Chapter 8

Gina

That twat Davies had given me so much work for tonight, and now I was running late. Apparently, he was pitched by a huge pharmaceutical company and wanted to have everything done before a certain date. I was done being exploited, so I snuck out before he could find me. My day finished at five p.m. and Davies paid me a salary, so no one paid me extra for staying behind a half an hour here or there.
No wonder his wife was cheating on him; the man was constantly working. She probably felt neglected. He didn’t have a life. I wanted to resign, but that wasn’t the right thing to do, and the timing wasn’t right. My savings could last for a few months, but it would be a huge gamble. No one could guarantee that I would find an investor. I needed to last in this job, no matter what.
It was a quarter past eight when I parked outside the house. It took me a moment to realise that Harry Erskine didn’t have my address. He never asked for it and we didn’t even exchange phone numbers. This was a nightmare. My day officially sucked donkey balls.
I sat in the car for a minute wondering what the hell I was supposed to do. There was a nice Mercedes parked outside the house. Maybe my neighbour, Mr. Smith, had finally traded in his old Toyota. The car looked brand new, so he must have spent a fortune on it.
I couldn’t do anything now, so I grabbed my stuff and headed to the house. I guessed that I wasn’t going on a date after all. Harry seemed so confident about it. Our meeting had gone well and to the point.
A moment later, I barged into the house with all my shopping bags, shouting from the trash-hold.
“Someone, please help out here. I’ve just done tonnes of shopping!”
No one bothered to give me a hand. The boys needed a reality check. I couldn’t keep this house on my own. I heard some laughs and voices coming from the living room. I was betting Josh and Patrick were on the PlayStation.
Fuming, I marched to the living room.
“What the hell is wrong—”
I stopped talking when I saw that they had a guest. I thought I was hallucinating. Harry Erskine was sitting on my sofa, drinking a can of lager with my brother Josh. Patrick sat opposite, drinking juice. I swallowed the lump in my throat from the sudden shock, trying not to flip.
“Oh, there is my beautiful date,” Harry said, quickly standing up. “Gina, I have to admit, your brothers are hilarious. I had no idea you liked boxing so much.”
This wasn’t happening for real. What the hell was he doing in my house?
“What is going on in here?” I finally managed to ask, staring at my two brothers.
“Harry knocked on the door asking for you. I let him in ‘cause you weren’t back yet. Patrick and I couldn’t believe he was talking about our sister. Everyone knows you don’t date.” Josh chuckled. He seemed amused with this whole situation.
“Well, I walked into her office and she instantly changed her mind,” Harry said and winked at my brother.
“Gina, do you even know who this is? That’s Mr. H, the boxer we both meant to see the other day,” Josh told me.
“Of course, I know that’s who Harry is. I’m not stupid,” I snapped, wondering why I was getting annoyed with my brother. He only invited my guest in because I raised him well. Either way, I should have been happy he was being respectful.
Then Nina walked into the room. She threw her rucksack into the corner and said,
“Peace, ya’ll—what’s going on?”
I shook my head. She had really changed, and I needed to set her straight. Besides, none of my siblings were supposed to know I was going out on a date. Harry was way out of my league, and my gut feeling told me he wasn’t planning to stick around for long.
“Gina has a date with Mr. H,” Patrick said. It looked like he was much more excited about me dating a sports star than I was. He would have gone to the match, too, but his basketball team had a match at the same time. I shook my head and tried to smile, but I felt a little dizzy. Nina dropped her jaw and placed her hands on her hips.
“A date? Now you have a date, and just yesterday you told me that I can’t have a boyfriend. This is so not fair,” she shouted, looking furious. Heat rose to my cheeks and Harry laughed.
“Nina, go to your room and start your homework. I’ve had enough of this now. You’re sixteen years old. You’re going to listen to me, or you’re going to be grounded forever,” I said, raising my voice. “Harry and I are going out. Josh, take care of dinner.”
For a split second everyone in the room just stared at me. Josh scratched his head and Patrick looked down at his hands. I looked at Harry and plastered a smile on my face.
“Are you ready to go?” I asked him, knowing I probably looked terrible, wearing black trousers and a cream blouse that had a coffee stain dribbled on the front. I didn’t want to stay in the house any longer. Today was laundry day, so I had nothing to wear anyway. I had an early training session with the girls tomorrow morning, so Harry needed to drop me back at a reasonable time.
“Of course, Miss Martinez,” he stated, mocking me in front of my siblings.
“See you later, Josh, and keep an eye on your sister,” I said, and then I walked in to the hall to put my shoes on.
Outside, I had to take a couple of deep breaths to calm myself down. Nina had crossed the line. She lived under my roof, so she had to follow my rules. That was it; the girl was still a child to me.
“That was impressive, Miss Martinez, I wa—”
“How the hell did you know where I lived?” I questioned him, turning to look directly into his eyes. This was not on; he was hot, rich, and confident, but I wasn’t going to be stalked by anyone. Even though deep down, I wished he would ravage me like he did Crystal.
“Sasha gave me your address,” he responded, giving me, yet again, that intense look like he was seeing through everything I had been through. I hadn’t been in touch with that girl for years. After she married Dexter Tyndall, she stopped going to pole dancing lessons. I mean, I didn’t blame her, she had a new job, too, but life carried on.
“Right, how is she anyway? I haven’t seen her for ages,” I said, not angry anymore, but more worried that I was making a mistake. My siblings weren’t supposed to know about Harry at all. It was supposed to be a one-time deal, and five minutes ago, I found him in my house with a beer in his hand.
We were walking toward Harry’s car. The Mercedes, of course it was his, not Mr. Smith’s from number fourteen.
“Dexter and Sasha are great; their daughter Josie is four years old now. They have a huge modern house in Islington, just outside Edinburgh,” he explained and opened the door to his car. It was a nice, old-fashioned gesture. All right, I had to admit, Harry was a gentleman and he had class. We were a total mismatch, because normally my men were rugged and didn’t even bother to iron their shirts. It was funny how my perspective changed over the years.
Once he was sitting behind the wheel and the silence fell upon us, my old insecurities flared up. Sometimes I thought that I wasn’t good enough. These voices were real, and it was time to shut them up. The man had chosen me, and he wanted me. There was no point overthinking this; besides, the boys were thrilled that I was going out on a date.
I had to get this over with, and sex tonight was in the cards. It was just one night. After that, things would get back to normal. At least I hoped that was the case.

