Tiffany:
Shock. That was a word I could use. Shock. When I saw him, I thought I was hallucinating. I mean, how often had I fantasized about Harry swooping in and kissing me like that? And the reality… wow. The reality was far, far better than my imagination could conjure, and as an only child, I have one hell of an imagination.
Even now, as he held my hand and walked around the carnival with me, talking excessively about nothing, I still wondered if this was all real.
“Are you sure you’re not hungry?” Harry asked for the millionth time.
“I’m not hungry. But if you’re hungry—”
“I’m not hungry.” He smiled, and his gaze fell to my lips. I wondered if he would kiss me again. He didn’t. Maybe that was a good thing. Thinking about his lips on mine made my head spin. “How about a game?” He looked around at the attractions that were colorful under the white lights.
“Sure, anything you want.”
Harry gave my hand a squeeze. “You pick.”
I scanned the attractions. Ring toss was impossible with those light weight hoops. The milk cans were too heavy to knock down with a whiffle ball. The balloons in the darts were too small and rarely popped. Just then, my gaze caught a winner. The water gun race. “That one!”
We walked over to the game and claimed the last two seats.
“All right! Last two players are here. Time to put down your money, and aim your gun at the mouth of your clown. First person to have their duck cross the finish line wins.”
I crouched down and closed one eye, making sure my gun was perfectly aligned with my bullseye. A buzzer rang, and water started to shoot out of the nozzle. I didn't look left or right to see who was where, just focused on my bullseye until I heard ringing bells.
“And the winner is… lucky thirteen!”
I looked up at Harry’s number, assuming he had won. It was fourteen.
“All right, little lady, would you like the cow or the pig?” He held two stuffed animals in front of me.
“I want the frog,” I said, pointing to the giant frog that loomed at the top, his sideways crown looking like he’d seen a lot of carnie days.
“You need to win three times in a row to get the frog,” the guy said, pushing the pig and the cow back in my face. I glared at him.
“I think she just accepted your challenge.” Harry laughed. “The lady wants to go home with the frog.”
“Put your money where your mouth is, but I only begin the race when all the seats are full,” the guy said as new people were already sitting down.
“Fine, we’ll wait until all the seats are full.” Harry pulled out a five dollar bill and laid it on the table.
“I thought you gave everything you had to my sorority.”
“Oh!” Harry laughed. “Natalie gave me my money back. Said the grand gesture was worth more, and if I really wanted to help with the fundraiser, I could send her a check.”
I shook my head. “That sounds like Natalie.”
“Yeah, she’s not nearly as difficult as Brit.”
I sighed. If only those two could somehow put their differences aside I might be able to enjoy tonight a tad more. “Brit isn’t as bad as you make her out to be. In fact, she’s warm and fuzzy once you get to know her.”
“I know. She’s the one that knocked some sense into me.”
“How so?”
“She came to see me.”
I blinked at him in shock. “She came to see you?”
Harry laughed. “Yes, and she was very convincing that the two of us belonged together.”
Now I knew I was dreaming. I couldn’t live in a world where Harry kissed me and Brit was all #TeamHarry. That was too good to be true.
“And you know what else?” Harry leaned forward and wrapped a lock of my hair around his finger the way he had all those months ago when I first had the desire to kiss him.
My gaze dropped to his lips, watching how his mouth slightly parted and the tip of his tongue peeked out and licked his full bottom lip. “What else?”
“I am so glad that she did.” His lips were against mine, and my hands released the water gun handle and rested on his shoulder.
I felt the fireworks that he had given me back in the booth reignite and burst all over my body, my heart jittery with the excitement that even the gentlest of his kisses could produce. The worker announced that the game was on, the buzzer only confirming the race had begun without us. I didn't care. I didn’t need that frog. Not when I was already kissing a prince.
An hour later, Harry walked me to my residence hall, and we plopped on the bench outside. Pretty much the whole university was at the carnival, so we had the place to ourselves. I was munching on cotton candy, stuffing it into my mouth in heaping amounts because it distracted me from what I’d rather be doing with my mouth.
I glanced over at Harry and noticed he was staring at me, smiling. “What?” I said with a mouthful of pink fluff.
“You said you weren’t hungry.”
“I’m not. It’s addicting. Want some?” I lifted the half eaten cone up to him.
“I do.” He leaned over, but instead of taking a bite out of the candy, he slowly licked the corner of my mouth.
I pressed my knees together at his insanely erotic gesture as the rush of warmth radiated down between my thighs. I think sex with Harry Archer might just kill me. His lips moved over to mine, and the slower he kissed me, the harder my heart pumped wildly in my chest.
“I’m sorry I hurt you, Tiff,” he whispered tenderly between kisses.
“It’s okay… just keep apologizing.” I looped my arms around his neck, slamming my mouth against his, taking breaths in between moments of deep forgiveness.
Harry laughed. “It’s hard to resist kissing you when you taste so damn sweet.”
