Harper's POV:
The phone was still on speaker when Hardin's assistant kept talking about the press conference and the lawsuit and Connor's face plastered everywhere, but I wasn't listening anymore because my hands were shaking and I pressed them flat against my thighs to make them stop.
"Turn it off," I said.
Hardin looked at me and his thumb hovered over the screen.
"Harper, we need to..."
"I said turn it off."
He ended the call and the silence felt too loud, like the room was holding its breath waiting for me to break down or scream or do something that proved Connor still had power over me.
I wasn't going to give him that.
"Your ex-husband is a fucking idiot," Hardin said and his voice was rough with anger. "Suing you for assault when that bitch staged the whole thing?"
"Let him." The words came out steadier than I expected and I stood up because sitting made me feel small and I was done being small. "Let them draw all the attention they want, that's what people like them live for anyway."
Something shifted in his face, something that looked almost like pride.
"You're not scared?"
"I'm terrified." My laugh came out bitter. "But being scared hasn't stopped anything bad from happening to me so far, so what's the point?"
He moved around his desk and came closer and I should have stepped back but I didn't because some part of me wanted him close even though it was stupid and reckless.
"I can make this go away," he said and his hand lifted like he wanted to touch me but stopped himself. "One phone call and I can bury him so deep he'll never..."
"No."
"Harper..."
"I don't need you to fight my battles for me." My chest was tight. "I've been taking care of myself since I was sixteen and I don't need some man swooping in to save me just because we slept together."
His jaw tensed and for a second I thought he was going to argue but then his mouth curved into something that wasn't quite a smile.
"Some man?" He took another step closer and the air between us got thicker. "Is that what I am to you?"
My heart was beating too fast and I could smell him again, that clean expensive scent that made my stomach flip.
"I don't know what you are," I said and it came out quieter than I wanted. "But I can't keep letting people rescue me because every time someone does, they use it against me later."
His fingers brushed my jaw so gently it made my breath catch.
"I'm not Connor."
"I know." My voice broke on the words. "But I don't know if I can trust that yet."
His thumb traced my cheekbone and my eyes closed without permission because his touch felt too good and I was so tired of fighting everything all the time.
"Then let me prove it to you," he said and his voice dropped lower, rougher. "Take the job, Harper. Work with me."
I opened my eyes and he was so close I could see the gold flecks in his dark eyes.
"If I take this job," I said slowly, "we can't do this anymore." I gestured between us even though my hand was shaking. "We can't keep almost kissing in your office or looking at each other like we want to tear each other's clothes off."
"Why not?"
The question caught me off guard.
"Because it's unprofessional and I need this job to work and I can't afford to mess it up by sleeping with my boss."
"You already slept with me before I was your boss." His hand slid into my hair and my knees went weak. "So the damage is already done."
"Hardin..."
"I want you." He said it like it was simple, like wanting someone wasn't complicated and messy and dangerous. "I've wanted you since you walked into that club and I haven't been able to stop thinking about you since you left my bed."
My breathing got faster and every nerve ending in my skin was screaming at me to close the distance, to let him kiss me again.
"This is a bad idea," I whispered.
"Probably." His forehead touched mine and his breath was warm against my lips. "But I don't care."
"I need this job."
"You'll have it either way." His mouth brushed the corner of mine. "The job is yours, Harper. I don't use things against people to get what I want."
"Then what do you want?"
His hand tightened in my hair and his eyes went darker.
"You. Just you."
I kissed him before I could talk myself out of it and his response was immediate, his mouth opening against mine and his tongue sliding between my lips like he'd been waiting for permission. My hands went to his chest and I could feel his heart racing under my palms.
He walked me backwards until my back hit the wall and his body pressed against mine and I could feel how hard he was through his pants and it made me moan into his mouth.
"Tell me to stop," he said against my lips and his hand slid down to my waist. "Tell me this is crossing a line and I'll stop right now."
"Don't stop." I pulled him closer and my leg wrapped around his. "Don't you dare stop."
His mouth moved to my neck and he sucked hard enough to leave a mark and my head fell back against the wall. His hand slid under my dress and his fingers traced the edge of my underwear and I was so wet I could feel it soaking through the fabric.
"You're killing me," he said and his voice was wrecked.
"Good." My fingers went to his belt and started unbuckling it.
He grabbed my wrists and pinned them above my head with one hand and his other hand slid between my legs, his fingers pushing my underwear aside and stroking me and I cried out because it felt too good.
"Not yet," he said and his thumb circled my clit while two fingers pushed inside me. "I want to feel you come on my fingers first."
I couldn't form words anymore because his fingers were moving faster and his thumb was pressing harder and the pleasure was building so fast I couldn't think.
"Let go for me, Harper."
The orgasm hit me so hard my vision went white and I would have fallen if he wasn't holding me up, his fingers still moving inside me until I was shaking and gasping and clinging to him.
When I could breathe again his fingers slid out and he brought them to his mouth and sucked them clean while looking straight at me.
"Best thing I've ever tasted," he said.
Someone knocked on the door.
We both froze and his hand was still between my legs and my dress was pushed up around my waist and the knock came again, louder this time.
"Mr. Wolfe?" A woman's voice came through. "There's someone here to see Ms. Lane. He says he's a lawyer and he needs to serve her papers immediately."
My blood went cold and Hardin's hand slid away from me.
A lawyer.
Papers.
"Give us a minute," Hardin called out and his voice was tight with barely controlled anger.
He stepped back and helped me fix my dress and his hands were gentle but his face had gone hard, all the softness from seconds ago replaced with something that looked dangerous.
"I'll handle this," he said.
"No." I smoothed down my hair with shaking hands. "You won't, this is my mess and I'm going to deal with it myself."
"Harper..."
"I mean it, Hardin." I looked at him. "If I let you fight this for me then I'm no different from who I was with Connor."
His jaw worked like he was biting back words and finally he nodded once, sharp and frustrated.
"Fine, but I'm staying in the room."
I walked to the door and opened it.
The woman from earlier was standing there with a man in a gray suit holding a manila envelope and when he saw me his expression didn't change at all.
"Harper Lane?" he asked.
"That's me."
He held out the envelope and I took it and the paper felt too heavy in my hands.
"You've been served." He turned and walked away and I stood there staring down at my name written across the front in neat black letters.
Ms. Harper Lane.
I ripped it open and pulled out the papers inside and the first thing I saw was the amount they were suing me for and my vision went blurry around the edges.
Five million dollars for assault and defamation.
Five million dollars I didn't have and would never have and they knew that, Connor knew that, this wasn't about money at all it was about destroying me completely.
