Page 39 of Take the Blame (Seaside Mergers #3)

“Oh!” Both excitement and surprise shot through me at him asking more about it. “Well, I told them I’d have to think about it.”

His eyebrows may have touched his hairline, his head cocking back in genuine surprise. “Why the hell would you do that? You’re practically exploding with excitement for it.”

“I know…” I worried the inside of my cheek with my teeth, a sense of apprehension falling over my chest. “I want to do it, but… I should ask Ox, right? My brother, I mean. To make sure it’s okay.”

“Why?”

“Because I always ask him. It’s sort of how we do things.”

“But why?” he asked again, but I didn’t have an answer .

Why did we always seek our brother’s permission for everything?

I understood why we sought his help if there was trouble—because he was always willing to put his assistance out there for us to take.

But I wasn’t doing anything out of the ordinary by having a project assigned to me.

It was just how anyone else would get an assignment at work.

So why did I default to needing someone else’s permission to accept something I would accept in a heartbeat if it wasn’t related to my family’s business?

Harper’s shoulder bumped mine in a soft acknowledgment.

“Hey,” he said. “I’m not trying to stir any pots here.

If there’s a legitimate reason, by all means, do what you do.

But if you’re just thinking about asking someone’s permission to do your job—a job you know you can knock out of the park—then I say, kill the middleman and give yourself permission to be great on your own. ”

My heart and my cheeks warmed at the easy belief he had in me. I felt like I could scale mountains in the light of his praise.

“Grow a pair, and give myself permission,” I mused.

“Essentially,” he said. Looking up, he accepted the drinks the waiter set down with a polite smile and a soft thank you. Sliding mine over to me, he caught me looking at him and that smile tipped into a more knowing one. “What?”

“Is this an official lesson, then?” I asked. Taking a sip of the drink, I closed my eyes and sighed. It was really good. Cucumber and lime. I’m glad he ordered it. “My ball growing lessons, I mean.”

He snorted. “Alta, please, we’re in public.”

I grinned. “Just following your lead, boss .”

“Ah,” he said. His smile did something I didn’t know I understood so well until right now. It curled in a mischievous way, unique to his features alone. He was up to something. “If we’re doing lessons, then I want you to tell me something.”

“Okay.”

“Do you ever say bad words? ”

This surprised me into a laugh. “ What ?”

“Bad words. Curse words. Do you say them?” he asked. “I know you like the word please, but I’m talking about a good old-fashioned ‘fuck’ .”

“Harper!” I jerked at his language, my knee hitting the table and causing me to wince.

He laughed, the sound full and deep. A warm hand covered my knee where I hit it, soothing away the sharp pain to a dull ache instead. As he continued to hold onto me, fingers pushing into my bruised flesh in soft circles, that ache migrated somewhere else entirely.

“I’m guessing that’s a no, then.”

Swallowing past my ill-timed arousal, I shrugged, trying to play casual, even though his fingers were dancing around the skin of my thigh in a movement I did not find casual. “I don’t really see a reason to, so no, I can’t really think of a time where I’ve cursed.”

“Oh, baby,” he grinned, thoroughly amused with himself.

I’m glad someone could laugh at a time like this.

All I could think was how he’d only ever called me the ‘B’ word when things were getting heated, and now with his hand on my thigh I was officially on my way to hot and bothered.

Harper didn’t seem to mind. “That’s way too goody-goody, even for you. ”

“Oh?” The pitch of my voice had changed, coming out as a breath of obvious desire.

He hummed. “Yes. And I think we need to change that. Now.”

A moment of blank silence passed.

“What?” I shook my head.

“I’m waiting.”

“Harp, I can’t just do it on command! It doesn’t come naturally to me,” I laughed.

“I bet you can.” His tone changed to something much deeper and melodic, his touch also changing as he went from small mindless circles to longer dragging motions. “Can I help you out? ”

“Um,” I swallowed. “Sure.”

Gliding his hand further up my thigh, he slipped it under the hem of my skirt.

I held my breath as he worked a gripping hand over my muscles, thinking there was no way he was going to touch me there in this restaurant.

When his finger slipped over my panties, I gasped, immediately realizing two things.

Harper would do this in the middle of a restaurant, in fact he had already started.

And I was wet.

Soft lips pecked my own sweetly, swallowing the sound of my shock. We probably appeared as some nice, wholesome couple out for a meal while no one was the wiser about what was going down under this table.

In a whisper he said. “Shh, shh. None of that, sweetheart. You don’t want anyone to hear, do you?”

Slowly, I shook my head.

“Ready for the rules?” he asked.

I nodded.

“Okay, I’m going to keep touching you just like this.” He dragged a slow finger from core to clit to demonstrate. “And there are two ways out. Option one, you can come on my hand. Option two, you say a word I approve of and I’ll stop. Deal?”

Well, that was a bit extreme, wasn’t it? Yet, I think he could tell me anything right about now and my answer would be the same. My voice even went hoarse with anticipation. “Okay.”

By the time Harper’s long fingers slipped under the lace of my panties, I was already quivering with need. He hummed in appreciation the moment his fingers connected with my wetness. Using it to slip up my sex and rub me where I was aching for him.

