The Allure of Dean Harper (The Allure #2)(23)

“C’mon,” Zoe said. “Let’s take your boat out this weekend and relax. No talk about the restaurant. Just fun.”

“Josephine has been bugging me about going back out on the water,” Julian added.

Before Dean could reject the plan, Zoe turned her gaze on me. “You in, Black?”

If I said yes, I’d look overly eager.

If I said no, I’d look like I was the * of the group.

I sighed, picked up my clipboard from the edge of Dean’s desk, and then plopped down in my seat. “Yeah, whatever.”

She clapped. “Perfect!”

“Saturday morning?” Julian asked, already pulling out his phone, undoubtedly Snapchatting his lover. Blech.

Dean offered Julian a curt nod, and just like that, the meeting was adjourned. We’d succeeded in making zero decisions, but I was marginally closer to losing my voice from yelling at Dean. That counted for something, I guess.

Julian stood to talk something over with Dean and Zoe in the hallway, and I reached down to grab my purse. A shadow loomed over me as I sat back up, and I realized too late that Hunter was practically on top of me as he leaned over my chair. His heavy cologne nearly choked me to death.

“Oh, wow, that’s close,” I mutter, leaning as far away from him as I could. The guy clearly didn’t know the concept of personal space.

“Looking forward to seeing you out on the boat this weekend, Lily,” he said, dropping his hand on the back of my chair.

“Oh, uh yeah, should be fun,” I replied with a curt, pleasant smile.

“I’m glad we’ll have some time to chat.” He waggled his eyebrow. “Just you and me.”

Oh my god. How was no one hearing this crap?

I narrowed my eyes up at him and pointed at where his hand sat on the back of my chair. His thin gold wedding band was two inches from my shoulder. “What kind of ring is that on your finger?” I asked, playing the not-so-subtle game of “f*ck off”.

He laughed.

“The slippery kind,” he replied with a snakelike hiss.

I stood so abruptly that he had to flinch back to avoid my head colliding with his face. “You’re disgusting.”

“Aw, c’mon, can’t you take a little joke?”

I brushed past him and stepped into the hallway. Dean, Zoe, and Julian stood in silence as I stepped past them. I knew they’d heard the last part of our conversation, but I didn’t bother stopping to correct their assumptions. I headed toward the front of the restaurant and prayed there was a cab waiting for me. I was in a different town, but I was still dealing with the same old crap. Hunter saw blonde hair and tits. He didn’t see me as a colleague.

“Hey! Jeez. Would you wait up a second?”

I heard Dean’s voice, shocked that he cared enough to follow me out onto the sidewalk. His hand hit my forearm, inches from my palm, and I froze, surprised by the comfort of his grip.

“You said the meeting was over,” I said, staring up at him for confirmation.

“It is.”

I shrugged, shying away from his touch, but his hand tightened on my arm. “Well, I’m leaving then. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

“What did Hunter just do?” he asked, ignoring my brush off.

A part of me wanted to cover up Hunter’s attempted indiscretion. I’d dealt with this situation plenty of times before. A male superior came on to you? Did you tempt him in some way? Surely, you lead him on.

“It wasn’t a big deal. Hunter came on to me and I told him off. End of story.”

He nodded and rolled his lips together as he mulled over how to proceed. “I’ll take care of it.”

I swallowed. He sounded like a mobster. Did he have brass knuckles hidden in a pocket of that designer suit? “What are you going to do?”

The edge of his lip curled up as he met my eyes. “Nothing that will leave scars.”

My eyes widened. Oh shit.

“Lily, I’m joking. I’m not going to beat Hunter up because he hit on you.”

I smirked. “Maybe just a little kick in the balls? Or a karate chop? Nothing major.”

He rolled his eyes and dropped his hand. My arm felt instantly lighter, like it might float away without the weight of his hand holding it down.

“See you Saturday,” he said, taking a step back. His eyes scanned over my face and across my cheeks. “Don’t forget sunscreen.”

I tilted my head and smiled. “Y’know if I didn’t know any better, I’d think that you were being nice to me right now.”

He smiled and then bent his head toward the ground to hide it. By the time he glanced back up, the smile was gone, but there was still humor in his eyes.

“Yeah? Well don’t get used to it.”





Chapter Eighteen


Dean





“Sir, everything is set. As soon as your guests arrive, I’m prepared to head out.”

I nodded at the captain. “Sounds good.”

“How long would you like to be out on the water?”

I thought of Lily, of how volatile she made me feel. “Let’s make this a short trip. Just a few hours.”

The less time I had to spend in close proximity to her, the better. Every minute I spent arguing with her probably shaved off another year of my life.