Anna sighed, content as Harold massaged her shoulders as they lounged in the massive clawfoot tub in his master bath. The bar had been packed, normal for a Wednesday night since it was open mic, but she was beat. Having Harold back in her life meant long nights filled with passion intermixed with the conversations they used to have together when they talked about anything and everything. She managed to get very little sleep with him around, but she was quite all right with that.

The water sloshed behind her as Harold moved, his fingers digging into the tender spot on her shoulders and at the crook of her neck. “Oh, right there,” she whispered.

He laughed, the deep sound vibrating up through her body. “Huh, I’m pretty sure you said that last night, too.”

“Probably,” she agreed with a grin.

His hands slipped from her shoulders, down her arms, and wrapped around her middle as he hugged her to his chest. He breathed her in and rested his chin on her shoulder. Right here and now was what Anna had wanted with Harold all along. She used to dream of moments like this, simply being held in his arms as they grew lost in each other’s touches. Then she left him, and all those hopes were turned into deep longings. Now that she had him back, she waited for the other shoe to drop that would make him disappear from her life again.

“I’ve been thinking,” he mumbled, “about your case.”

“Aw, can’t we leave the business talk for later?”

“Later I plan on doing very, very naughty things to you,” he promised, emphasizing his words by squeezing her nipples until she gasped with the sharp jolt of want coursing through her. “Business first.”

“Fine, fine, but if you keep playing with them like that, I’m not going to hear a damn word you say,” she warned as his fingers continued their onslaught, cupping her heavy breasts and kneading them. “Harry.”

“Right, business.” His hands stopped and she whined at the loss. “I think I have a way to prove Johnny faked the attack and set him up for what happened at your apartment and your bar.”

She froze as panic settled in. “My bar?” She whipped around. “What do you mean my bar?” She’d just left the bar and everything was intact, so what had happened since she came home to him?

“Your bar is fine,” he assured her. “What I meant was, I think we can use your bar and that contract to set him up like he did you, except he’ll go to jail for good. Him and that friend of his.”

“You figured out who he was?” Anna had spent the past week wracking her brain, trying to remember the UFC fighter’s name, but aside from asking Johnny outright, she couldn’t recall it.

“There’s not many fighters in New Hampshire. Josh Green.”

“I knew it was Josh,” she muttered. “You didn’t talk to him, did you?”

“No, you’d know if I did. I plan on paying him back for that decking he gave me the other day.”

“He’s a UFC fighter, Harry, and no offense, but just because you’re a big guy doesn’t mean you can take him,” she said, shaking her head. “Don’t start a fight with him, please? I don’t want to visit you in the hospital.”

He kissed the tip of her nose, and she glowered at him. “All right, I promise I won’t get in a fight with him…though I still think I can take him.”

“Plan. Can we get back to your plan, please?” She straddled his lap, his arousal greeting her instantly. She licked her lips as she rubbed her sex against his swelling cock. His eyes glimmered with lust as his hands found her hips beneath the water. “I’m waiting.”

“For the plan…or for this?” His shaft spread her lips wide and she groaned as he filled her in one easy buck of his hips. She was soaking wet from the moment he touched her nipples, and the massage had peaked every nerve in her body. “I want you…to do me a favor,” he said in between his deep, languid thrusts up into her sheath.

“Hmm. And what…exactly do you want me to do…except melt?” Her eyes rolled back as his fingers slipped across her wet skin to find her bud. He rubbed it in lazy circles, and her vision blurred as the pleasure built. “Harry.”

“I’m going to send that man into full-fledged panic mode,” he informed her, holding her hips steady with one hand so he could drive up even deeper. She gasped as he rubbed her g-spot just right and his thumb pressed even harder against her clit. “I’m going to make him wish he never tried to kick you out of your bar.”

Anna’s head fell back, her hair hitting the water. “And how…are you going to do that?”

“I’ll tell you in a minute. It’d be rude of me not to let you finish,” he growled right as his mouth closed around one hardened nipple.

His tongue lavished her as she rode him. Water splashed out of the tub to the tile floor, but Harold didn’t care and neither did Anna. The desire spiraled out of control in her body. All she felt was Harold, touching her, holding her, filling her every inch with himself and the love that came with it. When the orgasm neared, she shuddered, a moan slipping from her lips. Harold increased his pace, sucking hard on her nipple as he tugged and rolled her clit. Pleasure exploded within her core, and she cried out, the sound bouncing back to her off the tiled walls and floor. Harold clutched her body to his as his growl of satisfaction followed, mingling with hers until he tilted her head forward and swallowed the noise with a kiss that left her even more breathless than before. She collapsed against his chest, her limbs weak and chest heaving.

