Harrison Bloom had made the choice to move on. When he made a decision, he didn’t sit around and wait for things to happen.
He made things happen.
If he chose to make things happen that night with a very obviously willing and single Diane, that, too, would be nobody’s business but his own.
Chapter 9
Diane sat back with a sigh and looked at Harrison with unabashed interest.
“You have changed, Harrison. I have to say, I think I quite like these changes.”
Harrison smiled and sipped his brandy.
The drink had turned into dinner, of course, and he had found himself entertained and intrigued.
“I think it’s called growing up, Diane.”
Diane sighed.
“I find that we all have to do it, though I draw the line at up. Old would never do.”
Harrison chuckled.
“No, if anybody could defeat time and age, it would be you. You never really got the hang of taking no for an answer.”
Diane shrugged.
“Some things we never learn, do we? I think that’s one of those things I shall never learn. At least, I very much hope that I won’t.”
There was silence for a couple of minutes, but not the stiff silence of dates, when you pray that one of you might break it, but the longer it goes on, the heavier it gets.
“It’s odd to be back here. Everything has changed, but underneath, it’s all the same. The people are the same. It’s like I could slip this city and its ways back on like an old and familiar dress and nobody would even notice that I’d ever been gone.”
“I noticed that you were gone.”
Diane’s lips curved in a smile like cat sated with her fill of cream.
“That is very gallant of you, Harrison, but I think you’ve kept yourself quite busy. Quite the pillar of the community now, I hear – your presence is requested in all the places we once crashed because you refused to use our names to get in.”
Harrison chuckled.
“I’ve been out of that circuit for a few weeks now. It’s been busy.”
Diane glanced at him, a sly look from under long, dark lashes.
“Busy is one way to put it. What do you think? Shall we go out and paint the town red? Or shall we keep up this pretense of being respectable and retire?”
Harrison smiled.
He knew that her invitation was blatant enough, for all that it was unsaid.
“I’d like to keep this pretense up for a little longer, if for no other reason than that I’m no longer convinced that it is just pretense.”
Diane inclined her head, gracefully as always, and waited for him to choose to speak.
“Come with me to a charity dinner this week.”
Diane smiled.
“Will we pay the thousand bucks for the plate of rubbery chicken and everything?”
If he felt a pang at the mention of the rubbery chicken – it had been one of their jokes, he and Leigh, when their presence had been required at such evenings – he suppressed it ruthlessly.
It was over.
“Let’s hope it’s fish, then. But we’ll have to pay the thousand bucks.”
Diane grinned.
“I guess after all the parties we’ve crashed, that’s a fairly reasonable price to pay, really. Does that mean that you’re not coming home with me tonight, Harrison?”
Ah, that frankness was another reason why he had been so drawn to Diane. She didn’t play games. She didn’t make an affectation of being coy.
“No.”
Diane nodded, looking thoughtful.
“Well, I guess it’s true, then.”
Harrison frowned.
“What’s true?”
“That you’d lost your heart to the girl you told me had never been more than your sister.”
Harrison shrugged.
“I thought you’d been far away from the gossip of the city.”
Diane grinned.
“Harrison, gossip of the city and gossip about you aren’t always one and the same, even if you seem to set the tongues wagging with very little effort. But you obviously don’t want to talk about it, so we shall not talk about it. Will you take me home?”
Harrison nodded.
“Home, then.”
Harrison drove, despite the brandy, even if he knew that it wasn’t the best or smartest idea. When he pulled up in front of the bungalow that was Diane’s home – temporarily, she had told him – she opened the door and stepped out gracefully, without waiting for him to open the door.
But instead of waving and going inside, she walked around to his side and leaned down, giving him an enticing glimpse of her very succulent wares.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in? I’m alone. And I’ve missed you. I’ve dreamt of you. I could make you forget, Harrison. You remember how good I was. I’ve gotten better.”
Harrison’s body responded, just enough for his blood to hum with arousal. But he shook his head.
“I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
Diane shrugged.
“The offer is open, if you get lonely. See you tomorrow, Harrison.”
With a flash of shapely legs as she spun on her heels, Diane walked up the drive to the door, and turned. She raised a hand to wave him goodbye, and blew him a kiss that he knew would’ve tasted potent if he had let her place it on his lips.
Damn him and his misplaced loyalties. He couldn’t do it.
He raised a hand in turn, waved goodbye, and slowly drove off. He waited to feel regret as he drove away, but he didn’t.
It felt, strangely and infuriatingly, as if he had done the right thing, after all.
It would change. He would get better. And he would start by dropping by Martha and Samuel’s place –the place that had been home when he had needed it so much – and start to make amends.
Harrison didn’t even notice that he had been spotted. He didn’t even notice the cameras, or the person with the long-range lens who had clicked a few very interesting photos of him and Diane.
Harrison was extremely preoccupied, or he would’ve noticed that he was being followed, all the way to the Wells residence, even at the pit stop where he had bought flowers and whiskey, for Martha and Samuel.
