Being Harrison Bloom's Girl (That Forbidden Love Book 2)

by Ellie Etienne

Any woman with him would be Harrison Bloom’s woman.

  But there was nothing that was stopping her from achieving success, enough in her own field that in that circle, Harrison Bloom might be known as Leigh Wells’ man.

  The realization was so simple and so astonishing that she gaped at her reflection. Had it been that simple, all along? Had she just been taking out her own insecurities on Harrison?

  She had to see him.

  She had to go to him.

  Stumbling, she made her way back to the table, where Roger was waiting for her.

  He knew, the moment he looked at her, that something had changed.

  “Leigh, are you all right?”

  Leigh tried to nod and shake her head at the same time.

  “No, I’m not. I mean, I am, but… Roger, I’m sorry, I’m really sorry, but I don’t think I can do this. I can’t…do this.”

  Roger frowned.

  “Too soon. I pushed you too soon.”

  Leigh shook her head.

  “It’s not that. You’re a wonderful man – a kind, thoughtful, interesting, charming, and extremely handsome man. But all the time in the world wouldn’t be enough because I don’t think I could get over Harrison. I love him. I still love him.”

  She braced herself for words intended to convince her that she could get over Harrison. To her surprise, Roger simply nodded.

  “You love him.”

  Leigh nodded miserably.

  “Then why are you here with me?”

  Leigh shrugged, ashamed.

  “I thought… I was going to make a point of moving on with my life. I was just so angry, and so… Well, mostly angry. Harrison moved on.”

  “Are you sure about that? You know what tabloids and paparazzi are like – better than I do, I reckon. Are you sure Harrison has moved on? Have you talked to him?”

  Leigh hesitated, and shook her head, a little more ashamed of herself.

  “Then maybe what you need to do is talk to him. What can it hurt to have a conversation? If you love him, maybe compromises are worth it. I know what it’s like to lose somebody wonderful because I wanted things to be my way. I don’t want to see that happening to you.”

  Leigh’s eyes filled with tears, but she refused to shed them.

  “You deserve everything wonderful, Roger. Not every man would be so understanding.”

  “Leigh, I like you. I like you a lot. But it’s nothing compared to how you feel about Harrison. So, how can I be petty enough to resent you for that? Whatever pain I feel is nothing compared to what you must be going through. If there’s a chance that Harrison feels the same way, then… Well, there really is only one thing to do, isn’t there?”

  “Thank you,” she whispered, as Roger pushed the dessert towards her.

  “Now, maybe we can be friends and enjoy dessert. Afterwards, I assume you’ll want to go to Harrison and see if you can have it all, after all.”

  Leigh didn’t want dessert. She didn’t think she could swallow.

  But she owed him that much. So, she stayed for dessert, insisted on splitting the bill, and as soon as she could, she got that cab. This time, she didn’t go back to campus. Damning any thought of prudence and responsible spending, she gave him Harrison’s address, and hoped, with all her heart, that he was home.

  And that he was alone.

  Because if he was with Diane, she didn’t think her heart could take it. It would shatter her.

  Harrison glared at the bottle.

  He had tried to drown his sorrows, and discovered that there was no bottle deep enough.

  He loved Leigh.

  So, he had given up, and still nursed that first drink he had poured.

  What kind of an idiot was he to sit there and wait for nothing? He could’ve had Diane.

  But he hadn’t wanted Diane. He had only wanted Leigh.

  What was wrong with him? Leigh had rejected him. Twice.

  He kept telling himself that, but it didn’t quite ring true. He had slowly come to the conclusion that Leigh did, perhaps, have a point. Maybe he had been so afraid of losing Leigh to a world in which he seemed to have no place, where she wouldn’t let him in, that he had tried to hold her too close.

  Maybe he could see how he had suffocated her.

  But he had tried to call her, to explain about the photos and the reports, even if he told himself that she wouldn’t care.

