Always A Pleasure [Book 2]

Eleven

Harrison woke up some time later in Katherine's bed with her sound asleep next to him, cuddled up against the side of his body. That was what woke him, the fact that he wasn't able to freely roll over — the obstacle being a beautiful blonde angel that he hadn't been able to get out of his head since the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Beautiful girl," he breathed, pulling back so he could get a better look at her.

She was lost inside her dreams and she looked so peaceful. He didn't want to move because he knew it would disturb her. But the anxiety he felt about waking up in her bed was beginning to shoot stabbing pains into his chest. He knew he needed to leave. He truly did not want to, but he knew he didn't belong there.

He was drunk when he went to her. He shouldn't have and he knew that. It wasn't fair to her. He should have waited until the morning to apologize, but he knew he would have never been able to keep himself from her bed that night.

He allowed himself to watch her for a few more moments before he quietly slipped out of the bed. He pulled on his boxer briefs and gathered his other belongings, but could not find the jumper he was wearing when he went to her. It was too dark and he didn't want to wake her, so he left her room without a sound and made his way back to his own.

He tossed and turned the rest of the night in his bed, his side cold without her warmth. He thought about how she made him feel. It was confusing. She made him feel warm, peaceful, and sated. She made the calamity in his mind settle when he was with her.

Harrison's internal clock had him awake with the sun, even though he had only slept maybe a total of three hours. Nevertheless, he got up, showered and dressed for his day. He would need to get back to work after his absence, even though he did his best to keep up-to-date with it as best he could while away. But now he was taking on the responsibility of both his and his father's jobs.

Katherine wasn't far from his mind as he sat in his office trying to focus on his work. He knew she was just down the hallway, but he also knew that he needed to show some restraint when it came to her. He may have apologized to her while he was in her bed with her, but he knew they needed to have a more serious talk about what actually happened and why she was in his bed that night in the first place.

But when his phone rang with a call from his father, all of that was quickly wiped out of his mind. His father was on a rampage, immediately snapping at Harrison the second he answered. He had just found out that Harrison was named temporary CEO of the company and he was absolutely livid.

"The board put me in charge temporarily—"

"You have no fucking clue what you are doing!" His father yelled at the top of his angry lungs.

Harrison's composure did not wane, though he was completely infuriated on the inside. His father had underestimated him his whole life.

"The board doesn't seem to think so," Harrison told him evenly.

"The board doesn't have one single fucking idea about what it takes to run a company of this magnitude!"

"Be that as it may—"

"You know what, Harrison? You've always been an ungrateful little shit. It took me years to get you to fucking step up and take part in this goddamn company and now— now you want to fucking steal it right out from under me?!" His father berated him.

"I'm not stealing your fucking company," Harrison snapped at him.

"It sure as hell bloody seems like it! I've been locked out of the system!" He yelled.