Guarded By Him (#Wattys2016)

Chapter 2

Rose

After last night I felt sick. I'd never slept with a man I barely knew before, but that wasn't the reason I felt so ashamed. Although I knew that Harry was the type of man who slept around a lot, he didn't seem like most men. He seemed nice. Not nice enough to stay with me after spending an incredible night and morning together but nice, almost caring. Something I wasn't used to.

When we left the hotel and he put his jacket around my shoulders, I felt a surge of gratitude for what he did for me.

For that one night, I forgot. That was until I saw that car, driving slowly around the corner. I knew he was looking for me and I knew what he was going to do to me once he had found me. So I ran.
Harry called out to me but I couldn't stop, not until I was out of sight anyway. I ran through the ally and found myself at the back of the hotel, shielded by another ally and partition walls on either side. My heart was pounding and my blood rushed to my ears. I couldn't hear and I couldn't breath as I sank to the floor and hugged my knees.

I had no idea how long I was sitting there for when Harry appeared from the ally that I had ran to. He came to a halt when he saw me, at that point with tears streaming down my cheeks. I saw his lips move, but he wasn't talking to me, he was muttering something to himself. I'm not a lip reader but in my mind he said 'what a mess, I can't believe I fucked her'. He began walking towards me but stopped about 3 feet away.

"He's gone." His voice was smooth, but it still startled me that he knew why I was hiding. Then something awful hit me.

"You're working for him." My instinct to run kicked in and I shot up and began on a sprint, but within seconds Harry was on me. He caught me by my arms and restrained me as I kicked and pushed, trying anything I could to get out of his grasp.

"Rose!" I stilled at the command laced in my name. It was something I was used to, taking commands and complying.

Harry's grip loosened on my arms then he spun me around so I faced him. A heavy frown was etched on his perfectly formed face.

"I don't work for him." His voice was so soft, almost like he was talking to a child. I searched his face for any indication that he was lying. I didn't see any, so I relaxed slightly. Harry looked to the floor and sighed, his thumbs rubbing soft circles on my arms through his jacket.

"You spoke with him?" I asked, needing to know what happened when I ran. Lifting his head, he looked me in the eye and nodded. Once again I felt sick. What did he say? Did he mention what happened?

"He asked me if I'd seen you." My eyes widened and began to water.

"No. Don't cry. I didn't tell him anything." He swiped the tears that escaped with the backs of his fingers. I took a deep, shaky breath and nodded. His hands found my shoulders then moved to return to my arms, rubbing them lightly. He didn't take his eyes off me once, almost like he was trying to read my mind, to get into my head. For a second I couldn't look away, lost in the ocean blue irises of his eyes.

"We need to get out of here." He pulled out his phone after I nodded. I didn't know where he was going to take me and in all fairness he could have been just as dangerous as Jack, but at that point I didn't care. Something about him made me drawn to him. Like a moth to a flame. It had been that way last night.

I took a seat next to him at the bar after I'd noticed him staring at me and following my body with his eyes all the way to the bar stool. I ordered a whisky and took a sip, careful not to get completely out of my head. From the corner of my eye, I could see him taking in my profile, I felt his gaze on every part of my face. I turned my head to him and smiled then he returned the favour. He had a gorgeous, panty dropping smile that I assumed most women and men got knocked off their feet with. Leaning close to my ear so I could hear him over the sensual beat of the club, he whispered.
"Hi, I'm Harry. What's your name?" His words were slightly slurred, but when he leaned back to take me in, I could see how in control he still was.