“Talking of exes,” Oliver said, sipping his wine. “Have you heard from yours? Carter, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah,” I said, surprised he’d remembered the asshole’s name. Then again, I hadn’t exactly hidden my wrath that night. Most of the bar could probably name the cheating bastard. “And no, I haven’t. Nor do I want to. I hope our neighbor gave him crabs.”
Oliver arched a brow. “You’re over it, then?” he teased.
I chuckled. “I am, yes,” I replied honestly. “I still hope his dick falls off, though. It’d serve him right.”
Oliver pretended to write on the palm of his hand. “Note to self. Don’t piss off Harlow.”
I narrowed my eyes. “You’d better believe it. Men, or women, who cheat are the pits, and they deserve everything coming to them.”
A weird expression crossed his face, but he shut it down before I could fully assess what it might mean. He rested his elbow on the table and leaned his chin on his hand, his dark, vivid eyes locked on me. “You’re magnificent. I love your indomitable spirit.” His hand crept across the table, and he knitted his fingers through mine.
A shudder of pleasure reverberated up my spine. If this was Oliver out of practice, then I had no hope of resisting him. My relationship sabbatical, as Katie had put it, hadn’t lasted long. But there was something unique about Oliver, and I wasn’t referring to his insane wealth. I’d find him attractive even if he didn’t have two cents to rub together. He had a vulnerability that called to me on a deep, emotional level.
“You’re a dangerous man, Oliver Ellis,” I said.
He brought my hand to his mouth, watching me as the tip of his tongue traced my knuckle. No one else would see what he was doing, but I felt it, right between my legs. I closed my eyes, giving in to the sensations rioting through my body. My chest tingled, and my breathing escalated.
“Ready to order, sir, madam?”
I tried to pull my hand away, resulting in Oliver gripping me tighter. He held my fingers, his thumb rhythmically tracing back and forth while he perused the menu.
“I’ll have the monkfish. Harlow?”
I hadn’t even looked at the menu, too busy controlling the urge to hitch up my dress, straddle Oliver’s muscly thighs, and rub myself to a fast orgasm.
“Um, you order for me.”
Oliver smiled. Closing the menu, he said, “Make that two.”
“Certainly, sir.” The server picked up the menus and backed away.
We slipped into easy conversation. I asked Oliver about his company, ROGUES, and he gave me a brief history of how it had started out. Nothing that I hadn’t learned from Wikipedia, but it was nice to hear it directly from him.
“It must be extremely hard work juggling everything,” I said.
“It is, but it’s rewarding, too. Not many guys get to work with their best friends every day and make a very decent living at the same time.”
“Are they all based in New York?” I asked.
“No. Three of us are. Myself, Ryker, and Elliot. Those two grew up together. The rest of us met in college. Garen is based in Vancouver, although he makes regular trips to Manhattan. Upton runs our West Coast offices, and Sebastian is based in London. He heads up the European arm of the business. We don’t have anyone out east yet as we’re still growing the business over there, but no doubt at some time, one of us will have to move, maybe somewhere like Japan.”
I shook my head. All of this was so far outside of my comfort zone. “You must all be very clever.” I nibbled on my lip and found myself sharing more than I expected. “I’m a huge disappointment to my mom and dad. Both of them work in medicine, as do my three brothers. As the youngest, they expected me to follow suit, except it turns out math and science were far beyond my capabilities.” I barked a laugh. “I don’t think they’ll ever forgive me.”
Oliver’s eyebrows shot up. “Forgive you for what?”
I tucked my chin into my chest. “For not being smart.”
He sucked in a breath, the air whistling through his teeth. I avoided looking at him, instead stirring my drink, the ice clinking against the side of the glass. He placed a finger underneath my chin and lifted my head.
“There’s more to being smart than the ability to understand calculus or biophysics.”
“Tell that to my parents,” I said dully.
