Chapter 4

The rustle of sheets and the feel of movement next to me has my breathing quickening as I start to wake up. Rubbing a hand over my face, I take a second to remember last night and how many times I had Harlow screaming my name and sighing in pleasure. A night I was sure would never happen.

"Fuck." Harlow rolls off the bed with a soft thump on the plush carpet below.

"You alright?" Leaning on my elbow, I try to catch a glimpse of the beautiful woman beside the bed looking for her clothes.

"Don't ask me that. In fact, don't speak. Speaking is what got us into this mess in the first place."

"Here." I hold out the t-shirt I took off after going out for ice last night.

"Thank you. Now I just need to find my shoes and I'll get out of your way."

"You're not in my way. Why don't you stay for breakfast, then I'll walk you back to your room?"

"And what? When my dad sees us in the hall, are you going to explain to him why you're escorting me back to me room while I'm wearing nothing but your shirt? You really think that's a good idea?"

I want to tell her that I don't care what her dad thinks, that I just want more time with her. I'm not ready to be done and let her walk out of here like nothing happened.

"Just stay for breakfast and we can figure it out."

"Figure what out? There is nothing to figure out."

"Look, I don't know about you, but I haven't enjoyed spending time with anyone as much as I enjoyed hanging out with you last night."

"You mean the sex. The sex was good, you're right, but that's all it was."

"Really?" My eyebrows lift, daring her to argue that last night wasn't more. "I mean the time we spent not having sex too. You're fun and you make me laugh. I'm asking you to stay for breakfast and we can talk about what happens next."

"There is no next. It can't happen again, and the only other option would be a friendship. We can't be friends, Hendrix. I'm just coming out of a bad breakup and being around someone who is always in the tabloids is not something I want for myself."

"I get that you want to avoid bringing attention to yourself. We can keep this quiet, just spend some time together and see what happens."

"You want to keep me a secret?" The challenge in her tone has me wanting to forget this conversation altogether. I'd much rather go back to how relaxed she was last night.

"If that's what you want." I regret the words as soon as they leave my mouth. I don't want her to be a secret, but I can respect her wanting to stay out of the media.

"Last night was great, but that's all it was. I can't trust another man who wants to keep me a secret. And I get that that's my problem and not yours." With a soft kiss to my cheek, Harlow grabs her shoes and heads out the door.