Chapter 25 - Zach
My voice catches in my throat as Harper stares at me. It’s her ring. The warning was to stay away from her! There’s a deep uneasiness inside me. I can still see the way Greg looked at me with such hatred before his face went blank at the Christmas party. He looked like a psychopath.
“I got the ring delivered to me in a box with a note.” I uncrumple the note from my hand and hold it out towards her. “What happened, Harper? How do you know Greg?”
“Greg sent this?? How did he get my ring? He must have gone into my office, looked through my stuff…” I can almost feel Harper’s panic rising as the seconds tick by. Maybe I shouldn’t have shown her the note.
“I don’t know who sent it. All I know is it was sent to me yesterday.”
“And he’s disappeared…”. She shakes her head. “No. I’m not going to let fear rule me. I’ve spent too many months looking over the shoulder. It’s in the past now. HR were very clear that they did everything they could, and then I got promoted and I don’t have to see him anymore. They said I had no evidence. And what kind of evidence is this?” She holds up the paper. “It doesn’t have his name on it. It could be from anyone. Anyone could have seen me.”
“Harper, who else would send it?” I ask gently. I put a hand on her leg and she looks at me, her eyes pleading with me.
“What am I supposed to do?”
I nod and lay down beside her, pulling her into my arms. I roll onto my back and stare at the ceiling as she rests her head on my chest.
It was her. He was stalking her. Harper, of all people! MY Harper!! A wave of rage starts building inside me. I can feel the heat of my anger gathering in my stomach, constricting my throat as I think about his weasel face. I didn’t even know he existed until a couple days ago! How can I not know what’s going on in my own company!
“I’m going to get to the bottom of this. That little fucker didn’t even show up to work this week and no one knows where he is. I’m going to find proof and fire him, and then I’m going to the police.”
“Zach, no!” Harper exclaims. Surprised, I turn to face her. Her face is drawn with worry. “If it ever came back on me, if he ever found out that I was the one to lose him his job…” she trails off, staring at me. I can see the fear clouding her green eyes.
She closes her eyes for a second. “I’m scared,” she whispers. “He knows where I live.”
A surge of emotion rushes through me. Harper looks so small, so powerless, so scared. I don’t remember the last time I saw real fear in someone’s eyes, and seeing it in hers makes my stomach curdle. I simultaneously want to jump up and smash a window and wrap my arms around her and never let go.
Harper makes a noise and I look down to see a tear rolling down her cheek. A dagger passes through my chest and then my arms are around her and I’m pulling her into me. I’m cooing and shushing into her ear, saying whatever comes out of my mouth to make her feel safe.
“Don’t worry,” I say. “I’m here, you’re safe. Don’t worry.” I don’t know how this has happened, how it is that I have Harper in my bed, in my arms right now but I don’t want to let her go.
She pulls away slightly. “Promise me you won’t do anything rash. You can look into him, but please don’t fire him. Not right away. Not until I figure out the best move. He’s not stable. If we set him off…” She doesn’t finish her sentence but the words hang between us.
I want to say no. I want to tell her she’s being ridiculous, that if this guy was stalking her to the point that a year later she still feels uncomfortable around her then I CAN and I WILL fire him on the spot and do everything in my power to get him arrested. But she’s looking at me and her eyes are begging me, pleading with me to listen to her.
I nod, and then place a soft kiss on those intoxicating lips of hers. I can’t pretend to understand, but I can tell she’s serious. She’s shaking, and I pull her in closer to me.
This is strange, this feeling. I can feel her fear as if it was my own and all I want to do is make it go away. All I want to do is put a smile on her face and see her eyes light up. Every time a cloud passes over her I feel it in my chest as if it were a red hot blade searing through my flesh. I can’t explain it, I don’t understand it, but somehow I care more about Harper than I’ve cared about any woman before.
Harper leans her head against my shoulder and trails her fingertips ever so gently along my collarbone. I close my eyes and lay into her, wrapping my arms around her a little bit tighter. Right now, I know that I’ll do anything in the world for this woman.
I’ve had plenty of women in this bed, but I’ve never wanted one of them to stay. But here, with Harper, I don’t think I’ve ever been this comfortable. There’s something different about her. She can laugh and banter, and then she can turn into the most sensual, erotic woman I’ve ever encountered.
I’ll get to the bottom of this Greg Chesney thing. I won’t be able to let it go until I know what happened and I know Harper is safe. Before the anger has time to flare up, Harper starts grinding her body ever so gently against mine.
More important than anything else right now though is the beautiful woman in my bed with her arms wrapped around my body. My cock is done thinking about anything except Harper Anderson and the way her naked body feels when it’s pressed against mine.