Carefully, he slipped free, and they both gasped at the loss of connection and the remnants of the orgasm left behind.

“So…how about that plan?” she asked, sitting up to kiss him.

“I’ll get the drinks and you get the snacks?” he suggested. “I’m starving.”

“Sex tends to do that to you,” she said, smiling, and kissed him again.

He growled and pulled away. “If you keep that up, we’ll never get out of this tub and you’ll never get the chance to experience my genius.” His lips found hers again as he said it. “Damn, how did I ever think I could live without you?”

Her heart fluttered and she hugged him, never wanting to let go. “Good question. I’m glad you came to your senses,” she teased.

“You mean we both did.” The kiss deepened, leaving them both aching for more, but Anna giggled and climbed out of the tub, wrapping her body up in a white fluffy towel. “I never said you had to cover up. I was admiring that.”

“I’m sure you were, but we have a plan to devise, remember?”

With the towel wrapped around her body, she proceeded down to the kitchen, leaving a grumbling Harold behind to dry off and follow. She opened his pantry and found a stash of cookies in the back. She popped one in her mouth as he watched, his brow arching, and she grinned. He rolled his eyes and reached for a bottle of wine and two glasses. She was fine with wine tonight. Not that she would ever admit it outright, but he was convincing her that wine had its upsides. The warmth of a red was tantalizing, how it warmed her body and made her feel relaxed and ready to melt into his arms. Tequila led her to being naked as quickly as possible around Harold. Wine took its time.

Snacks and drinks in hand, they trudged back up to his bedroom and plopped on the bed. The towel threatened to come undone and she readjusted it. Harold’s eyes narrowed with hunger when he caught a glimpse of her breasts, but she shook her finger at him.

“Plan now, then later, we can do some of those naughty, naughty things,” she said with a wink.

He mumbled under his breath but handed her a glass of red wine. “As I said earlier, I’m going to make Johnny go into a state of severe panic, so much so that he will go running to you.”

Choking on another cookie, she slammed her fist into her chest, her eyes watering, and glared at him. “Why the hell would you do that?”

“That contract? I want him to know you have it and you’re going to tell him it’s at the bar, locked up somewhere,” he explained. “I’m going to make him think there’s a problem with it and that unless he can somehow prove your copy of the contract has been doctored, then he will lose everything.”

“And you want me to say it’s at the bar so what, he’ll break in and try to get it?”

“Precisely. He’ll go and hopefully bring his little friend along.”

“And we’ll be there to catch him?” she asked skeptically. “Harry, I love you, but I’m not sure I’m ready to face down the man who knocked me out and destroyed my apartment. And willingly beat up his own friend,” she added.

“We won’t be there alone. I have a few friends on the Concord force, and the detective in charge of your case, Leven? He owes me a favor.”

Anna ate another cookie, chewing as she thought over the plan. “And if it doesn’t work? If he doesn’t fall for it, what then? I’m still being charged with breaking and entering, and assault, which I didn’t do. And the asshole who broke into my place will still be out there. Oh, yeah, and I’ll lose my bar,” she added hotly. She chugged her wine and set the empty glass on the nightstand, collapsing back on the pile of pillows with a frustrated grunt. “I promise, I’m not aggravated at you.”

“I know and I get it. I won’t let anything happen to your dad’s bar. I swear it.”

Propping up on her elbows so she could see his face, she asked, “And what exactly is your backup plan?”

His cringe told her he didn’t have one. “It’ll go as planned. I promise.” He emptied his wine glass and stretched out beside her on the bed. She snuggled against him, her fingertips trailing lazily down his chest while he held her. “You know, I think once we get through this mess, I’m going to make some major changes in my life.”

“Oh yeah? And what might those be?” she mused.

“I think it might be time to step away from the family legacy and do what I want to do for a change. And get out of this house. It’s too big.”

She grinned and started to laugh. “So you’re going to live above the bar with me?”

“Why not? It’s as good a place as any.”

“Uh huh, and you’re going to leave your firm? Just like that?”

“To be honest, it was never really my firm to begin with. My parents pushed me into following in their footsteps.” He kissed the top of her head, tugging her closer. “I think I might finally open the kind of practice I’ve always wanted to have.”

“You’re not scared anymore?” she whispered. The day caught up with her, and her eyes closed, too heavy to keep open any longer.

Harold pushed a pillow under her head and grabbed the comforter to cover their bodies. “I am, but it’s not like before. With you by my side, no amount of fear is going to hold me back from what I want.”

“Good,” she murmured and yawned. “Harry?”

“Yeah?”