He squeezed my fingers. “Has it ever occurred to you that the skills you have are worth more than any college degree? Do you have any idea how hard it is to get a kid to like you? Kids have a sixth sense about people. They subconsciously know the good ones from the bad ones. I learn about people from my daughter every single day. I watch her reactions carefully. If I could take her to my business meetings, I would.” He laughed. “Maybe in a few years, she’ll be my secret weapon.”
I smiled, but even though I couldn’t see my expression, I knew it hadn’t reached my eyes. “She’ll be a great addition to your company. She’s very smart.”
He canted his head and brought my hand to his mouth. His soft, firm lips grazed my fingers. “You have more warmth, kindness, and integrity than ninety percent of people I know. And it doesn’t matter what your academic background is, at least not to me. They can’t teach the skills you have. They’re either in you, or they’re not.”
“It’s okay, Oliver. I’m used to living with my parents’ disappointment. It’s why I rarely visit them.”
My mood had put a damper on the evening, and we ate our monkfish in virtual silence. When Oliver suggested dessert, and I declined, I could see the relief in his face.
Guess this will be our first and last date.
He paid the check and tapped something on his phone, then slid it into his pocket. As we weaved through the restaurant, Oliver captured my hand. A spark of hope lit within me. Maybe I hadn’t completely messed up the evening after all. His car idled at the curb. He had a quick conversation with his driver, which I couldn’t hear, and then we climbed inside, but instead of heading back toward his apartment on the west side of the park, the car drove up the east side.
“Where are we going?”
“I want to show you something.”
“The long way home, huh?” I said with a smile.
A flash of melancholy darkened his features, but in a microsecond, it had gone. He leaned over to my side of the car and touched his lips to my ear. “I’m going to show you your exact worth, Miss Winter.”
I gave him a blank stare.
What on earth could he mean?
15
Oliver
When Harlow realized she wasn’t getting any further information from me, she stared out the window, her brow furrowed as she tried to work out our eventual location. I suppressed a smile. The unexpected turn of events and the way I’d decided to deal with them might cause a problem, meaning I’d have to delay the lesson I wanted to teach Harlow. It was late, after nine, and Debbie was extremely strict with the children in her care. Thankfully, she replied with a big thumbs-up to the message I’d sent her from the restaurant.
Excellent.
A short while later, the car turned off the main highway, stopping outside a familiar building. Familiar to me, but not to Harlow.
“Where are we?” she asked, wrinkling her brow and staring through the car window at the large eight-bedroom house.
“Come and see,” I said, getting out.
I waited for her to join me, then captured her hand and walked toward the house. Debbie opened the front door and smiled.
“You’re lucky. Most of them are still awake, and you know they’d give me grief if they found out you wanted to come by, and I refused.” She rolled her eyes. “Mind you, I’m in for a hell of a day tomorrow.”
I laughed. “This is Harlow. Harlow, this is Debbie. She runs this place.”
“Hi Debbie,” Harlow said, confusion marring her features, although she didn’t ask what I meant by ‘this place’.
“Come on in, you guys.”
I gestured for Har
low to go in first, then followed on behind.
Debbie pointed to the stairs. “You know where they are.”
I held Harlow’s elbow and guided her to the second floor. As soon as we were out of earshot, she halted.
“What is this place, Oliver?”
“It’s a foster home for disadvantaged kids that I fund. We offer a safe environment for them to grow and develop. We provide education, healthcare, treatment for trauma which, in a lot of cases, is an absolute necessity. A couple of our kids have returned to their families, and we continue to support them and their parents after they leave. Most are adopted, providing we can find the right family. We’re regulated by the city, but we provide a vital service. Debbie manages the facility and lives on-site.”
Her mouth popped open. “You pay for this?”
“Yes. And I visit as often as I can. I also bring Annie. It’s important for her to understand that not all kids are fortunate enough to have the kind of life she does.”
“Wow.” She tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. “What am I doing here?”
I grinned. “You’ll see.”
