Leaning back a little, I looked up at him. Droplets of tears resting on my eyelashes obscured the perfect view, but even through the blur, I could see the determination in his eyes, his promise a vow I knew he wouldn’t ever break.
“I promise,” he breathed as he looked down at me.
His thumb gently moved across my cheek, wiping away the few tears that refused to abandon my face. The tender touch evaporated all the hate inside me, and my soul sighed, contented at last.
Harrison had an ability to caress the very core of me with each of his touches, my soul soothed from the soft pressure of his fingers on my skin. The fiery blue of his eyes penetrated through the ice I had constructed to keep my sanity intact, and he melted every bit of my self-preservation.
“All clear, Lily Cooper?” he whispered, his heated stare locked with mine.
Nodding, I swallowed resolutely. “Aye, aye, Cap’n.”
His lips brushed mine so faintly I wasn’t sure if I’d imagined the warmth of his breath over my mouth.
A slave to every instinct screaming out at me, I lifted my hand to the back of his head and pulled his mouth to mine. He groaned quietly and parted his lips when I lightly slid the tip of my tongue across them. The kiss was hot and passionate, desperate and exciting, and I was greedy for more. My body came to life, electricity darting through my veins and making my skin burst with goosebumps. My heart raced, each beat energised and swift.
It wasn’t until a loud cough made me jump that I jerked away.
Harrison grinned down at me, his big smile full of humour at the look of shock on my face. I had forgotten Liam was even in the room with us, but from the expression on Harrison’s face, like he was the cat who had got the cream, I quickly realised the kiss had just been a big ‘fuck you’ to Liam. Hypothetically speaking, Harrison had lifted his leg and pissed all over me.
“You’re such a dick!”
His mouth dropped open, and he blinked in shock. “The fuck, babe?”
They always say you fall for a replica of your father, and those simple words made me want to laugh and scream all at the same time.
Shaking my head, exasperated, I pushed Harrison away and hopped off the bed. Turning to Liam as I slipped on my shoes, I smiled sweetly. “Can you nip me back, Liam, please.”
Before he had a chance to answer, Harrison snatched hold of my wrist. “Don’t play games, Lily.”
“Me?” I scoffed. “What the hell is wrong with everyone?”
The world was closing in on me, suffocating me as it squeezed all sense and normality from my life. Everyone was out for themselves. Selfishness made them attack others for anything that could grant their lives enrichment, or the very least give them a morsel of self-indulgence. All I wanted from life was to just keep breathing, and for someone to love me. I wasn’t virtuous, but I wasn’t selfish either. Yet, every person just seemed out for themselves, Harrison included. He didn’t want me because he felt something for me, but merely because he had seen, as I had, the way Liam looked at me. To Harrison, I was just a conquest to be won.
I wasn’t blind, or naïve, but just because Liam liked me that way didn’t mean we couldn’t eventually be good friends. I had a lot in common with Liam, and he made me laugh. I had made sure not to encourage him in any way, and lately, I was convinced he was resigned to the fact that’s all we would ever be. But, give him his due, he hadn’t treated me any different, and he had still been the person I had become to look at as a friend. At least he hadn’t chosen to play silly games like Harrison.
“Lily!” Harrison warned again when I yanked my hand back and quickly scribbled my signature on the discharge form the nurse had left for me.
“I know I can’t go home, but at least give me some space.”
My request looked as though it hurt him, and he swallowed roughly, but he nodded and turned to Liam. “Don’t leave her fucking side!”
Liam nodded in reply and escorted me with a gentle hand on the base of my back out of the room.
“You okay?” he asked quietly when we pushed through the main hospital doors and out into the open. I noticed he completely shielded me from the paparazzi when a thousand lights blinked and shouted questions were directed our way.
Nodding, I hurried to the waiting car and breathed a sigh of relief when our driver pulled out into the city traffic.
“Bloody hell, they’re a nightmare,” Liam growled, referring to the relentless swarm of the media. “Is it always like this?”