“Are there any other life changes you’re going to make?” she asked as her heart pounded under her ribs and his laughter flowed over her.

“Patience, Anna, patience. We’ll get there.”

“That’s all I needed to hear.” She kissed his chest and pressed her cheek against his body heat. Sleep came not long after, and she drifted away into a world with Harold and her in their new lives together, facing whatever the world decided to throw at them next.

* * *

First thing the following morning, once Harold managed to pry himself out of Anna’s arms, he told Walter to call Johnny back and bring him in for an urgent meeting. He paced anxiously around his office as he waited for Walter to confirm the criminal was on his way back and would be there in a few hours. Detective Leven needed to be called, too, but he would wait until he knew for certain Johnny fell for the bait. He pondered all last night as Anna snored softly in his arms about what to say to make Johnny freak out over the contract.

Since it was written by his father, there were very few holes in it that he could poke, but he read through it again that morning over his coffee and realized the easiest way was to run with the idea he’d told Anna last night. If he thought her contract had been doctored to screw him over, Johnny would have no choice but to convince Anna to show him her version. She would, of course, refuse and then he would have to steal it.

As he walked past the windows again, he gazed out at the light snowfall and turned his mind towards the other business matter he would see to hopefully today if he found time to sneak away. Last night, as he spoke with Anna about changing his life, he’d meant every word.

The time had come for him to step away from the Jenson family legacy and pursue the life he wanted to have with Anna by his side. If his family and friends couldn’t support him, they could shove it up their arrogant asses, right next to their heads.

Harold pulled out the contract he’d printed that morning. He made a copy of the original and made sure the new one was in full view on his desk. He scanned it into his computer and made changes to show Johnny. If the man in question couldn’t figure out the change in the contract, he would end up screwed. The fake contract ready to go, all he had to do was wait.

“Sir? Mr. Tory is here,” Walter said through the intercom on his desk.

“Send him in, if you please,” Harold replied and sat down promptly behind his desk.

Johnny stepped inside his office, an annoyed look on his face. “What do you want this time? I thought after our last conversation, I made it quite clear what I thought about you and your new girlfriend.”

“Sadly, I’ve inherited you and your uncle as clients,” Harold pointed out, hoping he sounded the right mix between worry and anger. “It appears there is a problem with the contract.”

“What? No there’s not. You said so last week before you threatened to throw me out a window.”

Harold held back the smile that wanted to stretch across his face, remembering that particular threat. “Yes, well, I’ve had a chance to read over the contract again since meeting with you, and I’m afraid I misspoke.”

“About what? I’m fine, right?”

“Actually, you aren’t. You’re currently in danger of losing any hold you have over The Crawler. I’ve been in touch with Anna, and she’s been kind enough to send me an actual copy of her contract,” he said, holding up the doctored document. “If you look right here, it states quite clearly that if your uncle moves out of the state and is gone for a span of five years or more, The Crawler and the first floor of the building will go to Winston, or in the case he is unable, his daughter, Anna, without having to pay the full amount. He’s been gone for seven, correct?”

Johnny’s jaw dropped as he yanked the contract away from Harold. “That isn’t right! This…this isn’t the real contract!”

“Are you sure? It’s notarized.”

“No—no, she did something to it. We never would have signed it…she gets the bar outright? Just like that? No, no, this is wrong.”

“I’m afraid my hands are tied unless you can prove to me she doctored it.”

Johnny chucked the contract in Harold’s face and stormed towards the door. “She’s going to lose the bar no matter what if she goes to jail.”

“I’m afraid that’s not in the contract either,” he called out.

“What?” Johnny rushed back and glared at the line Harold pointed to. Curses flew from his mouth as he charged out of the office for good this time. Harold heard him cursing all the way out of the building as he picked up his cell and texted Anna to give her a head’s up.

“Walter? Hold my calls for a while, will you?”

“Of course, sir,” Walter replied.

Harold closed his office door and waited to hear from Anna so they could move forward with the plan.

* * *

Anna wiped down the bar for the tenth time in the last hour, earning a worried look from Missy.

“Are you sure this was the best plan?” her bartender asked quietly, her gaze darting to the door. “I mean, you couldn’t come up with anything else?”

“No, and we’re running out of time. I can’t lose this bar, especially not to that jackass.”

“You know, if you asked, I’m sure Harold would just buy the whole building for you.”

Anna grinned, tossing the rag on the bar. Harold and she’d had the exact same argument a few nights ago. He wanted to do it to solve at least one of her issues and then they could find a way to get the charges against her dropped, but Anna wanted nothing to do with it. Harold had girlfriends before Anna, and they were all the same, from what she’d heard. They were after his wealth and his last name. She only wanted to be with him because of who he was as a person, not as an ATM machine. And, she had told him, her father built this bar by scrounging together money and taking out loans. She wasn’t going to diminish all his hard work by having her rich boyfriend buy the whole damn building.

