrapping an arm around her. “Well good. Because I like you, too.”
“So, this secondary real reason…?”
“It’s about Juliet and Ian. As best man and maid of honor, I think we’re supposed to throw them a bachelor or bachelorette party, as the case may be.”
Willow grimaced. “Don’t remind me. I don’t know anything about anyone here, or anything about the best places to go out. It’s going to be the lamest party and I have officially earned the title of worst maid of honor ever.”
Harry held up a finger. “Not necessarily. Here’s the thing. Think about Juliet and Ian. What is the most important thing to either one of them?”
“The other one,” Willow replied without even having to think. “Juliet loves Ian above all else, and if my people reading skills are still on point, it’s clear that Ian feels the same about her.”
“Exactly. And after that? What’s the next most important thing to either one of them?”
“You mean like, a secondary real most important thing?”
Harry laughed lightly as she tossed his words back at him. “Okay, sure, just like that.”
As Willow thought it over, her blue eyes focused beyond the horizon, Harry stole the moment to study her. The sweet curve of her lips, the way the light and wind played in her hair. She turned and caught him staring, smiling as she dropped her eyes and bit her lip. “Family,” she finally said. “They both cherish family.”
“Right. So, here’s what I’m thinking. Do you really believe they would enjoy spending an evening separated from each other, supposedly celebrating their last single days by getting drunk with a bunch of friends and stuffing dollar bills in a stripper’s G-string or eating penis cake and drinking cocktails through penis shaped straws?”
Willow widened her eyes and choked back a laugh. “Penis cake?”
“Don’t think I don’t know what goes on at those bachelorette parties. You girls are crazy!”
Willow shook her head, her eyes dancing with merriment. “Fucking penis cake,” she muttered. “What a visual.”
“Anyway,” Harry said, drawing out the word, pleased to have made her laugh and smile. “Knowing Ian and Juliet and the things that are most important to them, don’t you think it would be better to throw them a joint party and invite our whole family? Really give them a chance to celebrate their love…with the people they love?”
“I think that sounds beautiful. I really do. And it’s not just because I didn’t have the first clue as to how I was going to throw a decent bachelorette party.”
The two spent the next couple hours brainstorming the details of the event. Harry had no problem closing the restaurant for the evening, even on such short notice, so the venue was set. The staff who were already scheduled to work that night would still come in; they’d just end up catering to the needs of the party rather than a stream of random customers.
“So that takes care of the food, the venue…” Willow held up fingers, counting off the things they would need. She held up a third and gave him a questioning look. “Drinks?”
“Yep. I’ll have the bar open.”
“Dang. Nice. What’s that leave me? Music?”
“Music would be good.”
“Oh! I know just where to start! They have this whole Top Gun thing going, don’t they?”
Harry rolled his eyes. “Do they ever.”
“I’ll make a playlist for the evening and include as many of those songs as I can.” Willow smiled. “Think they’d go for a little Prokofiev?”
Harry grinned. “I doubt it. But I bet you could get away with one song. Just for us. We are throwing the party, after all.”
“Well, you’re throwing the party. I’m making a playlist. Doesn’t seem like an even distribution of work to me.”
“Oh, no. That’s not the only job you’ll be getting, young lady. We need to come up with a menu. And hors d'oeuvres. And drinks. Those are all you.” Now Harry was the one holding up fingers, counting off jobs. “Oh, shit. And we both have speeches to write.”
“Wow. That’s a lot to do and not a lot of time to do it.”
“Good thing we’re thinking ahead.”
“If you call, umm, trying to pull this thing together a day before we have to actually have the party thinking ahead…” Willow leaned against the railing and arched an eyebrow.
“They can’t know we waited this long. We’ll just have to pull in our combined attention to detail and discipline and they’ll be none the wiser.”
They spent the next few hours hammering out a guestlist and menu and by the time Harry took Willow home, the whole thing didn’t seem so insurmountable after all. In fact, it seemed totally doable and like it might end up being the best gift they could actually give Juliet and Ian. Which, in Harry’s mind seemed appropriate because it was Juliet and Ian getting married that brought Willow into his life.
And at that moment?
