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My feet couldn’t carry me fast enough as I rushed down the corridor on my quest for sweet relief. When I reached the end of the hall, I saw there were two doors, one to the left and one to the right. The first one I tried opened to what looked to be a library, but door number two was a winner. I rushed inside, slammed the door, frantically tugged my dress up, and then experienced sweet relief.
Feeling like a brand-new person, I stood and washed my hands. After freshening up my bold red lipstick and running a brush through my hair, I was ready to head back out and see if I could find the illusive Harlan Mitchell.
If not,I thought,maybe I’ll stop by his Farm Strong class tomorrow morning before I leave for the airport.
The backup plan had barely formed in my head when I opened the door, tripped over my dress, and fell into very strong arms. Large hands reached out and steadied me, resting on my hips; my hands automatically gripped what turned out to be very chiseled biceps.
“Sorry.” I apologized as I lifted my gaze.
That’s when my stare locked with a pair of coffee-colored eyes surrounded by a black mask, and I instantly recognized them. These were the big brown eyes that I’d been searching for all night. The very large hands that held me tightly were not those of a stranger. The square jaw peppered with scruff was one I’d drooled over mere hours before.
“Hi.” My greeting came out in a breathy whisper.
Harlan’s thumbs dug into my hips, and a sudden shock of bliss exploded low in my belly.
“I was looking for you,” he gritted out. His voice sounded deeper, rougher than it had earlier in the day.
“You were?” I managed to squeak out.
He nodded, and a small grin lifted on his perfect mouth.
“I’ve been looking for you, too.” I wasn’t sure why I was admitting that. I’d promised myself that part of my new, non-people-pleasing persona would be playing it cool and keeping my cards close to my chest. But I only had eighteen hours left in town. I didn’t have time for coy.
His gaze slid down, past my lips to my chest, and I realized that our bodies were still pressed against one another. “You look so beautiful,” he rasped.
“So do you. I mean, handsome, you look so handsome.”
He did. He looked like he could have been plucked from the pages of GQ, but I think I preferred him in sweatpants. Nude Harlan was a very close second to gray sweatpants Harlan. GQ was actually my third choice if I was ranking them, which apparently I was.
“Mitchell, let’s go!” A man called out from down the hall. “We’re up!”
Harlan stayed perfectly still, not taking his eyes off of me. “Give me a minute, Dawson.”
“We don’t have a minute! Let’s go, man!”
“Harlan Mitchell!” A woman’s voice came next. “What do you think you’re doing?”
I turned my head and saw the woman who’d given me directions to the bathroom with an iPad in her hand, giving me a death gaze. Seriously, if looks could kill, I’d be pushing up daisies.
“You have sixty seconds to get your rear on that stage, or else!” With that vague threat, the woman turned and rushed off.
When I looked back up at Harlan, he didn’t appear in any hurry. There were no signs that he had an internal clock running in his brain, counting down the seconds; fifty-five, fifty-four, fifty-three. As much as I was thoroughly enjoying his undivided attention, I was an avid rule-follower and producer of a television show. Knowing that he was supposed to besomewhere triggered my anxiety, and I did have that internal clock running. When it hit twenty seconds, I smiled nervously. “Um, I think you need to go.”
“I don’t want to let you go.”
I’d had a man write me poetry; I’d had men declare their undying love for me; I’d even had two proposals, but a man I barely knew, ignoring people who clearly needed him to do something and telling me he didn’t want to let me go, was hands down the most romantic thing anyone had ever said to me.
“Just kiss her dude, and let’s go!” Dawson called out.
Harlan’s only response to his friend’s suggestion was his strong, square jaw tensing as he exhaled a low moan. The sight of him so…affected me it turned my insides to mush. Ooey, gooey mush.
I smiled up at him. “I think you better kiss me so you can go.”
A wolfish smile spread on his face before he lowered his head, and his lips touched mine. It wasn’t a long kiss or a particularly passionate one, but it was…perfect. I melted into his embrace as our mouths fused together. It was the most intimate, innocent kiss I’d ever experienced. The rest of the world disappeared, and it was just him and me—just this moment where our lips touched in a haze of sweet sensuality.
“Damn,” Dawson said before letting out a low whistle.
Harlan broke our perfect kiss and rested his forehead against mine. His heated breath fanned my face, and I was glad his hands were on my hips because my legs were wobblier than Bambi’s legs on ice.