We continued up the stairs, and at the top, I pointed to the first room on the left. Rowan’s room. Not that it made a difference where we began. As soon as the other kids got wind that we were here, they’d all come running.
My lesson for Harlow? These kids had been through a lot, and as such, they found it very difficult to trust or engage with strangers. I’d made a bet with myself that within an hour, Harlow would have them eating out of her hand.
That would be Harlow’s lesson.
She beat my estimate by five minutes. Even Patsy, our most recent resident who’d only been with us for three months, and still hadn’t spoken a single word, sidled up to Harlow after hovering in the corner watching as Harlow made every single kid fall in love with her. Harlow rewarded Patsy with a soft kiss to the top of her head but didn’t push her. She simply let her watch and played with the others.
“Right, you guys,” Debbie said, appearing in Rowan’s doorway. “Time for bed.”
Cries of “Aww, Debbieeee,” and “Please, just five more minutes”, rent the air. But Debbie was having none of it.
“Bed,” she reiterated, herding the kids together. “It’s after ten, and you all have school tomorrow.”
We said goodnight to the kids and promised to return soon. Leaving Debbie to the fun of putting seven overexcited children to bed, we returned to the car. As soon as the door closed, and before the wheels had made a single rotation, Harlow turned to me, her eyes shining with elation.
“I’d like to visit again. Can I? Do you mind? I just… they have so much love to give.” The words tumbled from her lips.
Lips I was desperate to kiss.
I reached a hand around the back of her neck and drew her to me, my mouth seeking hers in the dark, the car gently rocking us as we eased onto the road. I licked along the seam of her mouth, and when she opened for me, I wrapped my tongue around hers, almost lazily, wanting to take my time, to savor her, to taste the mint she’d slipped into her mouth after dinner when she thought I wasn’t looking.
I wanted to worship her.
Drawing back, I dropped a peck on her lips, then rested my forehead against hers, waiting as our breathing slowly returned to normal.
“Yes, you can visit again. As often as you like. I’ll text you Debbie’s number, and you can arrange it directly with her.” I cupped her cheeks, my thumbs brushing over her soft skin, I whispered, “Now do you understand how special you are?”
She ducked her head, but I wasn’t having that. I pressed my thumbs underneath her chin until her hesitant gaze met mine.
“Do you?”
She shrugged. “I like kids. You don’t have to pretend with them. You can be yourself. No agenda, no politics or stupid games. If they’re happy, you know. If they’re sad, you know. There’s a wonderful…” she wrinkled her nose, “freedom to that.”
I suppressed a sigh, holding back my disappointment. She’d grown up thinking she wasn’t good enough. That kind of deep-seated belief would take time to break.
And I would. Eventually.
“You know Patsy?”
Her brows dipped. “Was she the girl with pigtails who didn’t speak?”
I nodded. “Patsy came to us three months ago. She’s…” I bowed my head. “She’s had it very rough after witnessing her father beat her mother to death and then turn a gun on himself.” Harlow gasped, but I continued. “So far, she still hasn’t uttered a single word. Yet in less than an hour, she pressed herself into your side as if she craved your touch. That’s the kind of power you have, Harlow. And while you probably won’t believe me—yet—that is worth more than ten degrees from Harvard. That kind of power has the ability to change the world.”
She nibbled on her lip. I wanted to do that, too.
“Thank you,” she eventually said.
“For what?”
A ghost of a smile tugged at the corners of her mouth. “The list is long.”
I caressed her face with the back of my hand. “What are you doing Saturday?”
She chuckled. “Apart from taking Annie to and from school, I barely know what I’m doing tomorrow, let alone five days from now.”
“Excellent,” I said, grinning. “Then you’re free.”
“No, I’m not free. Because if you’re planning to go out, then someone needs to watch Annie.”
“Annie is staying over at a friend’s house on Saturday night.”