  Leigh hadn’t answered his calls. She hadn’t replied to his texts. She hadn’t replied to his emails.

  The only option left was to drive down and see her, but the thought that she might not want that made his heart break a little.

  More than a little.

  He missed her. He missed everything to do with her.

  People had noticed. Anna, especially, had suggested that perhaps he needed a vacation.

  What was he supposed to do? For all his wealth and the power he had worked so hard to get, he was helpless to get Leigh back.

  When he heard his elevator humming, he sat up straight. There were only a handful of people in the world who had access to it.

  One of them was Leigh.

  But of course, it couldn’t be Leigh. He knew that.

  So, when the elevator doors opened and he saw Leigh standing there, looking like something out of his dreams in a red dress that made her look so sexy that his body’s response to her was beyond his control, he could hardly believe it.

  For a minute, he stood there, frozen, hardly able to believe it. It couldn’t be true.

  It couldn’t be.

  “Harrison. I wasn’t sure if I’d find you here.”

  Her voice told him that it was her – it was real. He hadn’t realized that he had missed her voice so much.

  He had missed everything about her, so much.

  “It’s home.”

  “I know. I wasn’t sure if you’d be here alone,” said Leigh, her voice small and uncertain.

  “Leigh…I tried to call you, to explain.”

  Leigh shook her head quickly and walked in, just a few steps, as if she still wasn’t too sure of her welcome. How could she be? The last time she had been there, it hadn’t gone too well.

  “You don’t have to explain. You don’t owe me any explanations.”

  Harrison shook his head fiercely.

  “No, damn it, I’m not going to leave it like that. I’m not going to let it be like that. Leigh…”

  He trailed off, as if he didn’t know what to say. Leigh looked at him, and was shocked to see that he had lost weight. The T-shirt he was wearing seemed to be hanging on him.

  “You’ve gone skinny.”

  “So Martha told me.”

  “You went and saw them. I haven’t gone to see them. I’m such a coward.”

  Harrison looked like she had slapped him.

  “Is that why you’re here? To figure out how to deal with Martha and Samuel?”

  For a moment, Leigh was tempted to take the easy way out and say yes, maybe ease into it somehow. Her courage was failing her.

  But she didn’t. Resolutely, she shook her head.

  “No. No, that’s not why I’m here.”

  “Then what is it?”

  Leigh took a deep breath.

  “I’m here because we need to talk. Because we’re important to each other, and that will never change. Because I love you, Harrison, and despite whatever mistakes we might make, that will never change. I will never let it change.”

  Leigh held her breath, and waited.

  Chapter 12

  Leigh let out that breath as if she had finally come alive again when she found herself in Harrison’s arms, held so tight that she thought her ribs might crack, but she didn’t care.

  All she cared was that she was there, with him, and he still wanted her. He still loved her.

  “I missed you. Leigh, I…I’ve been trying to call you, to explain. All those photos and those reports…”

  Leigh held on to him, her eyes closed tightly.

  “It doesn�
�t matter. It doesn’t matter as long as you choose me now. Irrevocably.”

  Harrison stepped away from her far enough to be able to look into her golden eyes and shook his head firmly.

  “There is no choice. Diane called me when I was feeling… Well, you know. So, we went out, for dinner, and then to a charity thing that was mind-numbingly boring as usual. But nothing happened, Leigh. Believe me when I say that – nothing happened. Absolutely nothing.

  Leigh hesitated, but she nodded.

  “I saw the photos.”

  “I know. There are explanations. None of it was like it seemed. Well, not as much as it seemed. She was interested, but… She wasn’t you. I needed you. I still need you.”

  Her heart soared at his words, and Leigh nearly cried. But she knew that she had some explaining to do, too. She didn’t want secrets between them. She would have to tell him about Roger, and hope that he would trust her like she trusted him.

  “I have to tell you something, too,” said Leigh, hesitant.

  Harrison nodded and waited.

