I pop down the alleyway with barely a second to spare when the baker suddenly pulls away from her car and heads toward the single glass door of Destiny Records. Her face is once again concealed by bakery boxes, but I understand Cormack’s interest. Her tight pencil skirt and fitted shirt expose anenticing body, and the heels on her stilettos make it seem as if her legs go for miles.
An unexpected snicker leaves my mouth when she uses the toes of her inexpensive pumps to knock on the entrance door of Cormack’s business. I’m about to announce the service entrance is at the side when Cormack steals my gamble. He opens the door, sending the brunette and the cupcakes she most likely spent hours baking toppling straight for him.
When the grin on my face jumps onto Cormack’s, humored by the baker’s clumsiness, I pull open the side entrance door before making a beeline for Cormack’s office. He craves control as much as me, so his office has the perfect viewpoint to peruse his exchange with the woman who has his panties in a twist. I’m hoping that just like Isabelle’s tumble to my feet, this baker’s daftness isn’t a ruse. Cormack has been stung by greedy, needy women before, so I’ll do everything in my power to ensure he doesn’t face the same issues this time around.
Justas I pass Cormack’s fat leather chair, Cormack and the baker enter the conference room attached to Cormack’s office. As my eyes drink in the brunette’s slender frame and wavy hair that’s pulled back in a messy bun, my brows furrow. I have an uncanny ability for remembering faces, but hers has me a little stumped. Don’t misconstrue. I’ve interacted with the dark-haired beauty before, she just didn’t have the wide-eyed, hued-cheeks look she’s showcasing now. I’m so surprised she can pull off the ‘hesitant’ look, I’m beginning to wonder if the flirty, take-no-shit-from-no-one baker I wrangled with two weeks ago has a doppelgänger living in a town neighboring hers.
Although the condition of Harlow’s bakery reveals she’s on the opposite end of the financial scale as Cormack, I think she’s a good fit for him. He needs someone who won’t allow him to continue hiding in the cervices of his past. Someone who can look past the lies to see the truth hiding beneath the surface. He also needs someone so confident, not even discovering she’s tussling with a billionaire will see her knees buckling out from beneath her.
Since I believe that person could be Harlow, I take a step back and watch their exchange from a distance instead of being front and center as Cormack begged via multiple text messages this morning. The fact he needed to reiterate how important my arrival was showcased how deeply Harlow has embedded herself under his skin. That, in itself, deserves further exploration. It is the very reason I chased Isabelle so fiercely in the beginning, and it is why I am still struggling to push her into the back of my mind.
The chase is enthralling, but it feels as if it is so much more than that this time around. I’m no longer a college boy. I’ve worked for every single thing I have, so I can’t help but wonder what I could achieve if I put the same effort into my personal life. Alas, that isn’t something I’ll ever work out if the woman I am chasing thinks I’m a criminal.
With my thoughts hinged between watching a blistering connection form between Cormack and wondering how I created one with Isabelle even with her being opposed to my ‘supposed’ shady business dealings, an hour passes at the speed of minutes, and Cormack’s hang-ups about being left alone with Harlow slipthrough the cracks even quicker than that.
He and Harlow are no longer talking. They’re kissing—passionately. Hands, lips, and teeth are all in on the action. Even the occasional moan is released. If it were any other man but my best friend pinning a woman to the wall of his conference room by his crotch, I’d wish him a silent congratulations before walking away. Regretfully, I can’t do that to Cormack. He asked me here for a reason. Only someone who didn’t have his back would walk away now.
I tap on the door separating Cormack’s office from the conference room to announce my presence. When that fails to lessen Cormack’s gropes of Harlow’s breasts, I cough. I don’t know whether to laugh or groan when my second attempt to interrupt them is ignored, so I do both. With extreme reluctance, Cormack finally pulls back. With a ticking jaw, he snaps his eyes to me. They’re full of fury and expose he’s ready to take down the person interrupting his every want with more than words.
Some of the outburst in his eyes is swallowed when they lock on my humored gaze. I’m only doing as he asked, so if he wants to be angry, the only person he can be angry at is himself. “Busy?” I ask, still smirking about the romantic gleam in his eyes. I’ve never seen himwear this look before, and I’ve known him since we were freshmen in college. Usually, that’s the only expression love-sick idiots wear in their college years. I’m reasonably sure I wore it more than once, and I’m not even sure how to explain my relationship with Ophelia. At the time, I was confident it was love. Now, I’m not so sure.
“You don’t have to go,” Cormack assures Harlow when she lowers her legs wrapped around his waist. “Isaac was just leaving.”
“I am?” Since guilt is highlighting my tone, it comes out harsher than intended.
