Too Hard (Too 1)

“Are you going to leave now?” I blurt out. I hold my breath as I wait for his response and he closes his eyes, looking pained. I look at his broad chest and I lift up, trying to get off his lap.

“I didn’t say you could move.” His hands hold me in place as my eyes meet his and my heart begins to pound.

Chapter Eight

Butch

“Why are you trying to run from me?” I should let her do it, but my body won’t let me.

“I don’t know.” She shrugs and looks away, but I’m not buying it.

“You think I don’t want you?” I touch her chin and force her to face me.

There are some advantages to being older, and that means less time for assumptions. Maybe if I were younger I’d play it cool or take my time, but I’ve been around long enough to know what I want when I see it. Harlow might not be what I should want, but I don’t have control over that. I sure as hell didn’t see her coming, so how could I have stopped it?

“I’m worried that you’re looking for a reason to escape.” Her emotions are so raw that when she says this, I know it’s the truth deep down in her heart.

“Nah, I’m just not ready for you to get up.” I smooth my hands down her back and around her ass. “I do need to go finish your kitchen, but I don’t want you rushing out of here because of what just happened.”

I can see by the blush in her cheeks she was thinking about it.

“You just said it was just once, so I didn’t know if maybe it felt like something you had to do.”

My laugh rumbles low in my chest and for a second her brow furrows and she gets this cute little line between her eyes.

“I don’t do anything I don’t want to. And if I could, I’d do that again and again.”

“Why can’t you?” Her bottom lip pokes out a little and I feel her rock against me once again.

“Goddammit, Harlow.” I lay my head back on the couch as I try to get myself under control. She rocks her hips again and I know I have to stop this. “Can’t you just take it for what it was? You needed me and I helped you out. But you don’t want to get tangled up with someone like me.”

Her hands rub across my wide chest and I feel her pause over my hard nipples. “Why wouldn’t I want to get tangled up with someone like you?”

“I’m old enough to be your daddy.” As soon as the words are out of my mouth I wish I could take them back. The sound of it on my tongue is too fucking good and I don’t want to give in to it.

“It wouldn’t have to be like that.” It’s like she’s reading my mind. “But I don’t do stuff like that, ever.” Her cheeks blush again at the mention of what we did in the kitchen. “And I wanted you to know that I liked it, and I’d want to do it again if you did, too.”

Her red hair is over one shoulder, revealing the freckles down her neck and across her collarbone. I want to kiss each one of them and take my time memorizing their patterns, but it’s not right. If she’s as innocent as I think she is then she doesn’t deserve to be saddled with someone like me.

“I would be lucky to call you mine,” I say as I reach out and rub my thumb across her soft swollen lips that are begging to be kissed. “But for right now, we can’t.”

Her gaze falls from mine and I hate that I’ve caused her any amount of pain. I pull her to me and stand up from the couch. Her feet hit the floor and she puts her hands on my stomach as she pushes away from me. I sigh when she turns around and walks to her bedroom and shuts the door. I want to run after her, but this is for the best. I shouldn’t have ever touched her to begin with. Not only because she deserves more, but because now I know what I’m missing and it’s tearing me apart inside.

I decide to put my worry into my work and go into the kitchen. I rub a hand down my face and sigh loudly before I get busy. This is the only way I know how to cope when it comes to this kind of pain. I have to work to drown out all the voices inside me screaming to run after her and to get my head out of my ass. My chest hurts as I tear out her cabinet and cut sheetrock. I can’t even think about what this level of blue balls is doing to my cock, but that’s the least of my worries. The sad look in her eyes as she turned away from me is enough to haunt my dreams for eternity.