Navie took a deep breath in through her nose and let it back out. “I can’t say I blame you. I’m sad for you, but I don’t blame you.”
“Well,” I spoke, a salacious grin spreading across my lips. “We could go back to bed and you could try really hard to make me feel better.”
I moved in for another kiss but her hands on my chest pressed harder, stopping me from my ultimate goal. “Hold on there, playboy. I didn’t agree to that.”
My smile fell. “Yes, you did,” I argued, suddenly feeling rather grumpy. “You said yes. You said we could take it one day at a time. You aren’t switching off on me again, Navie. So help me—”
She giggled that adorable giggle of hers that would have set me on fire if I wasn’t getting mad. “Calm down. I’m not switching off,” she mocked, voice full of humor. “I just think we need a few ground rules.”
I so did not like the sound of that. “You’re joking, right?” I asked indignantly.
Her expression grew firm as she stepped back and popped her hands on her hips in the typical don’t fuck with me female pose. “No, I’m not joking. The fact of the matter is I still work for you. If we’re going to do this—”
I interrupted with a growl. “Oh, we’re so gonna do this.”
“Then we need to establish some boundaries to keep it from getting…” she waved one tiny hand in a circle while trying to come up with the right word, “…messy. Because this can get very messy, Rowan. You’re aware of that, right? Employee/boss relationships never end well.”
“That’s not true,” I objected, wanting to prove her wrong for the simple fact that I didn’t want her to have any valid reasons to put a stop to whatever it was we were starting.
One of her eyebrows quirked up. “Really? Name one person you know who it’s worked out for.”
I thought… and came up with nothing. “Damn it!”
“See?” she crowed, looking a little too victorious for my liking. “We need ground rules.”
“Fine,” I relented on a huff. “What are these ground rules?”
“No hanky-panky while I’m on the clock.”
“Oh, hell no! Fuck that. I’m not agreeing to that rule!”
“You have to!”
“Like hell I do. Nope, no way.” I crossed my arms over my chest in finality.
The little devil did the same. “Then this isn’t happening.”
I felt pretty certain at that point that my head was about to explode. I looked up at the ceiling on a long groan before finally caving to her demands. “Fine. What else?”
“No other women,” she replied without hesitation.
“Then no other men,” I added with a cocked brow.
“Deal.”
A corner of my mouth tipped up in a grin. “Anything else?”
She looked thoughtful for a second, her lips scrunched to the side, forehead wrinkled. “That’s all I got for now. But I’m sure I’ll think of something later.”
“Great!” I said a little too enthusiastically as I reached for her. “We can start now. It’s a Sunday. You’re off the clock.”
She sidestepped my hold. “Sorry, big boy, got stuff to do today. I need to head home.”
“You know you’re killing me, right?” I pouted dramatically as I dropped my head to the kitchen counter. All I heard as she left the kitchen was that sweet giggle trailing down the hallway.
I was such a sucker.
I lied.
I didn’t have anything to do; I just needed some space from Rowan. It felt like things were moving at warp speed, and I needed a chance to process everything without the risk of him twisting me into knots.
I’d put up a valiant effort to convince him I could take a cab home. It was New York, for Christ’s sake; people cabbed it everywhere. But he wouldn’t hear of it. When we pulled up in front of my building, he planted a bone-melting kiss on my lips before I even had the car door open. I was so hot and bothered by the time I finished the climb up the stairs to my apartment, it was a miracle I hadn’t spontaneously combusted.
High-heeled sandals hanging from my fingers, I unlocked the front door of my apartment and crept in, trying my best not to wake Harlow. No such luck.
“And where have you been, missy?”
“Ah! Shit!” I yelled as I spun around, hand to my thundering heart. Harlow stood in the space between the entryway and living room, arms crossed over her chest, one hip popped out, a stern-mother expression on her face. “Crap on a freaking cracker, Har. You just scared a few years off my life! I thought you’d be asleep.”
“Thought or hoped? Seeing as you never came home and are sneaking in wearing your gown from last night.”
“Uh… hoped?”
A wicked smile spread across her lips as she rushed me and pulled me into a hug. “You dirty little ho! You’re totally doing the walk of shame, aren’t you? Eeeeeeeeeep! I’m so happy for you! Tell me all about it. Who was the guy? How was he? Are you seeing him again? You totally have hump hair right now.” She leaned in and sniffed. “And you still kinda smell like sex.”
“Ewww, gross!” I shouted, swatting at her. “Get away from me, weirdo. I haven’t had a chance to shower yet.”
As I made my way to my room to change out of my dress and take that aforementioned shower, she followed behind, yapping like a month-old puppy with ADHD the entire time. “Sooooo? Are you gonna spill the beans on who you banged?”
I turned to look at her over my shoulder. She was propped against my door, obviously not planning on moving any time soon. “Don’t say ‘banged’,” I told her as I dropped the gown to the floor and reached for the plush, terrycloth robe I kept draped over my desk chair. I’d changed in front of Harlow so many times, it was nothing.
I received an exaggerated eye-roll. “Fine. Who’d you play hide the salami with? Stuff the chicken? Plow the field? Slob the sausage?
I felt my cheeks heating as I slapped my hands over my face. “Oh, God! If I tell you, will you stop?”
“Yep.”
“Fine. Please, just… Stop. Talking.” She mimicked locking her lips together and throwing away the key. Taking a big breath, I spit my words out quickly. “It was Rowan.”
The atmosphere in the room shifted and when I uncovered my eyes, Harlow’s face was flooded with concern. “Oh, babe.” She sighed. “Are you sure this is a good idea?”
My body went stiff just as I finished tying the belt on my robe. “What do you mean? I thought you were all for this?”
“I was. I am. I’m just… worried. I know something has been going on between you two and I know I’ve been teasing you, I just didn’t think you’d give in.”
I tried not to be insulted, I really did, but I couldn’t help it. “So, you think I’m being stupid?” I asked, offended.
“No! No, I don’t think you’re being stupid. It’s just… you lead with your heart. I want to make sure you’ve thought about this. That you can handle whatever happens between you two. I don’t want you to get hurt.” The frown that marred her beautiful face melted some of the ice that had formed in my bones. But what she said next thawed it completely. “You’re important to me. You hurt, I hurt. I just want you safe.”
I wrapped Harlow in a tight hug, squeezing with all my strength. “I know, babe. And you’re just as important to me, too. But I walked into this thing with Rowan with my eyes wide open, I swear. I know his reputation, but I also know him. This may work out, it may not, but I’m prepared for whatever the outcome may be.”
I was proud of how confident I sounded, because the truth was, I had no idea what I was doing. And that scared me. But I didn’t want Harlow to know that. She’d known me when I was the shy introvert who hid away from everything in order to guard myself from more pain. I could see it in her eyes; she feared I’d revert back to that. I did, too, but I couldn’t let myself think that far ahead.