Chapter 10

Harry


I left her on the sofa and then went to the kitchen, trying to cool down. I kept breathing continuously for several seconds, pressing my hands on the counter. Gina was slowly driving me nuts. The heat of anger was blazing through me; my skin itched to have her in my bed tonight. I took a cold bottle of water from the fridge and was ready to spill it all over myself. Women came and went, but no one had ever frustrated me like this before.
Our date only proved to me that she was funny and intelligent. Deep down I kept telling myself that she was the woman I had been looking for as long as I could remember. We got on really well, so I couldn’t fault anything I’d done.
“Harry, I need you here. Don’t hide in the kitchen,” she called out from the sofa. I had never seen anyone act like that after drinking wine. Antonio must have given her some shots when she went to the loo.
“I’ll be right there,” I said, and drank some water, then counted to ten, closing my eyes.
“Hey, handsome, I thought I would surprise you,” she whispered, suddenly standing behind me. Her small hands started moving through my hair, sending a thrill of excitement through my body.
I took a deep breath, turning around abruptly. She bit her bottom lip and I placed my hands on her shoulders. Her eyes had a fire in them, but she was struggling to keep her balance. She must have gotten rid of her blouse just a moment ago, because now she only had a tank top on that exposed her magnificent breasts amazingly well. I wanted to stick my face in her cleavage.
“You’re drunk, and personally I have no idea how anyone can get drunk on a few glasses of wine, but now I have no choice but to deal with it,” I said, and she had yet another fit of giggles.
“I want you to fuck me on that sofa, Harry Erskine,” she demanded suddenly, sounding completely sober. Who knew, maybe she was playing with my good nature?
I shook my head.
“That is not happening, darling. You’re going to sleep this off. I would much prefer if you were fully alert during sex,” I said, and then before she came back with some drunken response, I picked her up caveman style.
“No, stop. I’m not drunk and I’m here because I need to get laid.” She was shouting, punching her fists into my back, and then she started laughing again. This woman was very infuriating when drunk.
Tomorrow morning, she wasn’t going to remember a thing. I had to assume that she wasn’t a very big drinker.
I carried her to the spare bedroom and gently placed her on the bed. Seconds later she was out again. I stood watching her in silence, wondering what the best approach would be. Surely, she couldn’t sleep with her clothes on, but I was reluctant to undress her in these circumstances.
She must have been exhausted; otherwise the alcohol wouldn’t have affected her so much.
Gina had done a lot for her siblings. She gave up University so they could all stay together, and I found this really impressive. That alone indicated she was a great human being, and her heart was in the right place.
Maybe it was time to cut the crap. Maybe this could be more than a one-night stand. I somehow believed Gina could change me, finally steer me in the right direction in life. We had a connection, and we were both attracted to each other. There was nothing stopping me from telling her that I had been craving a real relationship for years, but I had been too afraid to commit. My uncle kept telling me that it was always better to share my life with someone than being alone. He told me not to make the same mistake.
I pulled my jumper over my head, tossed it into the corner, and started taking her clothes off. Once her trousers came off, I struggled not to touch her. She had an amazing body. And those legs. Fuck, how had I not seen those legs before?
I was already picturing them wrapped around my body. I would fuck her in every square inch of my apartment. On that sofa in the living room, the floor and…
I ran my fingers down her thigh, getting hard. She felt even better than I imagined, but this felt wrong. I had never taken advantage of a woman before. They were always willing to have no-strings-attached sex with me. I quickly covered her and left the room, reminding myself I was too old for that shit.
There was a bottle of Jack Daniel’s on the kitchen counter. One of my clients had given it to me as a gift. Gina was fast asleep, and nothing was going to happen tonight. She was probably going to hate herself in the morning, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t have a drink.
I was never a heavy drinker, but I needed to relax. My mind was working overtime, so I sat on the sofa and opened the bottle. There were other women out there, most likely still available, but I couldn’t do that to Gina. That used to be Dexter’s style, not mine.
I started pouring the amber liquid down my throat, numbing the mounting memories from the past. Alcohol didn’t really help me with anything, but I was bored as hell, and on top of that, frustrated.
Some time around midnight, I fell asleep with the empty bottle by my side, dreaming about that body that was supposed to make me happy.