“Pretty much. Although I’ve grown up with it, I’m still not used to being the centre of it.”
“I doubt you could ever get used to that.”
“Mum and Dad were steadfast in doing their best to keep me out of the spotlight as a child, but I suppose it becomes inevitable when your life takes its own route.”
Nodding, he glanced at his phone when a ping announced a text. “Unlike Harrison, it’s rare I safeguard a celebrity.”
Laughing, I nudged him with my elbow. “That still sounds strange.”
“What does?”
“Being referred to as a celebrity,” I clarified. “To me, I’m just me.”
“And to Harrison, you’re more than just you,” he bit out, his voice tinged with a hint of resentment.
A lump formed in my throat. We had to talk about Liam’s feeling, but when I tried, he shook his head and put his phone to his ear, abruptly terminating our conversation.
Sighing, I settled back and watched our surroundings race by. For the first time since I’d been aware of Liam’s fondness for me, the atmosphere had become awkward between us. I couldn’t help but think it had something to do with mine and Harrison’s kiss. I felt like a bitch. I had completely forgotten Liam had been in the room with us, such was my infatuation with Harrison Cole.
Liam didn’t say another word on the journey, and as soon as we were both back at Harrison’s house, Liam disappeared into the den.
The crush to my chest needed a release. My body and mind craved it. So, trapping myself in the bathroom, I sank into a hot bath and proceeded to turn the bubbles a mesmerising shade of red.
Twenty-two
Lily
The crisp air filled my lungs when myself and Hayley’s hens all spilt out of Amsterdam’s Centraal station. The blue sky and the open space was an immense welcome after the oppression of airports and train rides.
Hayley had grumbled at me when I’d shown up that morning with a supersized suitcase, and a supersized glowering Harrison in tow. I could see her point, it was a bloody hen weekend, bringing along a guy kind of defeated the object.
I’d rang Mark the moment I had got in the previous night and cancelled our date. He hadn’t seemed very happy about it, but if I was honest, his feelings were the last thing on my mind, and I may have been a little brusque and shortly ended the call. Laid in bed, the silence and dark a welcome relief after the chaotic few days, I had come to realise that a man in my life wasn’t doable. My career had soared, leaving very little time for my friends, or myself for that matter, and a relationship would put a strain on me that I didn’t need. That was beside the fact a lunatic came attached to me like a designer pooch. Who the hell would want to date me with that factor included?
I’d also decided that I needed to forget about any attraction there was between Harrison and me. It was evident he didn’t want to act on the chemistry between us, and I had to accept that as well. I wasn’t the kind of girl that could just hook up for random sex, and I knew, deep down, as I’m sure he did, that’s all Harrison would be able to offer. It would take me a while to relax enough with someone to be intimate with them, and Harrison just wasn’t the patient type. I imagined he would be a veteran in that department, and someone like me, timid and inexperienced, wouldn’t do it for him. I would just save us both the embarrassment of my fumbling and leave our relationship strictly professional.
“Watch it!”
My body jerked back, and I gasped when an oblivious cyclist shot past me.
/> Bec’s eyes were wide on me, her fingers tightly wrapped around my arm. “You have to watch it here, Lil. There are cyclists everywhere you turn.”
“Sorry, I was miles away.”
Shaking her head and sighing, she grumbled, “You’ve been distracted since we boarded the plane. It’s Hayley’s hen weekend. Let’s not focus on you all weekend, and make her last days of freedom about her? Like it should be.”
Her tone and the meaning behind her statement hurt a little, but I nodded. After all, as blunt as she said it, her lecture was true. My life had come between us all lately, and Bec was right, this trip was about Hayley.
I nodded, making a mental note to forget everything happening in my life and to let my hair down for the next forty-eight hours.
“Google maps says the hotel’s down here!” Kit proclaimed, taking control as was her usual thing. Grabbing the handle of her case, she turned right and took off at speed in the direction the voice on her phone instructed.
