-----------------------------------------------------------

This had been the strangest week of my life.

Actually, no. That was a lie. This had been the strangest 13 days of my life. The minute that Liv had left me stranded in that bar had turned my normally relatively tame life into a whirlwind of random boys, tanking marriages, and lots and lots of tequila.

Which I guess is what I had to thank for my brand new job.

Three days after I’d been fired from McNally and Sons LLC, I’d received a phone call from the financial team that handled One Direction’s latest tour. They were needing to replace a traveling accountant for some unforeseen reason and someone (Harry) had told them that I would be perfect for the job. I didn’t have to worry about showing up for an interview, they’d told me. If I wanted the job, it was mine.

I guess knowing Harry Styles was good for something.

I told them I would consider the very generous offer, hung up the phone, and immediately called Liv. I didn’t want to throw myself into a situation without thinking it through first. I’d done that enough times in my early 20’s to know that it usually only ended in disaster. Liv had listened to the offer, asking first for my concerns and then for my reasons for wanting to go. And only after I had worked through my thoughts out loud did she offer her opinion.

“You’re single, you have no kids, nothing that’s tying you to this place, Logan.” She had offered quietly. “You need a job and I don’t see this kind of opportunity coming up again. Not only do you get to do what you went to school for, but you get to travel the world and see things we’ve only dreamed about. Sure, it might get old after awhile or you might get tired of having to put up with the parties and the long days. But when that happens, or if that happens, you can come home.”

And that was when we’d both decided that this tour might just be the best thing for me. (Part of me thought that Liv was all for it because it would give her somewhere to escape to, but even then, I knew I was going.)

And now here I am. A week into my new job, somewhere in middle America. It really is so easy to forget where you are when you’re barely there for a day or two. All the cities start blending together, and you remember places by the things you did there, and not the actual place itself. It was also a week into me doing everything I could to spend as little time around Harry as possible. I didn’t want to discuss my drunk text and I knew it would come up sooner or later.

“You can’t avoid me forever you know. I’m on to you.”

Apparently, it was coming up sooner.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” I lied. Standing behind the long plastic table set up for the upcoming autograph session, I let out a deep breath. I had been hoping to get into the room, gather the things that I needed, and get back out before anyone (Harry) joined me. Pulling out a schedule of that day’s events from the right front pocket of my dress, I mentally kicked myself. I had been certain the meet & greet wasn’t scheduled to start until 4 PM. And since it was only 1:30 PM, I had plenty of time.

Which would have been true if the meet & greet was actually scheduled to start at 4 PM. Clear as day, the schedule said 2 PM, a fact I noticed as the rest of the band filtered in and the guards went about double checking the security in the room.

“You don’t want to talk about the fact that you called me sexy.” Cheeky son of a bitch. I could hear the humor in his voice. Dancing and teasing me with every syllable.

“I was drunk, poptart.” I rolled my eyes, not daring enough to look at him just yet.

“You were so drunk.” He agreed. “In fact,” he continued. “My bet is that if I’d played along, you probably would have done anything I told you to. You weren’t just drunk, sweetheart. You were drunk and horny.” I flicked my gaze up to his, shocked at the fact that he was taking this conversation in that direction here. He bit the bottom of his lip. “You called me sexy.”

I squared my shoulders and narrowed my gaze. “And just what would you have told me to do? If you played along, I mean.”

“First thing?” He appeared to contemplate the question seriously. Lowering his voice, he leaned in closer. “Take off all your clothes. That’s the first thing I would have told you to do.” He pulled out the chair in front of him and sank down into the seat. I shifted from one foot to the other, my mind reeling.

“Well, I was with Liv, so I’m not sure stripping right then and there is something I would have done anyway.” He didn’t say anything, he just stared. His green eyes were twinkling with humor and then I knew. “No, you’re right.” I admitted. “I would have. Liv or no Liv.”

I heard him take in a shallow breath, obviously not expecting me to admit it.

Pulling out the chair in between Harry and Zayn, I plopped down on the cold, hard plastic. I reached down by my ankle, searched through my leather work bag, and fished out a stack of receipts from each of the boys. One of my duties was collecting their weekly receipts and uploading the information to an Excel spreadsheet. And once that was done, I had the insane task of trying to decipher whether or not the receipts were valid for tax purposes.

