Tymber Dalton - Contractual Obligation

It was nearly four in the morning when he reached her driveway. He decided to leave the unpacking for later. She led him to his room, which had its own bathroom.

He collapsed onto the bed and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep.

The next afternoon, Tate awoke with a start, feeling disoriented.

What the fuck?

Then it all came back to him. He was at Harper’s.

He hadn’t really had a chance to look around when he came in. Now, as he sat up in bed, he spotted familiar items that made his heart ache. Doug’s favorite books, pictures of his family.

The three dragon sculptures he’d given Doug on each of his past three birthdays.

That made him choke up. He got out of bed and walked over to the shelf. Displayed prominently next to pictures of his family.

Then he saw another picture. Of the framed pictures of them together that Doug had taken when he left, the only one he had out in the open was one of him and Doug sitting next to each other at a friend’s barbecue party. This was the only picture where they weren’t hugging or kissing or had their arms around each other.

In other words, innocent looking.

He remembered the Saturday afternoon when it was taken, soon after they’d started seeing each other. They’d gone back to Doug’s that night and made love until dawn, slept all morning, and spent Sunday naked in Doug’s apartment, watching movies and making love.

Pushing the memory away, he headed to the bathroom. When he emerged, he heard a knock on the door. “Yeah?”

Harper opened the door and peeked in. “I heard you were up. Do you want breakfast or lunch?”

“What time is it?”

“Two. I’m working from here today, said I wasn’t feeling good. I wanted to be here to go over stuff with you and help you unpack.”

“You don’t have to help me.”

“I want to.” They stared at each other for a moment. “Look,” she said, “I know this has to be weird for you, but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it. And I’m sorry.”

“Quit apologizing. You didn’t do anything wrong. Because of you, Carl and Sarah won’t lose their home. They’re good people who hit a bad patch.” He looked around the room. It was bigger than the bedroom he and Doug had shared at the apartment.

Hell, it was nearly as big as their whole apartment. “I would like to ask a favor, though.”

“Sure.”

He looked her squarely in the eye. “When Doug gets back, tell him about your diabetes.”

Her expression clouded. “He doesn’t need to know.”

“Listen, his dirty little secret—me—was a lot bigger than yours. He has a right to know. You barely know me and you trust me with it.”

“I didn’t really have a choice.”

“It doesn’t matter.” He walked over to her. She was pretty. Not runway-model-gorgeous, but real. The kind of woman who had a kind heart, but who thought she needed to keep a steel wall up to protect it whether she wanted to or not. “Whatever kind of act you think it is you have to put on for everyone else, when it’s just you and me, I want to see the real Harper. No bullshit. You’ve had to deal with a lot in the past few days, and so have I. We’re on the same team here, and I think the least we can do is be totally honest with each other.” He held out his hand to her. “Deal?”

She nodded as she took his hand and shook. “Deal,” she softly agreed.

He gave her a smile and finally got a sad one in return.

Damn, he wanted to take that sadness away from her. Just the short amount of time he’d spent with her showed him she was a good-hearted woman. It wasn’t her fault Doug had deceived her, and as upset as Tate felt at Doug, he could understand his former lover’s rationale.

He could also see why Doug would fall for Harper.

They ate pizza in the living room that night in front of the TV. They talked about themselves and about Doug. By the time they bid each other goodnight and headed for their separate bedrooms, Tate had the beginning seeds of an idea just crazy enough to possibly work.

First things first, he’d have to learn the job and get Harper to trust him.

Crazy didn’t begin to describe the next several weeks of Tate’s life. With no secrets between them, Tate and Harper became fast friends. Tate was glad he didn’t have to explain their deal to Gorden, because Harper told the man in no uncertain terms that the topic of discussion was totally off the table.

Permanently.

He’d met Harrison Wells a few times and liked him. He didn’t have any doubt the odd sideways glances the man gave him had to do more with trying to figure out what Harper’s game was than anything personal against him.

After hours, Tate and Harper spent a lot of time talking. Aside from a few business social functions, they usually ate in every night in front of the TV, working as Harper did her best to help Tate get up to speed.