Harlow tilted her head, suspicion prevalent in her gaze. “Okay Mr. ‘I have all the bases covered’. What did you have in mind?”
I tapped the side of my nose. “Wait and see.”
“A business thing?” Harlow said as the car moved smoothly down Fifth, heading south. “If you’d told me that on Monday night, I’d have said I was washing my hair.”
I laughed. “First lesson in negotiation. Don’t show your hand too early.”
“Noted,” she grumbled. “Okay, bring me up to speed. Who are these people and what do they want?”
My insides warmed, and a freeing lightness filled my chest. It had been a while since I’d taken a date to dinner with business associates, and as we traveled toward the restaurant, I realized how lonely my life had been. It would be easy to blame Sara, but I couldn’t lay this at her feet. She’d chosen to leave, but it had been my decision to allow her actions to take over my entire life, like a contagion dripping into my veins and poisoning every single thing it touched.
I’d ceded control to a woman who didn’t deserve to be given such power.
Harlow was helping me regain that control.
“They’re a consortium who’ve traveled from Europe in a bid to ingratiate themselves with ROGUES. They have an idea for a joint venture that I believe is a little too weighted in their favor in its current format. My job is to either rebalance the status quo or draw a line underneath their plans and end the association there. Either way, it will probably be an uncomfortable meeting. Both sides want to win.”
Harlow clapped her hands. “You take me to all the best places,” she said, a teasing note to her voice. “So, what’s my role?”
I tucked a lock of her hair behind her ear, tracing the back of my hand over the soft skin of her neck. “To give me something to look forward to at the end.”
Her gaze locked on mine, and I detected a slight shudder. “You’re quite the smooth talker, Oliver Ellis. I think you’re bullshitting me when you say you’re out of practice.”
“Come here,” I murmured, palming the back of her neck and easing her toward me. Pausing with my lips a breath from hers, I drank her in, and then I kissed her. Softly, reverently, conveying a promise of something more. This week, we’d done nothing more than kiss, stealing the odd one here and there when both of us were sure Annie wouldn’t burst in. Even though Annie had been delighted we’d gone on a date Monday, I didn’t want to get her hopes up. Neither me nor Harlow kn
ew what this was yet, and until we figured that out, Annie was my priority. Harlow was the first woman I’d brought into Annie’s life since Sara walked out, and for now, I’d prefer her to see Harlow as her nanny rather than my girlfriend.
No complications.
No false promises.
No hopes that she might ultimately have dashed.
The car eased to a halt, and I drew back. “We’re here.”
Unfastening our seat belts, we exited the car, meeting on the sidewalk. I took her hand.
“Harlow?”
She gazed up at me, her hazel eyes wide and open. “Yes?”
“I’m glad you’re here.”
16
Harlow
With Oliver’s words ringing in my ears, I walked into the restaurant with my chin up and shoulders back. I wasn’t here as the family nanny or a pretty accessory. Oliver wanted me here, was glad to have me by his side, and that small fact gave me a confidence I’d badly needed. These weren’t the circles I moved in. Sitting cross-legged on the floor playing with a bunch of kids was my happy place, where I was most comfortable. Having dinner with a horde of high-powered businessmen and women where most of what they spoke about would go right over my head wasn’t my idea of fun, but I’d endure anything to spend time with Oliver.
Careful, Harlow.
I was falling. Fast. Too fast. We’d gone on one date and shared a handful of kisses. Hell, he hadn’t even touched my tits. We were a long way from anything more intimate happening. I was acutely aware of the scars Oliver’s wife had left him with, and I refused to be the rebound girl, the one who acted as the carthorse for him to rebuild his confidence after taking a nasty tumble before he moved on to a more suitable thoroughbred.
Why am I thinking in horse analogies?
I vaguely heard the greeter ask for our names, Oliver’s deep husky answer bringing me back to the present.
“Right this way, sir, madam.”
Enraptured: A Billionaire Romance (The ROGUES Series Book 2) Page 10
