THE EARLY EVENING SKY was a glowing mixture of gold and pink. The warm breeze whipped over my skin as Grady wrapped his arm around my waist pulling me closer. Heat spread everywhere, sliding through my veins igniting my deep need for him. He looked incredibly sexy wearing a black tuxedo with a white bowtie.
We smiled for the cameras, and the two of us waved to the crowd as we posed for photos on the red carpet before the charity dinner. We talked and laughed all the way down the press line. Nothing about this felt staged, forced, or the slightest bit awkward. Nervous, sure.
“Harlow, who are you wearing?”
I smiled at the reporter. “This is a custom Charlotte Ricchetti design and the strappy heels are Sergio Rossi. The jewels are my own.”
She gazed at my diamond earrings. “A gift from your date?”
I laughed. “Nope, these belonged to my mother.”
“Have I told you how beautiful you look this evening?” Grady whispered into my hair, sweeping me down the line. “This sheer gown is inspiring illicit thoughts.”
Keeping my eyes forward, I answered, “A few times, but you can tell me again.”
“Grady, are you and Harlow dating?” someone from the crowd shouted.
“Yes, do you want to confirm the rumors that Harlow is the mystery woman?” another voice called out.
Grady chuckled. “You mean the rumors that you guys started?”
That earned him a generous laugh from the crowd. When Grady looked at me, I couldn’t contain my smile. He owned the red carpet, and commanded the attention of every single woman here.
“That’s a perfect answer,” he said. “We don’t need to say anything, yet.”
I nodded in agreement, as we walked into the ballroom. Large wooden poles adorned with a flowing assortment of greenery and white flowers were anchored all around the room. White candles in tiny vases hung off the branches. It reminded me of an outdoor restaurant in the French Riviera.
My gaze stopped on a woman in a silver gown, she looked exactly like the woman I’d seen on my father’s arm at the polo match. As I scanned the crowd, dread wound its way through me at the thought of my father being here in the same room as Grady and me.
A tall man with jet black hair and green eyes approached us with a curvaceous blonde in a single-shoulder red gown on his arm. “What are you doing all the way over here, James?” he asked, jutting his broad chin. “The roulette tables are way over there.”
“No worries, I plan to drop a sizeable donation later,” Grady assured as he slapped the man’s shoulder.
“Are we going to raise a ton of money tonight or what?”
“I have a good feeling that we will exceed last year’s total.” Grady grasped my hand. “Ridge, you remember Harlow.
We exchanged hellos, and then Ridge smiled gesturing towards the blonde sipping champagne. “This is Marcy.”
She rolled her eyes. “It’s actually Marni,” she corrected. “Ridge and I met the other evening. It’s a pleasure to meet you both.”
Ridge whispered something into her ear and a slow smiled appeared on her glossy pink lips. “Catch you later, James, the roulette table awaits.”
As we walked through the enormous space, Grady’s arm left my waist for a moment to shake someone’s hand then returned. He leaned in kissing me on the lips. Cheers erupted from the black jack table, effectively breaking our moment.
He smiled at me in the dim light. “Walk with me.”
Grady led me through a darkened hallway and up a grand staircase. When my foot hit the last step, he pushed my back up against a wall. It was much darker up here, only tea lights atop a few cocktail tables lit up the space. Slipping his hand underneath the slit at the side of my gown, his fingers drew circles on my thighs. “I want to fuck you here.” His fingers dipped lower, pushing my thong aside, and finding me completely wet.
“But, what about dinner?”
“Personally, I don’t give a fuck about food.” He glanced at his watch. “However, we have twenty-three minutes.”
“You can fuck me in twenty-three minutes?”
He cocked a brow. “That’s plenty of time to give you a mind-blowing orgasm, cleanup, and then grab a drink.”
His finger eased into my pussy, teasing me with a tantalizing rhythm. “Show me what you got Mr. James.”
“Your pussy is so wet. Is this all for me?”
I heard myself moan, a little too loudly, but with the way he was stroking me I could care less. It was too good. “Yes, all for you, Grady.”
“Good answer. Fuck me, sweetheart. I want you to come all over my cock again,” he rasped, fisting his hand into my hair.
“Take my cock out, now, Harlow. I need to fuck you. Condom is in the left pocket inside my jacket.”