Although to be Johnny’s landlord would be highly entertaining.

“Nah, I’m not going to let him do that. Johnny is my problem, and Harold is already doing more than enough. He even took a punch for me, remember?”

Missy sighed wistfully. “Why can’t I find a guy like that?”

Anna shook her head. “You do realize you work with that guy, minus the wealth, I mean.”

“Who, Pat?”

“He’s been head over heels for you since you started,” Anna informed her brightly. “Why don’t you ask him out for a drink one night? You have the keys to the bar. Help yourselves. Just not tonight.”

“Right, because you’re hoping your landlord and his buddy are going to break in.”

“When you say it like that, it does sound on the crazy side.” She puffed out her cheeks and rubbed her hands together, watching the front windows. Harold had texted her a solid twenty minutes ago. Johnny should be walking through those doors any second now. Any second.

“Speak of the devil,” Missy murmured. “I’ll be close if you need me.”

Anna made herself look busy behind the bar when Johnny burst in, bringing with him a freezing gust of cold air and snow flurries. A few of the regulars at the bar shot him dark looks, but he stormed up to the counter and slammed his palms on the surface. Anna gritted her teeth and ignored him.

“What did you do?” he seethed, so angry spit flew out of his mouth across her nice, clean bar top. “Anna, look at me, damn it!”

“Why are you here?” she snapped. “You’re not supposed to be anywhere near me, remember? Get out before I call the cops on you and accuse you of something you didn’t do.”

His eyes narrowed. “The contract. You screwed it up.”

“What are you talking about? I haven’t touched that thing since the day I signed it.”

“You’re so full of shit! Where is it, huh? Where?”

Anna glanced far to the right towards the store room door where the bar safe was kept. Her gaze stayed there for a long few seconds until Johnny’s eyes darted in that same direction. Good, he got the message. “I didn’t do anything to it, so take whatever brand of crazy this is and leave. I have enough to deal with besides you accusing me of something else.”

“You’re not going to win,” he warned her, pointing his finger threateningly in her direction. “You’re going to lose this bar. You’re going to lose everything. I don’t give a fuck who your lawyer is. Everything your daddy worked for is going to be mine.”

Anna didn’t mean to, but her hand was out and she slapped Johnny hard across the face. The bar fell deathly silent and her hand stung, but it was worth the slight pain to see the red mark on his cheek.

“Don’t you dare talk about my dad,” she snarled. “Now, get the hell out of my bar, and if you step foot in here again, you’ll know what it’s really like to take a beating from me and my slugger.”

Johnny lifted his chin high and sniffed loudly. “I’ll remember you said that when I speak with the detective again about my case. Stop whatever game you’re trying to play, Anna, and maybe I’ll reconsider ruining you completely.”

“Out, Johnny.” Aiden and the rest of the regulars at the counter stood to block Anna from Johnny’s view. “Or do we have to get nasty?”

Anna smiled, crossing her arms. Johnny’s face paled and he stepped hastily backwards. Most of the regulars either rode with Winston Crawley or were retired Marines. They would take care of their girl, and Johnny knew it.

“Fine, have it your way. I’ll see you in court,” he yelled and left the bar, slamming the door hard behind him so the walls trembled and a few framed pictures fell to the floor.

Glass cracked and Anna sagged, holding her face in her hands. “Bastard. I should have smacked him harder. Broken his nose.”

“You leave that to us,” Aiden told her as she walked out from behind the bar to pick up the fallen pictures. “What’s he talking about with the contract? The one you and your daddy signed?”

“Don’t worry, Aiden, he’s not going to get his hands on this bar. Not while I’m around.”

Once the glass was picked up and the pictures rehung, a few of her and her dad, she hurried to the back room to the safe and opened it as she called Harold.

“Anna? How’d it go?”

“Well, on the bright side, he believed you,” she said, pulling out the money she had stashed in the safe. They planned on catching Johnny and his friend before they got this far, but she wasn’t going to chance the cash she’d stashed away over the years.

“Is there a downside that you’re not telling me about?”

“I may have smacked him,” she said, cringing.

Harold sighed. “Did he deserve it, at least?”

She set the last stack of cash in the smaller safe she would take to Harold’s house and rolled her eyes. “How is that even a question?”

“Good point.” Papers shuffled on the other end of the line. “Okay, stick to the plan. I’ll swing by and pick you up, and later, we’ll sneak back over there and hopefully catch them in the act.”

