Reasons Not To Fall In Love

I grinned at him wickedly. “Trust me, if you don’t take advantage of me in the next five seconds, I’m throwing you on the floor and taking advantage of you instead,” I replied breathlessly as he kissed and sucked at my neck.

He chuckled at that. “I never pictured you all kinky and dirty talking.”

“Five seconds… Four seconds,” I counted.

He gasped and shook his head, fumbling with the button on his trousers, desperately trying to get them undone. I giggled excitedly and pressed my lips against his.

I was currently on the floor of Harrison’s bedroom. After the wild sex in the alleyway, we hailed a taxi and came to his place, only to start all over again, and again. I was starting to sober up now, but I hadn’t quite reached the point where I was blushing and needing to leave because I had really let go last night and we’d gotten a little out of control.

I winced as I looked around his bedroom. His lamp was on its side with Skye’s dress carelessly thrown over it. The stuff from his dresser was all over the floor where he’d pushed it all off so he could f**k me on the drawers too. The bed was stripped of its covers because we’d gotten tangled in the sheets and fallen to the floor. There was a trail of clothes leading out of the door; one of his shoes had landed in his wall-mounted fish tank when he’d kicked it off, and my bra hung from the corner of his flat screen TV. All in all, it looked like a whirlwind had blown through his room. I felt a little like a whirlwind had blown through me too. My whole body was weak, aching, yet immensely satisfied.

When I licked my lips I could still taste him. The smell of the room made the hair on the back of my neck prickle with excitement. The sex smell, mixed with just the Harrison Baxter scent, was beautiful and intoxicating. That experience with him was everything I had ever dreamt it would be and more – much, much more. I snuggled into his side, kissing his chest. I could hear his heart beating steadily as his hand made long strokes down my body, starting at the top of my head and going all the way down to my bum before making the same sweep again.

When he kissed the top of my head, I looked up at him and smiled. He grinned. “I’ve been wondering what you would taste like since the first time I met you. You’re too intoxicating for my sanity, Bronwyn Reynolds,” he whispered, pressing his forehead to mine.

I smiled at that. “Bronwyn Johnson. Divorcee, remember?” I teased, drawing little patterns on his sweaty chest with my finger.

He grinned. “Johnson suits you much better.” His hand moved down to my side before tracing over my tummy.

I cringed, catching his hand in mine. I hated my body at the best of times, but na**d I disgusted myself. Now that I was out of the moment, I suddenly started to feel self-conscious and actually couldn’t believe that I was lying there na**d with a man. Especially a man as mouth-wateringly gorgeous as Harrison. I caught the sheets with my feet, tugging them up and quickly using them to cover my body.

His eyebrows knitted together as his gaze dropped to the sheet I was gripping against my chest. “No use covering it up now, I’ve seen it all,” he teased, taking hold of the edge of the sheet and attempting to push it back down again.

A blush crept over my face as I held tightly. “Yeah but…” I shook my head, not having the words to explain. He had to know what I was talking about anyway.

“But what? You’re certainly not a prude, not after how wild you’ve just gotten, you dirty little minx.” He smirked at me, pressing his body against mine. “You’re not a na**d post-coital cuddler?”

I giggled, shaking my head. “Finn was never really into cuddling. Actually, he was never really into me full stop. He’d rather sleep with other girls than me. Prettier ones who don’t have a muffin top or stretch marks from childbirth. I can’t blame him really.” I chewed on my lip, instantly wishing I hadn’t said anything.

One of his eyebrows rose in question. “The guy cheated on you?” he asked, seeming shocked about it. I nodded, looking away and focusing on the fish that was nervously checking out the shoe that sat at the bottom of its tank. “What a dick!” he grunted. I chuckled and nodded in agreement. “Wait, don’t tell me you’re self-conscious about your body because of that though,” he said, shaking his head in disbelief. I opened my mouth but closed it again when nothing came out. Harrison groaned. “You’re f**ked up in the head, Bronwyn. You’re gorgeous. Would I seriously be looking at you like I am now if I didn’t think you were sexy as hell?” His eyes bore into mine as his body pressed against mine and his hand slid down, cupping my br**sts before sliding down further to palm my rounded stomach. “Look at all these delicious curves. You’re hot as sin, believe me. I can’t think with anything other than the little head around you.”

