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“You know that’s not true, Jacqueline,” Taylor said, her voice steady and strong. “You’ve always had a problem with me, even though I’ve always tried to be nice, and I’m not going to put up with it anymore. I want all of us to have a good time without this toxic behavior, so if you have a problem with me, bring it to me directly. Or even better, keep it to yourself and be a bigger person who doesn’t feel the need to say things like that.”
The silence around the table spread even further, the energy deeply uncomfortable. I was honestly impressed with Taylor. Her posture didn’t shift. But Jacqueline’s did, pushing back from the table and stalking off toward the bathroom.
The awkwardness still lingered in the air until a photographer came by. Once he took a few photos, the conversation started up again. The rest of the lunch went by quickly, especially since I was turning what had just happened over in my head again and again.
I hadn’t expected to see that side of Taylor. I expected her to be the same sweet girl as always. But sweet didn’t necessarily mean soft in Taylor’s case, and my respect for her grew as much as my attraction did.
“I’m stuffed,” Taylor said at the end of the meal, putting her hand on her stomach. “I’m ready to get back to my place and nap, honestly.”
“Then let’s get you back home.”
She smiled up at me, and my neck heated. I gestured for her to go ahead of me so she wouldn’t notice.
I wanted to go work out, take a walk, take a shower, anything to distract me from her. I was falling for her faster when I didn’t want to be falling at all.
CHAPTER8
Taylor
Alot of days, I had somewhere to be in the morning, then somewhere to be in the afternoon, with time at home in between. To save time, my bodyguards usually hung around my place, working on whatever they did to keep me safe.
But today, it was just Harrison at home with me while Cody and Ethan went to scope out a few spaces where I wanted to throw a party for Troy’s upcoming birthday. I still wasn’t sure what that involved, but I was grateful that they were going to help me pick a place. I didn’t want to book a space that looked perfect, only to find out that it wasn’t easily secured.
I bit my lip and tapped away from my DMs on Instagram. Several from a few creeps had gotten through to my main inbox. I could have closed them, but a lot of times, brands reached out to me there despite the email address I had listed in my profiles. I didn’t want to miss anything.
My gaze drifted up from my screen and onto Harrison. He was sitting across the table where I liked to work, looking at his own laptop. He’d taken off his suit jacket, leaving him in just a tailored white button-down shirt.
And he’d rolled up the sleeves to the elbows. I could barely keep my eyes off of his muscled forearms. It didn’t help that I was still obsessed with his huge hands. Every single night, I lay in bed and let my hands slip under my panties, rubbing my clit and pretending it was him doing it.
Did he know what he was doing to me? I’dneverfantasized about anyone like that before. And just thinking about that made something inside me clench. I pressed my thighs together.
I wanted to do something about it. I never thought I’dneedto relieve sexual tension, but here I was. The only problem was… how? It wasn’t like I knew how to seduce a man. I’d barely even made out with guys, much less anything beyond that.
Maybe it was something that would pass. But the longer I had to force myself not to ogle him, the less I was sure about that.
“Everything all right?” Harrison asked, snapping me out of my daze.
“Yeah! Totally good.” I smiled. He smiled, too, making my stomach do backflips. “I think I need a break, though. Do you want any coffee?”
“Sure, if you don’t mind.”
I got up and went to the kitchen, my face burning. I resisted the urge to look back if he was looking at me. He’d definitely looked at me before, even when I wasn’t intentionally trying to be sexy. But today, I’d tried. I had a professional photoshoot this morning, so I’d come home and changed into a matching tank and pajama short combination.
My shorts wereshort, and my tank top was thin. I wasn’t bold enough to go without a bra, but I was wearing a bralet that didn’t hide much. But it was honestly cold inside, so I’d thrown on a long cardigan and some knee-high socks.
I started making us coffee and stole a look at his profile. He was so big. He’d said something about being a pro football player in the past, and I believed it. I didn’t know that big, muscled guys were my type, but they were. Something about his size mixed with his easygoing, sweet nature made me feel safe. Like I was being protected by a friendly bear.
Harrison, Cody,andEthan all did it for me, which was another crazy thing. When I wasn’t thinking about Harrison’s hands, I was thinking about Cody’s mouth and the way one side quirked up when he told a joke.
And if I wasn’t thinking about Cody’s mouth, my thoughts were consumed by Ethan’s deep, stern voice. It still drove me a little nuts when he was uptight, but the deep rumble of his commands touched a part of me that I hadn’t even known was there.
I blew out a breath through my nose and topped my coffee off with oat milk. I’d learned Harrison took his coffee black every time. I brought his coffee to him and set it down.
“Thanks,” he said. “I actually just got a notification from the doorman that you have a package. I’ll go get it. Be back in a second.”
“Okay.” I watched him go. Even his butt was nice.
I managed to get a few emails done while he was gone, getting my package. They always opened them for me now to check for contraband, even though I mostly got clothes, skincare products, and makeup. I wondered what today’s package was.
