Chapter 24 - Harper

There’s a thin film of sweat all over Zach’s body, and I can feel my hair matted against my head. I don’t care though, not even a little bit. Zach chuckles and shifts onto his side to face me. His pillows are soft and silky and his bed feels like it’s made of clouds.

“I was dreading spending the holidays at the office, but it’s turned out better than expected,” he says, trailing his fingers up my arm and along my collarbone. I shiver at the sensation, my body still buzzing from the orgasm that just rocked through me and the adrenaline of making him come so hard.

“Between pulling down the tree and then sobbing into your shoulder it’s a wonder you’re interested in me at all,” I laugh.

Zach laughs and I watch as his face brightens. His teeth are perfectly white and straight, and when he laughs his whole face transforms. I still can’t believe I’m in my boss’s bed. I feel a warmth pass through me and I smile with him.

“Is it too soon to laugh yet? God, Harper, you pulling down that tree was one of the funniest things I’ve ever seen.” He’s laughing again and I can’t help but chuckle. I playfully slap his arm.

“Stop,” I say.

“You just had to get the biggest tree, didn’t you? Exponential growth of Christmas cheer with every extra foot of height, if I remember correctly?”

“Well, I wasn’t wrong,” I protest.

“You want to show me that graph again, I think you missed the part about the tree smashing to the ground.”

Before I can say any more his lips are crushed against mine and his fingers are tangling into my hair. He smells like musk and the weight of his body presses me down into the plush bed. I feel like I’m dreaming, or floating, or both.

His body is smooth and hard and I can feel his muscles rippling under his skin. He moves his hand down the side of my body, squeezing my waist and then reaching up to cup my breast. I shiver under his touch.

I don’t know what it is about him but every time he touches me it’s like it sets my body on fire. His hands are strong and warm, and the way he touches me sends sparks flying off my skin. I wrap my arms around him and curl my fingers into his back, feeling the hardness of his muscles under my touch.

Zach shifts his weight and sits up on his elbows, framing my face with his arms. His body feels heavy over mine, but in a comfortable way. He strokes the side of my face with a finger and then grins.

“Just one more question,” he says, his eyes betraying a mischievous gleam. “About the tree. I’ve been wondering this ever since it happened.”

I pretend to roll my eyes and then laugh. “What?”

“What were you doing to it? From where I was it looked like you almost pulled it down on top of you on purpose.” He grins and I feel my cheeks get red as the warmth of my embarrassment spreads all the way down my neck. I’ll never live this down.

“I was just adjusting the decorations,” I explain.

“The decorations were perfect, you know they were.”

I sigh, and then laugh. I close my eyes and take a breath, trying not to let myself relive the event. “Truthfully I’d just been trying to avoid this guy. Rosie and I had gone over to the tree to pretend like we had something to do.” I open my eyes and look at him. “I know, I know it’s silly! But you don’t understand Zach, sometimes it can be almost impossible to get away from him. Desperate times, you know?”

I’m expecting him to laugh or tease me but his face darkens.

“Who were you avoiding?”

My heart starts to beat harder as I see the seriousness of his question. Something in the air has shifted from playfulness to concern. I don’t know how to answer. I don’t want to tell him about my troubles last year, or the amount of fear and paranoia that I was living with.

All I want to do is enjoy this moment, and enjoy our time together. I want to feel this intimacy with him and have a lazy morning tomorrow. I want to have sex again and again and again until I have to go back to my regular job and Zachary Lockwood will go back to being my elusive boss.

“Harper, answer me.” His voice is hard. “Who were you avoiding?”

“Greg Chesney. He… I…” my voice trails off. I don’t know what to tell him. “I had to lodge a complaint against him but HR took over. It’s just awkward now, it’s not a big deal.”

I feel Zach’s body tense on top of me. His eyes are burning brighter than I’ve ever seen them.

“Greg Chesney from accounts?”

I’ve never seen him speak like this. His voice is hard and low, almost a growl.

“Yes,” I reply slowly. “Do you know him?” My heart is still pounding in my chest and I wonder what Zach knows.

“I do now.” He glances at me and I can see something shift in his eyes. There’s an edge to them that I’ve never seen before and it almost scares me. Suddenly he jumps ups and goes to his closet. He’s rummaging around for a few minutes and I prop myself up onto my elbows to watch.

After a few moments he reappears. He’s completely naked, holding something out in front of him. I frown and sit up completely.

“Is that my ring?!” He hands it to me and my heart starts thumping. “How did you get this?!”

Zach says nothing, just sits on the edge of the bed and puts his head in his hands. He sits up and turns to me. I look from him to my ring and back to him again before slipping it onto my finger.

“Zach, answer me,” I say again. “How did you get this?”