She was the best gift he had ever received.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Willow
Willow drove back to Juliet’s in Harry’s Jeep, trying desperately to concentrate as he ran his hand up and down her leg, sometimes dipping his fingers into her shorts and tracing the line of her panties against her inner thigh. When she pulled into the driveway, instead of getting out and saying goodbye, she honked the horn wildly until Juliet and Ian came running out of the house with Lulu hot on their heels.
“What the holy hell?” asked Juliet as she not
iced Willow behind the wheel.
“Harry taught me to drive today!” Willow bounced up and down like an excited little girl.
Juliet swooped up Lulu and hit Harry with a look that meant trouble. “Do you have any idea what you’ve just done?”
Harry made a face that said he thought Juliet was overreacting. “Given her access to a basic human right?”
“No.” Juliet shook her head knowingly and glanced at Willow. “You’ve given her a new skill to master. Do you have any idea how she handles having new skills that she hasn’t mastered?”
Harry studied Willow and grinned. “I can only imagine she attacks them with exuberance and diligently goes above and beyond until she considers herself an expert.”
Willow saw something dirty flash through Harry’s mind and she almost read the thought as he had it. She tilted her head in question only for him to give a little nod and she could definitely read his response:
Later, he was trying to say to her. I’ll tell you later.
Juliet caught the exchange. “I’m not even sure I want to know what else you guys did today.” She turned to Harry. “But don’t you forget. I get her tomorrow. Like, all day.”
Ian stared at his brother and furrowed his eyebrows. “Does that mean I get to hang out with him tomorrow? Like, all day?” He mimicked Juliet’s tone of voice and grinned.
Harry hopped out of the Jeep and shrugged. “If that’s what you want.”
“I assume while they hang out…” Ian gestured between Juliet and Willow as she climbed out of the Jeep. “Julz will get all the gory details on why you guys look like sex personified. I don’t want to be left out of the loop.”
Willow’s jaw dropped and embarrassment blazed across her cheeks while Juliet slapped her fiancé on the arm and Harry laughed.
“Hey, you know it’s true. I’m just saying what we’re all thinking.” Ian wrapped an arm around Juliet. “Come inside with me so we can give them the privacy they’re gonna need to say goodbye properly.”
Willow watched them wander back into the house and rubbed her lips together, fighting a grin. “Sex personified, huh? You think it’s that noticeable?”
“I think my brother just knows how to read me.” Harry crossed in front of the Jeep and drew Willow into his arms. “And I think it’s clear as all hell that there’s something between us. Sex. Connection. Friendship. Something more...”
Soulmates, Willow found herself thinking and blushed. “I feel that ‘something more,’ too. I can’t believe I’ve only known you for a couple days.”
Harry ran his hands up her back. “Don’t overthink it. Let’s just enjoy this gift we’ve been given.”
“I can do that,” Willow said, determined she would really try. Overthinking things was a forte of hers. But, with only a handful of days ahead of her before she had to head back to the city, it would be a tragedy to waste any of them on worry.
Harry kissed her, obliterating the concerns she wasn’t supposed to be feeling as happiness rose up, pure and sweet, inside her. She lifted herself up on her toes and flung her arms around his neck and returned the kiss, pulling away more out of duty than because she was actually ready to say goodbye.
“Thank you,” she whispered.
“For what?”
“For you. For today.” For some reason, she wanted to say for changing everything, but she didn’t understand exactly what that meant and didn’t want to scare him or ruin the moment or any number of things she wasn’t supposed to let into her headspace. She raised her brows, a new line of thought catching her attention. “What were you thinking when we were talking to Juliet and Ian? I’m pretty sure it was something dirty and therefore wonderful.”
“I was thinking about one particular skill I’d like to give you the chance to master.” He shrugged as if conceding a point. “Well, several skills really, although they’re all related”
“Oh yeah? Related to what?”
Harry grabbed her hand and put it on his dick—his mostly erect dick. She couldn’t help herself, she gave it a squeeze and his eyes went hard and sultry.
“Related to that,” he said, his voice tight in his throat.
“I look forward to mastering any and all skills related to that.” Willow stroked the length of him through his jeans. “When can we get started?”
“Not tomorrow,” Harry said sadly before he pushed a stray lock of hair out of her face, kissed her on the tip of her nose, and said goodbye. Willow watched him pull out of the driveway and disappear before squaring her shoulders and steeling herself for the million questions Juliet was sure to have as soon as she stepped foot in the house.