His initial opinion had been right, that Harper was self-insulated. Worse, she was lonely and now doubting her judgment in the wake of Doug’s secret being exposed. He could tell she wanted to open up more to him, but now she felt gun-shy.

Despite not having any contact with Doug, Tate gave him the benefit of the doubt about his actions when he found out the full extent of Sarah’s medical bills. He knew darn well what Doug’s dad made in salary, and that even with insurance, the expenses on the family would have been crushing.

He couldn’t imagine Doug doing anything but taking the job to help them out. All he had to do was convince Harper that Doug’s keeping him a secret wasn’t her fault.

Gorden, however, proved himself a constant source of friction. Tate liked the man, but found himself butting heads with him at every turn, so much so Harper frequently had to step in and referee. One afternoon Harper was out of the office at a doctor’s appointment when Tate and Gorden got into it.

Tate knew damn well Gorden felt loyal to Doug, and Harper hadn’t enlightened him about the reason for Tate’s arrival and apparent taking over of Doug’s place in her affections. Finally, when Gorden nearly caused him to miss an important meeting with one of their suppliers, Tate called him out on it later in Gorden’s office.

“Look, I know you don’t like me,” Tate said, “but quit trying to dick me over, dude. You’re trying to make me look bad.”

Gorden scowled at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Tate could only say so much without breaking Harper’s confidence, something he refused to do. Doug had to deal with Gorden while he was overseas, and Gorden wasn’t happy about being forced to maintain the illusion with Tate. “You know exactly what the hell I’m talking about. We are on the same side. Team Harper. I know you like Doug and think I’m some sort of douche, but put the passive-aggressive bullshit to rest, would you? You don’t know what’s going on.”

“You don’t know her the way I know her.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe I know some things you don’t know. Did you ever think about that? So maybe you should just keep your opinions to yourself and do your fucking job and let me do mine.”

Tate fought the urge to slam the door behind him when he stormed out. His loyalty was to Harper. As he started for his office, he pulled up short.

I love her.

Fuck!

He did. He’d fallen in love with her. The fact that Gorden wasn’t happy with her over the Doug situation only made Tate feel even more protective of her.

Crap. Now what the hell am I supposed to do?

They ate in that night as they usually did. Later, they sat on the couch and watched TV. Well, Tate was watching TV with Harper’s feet in his lap, while Harper was reading her Kindle. She’d never given Doug a look at hers, a little embarrassed to admit some of the content.

“Whatcha’ reading?” Tate asked.

She hoped her face didn’t turn red. “A book.”

Before she could stop him, he pulled the Kindle out of her hand. “Ooh, look at this.”

She tried to reach for it, but he held it out of reach. “Give it back,” she protested.

“Not before I find out a few of Harper’s favorite authors.” He managed to hold her off as he scrolled through it. “And look at some of these titles.” He eyed her. “Naughty little girl.”

A wave of heat washed through her, surprising her when it pooled between her legs and started her clit throbbing. The way he’d said it reminded her so much of how Doug used to take charge in bed. She grabbed her beer and finished it, heading for the kitchen since she knew trying to get the Kindle away from Tate until he finished was useless. “You want another?” She held up her empty beer bottle.

“Sure.” He laughed. “Look at these authors. I’ve heard of some of them. Cooper McKenzie, Sophie Oak, Stormy Glenn.” He grinned as she brought him another beer, his third. “You are a wicked little girl.” He finally handed the Kindle back.

“Okay, so I like erotica. A girl’s got to get her fun somewhere.”

“That’s not just erotica, sweet stuff. That’s just downright pervy. I think I luuurrrve you. I’ve read a couple of books by some of those authors. Guy on guy, guy on guy with a girl. Two guys on a girl. Oooh, dirty.” He grinned.

Harper knew she shouldn’t have had the second beer, because she had a low tolerance for alcohol and the first one already had her tipsy, but she was beyond the give-a-fuck stage. She’d had another argument with Gorden that afternoon after returning from her doctor appointment. She suspected Tate and Gorden had another run-in, but neither man would admit it if they had.