Cormack glares at me, his eyes saying so much more than his mouth ever will. “Yes, you are.”
I don’t get the chance to respond. Harlow’s reply steals Cormack’s undivided attention. “It’s okay. I have to go anyway.” I can’t hear what Cormack replies, but it assures me Harlow’s smile is one of her biggest assets. It’s obvious she wants to stay, the need in her eyes is extremely telling, but her words come directly from her head instead of her heart. “I’m sorry, I have to go. One of my staff resigned last night, so I don’t have anyone available to open up shop.” Her eyes widen as her lips form a perfect O. “Oh, shit. If I don’t leave this instant, for the first time in nearly a century, my doors won’t open on time.”
She somehow maneuvers herself away from Cormack to head for the door. I doubt it was an easy feat. He had her pinned to the wall like he had no plan to ever let her go. “I hope everyone loves the cupcakes. If they do, I’dreallyappreciate a review on my Facebook page.” Her suggestion cracks my lips into a smile. Even with her mind hazed by lust, she’s still thinking about her business. All good businessmen and women should operate the same way. Their doors would remain open a lot longer if they did.
The sorrow on Cormack’s face shifts to hope when Harlow pops her head back into the conference room two seconds later. “Will you call me?” When she spots the smirk I was unable to contain from the desperation in her voice, she straightens her shoulders and tries again. “If you want to call me, my number is on my business card. If not, it’s cool.Whatever.”
It’s pretentious for me to laugh, but I can’t help it. Harlow’s attemptto act disinterested was as pointless as Cormack asking me to chaperon their interaction. Their connection was so blistering, even if I were in the conference room with them, they still would have kissed. I’d put money on it. After halving my laughter with a quick sideways glare, Cormack shifts his focus back to Harlow. “I’ll call you later today?”
“Alright. Cool. Sounds good.” Her efforts to act unaffected this time around is Oscar-worthy. “Bye.” After a brief wave, she dashes back through the door she rocketed through only seconds ago.
Cormack waits a good thirty or so seconds to ensure we’re alone before he shifts on his feet to face me. “You were supposed to be here at seven!” His shouted words expose he’s more annoyed at himself than me, so I let them slide with only the slightest retaliation.
I ball my fists at my sides instead of connecting one of them with his nose. “I was.” I follow him into his office, smirking when he slumps into the chair I gifted him when he decided to go it alone instead of using Attwood Electric funds to endorse his dreams. “You asked me to be your backup, not a babysitter. You had things under control for the most part. When you didn’t, I stepped in.”
He groans before sinking lowinto his chair. “AfterI groped her boobs.”
Confident his worry has no basis, I waggle my brows.
He doesn’t find my reply humorous. “This isn’t funny. I’m supposed to be taking down her bakery, not her panties.” His reply stumps me, but he foils my endeavor to seek clarification on his comment when he continues talking, “This is bad, Isaac. It could be another rerun of Lucinda if I’m not careful. I didn’t even ask permission to kiss her. I just went for it.”
He stops peering at the ceiling when I say, “She’snotLucinda.” Lucinda went after Cormack for his wealth and superiority. Harlow knew neither of those things when she let him pin her to the wall by his cock.
“How do you know that?” Cormack asks breathlessly, the lack of air in his lungs compliments to both Harlow and panic. “You’ve known her all of two seconds.”
I smirk at his assumption today is my first run-in with Harlow. I may not know everyone in my town, but we’ve met before, and I’ll be paying even more attention to her now. “Considering your record-setting pace the past two days, she’ll be family by the end of the week. That’s got to mean something, doesn’t it?” When a glint in his eyes reveals I’m getting through to him, I remind him he isn’t the Neanderthal he thinks he is. “You knew the moment you met Lucinda that she was trouble. That’s why you steered clear of her.” I motion my head to the conference room. “You weren’t dodging bullets in there. You pinned a target on your chest because you want her attention. You’re just scared as to why.”
Hetsksme. “You’re abstinent for six weeks, and suddenly you’re a relationship counselor?”
Six months ago, I would have cringed just at the thought of agreeing with him. Today, the disdain is nowhere near as detested. “You’ll be amazed at the amount of brain power you have access to when all your blood isn’t rushing to your cock.” I’ve turned a once-blacklisted company into a multi-figure entity in the past two weeks. That deserves a mention.
Cormack laughs. It isn’t his standard, let’s-give-Isaac-hell laugh. It’s full of turmoil and truths he doesn’t want to admit out loud. I hit the nail on the head, but it will take more than a gallon of whiskey for him to admit that. He hates when I prove him wrong.