It must have been a popular weekend for bride and grooms to be, the four-hundred-meter walk to our hotel saw us pass another two hen parties and a stag party of twelve rowdy men. I was surprised to find winter weddings were now more popular than they’d ever been.
Harrison strolled close to my side; his awareness of our surroundings was paramount. For a moment I couldn’t help but glower to myself when I secretly wished he paid as much attention to me as he did to everyone and everything around us. He was just doing his job, and I should have been grateful for the protection he awarded our small group. Harrison had terrible manners, but no one could say he didn’t give one hundred percent into everything he deemed important in his life.
“Let’s get settled in our rooms and then we’ll hit the bars. I need to get high and drunk!” Tracey, one of Hayley’s cousins, declared excitedly.
I had to stifle a laugh at the look of alarm on Harrison’s face.
Leaning into him, I lowered my voice. “Relax. This is Amsterdam. What did you expect? Jelly, ice-cream and a trip to the park?”
“The only trip these girls are going to end up having is to the hospital!” he groused quietly so only I could hear his objection to Tracey’s plans.
I sniggered at his snobbery. “Oh, I can guarantee they’ll definitely be tripping by the end of the weekend.”
He rolled his eyes but continued to scowl. “Please tell me you don’t indulge.”
Sighing, I shook my head as I signed my name on the check-in form Kit shoved towards me. “It’s only a bit of pot, Harrison, not grade A drugs.”
“It still makes you lose control of yourself, Lily!” he griped. “And that’s the last thing you need. You have to be alert, now more than ever.”
Spinning on my heels, irritated at the way he seemed to think it was okay to chastise me like I was a little girl, I placed my hands on my hips and narrowed my eyes at him. “For your information, I haven’t, nor will I ever, smoke weed. Not because I’m a judgy arsehole like yourself, but because it’s something that’s never really appealed to me. Plain old nicotine is good enough for me.”
Lifting his eyebrows at me, he smirked. “A judgy arsehole? I think you mean ‘judgemental’, Lily. Is judgy even a word?”
“Yes, you fault-finding twat. You’ll find it in the dictionary under the word, ‘Harrison’. Alongside it will be the words, obnoxious, hypercritical, and annoying!”
Silence had descended around us, and I stilled, realising mine and Harrison’s argument now had an audience. Even the hotel reception staff appeared to be thoroughly engrossed in our bickering. All eyes were on Harrison as they awaited his comeback to my snipe.
He coughed, clearing his throat, and refused to give them any more entertainment at his expense. “If I could have my key,” he barked at the poor girl sat behind the reception desk.
Nodding quickly, she held out a key card, her poor hand trembling with Harrison’s austerity. “Sir.”
Taking it from her with an annoyed huff, he stalked towards the elevators and stabbed the call button with a long finger.
As soon as the lift doors closed behind Harrison, a loud snigger tumbled from Bec when she couldn’t hold on to her amusement any longer. “Jesus, he’s such a party animal. Don’t know how we’re gonna keep up with him this weekend, girls.”
Hayley studied me, her eyebrows slightly drawn together as if she was puzzled. Eventually, giving me a soft smile, she stuck out her elbow and gestured for me to latch on. “Looks like it’s me and you sharing a room.”
Nodding and swallowing back the lump of indignation that had grown in my throat, I returned her smile and slipped my arm through hers. “Lead the way. I’m gasping for a drink.”
“Meet you in the hotel bar in an hour!” Kit shouted after us just before the lift doors closed.
“Everything okay between you and Sherlock Holmes?” Hayley asked as soon as we started to ascend the many floors to our allocated one.
“Yeah.”
She knew I was lying, but choosing to let it rest, she merely nodded and clapped her hands together. The loud noise made me jump but as though it was the starting pistol on a race, its sound signified the beginning of our weekend, and Hayley bounced up and down on the heels of her feet. “I’m so excited. This is gonna be the best weekend ever!”