  “I went out on with somebody for dinner a couple of times, too. They weren’t dates. At least, maybe they were, but I told myself they weren’t,” said Leigh, determined to give him complete honesty, without excuses. “But tonight, I knew it was a date. He knew it was a date, too. I couldn’t do it. I…I told him that during dessert, and I left right after. To come to you.”

  Harrison went still, and Leigh prayed, because what else could she do?

  “You dated somebody else?”

  “I didn’t quite… It wasn’t planned like that. He’s a guest lecturer for the semester, and I was having trouble with a paper. We ended up spending time together, and it felt more like friends. But I wasn’t surprised when he asked me out. I don’t know if I would’ve said yes if I hadn’t seen those photos. Break or not, I don’t think I would’ve. But I wanted to prove some sort of a point, that I could move on if you could, but then I realized that…I couldn’t. No matter how much my pride wanted it to be true, even if you could move on, I couldn’t.”

  Harrison nodded, slowly.

  “I’m in no position to throw a tantrum about that. Tell me – are you sure you choose me, Leigh?”

  “There was no choice. There is no choice. There is only you.”

  Leigh held her breath again, but she needn’t have, because she was in his arms again, being held so tight.

  “I’ll never make you feel like that again. I promise. Leigh, we’ll take all the time you need. We will.”

  Leigh smiled and sighed. That had been what she’d wanted. But…

  “Actually,” said Leigh, pulling away to look at him again. “I need to ask you something.”

  Harrison nodded and waited.

  “Would you get engaged to me, without releasing a statement in the press or having a big party?”

  Harrison’s eyes widened in shock.

  “What?”

  “If this engagement is for the two of us, I see no reason to let the world into it. It’s none of their business, their curiosity be damned. It’s only for us, and our family, our friends.”

  “There will be a media circus when it gets out.”

  “There won’t be, if we wear plain rings, not diamonds. We don’t need fancy, expensive rings. And I want you to wear one, too.”

  Harrison grinned.

  “You’re always full of surprises, aren’t you?” he asked fondly.

  Leigh grinned, relieved that they had found a compromise after all.

  “I am. We can keep the rings on chains around our necks if we want to. We’d still be engaged. We don’t have to announce it until we’ve set a date. We can set a date after I graduate.”

  Harrison nodded.

  “I agree to all your terms. I don’t need the world to know. I just need us to know.”

  Leigh nodded, and leaned against him, so glad for the strength of him. She had needed to lean on him. Leigh hadn’t admitted that she needed help and support until Harrison had offered both.

  “Leigh…”

  “Hmm.”

  “I want you out of that dress.”

  Her body’s reaction to his words, and to the huskiness of his voice, was instant.

  “Harrison…”

  “Now. I need to touch you now. No one else will ever do. I need you.”

  She raised her face to him and found his mouth on hers, so possessive that he took her breath away. She willingly gave it to him, wrapping her arms around him and pressing her body against him as she kissed him back, long and hard.

  “Show me.”

  It was a demand, as she walked, pushing him back, until they were through the bedroom door. She didn’t stop until they had both tumbled onto the bed, the kiss still unbroken as lips and tongues danced to that familiar tune which was still somehow new every time.

  “Leigh…”

  His hand was moving up her leg, cupping the back of her knee and sliding up, her bare thigh tingling with his touch as she kissed him, her lips parted and desperate, moaning against his lips.

  “Harrison, please. Please, I need you.”

  She didn’t care that she was begging. She needed to touch him. She pulled the T-shirt up and over him. She stroked his hard chest, moving her hand up until she found his small nipples.

  “Leigh!” He gasped as she touched them with her fingertips then used her nails to scrape them. She knew he liked that.

  She knew how to make him respond as her body was responding, as his hand moved up that slit and curved inside to cup her. Her body arched against his as she insisted that he give her more.

  She wanted more.

  She wanted everything.

  Her busy fingers moved to his back, stroking him up and down the line of his spine, and she opened for him, spread her legs and gave him access to everything he wanted.

