Page 21 of Not Yet Yours
The front door opened and then slammed shut and then Harriet heard her mother starting to cry as she opened the door to go after Thomas.
Harriet turned and ran back to her bed, pulled the blanket up over her face, and cried too.
Harriet waited for Selena to come and tell her everything was okay, that Daddy was just upset.
Selena never came and Harriet whispered a vow to never get close enough to ruin anyone's life ever again. She fell asleep that night with her cheeks wet from tears and the idea in her head that her being here had ruined everything her parents had together.
I shake my head hard and I manage to pull myself back out of the movie in my mind. The warm wetness on my cheeks tells me that the tears are real though. My movement must jostle Liam because he shifts slightly and mumbles something. I hold mybreath, not wanting to make a sound, and risk waking him up. I don’t know how I would explain to him why I was crying without either telling him the truth and ruining everything or making something up and having him think I was crazy. I finally dare to breathe again when Liam’s breathing once more evens out.
I’m reminded I have been right to keep Liam at arm’s length. My only mistake is sometimes letting him get a bit closer than that. It has to stop. I have already ruined my parents’ lives. I don’t want to ruin Liam’s life as well.
I will stay for the party tomorrow because I said I would and I don’t want to go back on my word, but nothing can happen between Liam and me anymore. I need to make sure that I keep him from getting too close to me and that means no sex, no flirting, no giggling unless it’s part of the ruse of me being his girlfriend. I have to think of this as a business arrangement, do my job, and get out of here before one or both of us ends up getting hurt.
Chapter Twelve
Liam
Ihead back up to our room with a cup of coffee in each hand. I had a lovely breakfast of bacon, eggs, sausages, and mushrooms with toast, all washed down with orange juice and coffee. Harriet said she wasn’t hungry, so I left her to shower and get ready while I went down to the dining room to eat.
I get back to our room, open the door with my elbow, and enter the room. Harriet is sitting on the bed with her legs out in front of her reading a magazine. She looks absolutely stunning. Her hair is down, and she’s wearing a red bikini with a white gauzy sarong wrap tied around her waist.
She looks up as I come into the room, and she puts her magazine down.
“You look… wow,” I say.
“Thank you,” Harriet replies. I hand her one of the coffees and she says it again. “Thank you.”
She takes the lid off the cup and sips the coffee.
“I guess you want to spend some time by the pool then,” I say, indicating the outfit Harriet is wearing.
She nods.
“Yes,” she says. “But I think Max and Cullen are going off sightseeing today. If you want to go with them, don’t think you have to stay with me all day.”
“No, it’s fine,” I say. I sat down on the edge of the bed and drank some of my coffee since I gave Harriet her coffee. “I think I’d rather just stay around here today, let Max and Cullen have some couples time.”
“Ok,” Harriet says.
“Well, I’ll go and get into my swimming trunks. Give me two seconds,” I say.
Harriet nods and I get up and put my coffee on the dressing table while I get sorted. I get my swimming trunks from one of the drawers and I go into the bathroom and strip off my clothes and put the trunks on. I feel like Harriet is being a bit short with me, but I know I haven’t done anything to offend her, or at least I don’t think I have. I almost asked her if something was wrong, but I didn’t want to seem overbearing or make her feel like she had to be bouncing around laughing all the time. Maybe it’s just because it’s early and she hasn’t had any coffee yet.
I go back into the room and Harriet has moved from the bed. She’s sitting in one of the chairs finishing her coffee. She has put red flip-flops on her feet and a straw hat with a red ribbon around it on her head. She nods down to a matching straw bag.
“I have towels and sunscreen,” she says.
“Awesome, thank you,” I say. “Are you ready to go?”
She nods and I drink the rest of my coffee and we both put our cups in the trash can underneath the dressing table. I get the key card and my wallet and put them in the pocket of my trunks I decided against taking my cell phone. If Cullen wants me, Max can call Harriet and if it’s anyone else, it’ll only be work-related and that can wait until I’m back home.
We leave the room and I make sure the door locks. Harriet keeps walking and I jog a few steps to catch back up with her.She presses the call button for the elevator and we both get inside, and she presses the button for the ground floor. Again, I can’t help but think she’s being a bit standoffish. I don’t want to cause an argument by asking about it though, so I bite my tongue for now and decide to see how the day goes.
Another couple gets in the elevator with us on the first floor and that means I can’t ask Harriet anything even if I wanted to now. The other couple is behaving more how I consider to be normal, more how Harriet and I usually are, chatting away, laughing, teasing each other. Still, we ride in silence.
The elevator comes to a stop at the ground floor and the four of us get out. The couple heads toward the dining room and Harriet and I go the other way, heading to the back door which leads to the pool area.
The area around the pool is pretty spacious. White sun loungers sit all around the large blue pool. The area is immaculately clean and it’s quiet enough that we won’t struggle to get loungers together.