Her excitement was contagious and unable to hold on to the sombre mood Harrison had plummeted me in, I grinned at her and gave her a squeeze. “I’m so happy for you, Hayley. That man of yours is a keeper, and he’s so lucky to have you too.”
She beamed at me. “Thanks, Lil.”
The doors opened, and we stepped out onto the floor our room was situated on. A few people milled up and down, each person glued to their phones and reminding me to switch my data roaming on.
“Here!” Hayley called before she swiped the card in the slot and disappeared into our room.
Sliding my phone back into the pocket of my bag, I groaned when I felt it vibrate over and over as it caught up and received all the texts and messages I had missed while it had been switched off.
Just as I reached our room, the door next to mine and Hayley’s room opened, and Harrison stepped out. I was just about to grumble that I’d been stuck in the adjoining room when I caught his sombre expression.
“What’s wrong?”
He chewed on his bottom lip, and I couldn’t miss how his tanned skin was paler than usual.
“We need to talk.”
Frowning, I followed him when he said nothing else and stepped back inside his room. It was large, the vast bed that lay central made me think how well he would be able to starfish. I shook myself when my mind wandered and other images of what he might be doing in there made my gut twist. I had to let it go. Amsterdam was known for its laidback approach to sex, and it was about time I took on some of its attitude and stopped been such a frigid Bridgette.
“You need to sit down.”
My skin prickled with unease and on shaking legs, I lowered myself onto the edge of his bed. “Harrison, what’s going on?”
He twisted his hands and exhaled slowly. My phone was going crazy, the constant buzzing a distraction. As I reached for it, Harrison halted me with a hand on my arm.
“Don’t,” he said quietly with a small shake of his head. Taking the phone from me, he switched it back off.
“Harrison? Will you tell me what the hell is going on!”
Crouching in front of me, he took both my hands in his and sighed. “A while ago I intercepted a threat in your mail.”
I stiffened. “What kind of threat?”
He paled further and dropped his eyes. “You remember when I had your house combed for cameras?” He waited for my nod before he continued. “Well, you received a file containing footage of you…”
I braced myself, swallowing forcefully. Something terrible was coming, I could see it in the look of pity storming Harrison’s usual cool blue eyes. The warm azure that stared at me almost made my heart stop, and my mouth dried with apprehensio
n.
“…Footage of you masturbating in the bath.”
My tongue glued itself to the roof of my mouth and I had difficulty peeling it off. “Sorry, say that again.”
“A pen drive containing a recording of you getting yourself off in the bath came with a note.”
My jaw trembled, and I was amazed I managed to form words when I succeeded to ask, “What did the note say?”
“He said, if you didn’t comply with his demand then he would upload the recording to YouTube.”
My hands were shaking so hard. My face burned with embarrassment and shame knowing that Harrison had seen me naked in the bath, frigging myself off. Oxygen seemed restricted in the air around me, and I began to feel lightheaded. “What did he ask for?”
“That’s just it.” Harrison shook his head, mystified. “He didn’t ask for anything. I intercepted everything after that and there were no commands or instructions.”
“Oh.” I started to relax. “Maybe it was just a fluke then, or the idiot finally decided I wasn’t as exciting as he’d hoped and chose to leave me alone.”
Shaking his head slowly, Harrison’s grasp on my hands tightened. “The video was uploaded to the internet this morning, Lily.”
Harrison’s face became lost in the blur that rushed at me. My lungs squealed in protest when all the air evaporated, and horror became a clamp around my throat. My heart stampeded in my chest, and the world tilted on its axis as I slid sideways and passed out.
Twenty-three
Harrison
My heart went out to her. Her wide, frightened eyes were scoping the room purposefully – unfalteringly in her mission to look anywhere but at me. Her embarrassment was unmistakable in the stifling air of the room, even though I’d repeatedly tried to ease her humiliation.
She was nodding, unfallen tears glistening on the tips of her eyelashes as she listened to Frank, Quantum Rock’s manager, on her phone.
Reviving Heaven (Room 103 Book 6) Page 11
