Harlow

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“It looks like it’s healing nicely.” Miles trails his finger along the border of my tattoo, careful to avoid touching it directly. “Does it itch much?”

“Not really.” I smile up at him from my place on the tattoo chair.

He just finished up with a client, and I came in to see him, using the excuse I wanted him to check on my ink and make sure it was healing okay. In reality, I just wanted a few minutes alone with him.

“That’s good.” He pushes up, his hands pressing into the chair on either side of my hips as he leans into me. “I can’t stop thinking about last night.” He kisses me gently. “Or this morning.” He trails his tongue along my bottom lip, and my hands instantly go into his hair.

“Me too.” I practically moan at the thought, melting into him when he deepens the kiss, his tongue sliding expertly against mine.

I swear I don’t know how it happened. How we went from barely tolerating each other to not being able to keep our hands off each other. It seems surreal.

“Maybe I should fuck you right here,” he whispers against my lips, his hand sliding up my bare leg before dipping between my thighs.

I wish I could say I picked this skirt because it’s cute and not because I was hoping it would drive Miles crazy, but that simply wouldn’t be true. Lucky for me it seems to be working so I can’t be too mad at myself for it.

The moment his fingers brush against my panties my whole body tenses, instantly craving the feeling of him inside of me.

This feeling is foreign to me. I’ve never been an overly sexual person. I honestly never understood what the big deal was. It was something I always did with Alan out of obligation, never because I really wanted it. But last night Miles opened my eyes to an entirely different world. He showed me so much pleasure and took my body places even I didn’t know it could go.

I wanted to taste him, touch him, and feel him everywhere. And it’s safe to say those feelings have only intensified over the last eighteen hours.

“Well, what are you waiting for then?” I finally respond, having been rendered speechless for a long moment as his thick fingers slid inside me.

“You’re so greedy,” he grinds against me as I move my hips in time with his fingers, causing waves of pleasure to course through my body.

“Fuck me, Miles,” I practically beg, already feeling an orgasm coming on even though he’s been touching me for less than two minutes.

“Shhh,” he whispers against my lips before kissing me good and hard.

“Miles,” I whimper, feeling the deep build start to work its way up.

“Come for me, baby.” His lips are against my mouth, swallowing up my cries of pleasure when I explode around his fingers seconds later. “Good girl,” he rasps, slowly pulling his hand away after the last waves of my orgasm have passed.

I reach for the buckle of his pants, nowhere near finished, when a hard knock sounds on the door.

“Miles, your seven o’clock is here,” Chuck calls from the hallway.

“I’ll be right there,” Miles calls back, his eyes locked on mine.

As if suddenly remembering where I am and what the hell I’m doing, I quickly jump down from the chair and head for the door, feeling embarrassed by my actions.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Miles cuts me off, spinning me around seconds before pressing my back to the door.

“I don’t know what I was thinking.” I shake my head, looking anywhere but at his face. “We’re at work,” I whisper yell.

“Harlow, look at me.” He forces my gaze to him before continuing, “This is my business, and as long as I own it, I will touch you and fuck you anywhere and anytime I want. Are we clear?”

“Yes,” I pant, his assertiveness super sexy.

“Good.” He kisses the tip of my nose in an unexpectedly sweet gesture. “Now get your ass back to work. We’ll finish this later,” he tells me, promise in his eyes.

“Okay.” I don’t try to hide my smile as I snake my hand around his neck and pull his mouth down to mine.

——

“I was beginning to think you forgot where you lived,” Winston says seconds after I step inside his apartment.

“Sorry. I had a few drinks last night. Crashed at Delia’s,” I lie, instantly feeling guilty for doing so.

The sad thing is, Winston would probably love  Miles and me together. He loves Miles like family. But I’m not ready to share with him that I’m falling hard and fast for his best friend. Mainly because beyond the incredible sex, I don’t know what, if anything, Miles wants out of this. Better to keep it between us for now.

“And you couldn’t have called?” he questions, flipping off the television before giving me his full attention.

“It was late. I figured you were asleep. Besides, since when are you, my father?” I quickly add.

“I’m your brother. That’s the next in line.” He smirks, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he lounges on the couch.

“Uh huh.” I shake my head at him before taking off toward my bedroom.

“Hey, you want to do Chinese food and a movie tonight? That new movie about the creepy porcelain doll just came out,” he calls after me.

“Um, I’ll pass.” I stop at the base of the hallway and turn back toward him. “You know I hate movies like that. Besides, it’s getting late, and I’m exhausted.”

“Pussy.”

