“You never have to be sorry about kissing me,” she blushes.
“I’ll never be sorry for kissing you. I just don’t want to be rude and interrupt you. Why not follow your passion and paint?”
Harlow thinks for a moment.
“Dad, mostly. I think he’d be disappointed I didn’t stick with marketing.”
I look at her closely.
“Brent is a very understanding person. He’s older now, with some wisdom from living life. I think he’d be more upset if you didn’t follow what makes you happy.”
“Hmm,” she ponders my advice. “Maybe he would be.”
I grin.
“Besides, you should do what makes you happy, no matter what anyone says about it. You don’t owe your future happiness to anyone but yourself.”
“I guess that’s true,” she murmurs. Her mind wanders somewhere deep inside her beautiful brain. The sun is setting behind her, and the deep golden rays make her dark hair glow, like a halo on my sweet angel. Then, her innocent face becomes serious. “But I need to be able to talk about all of this with someone else.”
“What do you mean?”
She looks at me.
“I’m not talking about my art, Gray. I’m talking about us. Our relationship is really … intense. And I know we’re being secretive because of my dad and what other people would think, but still. I need to be able to tell a friend about us. I mean, I don’t want to make you uncomfortable, but it’s a huge thing to keep inside.”
I nod. It’s a risk, but I understand.
“It’s okay, sweetheart. So long as your friend can keep it to herself, I’m fine with you revealing our relationship.”
She nods.
“Thank you. So Gray, enough about me. How is it that you’re single? I’ve known you forever, but you don’t generally bring women around.” She nibbles on some salami and for the first time in my life, I’m jealous of a piece of sliced meat. But then I look at her swiftly.
“Why, what makes you ask?”
She giggles.
“Because you’re you. You’re a ridiculously hot guy with tons of money, and a fancy car collection. I know you said that a lot of society women are just like my mom, but surely, there’s someone out there who wants you for you? There must be something else going on under the surface.”
I smirk.
“Maybe I have a fear of commitment?”
She giggles, “I don’t buy it. You’re committed to your car collection, to your business, and to your body enough that you practically live at the gym. Try again.”
I answer is wry.
“I’ve been dating for over twenty-five years and in that time, I have always dated the women I was supposed to want. The perfect-on-paper, perfect-in-theory women, who look good in pictures in magazines and have the plastic surgery receipts to prove it. Twenty-five years, Harlow. The ladies are fine, but I’ve never found the right woman,” I growl. Then I stop myself. It’s too soon to say it. I can’t be the first one to say it because she’s too young and innocent, and I’ve already overwhelmed her enough. Yet, I can’t stop myself from looking into those beautiful eyes with yearning in my gaze.
“But maybe someday,” I finish quietly. She gives me a gentle smile.
“Someday,” she murmurs. I kiss Harlow with all my heart and soul in my lips and then rest my head against hers. Can she feel how much I love her already? Or perhaps, this is all a game to the innocent girl.
8
Harlow
“He’s all I can think about. Half the time, if my dad isn’t around, I just stay at his place and pick up some clothes from home. I can’t even get dressed without wondering if he’ll like my outfit. Jane, I’m in big trouble.”
My friend titters.
“It sounds like you’re in love, girlfriend,” she says. “Which would explain why I haven’t heard from you in weeks, and why I haven’t seen you in months.”
I laugh.
“Sorry about that. And who said anything about love?”
She throws me a look.
“Your eyes did, when you told me about your obsession with Gray Jamison.”
“My eyes said nothing,” I protest weakly.
She laughs.
“Then why are you ignoring your best friend all the time? It damn well better be love. I wouldn’t take anything less.”
I bite my lip, and then say, “Jane, he shaved me. We’re so intimate now that he used a razor on me, you know, in that place.”
She’s utterly shocked.
“Oh my god!”
I nod.
“I know, but it was so amazing. Gray’s got one of those fancy clawfoot tubs, and he drew me a warm bath. I soaked in it while he sponged me down and then he shaved my legs. I thought we were done, but then he had me lay on a towel on his bed where he took a straight razor and very slowly, shaved me down there. It was amazing.”
My friends eyes go wide.
“Sounds dangerous and kinky too! Does this happen all the time? Do you guys do illicit things together and then have hot monkey sex?
“Yes, sort of,” I say with a small giggle. “I mean, the shaving sounds weird and yet oddly intimate right? Like it’s more than just sex? He was touching me so tenderly, and licking me while he did it, and … well, you get the picture.”
My friend is shocked.
“I think you’re definitely in lust, Harlow. But what are you going to do once your internship is over?”
I shrug, a little miserable.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I could just be a summer fling for Gray. I mean, he’s forty-five and I’m twenty-one. I’m his best friend’s kid for crying out loud! I’m so afraid, Janie, that I mean nothing to him but temporary good times.”
She nods.
“I get it, girlfriend. But what’s your plan then?”
I shake my head, despondent again.
“I don’t know,” I say in a quiet voice. Then, I perk up
