Dakota's POV
I slid the door open and flashed a quick smile on my face, hoping the redness in my neck was beginning to even out.
"Harry, I didn't know you were going to be here." I said and he squinted at me.
"I hope I don't need permission to see my own girlfriend. What's up with you and who's that in the car with you?"
"Uh..." I had to think of something. Anything! The door to the left side opened and Bruce started getting out. "Um... It's my bodyguard, Bruce."
Harry frowned. "Well, what was he doing back there?"
Before I could say anything else, Bruce jumped on it. "I was just helping her with seatbelt. It kinda got stuck."
Harry continued to study him, then he shrugged. "Okay." He turned to me. "can I talk to you?" My heart slowed down a bit. He didn't know anything. He had no clue about what'd just happened in the car. Harry grabbed my arms a little too roughly.
Bruce spoke again. "Mr President specifically told me not to let her out of my sight until she's safe at her desk."
"Excuse me?"
"It's protocol."
He gave a dry laugh. "I'm not going to get stopped by a freaking bodyguard when I want to talk to my girlfriend. I get that you're new here, you don't really understand how things happen here, Benjamin, but—"
"It's Bruce." His jaw tightened.
Harry shrugged again and stared arrogantly at Bruce who towered atleast five inches over him.. "Yeah, well, that's what I said." He grabbed my arm again and when Bruce started stepping forward, I quickly stepped in between them both.
"Bruce—"
"I was specifically briefed by your father, ma'am. I'm not going to leave you at a parking lot. And when you go up, I go up."
Frustrated, I threw my hands up. "Fine! You wanna talk Harry? Let's go over to that car over there." I turned and glared at Bruce who stood peering down on both of us. "Is that okay with your protocol?"
He nodded. I would warn him about getting in Harry's way.
"Where's Lorenzo!" Harry demanded the moment we were out of earshot.
"He took a leave of absence."
"Well, Parker certainly needs to look for someone else. Not sure how I feel about this guy."
I swallowed. "Well, it doesn't really depend on how you feel. Daddy hired Bruce and after the incident yesterday, he's here to stay."
"We'll see about that. Speaking of yesterday," he said, reaching out and caressing my cheek. "How are you doing?"
I stepped back from his touch, trying as hard as I could to avoid the fresh red lipstick on his neck. "I'm okay."
"I know you're mad I didn't call yesterday. I wish that I could, I just—"
"You were with her."
"What?"
"You were with the hickey lady again. You didn't even bother to take a shower before showing up here."
"I wasn't—"
"I can smell her on you, Harry. Please don't lie to me."
He sighed. "When I heard what happened yesterday I just had a lot of energy in me and I had to loose it somehow."
"So you decided to go back to the lady we were fighting about?" I said, then bit my inner cheek. I couldn't cry. Not here. Not when Bruce was gawking at me. "You didn't even call me, Harry. What if I'd been killed."
"I knew you weren't. I'm sorry, baby. I really am." He said, coming close. His hand rested on my shoulders. "I'm really sorry. This is going to be the last time, I promise alright?"
I sniffed, "that's what you said the last time."
"I'm trying baby. I'm not a one woman man but I'm trying for you. I want to try for you. I wish you'd understand that and be more patient with me." He said, pressing a kiss on my head. I found myself nodding before I could tell him to go to hell. It had become a habit. A routine. He'd cheat and I'd forgive him. And then he'd cheat again and I'd forgive him.
"Do you forgive me?" He asked and I nodded. "Good. Dress good for tonight's party. I don't want you looking like a peasant on the front paper of the newspaper." He said then placed a chaste kiss on my lips and then he walked away. His lips were still greasy from her lipstick... Whomever she was.
***
"What was all that about?" I asked Bruce the minute the door to the elevator closed. Thankfully we were going to the toppest floor so I had time to scold him as much as I wanted.
"What was what?"
"You know what!"
"Clearly, I don't know if I'm asking you."
"With Harry!"
"I have no idea what you're talking about."
"Yeah, of course you don't. You were challenging him and you know it."
"I wasn't. He was being douchebag."
"He just wanted to talk to me then you went all Kevin Costner on him."
"I am your bodyguard, after all." He joked and I sighed.
"Harry's not the kind of guy you want to mess with, alright?"
"Neither am I." He muttered, just as the elevator dinged.
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"Nothing. I'm sorry." He said softly. "I cannot believe that you're getting married to him though."
"I never said I was getting married to him."
"Then why do you choose to stay with him when he cheats on you?"
I spiraled, eyes blazing. "You know just because we had a moment doesn't mean you have the right to tal—" his lips descended on mine, swallowing up the angry word. His hands gently shoved me to the wall, without breaking our kiss. His kisses were slow and sweet and furious and skilled and... Deep all at the same time. He picked me off the floor and my legs wrapped automatically around his lean hips. Harry was a good kisser, but not even him could kiss like this. My hands flew to his hair and just as I was beginning to get a sense of the rhythm of his kisses and just as I was beginning to get used to his hands against my nape, the elevator dinged again and began to slide open.
It all happened at once. He quickly released me, letting me down just as we tried to maintain a distance between ourselves. He looked surprisingly calm for someone who'd just...
The door slid fully open, only to reveal Sophia who was pacing back and forth.
"Oh thank God! I was coming down to the parking lot to look for you. This is an SOS." She quickly reached for my elbows and started pulling me towards my office. Bruce was following close behind us.
"Are you okay?" She asked as the door to the office closed behind us.
"Yes. Um... Yes." I tried hard to regulate my breathing.
"You don't look fine."
"I'm fine. Enough about me, what about you? Are you okay?" I asked and her shoulders quickly sagged.
"I'm going to be a princess, Dakota, a princess!"
"You know some people might consider that an honor."
"Not me! I don't want to marry anyone and certainly not Jordan. I hate him."
"He irritates you. You don't hate him."
"I do. I really do. I've been thinking about fleeing to Africa, starting a new life somewhere else. Maybe wait until all of this dies down." Sophia considered, wide-eyed.
"No."
"Yes."
"No, Sophia! You can't do that. It will be a national disgrace! Daddy won't even qualify for second term as president if word got out."
Sophia sunk down to the chair, her eyes welled as she looked up at me. "How do you do it?"
"Do what?"
"Stay with Harry knowing everything he does?" She asked and I bent down and held her cheek.
"The same way I wear these designers, with a tight lipped smile. Plus, Harry's not that bad. Maybe with time you'll even let yourself find somethings to love about Jordan."
"I doubt it. He thinks I'm a rotten brat and I think he's a pompous idiot. I think we suit each other just well." She shrugged and I laughed. "Just promise me that you'll be at the engagement party today."
"I promise."
"Will I see you at home tomorrow? Before we leave for Buckingham palace?"
"I doubt it, but I will try my best."
She sighed. "A.J has no idea how lucky he is to be able to make decisions for himself."
"Parker Harper is his father. That's the only unluckiness one needs in life." I said, not regretting it. How could he give Sophia out to someone he knew she couldn't stand?
A knock sounded at the door just before the door opened and Bruce stuck his head in.
"Are you ready for your meeting, ma'am?" His baritone voice echoed through the room and I felt my neck redden as I remembered what had happened at the elevator.
"I am. Yes." I said and quickly shifted my gaze back to Sophia. "You know I'm just going to be a phone call away, right? Just call me whenever you need me, alright?"
My heart started hammering as I remembered Bruce and I would be alone at the car.