“And your detective friend is cool with this?”

“I’m calling him right now. I’ll see you soon, doll face.”

The pet name warmed Anna right to her core. He used to call her that when they were first together, and she hadn’t realized how much she missed hearing it. “Later, killer.”

His warm chuckle was the last sound she heard before he hung up. She tucked her phone in her butt pocket and closed the safe, tapping her fingers on the top. She had most of the day left to kill and decided today was as good as any to take inventory. At least that would keep her mind occupied.

* * *

Harold counted the rings on the other end of the line until a gruff voice finally answered. “Detective Leven, here.”

“Gary, it’s Harold, how are you?”

“If you’re calling me about your girlfriend’s case, I can’t tell you anything new,” he replied.

“Actually, I’m calling because I have a way to solve both our problems,” Harold said. “Do you have a few minutes?”

“And what exactly do you have in mind?”

“I’ve been digging around and I believe Johnny Tory is in fact guilty of setting up Anna Crawley. And I can even prove it,” Harold said firmly.

“You’re a lawyer, not a damn detective,” Gary reminded him.

Harold shifted the papers on his desk as he said, “I’m calling in my favor.”

“Of course you are,” he grunted. “Fine, what do you need from me?”

“All I need is you and a few of your officers to hang out with me and Anna at her bar tonight. That’s it.”

“That’s it? Harold, what exactly did you do?”

“Nothing much. Will you do it or not?”

“If it gets a lawyer off my back, yeah, yeah, I’ll do it. What time?”

Harold told him to meet him and Anna around the rear of the building at closing time and to be sure no one saw them. And not to bring a police cruiser. He didn’t want to risk losing their only chance to catch Johnny and his friend in the act. He hung up with Gary and texted Anna to let her know the plan was a definite go. As long as that bastard showed up, they could put this mess behind them for good. Then he and Anna could spend their time doing what any couple in love should be doing. He grabbed his jacket off the back of his chair and walked out of his office.

“I’m taking a long lunch, Walter,” he told his assistant. “Do you want me to pick you up some food while I’m out?”

“A sandwich from the deli would be a lifesaver,” he confessed. “If you don’t mind.”

“Not at all. See you in a little while.” He waved and hurried out into the cold. The deli was in walking distance, but he had another errand to run that took him to the old jewelry store beside The Crawler. When he was with Anna the first time, she had mentioned that the owner was friends with her dad and always gave him discounts for her mom. Her dad, in turn, gave out drinks and meals on the house. He messed up the first time with Anna. He wouldn’t do it again, and he wasn’t giving her a chance to run away.

“Ah, good afternoon, sir,” the man behind the glass case said as Harold waltzed in after parking his car a block away so Anna wouldn’t see it.

“Thank you. I’m hoping you could help me.”

“Certainly. What are you in the market for today? A ring perhaps?”

Harold smiled and the clerk laughed excitedly, clapping his hands together. “As a matter of fact, I am. It’s been a very long time coming. I need something for a very unique woman.”

“May I ask her name?”

“Anna, Anna Crawley.”

The clerk’s smile fell for just a second before his face brightened. “Hold onto that thought one moment, sir. I’ll be right back.” He bolted into the back room, leaving Harold staring after him, confused. When he returned carrying a tiny velvet black box, his curiosity piqued. “This is something I have held onto for a very, very long time for my dear friend Winston.”

“What is it?”

“His wife and he always wanted Anna to have her grandmother’s ring,” the clerk explained. “I offered to shine it up and keep it safe and sound until the day might come when she found herself a man. I hoped it would be her father who would come to collect it from me, but you will do just fine.” He smiled as he opened the box and turned it around.

Harold admired the subtle beauty of the white gold band and the two small clusters of diamonds surrounding a princess cut stone, but it was not a diamond. “Is that an amethyst?”

“It is. Winston’s mother was a rather unique woman, or so Winston told me.”

“This is perfect. I’ll have to bring it back to have it resized, but this…this is more than I expected to find.”

“I look forward to seeing this ring on her finger.” The clerk closed the box and slid it across the counter. “Good luck, Mr. Jenson.”

“Thank you. Are you sure I don’t owe you anything for holding onto it?”

“No. Winston was a dear friend, and he and his wife were taken far too early from us all. If I can help put a smile on Anna’s face, that will be payment enough. I do, however, look forward to seeing you both back here to pick out a ring for you,” he added, tapping the side of his nose.

“I will be certain to tell her so.” Harold pocketed the ring. He wanted to rush over to the bar and ask her right away, but he wanted the matter with Johnny over with so they could focus only on their future together.

A few more hours from now and hopefully, that would be the case.