His mouth closed over mine, and while he was lavishing attention on me and his na**d body was pressed against mine, I actually started to believe him. With the attention of someone like Harrison Baxter firmly fixed on me, I no longer felt the need to hold the sheet to my chest. He rolled so that I was on top of him, his arms wound around me, holding me against him tightly as the air in the room seemed to get hotter and hotter – or maybe that was the passion inside me building.

His lips brushed against mine as he spoke. “I just can’t get enough of you. I’ve rested enough, want to go again?” he offered, grinning wickedly.

I giggled and nodded eagerly. This was easily the best time I had ever had with a man, ever.

I woke with a pain in my head that was so severe I whimpered and pressed my fists into my eyes to stop them from falling from their sockets. My stomach clenched as I struggled to fight the seasickness that was rolling over me. Then I realised it wasn’t seasickness, it was a hangover. A self-inflicted, too much whiskey and laughing, hangover. I’d brought this on myself.

I groaned and turned my head to the side, wondering what was causing the pressure across the small of my back. As I squinted and tried to get my vision to clear, Harrison’s face came into focus. My mouth popped open in shock as memories of last night flooded my brain. I remembered everything seemingly at once: the flirting, the alleyway, coming home with him, the talking, the sex, more sex and finally falling asleep in his arms.

“Oh God,” I whispered, looking at him with wide eyes.

What on earth have I done? Immediately I was scolding myself for ignoring Skye’s intervention. She was totally right, this was going to make things awkward between him and me when I saw him the next few times. I couldn’t bring myself to regret it though. My body was aching in a deliciously satisfied way that it hadn’t ached in years. No, there was definitely no regret. But I did need to leave before this got extremely awkward.

He was lying on his stomach, his arm was casually slung over the small of my back. His beautiful face was inches from mine. He looked incredible when he was sleeping – so innocent, young and peaceful. His hair was a mess, sticking out at all angles. I raked my eyes down his back, seeing little fingernail imprints there. On his shoulder there was a sore-looking bite-mark. I winced, not remembering biting him hard enough to leave a mark like that but then again, he did look exceptionally biteable, so I was pretty sure I would have made good on that particular fantasy too.

I turned over slowly, trying not to wake him. I didn’t exactly want him to witness my walk of shame. Pushing myself out of the bed, I tiptoed around his room, gathering up my clothes and then silently headed out into the lounge as I pulled them on.

I took a couple of deep breaths as I tried to calm my nerves. I didn’t feel dirty or used – quite the opposite actually because, for one night, I’d had the perfection of Harrison Baxter all to myself. I’d been his object of affection for the night. In some weird way, I felt a little special because I’d managed to gain the interest of a guy like him. That one night had boosted my confidence tenfold, and I figured that maybe, just maybe, I’d been wrong all of these years. Maybe I wasn’t quite the ugly beast that stared back at me when I looked in the mirror. Harrison had certainly lavished attention on my body last night so I couldn’t be that disgusting to all males – maybe it was just Finn.

I grabbed my purse and walked out of his place without looking back. I held my head high as I stood on the curb outside the beautiful Grade 2 listed Georgian townhouse that he owned a maisonette flat in, and hailed a black cab. As I slid into the back seat, I couldn’t keep the smile off my face. I was going to remember that one perfect night for the rest of my days.

When I got back to Skye’s place, my happy bubble burst immediately. She was sitting on the sofa, arms folded over her chest, an angry look on her face.

Oh bollocks.

“Hey,” I mumbled, wishing I could hide somewhere.

“I won’t bother asking where you’ve been,” she stated, her eyes roaming down my body with a knowing look on her face.

I winced. “Er… OK.”

She rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t worried about you though, because Harrison mysteriously disappeared before the speeches too, so I figured he was seeing you home safely.” She raised one eyebrow. “So, was it worth it?”