“Before we continue this conversation, where are your receipts for this week?” I asked.

The lady who held this position before me had collected the receipts once a month. A week on the job and I changed that rule quick. These boys could lose just about anything in that large of a time frame. Including their dignity.

“Probably in the stores where I bought stuff.” He shrugged his broad shoulders. “I’m shit at keeping up with things.” He glanced over, the grin on his lips widening. I could tell his mind was still on our previous talk, the way his eyes kept traveling from my eyes to my throat to my chest, down to my waist and back up again. I was thankful I’d thrown on a form fitting sundress, instead of a baggy tee and shorts, the way his eyes kept undressing me.

Our thoughts were interrupted by the sound of laughter and nervous chatter. A couple of groups of radio contest winners were starting to filter into the meet & greet room, sectioned off behind a rope. The boys would wave at them every so often, sitting behind the table at the other end of the space. Zayn and Liam were huddled together on my right side, deep in conversation about some twins they’d met at a nightclub the other night. Niall was seated on Harry’s left, loudly arguing with someone on the phone about which footballer was better at their job. I had seen Louis sneak in with his mouse of a girlfriend earlier, but neither of them sat at his end of the table.

Harry draped his right arm over the back of my chair, casually pulling it closer to his.

“Can we stop talking about receipts and start talking about what else you would have done the other night?” His breath was warm on the side of my neck as he voiced his request. I nervously twisted my head to my right, hoping that he’d been quiet enough no one else could hear.

It was one thing letting Harry know I found him sexually appealing.

It was another thing letting anyone else know.

“What else would you have told me to do the other night?” I asked, flipping through the papers in front of me. I had no idea what was on them, I was just trying to look busy to anyone who bothered to look.

“You have fantastic tits.” His eyes zeroed in on my chest. “I would have told you to put your hands on them and imagine it was my skin feeling you up.” He leaned towards the table, reaching over Niall to grab a handful of Sharpies. He was as good at hiding our conversation as I was.

Except that I was certain anyone within ten feet of me could hear how fast my heart was beating with every new word he uttered.

I scooted my chair back slightly, just enough to bend over at the waist and pretend to rummage through my bag again. My right hand was busy rustling through paper; my left hand, shielded by Harry’s body, gravitated towards my chest. Before I even knew what I was doing, my fingers were squeezing my breast, the weight of my skin filling my palm.

And just like he told me to, I imagined it was Harry’s hand making my skin tingle through the fabric of my dress. He might have said my breasts were fantastic, but they weren’t large. In fact, they bordered on the smaller side of the scale, but they were perky and I never complained. If they’d been any larger, I wouldn’t have been able to comfortably wear a dress without a bra like I was today. Which only made the movements of my fingers feel even more electric.

I closed my eyes and forgot where I was sitting, or the fact that I wasn’t alone. Until I felt my hand being pushed off my chest by calloused fingers that most definitely belonged to a man. I let my left arm fall towards the bag resting at my feet, where my right hand was still acting as if it was searching for something it just couldn’t find.

Two rough fingers dipped under the cotton covering my breast, brushing my nipple and causing my breath to stop in my throat. Hooking the fabric on his fingers, Harry pulled down and let out a low groan as my bare breast popped out of my dress and into his large hand. Neither of us moved. We sat still for several seconds, waiting to see if anyone noticed what was happening right in front of them.

When everyone continued on as they had been before, Harry’s fingers began to move. Slowly at first, contracting just enough to slightly press into my skin. Before long his touch became more frantic, and when his thumb and index finger reached out and pinched my nipple hard, I let out a squeak of surprise.

A louder squeak than I intended.

“Logan, are you alright?” I heard Liam’s concerned voice and tried to take several calming breaths. Harry withdrew his hand instantly, leaving me to awkwardly reach up and tuck myself back into my dress before anyone noticed. Snatching a pen from the bottom of my bag, I pulled it, and myself, up and nodded in Liam’s direction.

“Just finally found what I was looking for.” I held up the pen, confident that my cheeks were a surprising shade of pink. The confused look on Liam and Zayn’s face only confirmed my suspicion.

They didn’t believe me at all.

-----------------------------------------------------------

Notes

This was one of my favorite chapters to write! I'm currently working on the next chapter, and from here on out, adult situations (mostly sexual content) will be present. Just a warning to those who tend not to want to read it.

Hope you love it!