I reached inside his jacket and took out the condom. Lost in a haze of lust, my hands fumbled with his zipper. His hands cupped my face, as I ripped open the foil packet with my teeth.
“Now, Harlow, put me inside you.”
This display confirmed that the rumors about Grady loving public sex were in fact true. His hands palmed my ass, as he kissed his way up my neck. I pushed to my tiptoes, positioning him at my center. He was thick, and hard—perfect. I nearly lost my mind when my thumb brushed against my clit as I sank onto his cock.
“You feel incredible,” he said, his words were deep and seductive. “Do you feel that?”
As he fucked me slowly, lighting up every cell in my body, I kissed him deeply, our tongues finding one another over and over. My hands gripped his shoulders when he picked up the pace, our movements hurried and unapologetic.
“Oh yes, fuck me.”
Grady had awakened my senses and stirred my soul. It was crazy how much I enjoyed that. My hips jerked, seeking more contact. More. Deeper. Harder.
“Please, I need . . . need . . .”
“I know exactly what you need,” he said, picking up the pace.
Everything tightened and coiled and I knew that I was close. It didn’t take much because his fingers were right there sending me soaring off into oblivion. I wanted to scream, but all could do was moan into his shoulder, muffling the sounds of my orgasm as Grady pounded into me unleashing his own orgasm.
“Did you enjoy that, Harlow?” His lips found mine once more kissing me, his fingertips whispered up and down my back. “I know you loved that, and I want to hear that dirty little mouth admit it.”
“Yes,” I murmured against his lips.
“And you wanted me to fuck you here like this, didn’t you?” he asked, his teeth scraped across my neck sending hot trails of fire pricking over my skin.
“Yes,” I hissed. “I wanted you to fuck me.”
“Good.”
The evening faded and the room had thinned from triple digits to doubles. Dinner was full of conversations about tonight’s cause and the dozens more that filled the calendars of our philanthropic table companions.
I’d talked to a few women about my website and they all seemed pretty excited to check it out. There were one or two eye rolls at the mention of my career as a Lifestyle Blogger. One woman even offered to write a few guest posts if I ever needed content.
“What’s on your mind, sweetheart?” he asked, his voice thick and quiet. Our feet moved in a small circle, our bodies swaying in time with the beat of the country song playing. The words, “hit me like a hurricane” piped through the sound system and I couldn’t help but think how true those words reflected our situation.
“Just wondering what will happen when our photos are splashed online later.”
Pulling back, his blue eyes searched my face. “Are you having second thoughts? If you are, that’s okay.”
“No, not at all. Call it a general wondering.”
He smiled. “What else do you wonder about?”
“Do you have a sex tape?”
“Not to my knowledge.” He shook his head. “Why do you ask?”
My hands smoothed down the front of his jacket over his muscular chest. “Just wanted to know if there was any downside to being your fake girlfriend. Assessing any potential scandals.”
“That’s fair. So, what dark secrets are you keeping, Harlow?” His thumbs stroked lazy circles against my back. “Do you have a sex tape?”
“No, the thought of someone hacking into my phone creeps me out, not that it matters anyway the whole world has seen most of my body.”
“I get it. It’s one thing when you’re on the runway or at an editorial shoot. You’ve consented to the job. It’s another thing altogether when someone invades your privacy.”
“Speaking of privacy, I should tell you that I have an IUD and I’m clean.”
“I’m clean too,” he whispered in my ear.
“We really know how to kill a mood, don’t we?”
“My mood is perfectly pleasant,” he said, shaking his head. “We’re working out the logistics. It’s good to know that if I wanted to fuck you bare, I could.”
Wetness pooled between my thighs, at the thought of having him inside me with nothing between us. Apparently, the mood was not dead. Not at all. My hands drifted up Grady’s arms, bringing them to the back of his neck.
“I think we should kiss a little more and think a lot less,” he murmured, before pressing his lips below my earlobe.
“Is that so?”
He stared at me for a moment and then leaned in brushing his lips to mine. Our kiss deepened, his tongued licked mine, teasing me until my body was drowning in need. A thousand emotions flickered through me when his hands came up to frame the sides of my face. Everything about tonight had been perfect. I was almost sad we were leaving to go back to The Harbour tomorrow morning. This wasn’t an ending, it was a beginning.