I couldn’t lie to her, she would see through me immediately. Instead, a little dreamy sigh escaped my lips as I nodded. “Totally.”

She laughed and shook her head before her expression turned a little worried. “Bronwyn, you’re going to get hurt. He’s not into commitment at all.”

I dropped down onto the sofa next to her. “Good, because I really don’t need another guy in my life. I don’t want a relationship, so a one night stand was perfect. And hot damn was it perfect,” I cooed, sighing dreamily again.

“I’ll bet it was. So, give me details then,” she whispered, turning in her seat and looking at me excitedly.

Before I could spill the beans on my night of passion, Evie dashed into the room and jumped onto the sofa next to me. “Auntie Bronwyn, I missed you!” she chirped.

I grinned and nodded, kissing the top of her head. “I missed you too, sweetie pie.” I sighed and knew it was time to go home. Technically, I was due to stay here until tonight, but after last night and going home with Harrison, I had the strong urge to go hide so the awkwardness could die down quickly. I smiled at Skye. “I think I’m going to catch the earlier train and go see if Theo’s been behaving himself,” I lied.

She didn’t buy it at all and nodded in understanding. “Ah, the avoidance and regret begins,” she joked.

I laughed and shook my head. “No regrets at all, trust me. I won’t even see him until the next big Hanklin event, so I’m safe until a birthday comes up or something and you have a get-together,” I replied. I couldn’t keep the grin off of my face as I kissed the top of Evie’s head and nodded towards the stairs. “Want to help me pack up, sweetie pie?” She nodded eagerly, and we walked upstairs towards the bedroom that I was supposed to have slept in last night.

An hour later and I was done packing, and we’d just finished eating a late breakfast. Brandon’s mobile started ringing, so he answered it at the table. “All right, mate?” His eyes flicked up to me as he nodded. “Yeah, she’s right here.” Instantly I knew it was Harrison. I shook my head and winced, mouthing that I didn’t want to speak to him. “Yeah, I’ll put her on,” Brandon said, holding out the phone and smirking at me. “Guess who?”

I groaned and took the phone, pushing myself away from the table. Damn it. If only I’d not let Skye talk me into eating first then I would have already been at the station by now and then I wouldn’t have to speak to him until the next time I came to visit.

“Hey,” I muttered into the phone, walking into the lounge and closing the dining room door so that I could get a little privacy.

“So I guess I can stop worrying that you were abducted by aliens or something after I fell asleep,” Harrison laughed.

I smiled and closed my eyes. “Sorry about that. I just had to get back to pack and stuff,” I lied.

“Pack? You leaving already? I thought you said you weren’t leaving until tonight?” he replied, sounding a little confused.

“Theo emergency,” I lied.

“Oh yeah? Everything OK?”

I sighed and wished I’d come up with a different excuse. “Yeah. I’m just catching an earlier train.”

I flopped down onto the sofa and looked up at the ceiling. The sound of his voice was bringing back little memories from last night. His voice was all husky and thick with sleep and it was very close to the sound of the voice that purred dirty things to me last night as he took my body to places I’d barely even thought about in the last few years.

“So, if you’re going home early then maybe we could meet up next weekend then or something,” he suggested.

Confusion settled over me. Meet up? “Huh?”

He cleared his throat. “Yeah. I’ve not been to London for ages. Do you, er, have any nice restaurants near you or anything?”

“Harrison, what are you talking about?” I mumbled, shaking my head.

“Wait, you… you don’t want to see me again?” he asked incredulously.

I couldn’t help but laugh at the shock that resonated in his tone. Obviously he’d never had a girl brush him off the morning after. “Harrison, as fun as last night was, we both know that it was a one night thing. Let’s not pretend this is going to go anywhere. Why don’t we just leave it as a great night, and next time we see each other we can just pretend like it never happened?” I suggested, shrugging easily.

“Oh. Right, well… er…” he stuttered. I frowned, wondering why he seemed so shocked about it; maybe he’d been expecting me to be all clingy this morning. “Sure, sounds good then. I guess I’ll be seeing you around at some point,” he continued.