Gina

I stretched my arms overhead, telling myself that I needed another five minutes in bed. My head felt like it was split in two. I didn’t remember the last time I changed my bedding. These sheets smelled fresher and felt incredibly soft.
I opened my eyes realising that this was definitely not my bedroom. The space around me was tasteful and elegant, the furniture kept to a minimum. There was a throbbing in my head that was becoming unbearable, and I felt a little dizzy when I got up. I couldn’t remember ever being so hungover.
When I walked up to the window, I gasped, mesmerised by the spectacular view in front of me. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, and the sun was fully out. The sea stretched right in front of me, and that view sent shivers down my spine.
Everything was slowly coming back to me. Me and Harry, then the dinner in that cute Italian restaurant. I remembered drinking a lot of wine, relaxing, and imagining him banging me from behind. A jolt of heat rushed through me and the guy wasn’t even in the room. I really needed to get myself checked over.
My mouth was dry, and I was so grateful for the bottle of water on the nightstand. There was also an aspirin. Harry must have left this for me, knowing that I was going to suffer this morning. The warmth in the pit of my stomach started spreading down to my belly.
That kiss—I bloody remembered everything, but I also remembered making an absolute fool of myself.
I swallowed the pills and drank some water. Then I opened the sliding door and entered the spacious terrace. It was bloody freezing outside, and I was only in my underwear, but with this kind of view, I quickly forgot about the cold. Harry must have earned a fortune to be able to afford this kind of property with uninterrupted sea views. I was looking forward to seeing the rest of his place.
“What the hell are you doing out here? Do you want to get sick?”
The voice startled me, and I nearly jumped. Harry stood near another door to my right, looking at me like I was crazy. His hair was all messed up and he was wearing a loose white shirt. Yeah, he was still sexy as hell, and my heart made a giant flip in my chest.
I started rubbing my palms over my shoulders. Yeah, it was freezing. He must have undressed me last night and then put me to bed. I couldn’t believe I had gotten so wasted.
“I couldn’t help but admire this amazing view,” I said, and quickly ran back inside. I was having a great time last night, so I forgot about my responsibilities. The wine and food tasted good. I wasn’t a lightweight, but I barely ate anything at all yesterday and putting in all the extra hours of work must have taken its toll on me.
Then I glanced at the time and blood rushed to my ears.
“Oh, God, my class. I’m so late for my class,” I said, franticly searching for my phone. It was just after ten, and I was still miles away from the city. There was no way I could get there on time.
“Don’t worry, I have taken care of that already. You mentioned last night that you had class very early on,” Harry said, walking through the door.
“What? What do you mean you took care of it? All my students are probably waiting for me,” I barked, trying to put my trousers back on, jumping up and down. I had never forgotten about a class. This was so unprofessional. Most of the women spent all week looking forward to dancing on the pole.
“We both woke up late. I called the community centre and told them that you were not feeling well,” he explained, and continued to stare at me with his intense blue eyes. “They were understanding enough. Don’t worry, I’m sure you will make it up to them.”
“That’s terrible. The girls will be disappointed. This shouldn’t have happened.” I sat down on the bed, wondering what the hell had gotten into me last night. Harry was standing by the door and continued watching me in my underwear. He was literally undressing me with his eyes.
“I’m sorry I ruined your night. I didn’t plan to get drunk, but it was just nerves,” I explained, pretending I wasn’t seeing the desire that filled his blue eyes.
The silence was long and uncomfortable. I thought to myself the hell with it and walked up to him. My hormones had been raging since the moment I saw him at the ring. It’d been months—no, years since the last time I fucked someone senseless, so it was finally time.
“I’m completely sober right now, and I would like to know—do you still want to shag me?” I asked, acting confident, but deep down I was petrified of getting rejected. My other inner voice was asking me what the hell was I doing.
This man couldn’t be trusted. My mother married my father and then ended up being unhappy. I had promised myself that I would never end up like that. But I reminded myself this was just sex.
His eyes sharpened on me and an easy grin spread across his lips. A cold shiver ran down my body, shifting into a lust that was curling up my toes. The familiar throbbing between my legs I had been trying to dismiss was back. I let desire heat up my blood, trying to relax my muscles.
He reached out and dragged his long finger over my bare arm, then moved it over to my bra, finally circling it around my nipple. I held my breath, telling myself that I didn’t have to expect anything. Harry and me, we weren’t looking for a relationship. It was just sex, and I could go through with it, especially with a guy like him.
“I wanted to fuck you the moment I saw you outside the ring. You’re beautiful and sexy, Gina Martinez,” he said, grabbing my face and leaning over to kiss me. Oh, boy, and he did. Once our lips connected, any self-control I had left in me was gone.
“This is going to be a one-time only deal,” he said, but his eyes were saying something entirely different.
Harry then said he wanted to make a pact with me, and I was okay with that. “When we meet in the office next time, we both have to pretend this never happened.”
“I’m not looking for a boyfriend,” I assured him. “My life is too complicated to get attached to a man.”
“So, one time only then?” he asked, and I nodded.
“Yes, I will be out of here later today. It’s a one-time deal,” I said, and my inner self screamed at me to get the hell out of here as soon as I could. This gorgeous man needed to fuck me, then toss me away. I couldn’t have possibly just agreed to it. Where was my dignity?
We both stared at each other. My pulse was throbbing in my ears. I’d been so bold, thinking this was what I wanted, but now I was having second thoughts.
“Maybe—”
“Shhh, stop talking, that’s enough talking for this morning,” he said, shutting me up with a desperate kiss. I wasn’t ready for what came next. In a matter of seconds, Harry changed. He wasn’t the gentleman I had met in the office, he was the man from the locker room, the man who wanted to fuck me senseless.
He grabbed my mouth greedily and started kissing me roughly, pinning me to the wall. Suddenly his lips were everywhere, his hands were squeezing my arse cheeks, nails digging into my skin.
He bit my bottom lip and then dove into my cleavage, running his lips over my breasts. I moaned when he pinched my nipple between his thumb and finger. My thoughts stopped; they couldn’t keep up with my body; it was on fire. I sucked in a breath when he pulled away from me just so he could take off his shirt. Then he was lifting me up, and I instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist, rubbing my wet sex against his erection.
This was intense, rough, but I couldn’t wait to have him deep inside me. He pushed me down and started dry-humping me. My knickers were soaked. This wasn’t enough. We needed to get naked. The layers of clothes had to go; my mind couldn’t take this anymore. My skin itched for the contact and, when his mouth found mine again, we were both swamped by the firestorm.