“Really?” I cock my head. “Says the guy who slept on my floor for two days after watching IT for the first time.”

“I was like twelve at the time.” He throws his hands up in the air.

“Yeah, a twelve-year-old sleeping on his seven- year-old sister’s floor.” I laugh.

“You’re never going to let me live that down, are you?”

“Never.” My smile widens as I spin and disappear inside my room, closing the door behind me.

I collapse on my bed the instant I reach it, feeling both mentally and physically exhausted. Miles had asked me to come back to his apartment with him again tonight. While I really wanted to, after last night and then what transpired today at work, I felt like I needed some time to let my brain catch up with everything that’s happened over the last couple of days.

I know it’s silly, but I feel a little guilty about sleeping with Miles. Alan and I are divorced in every way that really matters, but the fact that it’s not final on paper yet bothers me probably more than it should.

It’s not about Alan. He slept with plenty of women during the span of our marriage. No, this is more about me and the person I thought I was. For years I had perfection drilled into my head. I felt like I had to be on point twenty-four hours a day and do everything a certain way. I guess it’s hard for me to shut that part of myself off and realize that I don’t have to be perfect because life isn’t perfect.

Being with Miles isn’t cheating on Alan. Being with Miles has nothing to do with Alan.

I let out a loud sigh, wishing I could purge my mind of Alan Nagel and never think of him again. Unfortunately, you don’t spend nearly ten years with someone, six of those years married, and then walk away thinking you can erase them from your life.

I still hear him in the back of my head. The doubts he used to plant inside me boil to the surface. It’s been months since I left and I still can’t escape it. Except last night I did. Last night I didn’t hear his voice. I didn’t think or fear or question. I acted on feeling alone, and to be honest, it was probably the first time in my life I’ve honestly  felt free.

Miles Hollins has been a surprise and one I certainly never saw coming, but something deep down I know I’ve needed for a very long time.

It’s hard not to overthink it – not to get inside my head and run through all the doubts and questions still swirling there. I’ve always been an all or nothing kind of person. I don’t do well in limbo which is why I ended up with Alan. I rushed into the first thing that came my way because I was desperate for the security that relationships offer.

I won’t do that with Miles. I won’t make demands, and I won’t push for more than he’s ready to give. Hell, I’m still technically married, still fresh out of that relationship. I don’t need to hop out of a ten-year relationship and into another one within a couple of months’ time. I promised myself last night that I would let this unfold naturally, even if it goes against every fiber of my being.

I have to stamp down my urge to put an instant label on us and accept that things will work out the way they’re meant to. Maybe it will just be sex for a while. Maybe it will blossom into something more. Maybe it will end in a fiery crash, and we’ll both go up in flames. I guess at the end of the day only time will tell.

My cell phone chimes in my purse and without sitting up, I reach for where I dropped it behind me. Finally snagging the strap, I pull the small bag toward me and dig out my cell phone.

My heart instantly picks up speed when I see Miles’ name dancing across the screen. I debate whether or not I should answer it for less than half a second before I’ve got the device pressed to my ear.

“Hello.”

“What are you doing this weekend?” he says without as much as a greeting.

“I was planning on looking at a few apartments on Saturday, but other than that I don’t have anything planned. Why?”

“Apartments can wait. I’ve arranged for Delia to take my two clients on Saturday so I’m free for an entire weekend for the first time in maybe ever.”

“I wish I could, but I really have to start trying to find a place,” I object. I’d much rather spend the time with Miles, but I really need to get this ball rolling. The sooner I’m out of my brother’s apartment, the better.

“Too bad. You’re mine Friday night through Sunday.”

“Have I told you lately how bossy you are?” I smile into the phone, butterflies flapping around wildly in my stomach.

“Only like every five minutes.” He chuckles. “I’ll give you a couple of days off next week for apartment hunting. This weekend it’s just you and me. I’m going to lock you in this apartment and not let you out for two days straight.”

“Is that so?”

“Do you have a problem with that?” he questions, his tone giving away that he already knows I don’t.

“I suppose I could make that work.” I sigh playfully.

“Wear a skirt to work again tomorrow. I like the easy access.” I can hear the smile in his voice seconds before the line goes dead.

I pull the phone away from my ear and stare at it for a long moment.

How the hell did we go from barely friends two weeks ago to ripping each other’s clothes off in a  matter of days? It’s like we were two people yesterday and today we are two completely different people.

I drop my phone on the bed next to me and stare up at my ceiling, fighting the sudden urge I have to scream and dance around my room like a teenage girl.