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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

brOOKS

H arlow was late—fifteen minutes, to be exact. I picked up my drink and sipped just enough to take the edge off. I needed to be sharp tonight. I needed to convince Richard Clark to invest in my business and believe that I was a man madly in love with his fiancée.

Which wouldn’t be a complete lie, but we’ll keep that between us.

I checked my watch and rolled my shoulders back, trying to shake the nerves and remind myself this was simply a dinner.

She’d been in the bathroom for the past hour while I paced my living room like a caged animal.

“You can come out any minute now,” I yelled toward the bathroom door. “Dinner is in thirty minutes, not next week.”

When the door swung open, every rational thought left my head.

She looked stunning. No, stunning wasn’t even the right word.

Harlow was the kind of beautiful that knocked the wind out of you.

Her dark hair was curled in loose waves, spilling over her shoulders.

Her black dress was sleek and form-fitting without being flashy.

The neckline was modest, with a slight dip hinting at what was underneath.

She turned to the side, glancing down at her dress, which was the epitome of class and elegance. I almost forgot how to breathe.

“Is this okay? I found it in one of the shops in town.”

I should be talking. There should be words coming out of my mouth. Instead, I stared like an idiot.

“Do you not like it?” she asked when I still hadn’t said anything.

“You look fine.”

She snorted. “That’s the best you can come up with?”

I clenched my jaw and looked away, refusing to let her see how badly she affected me.

“Fine, you look nice,” I said, trying to sound normal.

She stepped closer. Her perfume wrapped around me, messing with my already frayed nerves.

She patted my chest like I was some grumpy cat that she found adorable. “Thank you. You clean up pretty good yourself.”

I was wearing a crisp black suit with a gray and black striped tie. I hated the damn thing, but with the way her eyes dragged over me, slow and appreciative, I was glad I chose it.

I took one last sip of my drink. I needed to get my head on straight. I needed to focus, which would be easier if she wasn’t so close, looking like something I couldn’t touch.

She looked beautiful. She had always been. That wasn’t the problem. The problem was, I was close to crossing a line. I shouldn’t be thinking about crossing.

My focus should be on impressing the investor tonight, not pressing her against the nearest wall.

She smoothed a hand along her narrow waist. “You look nervous.”

I set my glass down on the table. “I’m not nervous. I’m annoyed because we’re running late. No thanks to you.”

Her lips twisted. “You realize you’re going to have to be nice to me tonight, right?”

“Trust me. I’ll be as nice as you want, as long as you stick to the script.”

She stepped closer, swaying her hips on purpose. “Relax, fiancé, everything is going to be fine, but you will need to stop looking at me like you want to strangle me.”

“If it looks like I want to strangle you, it’s because I do.”

She laughed, completely unfazed at how easily she was making me come unglued. The little troublemaker leaned in and smoothed a hand along my chest in a way that was completely inappropriate. “Try not to be so uptight tonight.”

I caught her wrist as it started to move up along my shoulder. “What do you think you’re doing?”

She smirked. “I’m trying to help you loosen up.”

“Harlow, I don’t need you to make tonight any harder than it already is.”

Her smirk widened. “Oh, but I enjoy making things ‘hard’ for you.”

I narrowed my eyes. The girl was playing with fire. She was going to be the death of me. She’d always been a weakness. I didn’t think that would ever change.

Tonight was going to be an absolute nightmare.

I pulled on the lapel of my suit coat and extended my hand. “Ready?”

She smiled up at me, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her fingers casually trailed the delicate curve of her neck, making my mouth go dry. “Give me one second.”

Harlow walked over to the mirror. Her eyes met mine, as if she knew exactly what I was thinking.

In case you were wondering, I wanted to tear that dress from her body and watch it hit the floor. I wanted to bury myself inside her and forget about this stupid dinner.

“You’re staring.”

I clutched my key fob in the palm of my hand like it was the only thing keeping me from making a bad decision. “I’m staring because I want to get this over with. The sooner, the better.”

She rolled her lips together like she knew she had the upper hand. “Whatever you say, babe.”

She grabbed her clutch and followed me out the door. Unfortunately, it was the front door, not my bedroom door, which was the one I wanted it to be.

I adjusted the cuff of my suit jacket, letting out a nervous exhale as I scanned the restaurant.

I needed tonight to go perfectly. I’d spent the last six months working on this deal and convincing him that my company was worth investing in. While the numbers were good, he valued family more.

I spotted Richard Clark and his wife, Carol, sitting at a dimly lit table. Both were impeccably dressed and chatting with a server.

Tonight, could make or break my company’s future.

Harlow looped her arm through mine as we crossed the room.

“You need to relax,” she whispered. “You look like you’re about to face a firing squad.”

“Feels that way.”

She squeezed my arm as we approached the table.

“Mr. and Mrs. Clark, thank you for taking the time to meet with us.”

We shook hands, and I stepped aside. “This is my fiancée, Harlow Bennett.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” She extended her hand across the table.

“The pleasure is all mine, dear.” He chuckled, and I hated that I was so nervous. “I was starting to think Brooks made you up?”

There was a smile on her face as she glanced at me. “No one was more surprised than me when he asked me to marry him, but Brooks likes to take his time. If he commits to something, whether business or personal, he wants to make sure it’s going to last.”

I nodded in agreement, thankful she was such a natural at this. “That’s always been my approach,” I said smoothly, even though it felt like I was sweating bullets.

We took our seats, and I loosened my tie as we sat down.

“So, tell us about yourself, Harlow.”Richard rested his chin in his hand. “We want to hear everything.”

She picked up her water, swirling the ice around in her glass.