  Everything she wanted.

  “Tell me you need me – you need only me.”

  “I need you. I need you, Harrison,” whispered Leigh, shifting as she tried to get him to touch her…

  “Touch me. Feel how wet I am for you. How much I need you,” she enticed, and he groaned as he stroked her inner thighs.

  “Leigh,” he whispered, and took her mouth in another of those long, deep, drugging kisses, with his tongue stroking hers so gently and delicately, until she trembled for him.

  “Oh baby,” he whispered, as he finally slid a finger over her panties. They were soaked.

  “You need me,” he told her, teasing her as he stroked that finger up and down as she spread her legs for him.

  “Harrison, touch me.”

  “I will. I will touch you, until you know you’re mine. Until you know you’ll always be mine.”

  But he waited, until her body quivered deliciously, before sliding a finger underneath and touching her.

  She cried out, her arms wrapped around his neck, burying her face against him.

  “No, I want to see you. I want to see you when you climax from what I can do to you.”

  Her eyes were hooded and heavy as she looked at him, and she saw the effort it was taking him to keep his own desire back, ruthlessly, as he pleasured her so gently and so sweetly.

  “Harrison…”

  “I need to see you shatter for me, Leigh. I need you to be mine.”

  “I am yours,” she said. She tried to say it. But he slipped a finger inside her, deep inside her, and she couldn’t find words. All she could do was moan his name, and keep her eyes on him as another finger joined the first deep inside her.

  “You’re all I need. You’re mine,” he whispered again, kissing her parted lips, licking her softly, as his thumb found the little hard nub of flesh that needed to be touched and stroked, caressed until she went wild with pleasure.

  She gasped his name as he pressed it, his fingers still moving in and out of her, steadily, until she was moving with him as if she couldn’t stop.

  She rode him, until the pleasure felt so heavy that her eyes wanted to close
.

  “Look at me. I want you to look at me, baby. Look at me when you come for me,” he whispered, and his words did more of what his fingers were doing, and she held on to him as she climaxed, her eyes on his, letting him see what he did to her.

  What he could always do to her.

  “Leigh, you’re so beautiful. You’re so sexy,” he whispered, kissing her softly as her body still trembled.

  Quickly, he pulled the dress the rest of the way up and over her, and drew her panties down. He touched her, sliding his fingers inside her to make her clench at him, for a moment and smiled.

  “I love what I can do to you. I love knowing I can make you feel like that.”

  “Only you,” she whispered, as he unhooked the front clasp of her lacy red bra and touched her breasts.

  “I missed you,” he told her, as her nipples hardened and seemed to reach for him.

  “So beautiful,” he whispered again, touching them stroking them gently, until she felt the pleasure building again. He buried his face on her breasts, pushing them together and drawing both her nipples into his mouth, until she was writhing against him. He sucked on them, and Leigh wrapped her legs around him. She could feel his male hardness, long and thick, pressing against her naked, hot, wet center.

  She needed him inside her.

  She needed him so badly.

  “Harrison, please. Please, I need you. Inside me, please.”

  “Then take me,” he offered, and Leigh’s eyes heated.

  Smoothly, she rolled him over onto his back, and quickly pulled his pants down, taking his briefs with them.

  “I need you,” she whispered, and pressed a kiss to the throbbing head of his hard manhood, licking it gently, making him moan and shudder as she had.

  She smiled with the power of it as she took his head in her mouth and sucked gently, using her tongue to stroke underneath, and made him shudder again.

  He whispered her name again, and she knew that now he was hers, too.

  “Mine,” she told him, as she moved to straddle him, holding his thick shaft steady and in place as she hovered over him. She moved, the tip sliding up and down her slit, and she shuddered again.

  “Please, Leigh…”

  “Mine,” she said again, and slowly took him inside her, her hips circling as she moved gently, taking him inside, rocking until he was sheathed inside her strong, wet, velvet heat.