An hour later, Harrison was making his way back home, feeling much better. He had done it – he had finally decided to come clean and tell Martha about the trouble he and Leigh had been having. Samuel hadn’t had much to say, but Martha, even if her eyes had been so sad, had assured him that she understood.
He knew that Leigh might be angry that he had told them about their breakup, but at that point, he didn’t really care much about that. Leigh couldn’t have everything her way, all the time. He couldn’t live her life to suit her, when she had chosen to take herself out of his life.
By the time he got home, Harrison was beginning to feel as if life might not be so bad, after all. He even thought that the charity dinner he had been planning to skip, despite his responsibilities, might actually be fun.
He had always had fun with Diane. Diane was obviously more than willing to explore fun again.
Maybe he would just embrace the moment and stop thinking so much about it.
This time, Harrison didn’t stay awake, wondering how Leigh was doing and what she was thinking. This time, he washed up, got into bed, and fell fast asleep.
But in sleep, the iron control he had imposed over himself slipped. In sleep, he saw Leigh again, and his dreams were filled with her – Leigh, in love with him, surrendering herself to him, telling him that she had no doubts and no misgivings, and she never would.
Leigh, beautiful and full of need for him.
Leigh, so lovely and soft, so dark and desirable.
In his dreams, all of the thoughts that he had locked away in wakefulness seemed to break loose and take him over, until he tossed and turned, his body nearly tortured with his need to touch her, to take her.
It was four in the morni
ng when he woke up, his eyes flying open. He found the sheets twisted around him, making him feel trapped.
Four in the morning. It had been twenty-four hours since Leigh had left.
A lot had changed.
A lot more would change.
Maybe he couldn’t control his dreams, but he could control his actions, and his choices. His choice was to move on with his life. He thought he had made a good start.
Leigh was the past. He would live in the present.
Harrison got to work, and banished all thoughts of Leigh from his mind once again – as he was beginning to understand he might have to do every single day, for the rest of his life.
Work helped. He buried himself in work, making his admin, the formidable and very honest, very dependable, long-serving Anna, without whom he couldn’t function, look at him with disapproval again.
When she saw him going to his office dressing room to change to go to the charity dinner, and heard the name of his companion, her face tightened, her lips pursed.
“Where is Miss Wells?”
Harrison looked away.
“Miss Wells does not wish to be my escort anymore. Is there a problem, Anna?”
“It’s not my place to have problems, Mr. Bloom.”
Harrison sighed.
“Anna, you’re the only one here who calls me that and you’re the only one here who would, I do believe, put me across your knee and spank me if you felt I needed it.”
Anna snorted a little.
“I would not waste my time and effort on something that would have no effect. I do not like futile endeavors. Please don’t forget the pocket square. I’ve set it out.”
Harrison nodded.
“I won’t. Thank you, Anna. I know I’ve been brooding and difficult for the last few weeks. It’s changed. It’s different now. It will be.”
Anna hesitated.
“Please, Anna, you’ve always been honest with me.”
“Before she left for college, it was better. You were happy. You meant it when you smiled. Now you don’t smile, and when you do, you don’t mean it. I worry about you, Harrison. I know you tell me not to, but I do.”
“I am touched. But I promise it’s better now. It is. And I won’t forget the pocket square.”
Anna nodded and left him to get ready to take Diane Masters to the function. There would be extravagantly dressed women, men dressed like penguins, bad music, mediocre food, boring speeches, and polite backstabbing.
Normal life for the rich and the powerful, he mused, as he finished dressing and checked his phone.
There was a message from Diane. It was short and to the point:
Come and get me.
Maybe he would, thought Harrison, feeling reckless. Maybe he would do just what she implied, blatantly and with no pretensions to subtlety.
Diane’s laughter was infectious as they drove back after the function.
“That was as boring as I thought it would be, until I upset that little champagne fountain.”
Harrison grinned.
He was stripped down to his shirt and trousers, because Diane had needed his jacket, and the spare shirt that he kept in the car. She was currently wearing only that and her shoes, because the upsetting of the little champagne fountain had drenched the incredible red dress she’d been wearing.
Impossibly, she looked even sexier in the shirt and jacket than she had in the dress. Her legs, long, toned and shapely, were bare, and she didn’t seem to feel the bracing chill in the air.
“I am glad for the heater, I have to admit.”
Harrison chuckled.
“Can’t have you freezing, can we?”
“It would’ve been worth it. I would’ve paid the price, Harrison. It was so boring! I had to do something. I can’t believe you managed to make it through that long without throwing a bunch of bread rolls at somebody.”
“Ah, but I have to pretend to be all respectable now, remember?”
Diane pouted very prettily, her lips, still painted flawlessly crimson, looking like a ripe fruit perfect for plucking and nibbling.
“I do hope it’s an act. The whole point of being rich and successful is that you can do whatever you like, be whoever you want to me.”
Harrison smiled.
“I am, usually. You make me think of the old days. But they are the old days.”