“Brooks and I dated years ago when we were younger, but life happened, and we had to go our separate ways.” She smiled lightly and paused like she was trying to figure out what to say next.

“We recently reconnected, and well, I’ll spare you all the little details, but here we are. ”

Carol’s eyes lit up. “How romantic.”

Harlow shrugged while I sat there wondering how she could make such a simple sentence sound like the best love story they ever heard.

I sat there, half-listening and trying not to show how mesmerized I was that she was pulling this off so smoothly.

Harlow answered every question perfectly and laughed at the right moments.

She complimented Richard on his taste of red wine and managed to get Carol talking about her passion for traveling.

I watched it all unfold with a mixture of relief and something else. I knew she would be good at this, but she was doing better than I imagined.

Carol tilted her head to the side. “You two make such a lovely couple.”

Harlow blushed. “Thank you. I can’t wait to start making beautiful babies with him. I’m an only child, so I’m looking forward to filling the house with noise. There is nothing more special than family.”

I choked on my wine and quickly brought my napkin up to my mouth.

Richard’s laughter boomed across the table. “You might want to go easy on him. He looks like he’s scared to death just thinking about it.”

Harlow patted my back as my cough finally died down. “Oh, we’ve already talked about it. Isn’t that right, honey?”

I played along. “I can’t wait to get started.”

Harlow was a natural, and I had a feeling that by the end of the night, the Clarks wouldn’t be the only ones enamored with her.

“Do you have children?” she asked, keeping her attention on them.

Carol beamed. “Two boys and one girl. Actually, our eldest recently had a baby. We are officially grandparents.”

Harlow gasped, clutching a hand to her heart. “Congratulations. Please tell me you have a picture.”

Carol reached for her phone. “You bet I do.”

She made them feel like they were the most important people in the room, and they were eating it up. I’d spent months trying to win Richard over, and ten minutes with Harlow, and she had him wrapped around her finger.

Harlow cooed over the baby pictures. “She is precious. I hope to have a girl someday, but I know Brooks would like a boy.”

Mrs. Clark laughed. “Trust me, boys are ten times easier than girls, at least in my experience.”

Harlow ordered a second glass of wine and placed her hand on my thigh. “I know Brooks is going to be a great dad, no matter what we have. I can already picture him running to the store at two a.m. for diapers.”

I inclined my head, giving her a what the fuck look. She was starting to spiral a bit, and I was trying to keep my cool. This little show was going way off script, and I needed her to press the brakes. She caught my eye and shot me an innocent smile that said you’re welcome .

The way I looked at it, I had two choices. I could either panic and make it obvious that this was all for show or follow her lead and roll with it.

Clark watched our exchange. “I have to admit, I was skeptical about the timing of all this. It made me wonder if you were just trying to secure the investment.”

My back stiffened, but Harlow, thank God, didn’t miss a beat. “I don’t blame you. If you knew our history, though, you would understand. We were trying to keep things low-key until we were one-hundred percent certain this time around.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulder and played along. “To be clear, I’m not that clever, but I get it. I would be skeptical too if I were in your shoes.”

I didn’t know if he was buying it, but he seemed to be holding on to every word.

“And while we are being completely honest, he does have an ulterior motive for wanting to secure this investment.” My hand tightened on her shoulder.

What the fuck was she doing? I wiped the sweat forming on my eyebrow as she continued.

“He wants nothing more than to give me and his future children a good life. Being a good provider has always been important to him.”

I reached for my water, nearly knocking the glass over. I was a jittery, nervous wreck. I had no idea how she was keeping a straight face.

When I caught sight of Richard’s expression, I relaxed slightly. He was nodding along, buying it all—hook, line, and sinker.

“It’s always good to see a man who is serious about his future.”

I bit the inside of my cheek, thoroughly impressed with the woman, and was reminded of all the reasons why I fell in love with her in the first place.

Harlow was always charming and impossible to ignore.

I could tell by Clark’s expression that she had his full attention.

In fact, I wasn’t sure he even remembered I was sitting at the table.

The conversation kept flowing, and whenever I tried to steer it toward business, Harlow would guide it back to something personal.

She had them engaged and laughing the entire time.

“Oh, I just love her.” Carol patted Harlow’s hand.

I rubbed a hand over my jaw. Maybe I could secure this deal after all.

I sat back, letting my arm brush against the back of her chair. Harlow knew what she was doing. She was raised around people like Richard Clark. Maybe that was why she was such a natural.

When her gaze met mine. I watched her lips curve into a sly smile.

I felt my pulse trip over itself. For a split second, I forgot about our arrangement, her house, and that this was supposed to be nothing more than a business deal.

God help me, I wasn’t sure how much longer I could keep pretending.

Not if she kept looking at me like that.

Richard checked his watch. “This has been an enjoyable evening, but it’s getting past my bedtime.”

He shook my hand in a firm grip. “You’ve got a great girl here. Don’t let her get away again.”

“I’m not planning to. Unless she figures out she can do better.” I winked, and dropped my gaze to her engagement ring.

Something was happening, shifting, and I knew she could feel it too.

After we paid the bill, we said our goodbyes and promised to touch base soon. When we parted ways at the door, I allowed Harlow to walk in front of me. I shoved my hands in my pockets as if it would stop me from doing something stupid like reaching for her.

This was the first time I allowed myself to feel something other than resentment. Tonight made me remember how easy it was to be with her, and I wondered how it would have been if I had fought harder for us.

When we reached my truck, I opened the door for her to hop in. She looked up, those big green eyes locked on mine. My fingers flexed around the handle. I was tempted to kiss her. Hell, I was tempted to do more than kiss her.

Tonight felt like a turning point, and I had no idea if I was ready for it.