I whimpered involuntarily, and he leaned over to me and discreetly kissed my shoulder right where it met my neck, the motion more like the press of a smile against my skin than anything. “You like this, don’t you? ”

My breath stuttered and I ducked my head down close to his to hide the sound I definitely let slip.

“You better be quiet. The waiter’s coming back,” he warned. Yet, just as he did, he let those long fingers dip inside, filling me deliciously as the heel of his hand ground into my clit.

I latched onto his arm, my nails digging into his skin. “Harper?”

“Pull your jacket in your lap if you don’t want me to stop.” I obeyed without hesitation. He rewarded me by grinding his hand down harder, making my hips jerk. “Good, now order what you want, baby.”

“Can I get you anything else?” Our waiter asked as he appeared across the table with a pad in hand.

Harper was far from making any wild movements under us, but he also didn’t stop his ministrations just because we had company.

Cautiously, I scooted forward just to be sure I was being hidden by the table.

As a result, the angle changed, causing Harper’s fingers to curl slightly upward and stroke something that almost made me scream right there in the dining room.

Setting my elbows on the table I covered my mouth with steepled hands, closing my eyes for a brief moment. Successfully riding out the wave without outing myself, I quickly said. “Cucumber salad please! And some more water. I’m getting a head rush.”

“Of course,” the man said, looking a little worried. “And you, sir?”

Harper grinned. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

Order placed, the waiter walked away and I slumped back against the chair in a relieved heap. The feeling didn’t last long as Harper’s attentions picked up. He was fingering me in earnest now, digits slipping in and out of me in a rhythmic slide.

I let my eyes close, reveling in this feeling that I was not supposed to be leaning into. This was bad, wrong, nothing like how I was supposed to be acting. Bad or not, it felt so good to have his hands on me again.

His warm laugh peppered my ears a moment later.

“I should have known you’d surprise me. I’m going to have to change the rules since you like this so much,” he said close to my ear again. “Say it, or I stop.”

Pressure was building up in my core, his fingers making me feel full, and the fact that there were people around who didn’t know what we were doing turned me on more.

I have no idea what I sounded like, but I know I was bordering desperation now. “Finish what you started and I’ll say it.”

That was so direct, it even surprised me.

I could tell he was impressed by the small smirk that played on his mouth. He looked at me then. “Can you do this?”

‘ This ’, I realized, meant ‘can you come in the middle of this room without getting us kicked out ’ ?

“Yes,” I sighed. It was lusty and breathy and right on the edge of my undoing. But it was a yes. I could do it. I wanted to do it. I wanted Harper to take me there.

He delivered his promise swiftly. Fingers going deep, the space between his thumb and index finger wrapping around that sensitive bud and pinching as if it wasn’t so sensitive at all.

I was coming immediately. My breath hitching high, my hands squeezing Harper’s arm and my tension shattering like glass on the tile.

“Fuck,” I whispered into the air around me as I crumbled. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, Harper. Yes.”

Lips touched over mine, gentle. Smiling. Hushing.

“Quiet now,” he whispered a chuckle along my lips. “ I heard you the first time .”

With a hand on his neck I brought him down harder over me, using his mouth to let out a residual groan I’d been holding back for a while. Tucking my head into his neck, I took a few extra moments to collect myself.

When I could finally sit up straight again, flushed and quivering and near dizzy from the encounter, I realized that Harper had righted my panties and pulled my skirt back down into place.

I moved my jacket to place it back beside me on the booth and immediately flushed again at the sight of the large hand now settled on my thigh.

I looked up to find him already staring at me. I squinted. “You’re evil.”

No surprise, he grinned. “And you’re dirty, Boss. Who knew you could come like that in a crowded room.”

He’s right about one thing, I surely hadn’t known that about myself. But something about Harper made things feel conceivable. Made me feel invincible.

Warm lips dance across the shell of my ear, kissing behind it gently.

“Need to go clean up, baby?” he asked. “Food’s coming.”

“No,” I said. “I like the reminder.”

“So fucking dirty,” he groaned. The waiter came and set our plates down and Harper glanced at me, with what I couldn’t believe looked like admiration in his eyes.

It was gone in a second and then he was pointing to his food.

“Now tell me what we’re eating. I let some girl order for me when she was getting?—”

“Harper!”

He laughed and laughed and laughed.

Later, on the way back to the car, a sudden thought struck me.

Harper was opening my door, something I thought he’d do once but turns out he just does all the time, when I stopped him with a hand on his shoulder. “So, what was the lesson there?”

“Hmm?” he asked, appearing confused.

I blinked at him incredulously. “With the curse words.” I reminded him .

“Oh!” He said like he suddenly remembered now. He shrugged. “No lesson, I just wanted to hear you say it.”

My mouth dropped open, a stunned laugh bubbling out. “Oh my God, Gus Harper you… You little shit!”

I batted at his shoulders in utter disbelief.

He chuckled, shielding himself from the assault and laughing harder at my second curse of the day. “Oh shit! Look out Seaside, I’ve created a monster!”

I laughed too, but I felt something hot wash through my core at the sight of Harper before me. His smile. His smooth features. God, he was just so… Harper.

Yeah. He’d created a monster alright. Let’s just hope now he kept her fed.