Harry

I was ready to pull over somewhere in the dark, strip her from the waist down, and give her the orgasm of her life. This was crazy. Her brothers mentioned that she had never brought any men home. Gina had surprised me yet again. The truth was, I had no idea what I was expecting when I walked into that house. She obviously had a lot of baggage, and I admired her. She was strong and didn’t wait for anyone to hand things to her on a silver platter.
She impressed me but scared me at the same time. She had a lot of responsibilities and a full schedule. I was a decent human being, and most women simply agreed with my terms. Maybe it was unfair to ask Gina to sleep with me. I felt like I had to offer her more than I could give her.
We were going to have dinner tonight, and then possibly an exquisite night in my apartment.
Most of the time sex worked as a drug. I’d been using it as one for years now. Once I slept with a few women, I didn’t have to worry about the anxiety, the darkness that kept shadowing me. I needed to grow up and face my fears. There wasn’t two ways about it.
“I hope you won’t be calling me Mr. Erskine from now on,” I said, trying to relax. She glanced at me and wet her lips. I automatically tightened the grip on the steering wheel.
“Why not, you’re still my client?” she said, fiddling with her fingers. She was nervous, which meant she found me intimidating outside the office. Maybe if she hadn’t dated, then she wasn’t very experienced in the bedroom. I didn’t care that much, but I was willing to teach her. The woman was talented; she was unbelievable on the pole. That was enough to keep me entertained.
“I’m not your client right now, Gina, so please call me Harry,” I pressed, slightly annoyed.
“Fine, Harry,” she said. “I’m sorry that I was late, but my ars—I mean, Mr. Davies kept me in the office longer than I thought.”
Andrew was a workaholic and he obviously expected the same from his staff.
“And how are you managing it all? With your siblings and pole dancing lessons?
“That’s why I don’t date, I never have time. When my parents died, I asked for custody of my siblings. There was no way I was going to let them get separated. The state wanted them in different foster families,” she explained, looking out the window.
“How old were you when they died?”
“I was eighteen and had to give up on University. Later on, I started taking some night classes. Managed to get my degree, although it took longer than expected. I worked during the day to pay the bills,” she explained. “Lately I have been trying to kick-start my pole dancing business, but it hasn’t been easy.”
Okay, it was official: that woman was a superhero. She nearly gave up her life to take care of her siblings. She must have gone through a lot of hardship. I religiously stuck to my rules, but maybe it was time to change that. I felt like it was almost impossible to keep away from her.
“Impressive, so what are you planning to do with the business?” I asked, turning toward the city centre. I was a regular at Valentinos, the restaurant I had chosen for tonight. All the waitresses knew me by name.
“I need to find someone who would be willing to invest in my business plan. A lot of my girls are ready to take part in competitions, but that costs money. And it’s really difficult for me to find the time to network.”
For a split second I wanted to suggest to her that this was possible, because I was surrounded by people who could help her, steer her in the right direction. But it was all too soon. We had only just met, and I had made that kind of mistake in the past with Louisa.
I started losing track of time with my ex-lover Louisa and, before I knew it, she was spending nights at my place. We were going out for dinners every other night, and then we started bumping into her friends on the streets. It all became too much. Weeks and weeks went by, and I didn’t even realise when she started developing feelings for me, calling me her boyfriend. She was driving away my darkness, breaking me slowly, so I became addicted to being with her.
Then I hurt her. That was never supposed to happen, but at the time, I wasn't ready.
I was cold when she told me that she loved me. Numb and harsh. She saw the real me. I remembered it like it was yesterday.
“Presumably you have a plan?” I asked.
“I was hoping to talk to someone during the boxing match, but sadly that didn’t happen.”
The boxing match. Yes, Crystal had cornered me in the changing room when I was pumped with adrenaline.
A moment later I pulled into the car park and killed the engine. The atmosphere changed, and the tension was palpable between us. My dick started throbbing in my pants and I tried to ignore it. I wasn’t a teenager for Christ sakes, but my body was attracted to her. Gina glanced at me, and my gaze firmed up with heated lust. She looked incredibly beautiful in the dim light shading her from the nearest streetlamp.
Right then I had no idea what happened, but my impulse took over and I leaned over, tucking her crazy hair behind her ear. She shuddered under the contact. Once her perfume reached me, I lost control and then kissed her, pulling her hard against my body.
She stopped breathing when I gently started caressing her lips with mine, certain that she wouldn’t respond. But she did, slipping her fingers into my hair and pressing her lips harder in a much more desperate kiss. I slipped my tongue into her mouth and slid my left hand down between her legs. She wiggled her hips, letting go of a gasp.
Her sex was warm and moist. I was ready to rip off her clothes right in that damn car. I was so unbelievably hard. It was either then or never, so I chose then.