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But if she went to a Society location she’d have a better chance. Did she want to do that? Could she accept who Flynn truly was? It was the question she’d wrestled with for the last five months and had yet to come up with an answer. She was tired of feeling sad and hollow however, and if being with Flynn made her happy, wasn’t that better? It was the same argument that went round and round in her head almost daily.
Susan came back into her office. “Harper, it’s none of my business but I’m gonna tell you something that you seem to need to hear. Life is for the living. Grab it by the balls and have the best damn time possible. You only get to come this way once. You were right, I was fucking up at work. Now I fuck outside of work and I am so much happier.” She grinned. “Do what makes you happy and stop worrying about what the world thinks.”
Harper stared at her boss. Was that the real hang up? She was worried what people would think if she were with Flynn? He was a killer. Didn’t that make him a bad man? Not necessarily. Look at the scum he’d killed. It was like someone had lifted a thousand pound weight off her shoulders.
“Susan,” she said as she got up from her desk. “Thank you.” She hugged the other woman tightly for a moment. “I won’t see that specialist, but I am going to New York,” she said with a wink. “I’ll see you next week.” With that, she breezed out of the office.
Five hours later, she landed at LaGuardia Airport. About a week after she’d signed the papers with Flynn, a package had been hand-delivered. It was a USB stick with the rules of the Society on it that disappeared once she closed the file again, and a phone number along with a small silver seagull. She was to call the number and they would tell her where the nearest Society location was, or so the note said before it too disappeared.
Harper caught a cab into the city and placed the call. “I would like a location in Manhattan, please.” Butterflies took flight in her stomach.
“Any particular type?”
“I’m not sure. I’m new to this.” Crap was she supposed to know what each type was? Where the hell had that been written?
“Okay, Ms. Edwards, you have a few options. There’s a—”
“I want to see Flynn O’Connor. I want the location he is at,” she blurted out.
There was silence on the other end of the phone. “Hold please.” There was nothing but silence for two long minutes. Her stomach was churning. Was she crazy for doing this? The operator clicked back on the call and gave her an address for a hotel in Union Square. “Talk to Gerard at the concierge desk. He is expecting you.”
Twenty minutes later, she walked into the hotel and asked for Gerard. He smiled at her. “Ms. Edwards, lovely to see you. Right this way.” He took her over to an elevator and ushered her inside. Then he hit a button and stepped out. The door closed and the elevator went down. That was unexpected. Harper’s knees jellied. She closed her eyes and said a small prayer.
The doors opened to reveal a young woman smiling at her. “Right this way, please.” Harper followed the woman down a hallway and into what looked like a bar area. She led Harper to a booth in the corner. As she slid in the young woman said, “We’ll take your bag for you and put it in your room.”
“Oh, um okay.” Then the woman left the room with Harper’s roller bag behind her.Now what?Was she supposed to order a drink? That might be good. Something to settle her nerves. She looked around but didn’t see a bartender. Getting out of the booth, she made her way over to the actual bar and stood there. Maybe someone would come along.
“Harper,” Flynn said.
She turned to find him standing behind her. “Oh, God.”
He looked so damn fine in his jeans and white shirt with a black blazer. A day’s growth of stubble shaded his jaw, but it was his eyes. She’d forgotten how dark they were. Black, and she was sure they could see into her soul.
“Is there a problem? Do you need help?” he asked. His face was neutral, but his voice held concern.
“Um, no. I…I just wanted to see you.” How did she explain? She’d been in such a hurry to get here she hadn’t thought this part through.
His expression became guarded. “What can I do for you?”
She stared at him. What did she say? “Um, I…” She didn’t know how to start.
Flynn just stayed silent watching her.
There was no starting point. It was all a jumble in her head.
He glanced at his watch. “If you need something from me, now would be a good time to tell me. I have things to do.”
“I need you to love me,” she blurted out.
Flynn froze. He stared at her. Hard. There was anger in his gaze.
She was losing him. “I… it took me a while to get over what happened, but I’ve been miserable without you and I just needed to see you again. There’s like a big frozen hole in my chest and I can’t fill it. You have to fill it for me. I need you to be in my life, Flynn,” she stopped speaking and sucked in oxygen.
He still hadn’t moved. Not one muscle. Shit. Did he hate her? Was he going to tell her he was over her?
He took her hand, then led her down first one hallway and then another. They finally stopped in front of a door, and he opened it with a key card. It was an upscale hotel room, and her bag was by the bed.
He let go of her hand and turned to face her.
“You have a choice to make. You can stay here and accept me as I am… or you can go. This is the only chance you have to make this choice. If you go, you can never come back to me. If you stay you can never leave. I can’t go through that again. Do you understand? It just about killed me to leave you back in Maine and I am still trying to put myself back together. I will never go through that again. Not ever. If you stay you are locked in permanently.”
She stared up at him. Her heart pounded. A million butterflies flitted inside of her. He was telling her this was for life. “Are you asking me if I can do forever with you?”
His expression remained neutral, but a telltale pulse jumped in his jaw. “Yes.”
“Abso-fuckin-lutely,” she said and then claimed his lips in a scorching kiss.
The End.
