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Fuck. What have I gotten myself into?
Harrison gets out on the street side and even though everything is roped off so no other cars are passing on the street, I look out the back window to make sure he’s not about to be run down. I see the flashes start going off and shouts for Harrison to look their way.
Taking a deep breath, I straighten my jacket as much as I can.
Out my window, I see him button his jacket before he starts opening my door. I tilt my mouth slightly, so I don’t look like I want to murder Harrison as soon as I take the hand he offers me. He doesn’t move back to give me room to step out comfortably though. No, the man takes me completely off guard and gives me a barely-there peck on the lips.
And my worldshakes.
Involuntarily, my lips pucker in acceptance even though he took me completely by surprise. I’m starting to think he likes me… floundering? Unsure?
Needing to take back some sort of control of the situation, I take his hand, interlace our fingers, and reach up to deliver a smacking kiss on his cheek.
The paparazzi miss nothing, the flashes make me close my eyes to avoid going blind. There’s a picture that’ll sell like hotcakes. A first look at Harrison Crawford’s new man showing PDA.
They’ll probably know who I am and start posting those pictures online within the hour. I’m not surprised, this is the first time he’s been publicly spotted with another person in almost two decades. And since he bought the Kings ten years ago and he’s garnered even more attention, people care way more now than they did when he was only another old-money billionaire in New York City.
Harrison smirks at me when I lean back. He slides his free hand around my waist and gets dangerously close to my ass when the contact disappears. I tell myself I don’t miss it as I look him in the eye and keep smile number seven steadily on my face—‘irrevocably in love’ smile.
He leans over my shoulder, and I hear the car door shut behind me, but his words drown everything else out.
“That one is my favorite so far,” he murmurs next to my ear. I shiver and hate myself for it. I can’t let him keep doing this.
We walk down the carpet without uttering a word. Not responding to any of the questions the photographers throw at us, nor speaking to each other as we walk a few steps then pose, rinse, and repeat. We gaze into each other’s eyes longingly every few steps, and when we finally reach the end of the carpet, I let the smile fall to give my cheeks a rest.
Seriously unused muscles.
I take a deep breath and look down when Harrison squeezes my hand tighter.
“You okay?” he whispers.
“Yes, I just have to get used to smiling more now that I’m the focus of the cameras. Normally I’m behind the scenes and no one gives a shit if I smile or not.” And I like it that way, but I don’t tell him that.
“You did very well.” He smiles tenderly at me, and once more, I’m tongue-tied at being the center of his attention “Your smile looks perfect, but you don’t have to force it if you don’t feel like smiling. I like a challenge.” He wiggles his eyebrows, “I’ll gladly work my ass off to earn your smiles.”
What can I say to that?
Nothing, absolutely nothing. I can only nod.
He squeezes my hand once more, then leads me to the ballroom for us to make our entrance.
FIVE
Harrison
I see two board members—Howardand Jared—as soon as we cross the door. I know the exact second people realize I’m here and start whispering about it, but I don’t look away from the two dinosaurs who shouldn’t have seats on my company’s board and still do.
Two of the five men who decided I need to look more like a ‘family man’ to the public, two of the five men I want to embarrass and expose as homophobic assholes.
I get way too much satisfaction from their horrified expressions when they realize it’s a gorgeous man in my arms and not a woman. I let them see it, I hold it to a smirk though I could easily let out an evil laugh to rival Gab’s.
I don’t even have a second to take in all the amazing decorations because a man steps in our way and I look down to see Garret Prodi. He works in real estate too, and is always trying to buy property from me or to outbid me on sales. He loses more often than not, so I know his smile is as fake as his teeth.
Tristan tenses behind me, and that makes me nervous. I don’t need any backup to handle Prodi, but I do hope he doesn’t freak out.
“Crawford,” he greets me with a smile and stretches a hand out to me. I take it and offer him a slight smile.
“Prodi.”
