“You wore the costume I picked,” I say, trying to fill the silence between us.
“It goes perfectly with yours,” he says and I shiver as his deep voice washes over me.
He actually looks a bit like the beast even without the costume, especially with his thick shoulder length brown hair and his deep voice. Even the mansion fits the Beauty and The Beast story.
“I should go make sure that everything is running smoothly,” I say as I try to sidestep him.
I just need a minute to myself to get my body under control. The usual tingly feeling has started in my core ever since I saw him walking down the stairs and the feeling has only grown stronger the closer we get together.
“I’ll help you,” he says, following after me.
“Uh, alright.” I say.
We make a path around the edges of the room, making sure that everything is running smoothly. The guests are all mingling and having fun. Some are dancing, others are digging into the buffet, and some are taking advantage of some of the games that I set up.
“You did a great job,” Harry says when we wind up back where we started.
“Thanks,” I say with a grin.
The place really does look great with all of the decorations and the music playing. I love this job. I love making people happy, making them feel welcome and at ease whenever they walk into one of my parties.
“Are you hungry?” I ask him and I look over to Harry to see that he’s starting to tense up.
It’s easy to spot when Harry has had enough of other people. Or at least it’s easy for me to spot it. His shoulders tense and he gets this slightly pained look on his face. His eyes look wary, like he’s a cornered animal.
“Let’s grab some food and head upstairs for a little bit. I feel like I haven’t seen you in weeks. We can catch up,” I say gently and Harry gives me a grateful smile.
“Sounds perfect,” he says as his hand lands on my back and he starts to steer me over to the buffet tables.
I catch a few people giving us some weird stares. Most are curious but I catch a few of the single women giving me dirty looks. I try to put some distance between Harry and myself but he only tugs me back, a little bit closer than I was before.
We make our way down the tables with Harry not even bothering asking me which food I like. He already knows and my mouth starts to water as I watch him pile more and more of the delicious looking food onto a plate. By the time we’re done, it looks like a small mountain.
I leave him to finish grabbing the food and head over to the refreshment area, snagging us two bottles of water and some extra napkins. I’m about to head back to Harry when someone sidles up to my side.
I look over, taking in the young man leaning against the bar next to me. He’s giving me a charming grin and I smile back at him. Then his eyes drop to my plumped up breasts wrapped tight in the yellow fabric of my dress and I let my smile drop, rolling my eyes as I tighten my grip on the water bottles and turn to leave.
“Eyes off her, Grigham. Before I fire you,” a deep voice spits behind me and I jerk around to see Harry glaring daggers at the guy who was just drooling over my breasts.
I try to sidestep the two of them but Harry stops me, wrapping his arm around my waist and tugging me into his side. He gives the guy one more hard warning stares before he leads me away from the ballroom and over to the stairs.
We ignore the rope and sign telling guests to stay downstairs that I spent twenty minutes setting up this morning and with one final look back at the party, Harry leads me up to the second floor.
I could swear that Mrs. Porter has a gleeful smile on her face. She turns before I can get a closer look though, and I’m left staring at the back of her fairy godmother costume.
Chapter 4
Harry
* * *
There are too many people downstairs and I want to be left alone with my Bella. I’ve barely seen her these last few weeks since she’s been so busy with her new company. I know that she thinks that I only hired her so that I could help her out but the truth is that I thought that I would see her more if she was working for me.
Wrong.
She’s been running around making sure that everything tonight is perfect and that means that I’ve actually seen her less than normal. When she suggested grabbing some food and heading upstairs, I had jumped on it, even though I wasn’t really hungry.
I’ve never once regretted not dating more when I was younger or in college. After all, there’s no point in dating other people when you’ve already found your one. I just wish that I knew what to do in this situation. Seeing Bella within ten feet of another guy always has me seeing red and the way that Grigham was leering at her tits makes me want to wring his neck. I briefly debate running back downstairs and firing him but that would mean leaving Bella and I finally have her alone.
How do you woo a woman? I wish that I had closer male friends or that my dad was still alive and I could ask him. Do I take her to my bedroom? No, that seems too forward. Bella has been in my bedroom a million times but it was always to grab something or on one occasion, to take a shower. I remember that time clearly because I had jerked off in that same shower for two weeks, imagining the water running over Bella’s curvy frame.
Maybe my office? It’s up here on the second floor, away from the crowds but I’m sure it’s a mess with papers everywhere. I bite my bottom lip as I debate my options.
When we pass by the closed door, the answer is obvious. I steer her left, heading into the library. It’s always been Bella’s favorite room in the house and it’s quiet and intimate. Perfect for us to hang out in.
The door creaks open, the hinges rusty from disuse and I wince as I close the door, blocking out some of the noise from the party below.
The room is floor to ceiling bookshelves with a few chairs and comfy couches arranged around a coffee table in the middle. I lead Bella over to the couch, dragging the coffee table closer to us as I pass her a fork.
The lights are dim in the library and it makes it feel more intimate. I know that I could get up and turn on some of the lamps, but I like how it feels like it’s just Bella and I here.
“So what’s new?” I ask her as she takes a big bite of a spider web cupcake.
I smile. I knew that she would choose the cupcake first. Bella is a big believer in having dessert first. She finishes the cupcake and grins at me, a small trace of frosting on her bottom lip. I wish that I could lean forward and lick it off for her. I pass her a napkin instead.
“Thanks,” she says, wiping her mouth. “Not a ton new. Gracelyn and I are just trying to find time to plan for all of the Christmas parties that we got hired for. It seems like the end of November and December will be busy for us so that’s good. It’s next year that I’m more worried about. Hopefully we start to book Valentine’s Day events and maybe some wedding stuff soon.”
Bella takes a drink of water before she continues and I smile as I relax against the couch cushions and listen to her sweet voice.
“I feel like I haven’t seen you or Gracelyn for the last few weeks. Gracelyn got hired to do this big Thanksgiving event for some guy named Dash. She can’t stop talking about him and how demanding he is and I know that she’s busy with that. Speaking of Thanksgiving! What are our plans? Are you coming over to my place? Or is Mrs. Porter making something?”