From inside her purse, her phone buzzed. She pulled the thing out and smiled as she read a series of texts from Harry. She pressed the phone to her chest and sighed up into the brilliant blue sky before reading them again.
Harry: Thank you for you, too.
I miss you already.
You’re the best thing to ever happen to me.
Chapter Twenty-Five
Willow
The night flew by in a series of texts that ended when Willow finally passed out holding her phone. She woke to a scary-low battery and a handful of messages from Harry that came in after she fell asleep. A few that went along with the very explicit conversation they were having, and then, when Willow didn’t respond, Harry sent:
Harry: Willow?
You sleeping?
And then, a few minutes later:
Harry: Goodnight my angel. Sleep well.
Willow flopped back on her bed and smiled up at the ceiling. Her body ached from where he’d been inside her, but damn it was a good ache. A private reminder of her time with him. Memories of their afternoon together consumed her while she brushed her teeth and hair.
An image of his hand disappearing under the hem of her shorts.
The smell of the Jeep mingling with the smell of the ocean in a way that would forever mean Harry.
His words, so sweet during the day and so perfectly dirty when it mattered most.
She shot him a message before heading down to breakfast and coffee.
Me: Woke up to find your texts. Can’t stop thinking about you.
She pushed send and hoped if he was still asleep, it wouldn't wake him. Then she cringed, afraid that was exactly what happened, when he immediately replied. She stopped on the stairs to read, holding the phone close to her face and leaning against the wall.
Harry: Good. Don’t stop.
Have a great day.
She sent back a string of smiley faces because that was exactly how she felt—smiles building upon smiles upon smiles upon smiles. When she received a string of happy emojis in return, she skipped the rest of the way downstairs.
A fresh pot of coffee sat on the counter, with Ian and Juliet already awake and enjoying each other’s company on the deck, while Lulu stretched on the ground in a long beam of sunlight. Willow joined them for coffee and conversation. They chatted away during breakfast, and somehow, Juliet understood that Willow wasn’t in the mood to discuss Harry. She didn’t want to talk about how strong her feelings for him had become. Didn’t want to talk about words like soulmate and true love because they sounded too ridiculous to be said out loud.
Even if she couldn’t stop thinking them.
Instead, they talked about the wedding and joked about old times. About how nervous Juliet was to have her parents in Bliss, meeting her fiancé for the first time on the same day she married him. They laughed through the entire visit to the nail salon—big belly laughs that forced their nail techs to sit back and wait for them to be done before leaning into their work again.
It was good. It was really, fucking good. And Willow realized how much of a gaping, Juliet-sized hole she had in her heart. It had been months since she had seen her at all. As Julz started into a ridiculous story about Harry’s sister Lilah and her complete inability to understand what it meant to work for anything, Willow found herself wondering if she could have a lif
e in Bliss, too.
With Juliet.
With Harry.
She pushed the thought away because, other than Harry and Julz, what was there for her? Her career only existed in New York City because she couldn’t imagine dancing for a company other than American City Ballet. How could she even consider walking away from that? She wasn’t just living her dream. She was living the dream of so many hopeful dancers.
She was something in New York. What could she possibly be in Bliss?
With Harry. You could be with Harry, her heart answered, and she pushed the thought away.
Of course, Juliet noticed something was off and arched a questioning eyebrow. “You good?” she asked and reached across the space separating their pedicure chairs to place her hand on top of Willow’s.
She smiled and sighed. “Did you know I thought you were crazy for moving down here? Leaving the city behind for a tiny little town and a tiny little life.” Willow heard how judgmental the statement sounded and made an apologetic face.
Juliet looked surprised. “Did you?”
Willow nodded. “I sure did.” She swallowed hard and met her friend’s eyes. “But the thing is, I don’t now. Not one bit.”
Chapter Twenty-Six
Willow
At the last minute, Harry and Willow decided the combined bachelor/bachelorette party for Ian and Juliet would be a surprise. As casually as she could, Willow asked the couple to take her to Harrison’s for dinner, under the pretense that he knew just how to prepare the right kind of meal for her. They agreed, but gave her the side-eye just the same, and Willow steeled herself for the inevitable teasing that would come at her expense.