Diane’s smile gentled.
“I guess we have both changed.”
They were quiet as he drove up to her house again.
“Want to come in?”
Harrison had told himself that he would consider it. But he found himself shaking his head again.
“No. No, I don’t think so.”
“You’re still in love with her.”
It wasn’t a question. It was more of a wistful observation.
He couldn’t deny it.
“I won’t be forever.”
“I wouldn’t be too sure about that, Harrison. It’s not so easy to get love out of the system. Believe me, I tried.”
Harrison turned to Diane.
“Do you still love your husband?”
Diane looked startled, and then looked like she might laugh.
“Oh, for such an intelligent man, you are oblivious and a bit of an idiot, aren’t you? No, the baron and I never loved each other. We suited each other for a while. And then we didn’t. Well, if you’re not coming in, I’ll be going. And…I think I might try Europe again. I find that a few things have changed too much here for me to find my life again.”
Harrison frowned, obviously flummoxed.
“But you barely got here, Diane. Why would you leave before giving it all a chance?”
She smiled gently.
“I did give it all a chance, Harrison. The parts I wanted in my life. But too much has changed. I don’t fit in here anymore. I need to leave. I’ll find my excitement somewhere else. There’s always plenty of it to be found, if you’re willing to look and keep an open mind.”
Harrison smiled, but he was obviously still confused.
“If you say so, of course, Diane. You know yourself better.”
She sighed softly, reaching for the handle. She opened the door just a little before turning back to him, that wistfulness still in her beautiful eyes.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come in, Harrison?”
Harrison nodded.
“It’s a weeknight. And…I don’t think I’d better. It was nice to see you, Diane. Nice to be reminded of who I used to be.”
“And who you’re not anymore?”
He had to agree.
“Maybe that, too.”
“Maybe that’s what I need, too. Take care, Harrison. Take care of yourself. Be happy. You’re very special – trust me when I tell you that. I ought to know.”
And just like that, in a flurry of creamy limbs, she was out of the car and walking up the steps to her door. This time, even if she paused before opening the door, she didn’t turn back and wave as he expected her to.
This time, she walked in, and he waited until he saw the lights turn on upstairs before driving off.
He was almost all the way home before he realized that she had been talking about him – and about how she felt about him.
Maybe that was why, this time, he was too engrossed to notice the cameras and the long lens again. He was normally vigilant, but he didn’t notice any of it.
Though maybe there wasn’t much he could’ve done even if he had. It was a free country, after all.
“So, all ready for class?”
Leigh looked at Hana suspiciously.
She had spent about twenty-four hours pretending that the outside world didn’t exist and it was working well, as long as staying in bed all day could be considered as working well.
She had missed Roger’s class. That was probably not going to end well.
Hana’s extremely bright-eyed cheeriness was definitely not a good sign.
“I’m not? I’m in my pajamas?”
“Oh, right, you are. I guess I’ll wait for you to change. And we can walk to class together, how about that?”
Leigh frowned, suspicions beginning to solidify.
“Did Roger Hutton send you to get me to class?”
Hana looked blankly puzzled at the suggestion.
“No, should he have?”
Leigh shook her head.
“No. Nothing, never mind. I’ll be ready in ten. I guess we can go together.”
“Great, I got copies of my notes for you. We’ll walk to class together. You know, Leigh, we haven’t really had any quality time together. Maybe we can do a movie marathon or something.”
Leigh sighed and got out of bed, now sure that something was definitely going on. But she couldn’t seem to muster the energy to actually ask any questions or find out what was going on. What did it matter, anyway?
She grabbed her phone as she went to the bathroom, as she always did, and was squeezing toothpaste when she saw the photo. Apparently, a few very helpful people had sent her that photo. Her inbox seemed to be filled with it – with dozens of images of Harrison apparently dropping a blonde bombshell somewhere. She was leaning over the window of the car, looking in intimately, and the smile on Harrison’s face was so familiar that it hurt.
She clutched at her stomach, trying to keep it from squirming and writhing inside.
She knew that smile.
He looked at her like that when he saw her. At least, he used to. He wouldn’t anymore.
It hadn’t even been a day – not even a day.
Feeling frantic, she checked where the photo was from and saw that it was all over the tabloids.
Billionaire and former playboy Harrison Bloom might be back to his old ways! His recent love, Leigh Wells – who, may we remind you, grew up with him as siblings in many ways – is reportedly doing well in law school. But Harrison looks like he isn’t too inclined to wait for her. The recent arrival in town of Diane Masters, with whom Harrison Bloom was frequently linked before he made his fortune, seems to have complicated that complicated affair a bit more!
Unable to stop herself, she clicked through links, and saw more photos, and more reports.
Some people had pulled up file photos of Harrison and the woman from a long time ago. It suddenly came to Leigh. She remembered the woman. She had been gorgeous, and Harrison had been besotted with her for a while. She had left right after Harrison found real success.
Being Harrison Bloom's Girl (That Forbidden Love Book 2) Page 10