“Then don’t resist,” I said breathlessly as I crushed my mouth against his.
Harry groaned and sucked in a deep breath.
“Yeah, wrong words to say to an addict.” His hand was around my neck, and I could tell he was battling inside. He rested his forehead against mine and slowed down his breathing. “I’m trying to do right by you, okay?”
“What does that mean?”
“It means I want to show you that I can be a man you can count on and trust, so part of that means we gotta take this slow, okay? I can’t rush into this.”
I felt my body start to shake. He was so damn confusing the way he ran hot and cold. I got up and slammed the remainder of the cotton candy into the garbage, pacing in front of him like a wild animal. “Rush into this? Harry, you’ve kept me on the back burner for seven months, and now you show up, kissing me and being all crazy romantic, and you want to walk away again! I’m not a damn yo-yo! Is it commitment? Does the thought of only being with me freak you out? What? What is it?”
He was by my side in a heartbeat, taking my hands in his and bending his knees so I’d be eye level with him. I started to pull my hands away, but he only held on tighter.
“You know when I was first sent to rehab, I went through some nasty withdrawal. Felt like my skin was crawling. I’d argue with anyone that crossed my path and that was just my charming personality. When I was at my peak of paranoia, my body turned on me. My muscles felt like they were torn to shreds. Everything hurt. Then, when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, it did. My body flipped itself inside out trying to rid itself of the toxins. The whole time, all I could think about was if I just had a taste, I’d feel better. It’s a good thing I was locked up, too, because I wouldn’t have made it.”
He had never spoken about this before, and although I desperately wanted to understand every nuance about Harry Archer, I couldn’t grasp why he was going there now. “How long were you like that?” I asked, not knowing what else to say.
“The worst parts lasted about five days. After that, it started to get easier. The second time I went in, I only went through three days of hell.” Harry shrugged. “I wasn’t in as deep, I suppose.”
Still not sure what the correct response would be, I remained quiet.
“The thing is, I always thought going through that were the hardest days of my life. My mind betrayed me, my body raged a war inside me. It was pure hell, Tiff.” He let go of my hands and ran his fingers through his hair. He still had more to say, I could feel it. He raised his gaze to meet mine. “I want you, Tiffany. I want you, and having that desire makes me feel weak.”
“Harry, I—” Taking a step closer, he raised his hand to stop me.
“You make me weak when I want to be strong. I can’t rush into this, not if I’m to be the man you deserve. The man you need me to be. I need to take this relationship in steps, like I do with everything else.” Disappointment must have flickered in my eyes for Harry quickly added, “Don’t think for a second that there’s anyone else. There’s only you, and if I do this right, then maybe I’ll be enough for you, too.”
“Enough?” I was shaking. “You’re all I’ve ever wanted.” I pulled the collar of my tank down so he could see.
“You’re still wearing it?” Harry lifted the anchor between his fingers. “Even after what I did to you?”
“You broke my heart, but that didn’t mean I stopped caring about you.”
“Oh, Tiff.” He kissed me then, a tender kiss that pulled the pain right out of my body, replacing it with intoxicating bliss. In that moment, the door he had kept shut all those months was now flung wide open, the light of new possibility pouring in. He was the cure to the poison my heart had soaked in over the past few weeks. And as he kissed me, I was finally able to heal.
Harry drove me to work the next day, and although I wanted him to stay, he thought he may be a distraction. He was right. Now having had his lips on mine, they were all I could think about. So when he kissed me good-bye, I felt my body melt against his and absorb every second of his kiss. Harry’s hands rested on my waist, his lips teasing mine as he would pull away, whisper goodbye, and then press them against mine once more. This went on for a while, and I lost all track of where we were and why he had to leave me. Our sweet kiss was quickly turning into a lust demon we couldn’t control.
Harry, being the responsible one, pulled his mouth away first. “Okay, you go in there and do the work thing, I’ll pick you up at eleven and drive you home.”
I nodded, trying so hard to look him in the eye and not stare hungrily at his mouth.
“This time, I’m really leaving.” His lips pressed against mine once more as he gave my hips a squeeze. “Bye.” Letting go of my waist, he turned before I could argue with him.
My hands reached up to my mouth as my fingers explored my lips. They were a little swollen, not that I was complaining. He had promised to pick me up after work and drive me home. I couldn’t help but smile at the realization that Harry was acting like a boyfriend. Dropping me off, picking me up, and making sure I was safe because now he felt my safety was his responsibility. It was enough to flood my body with endorphins, and as I stepped into the Den, I was pretty sure cartoon birds were singing around my head.
“Do my eyes deceive me or did that boy kiss you good-bye?” Iris asked as she watched Harry through the window walk to his jeep, which was parked across the street.
I didn’t answer, instead grinned ear to ear, and nodded while I pressed my hands against the window to catch a glimpse of him climbing into his jeep and then driving away.
When he was out of sight, Iris pinched my waist. “Well! Spill it!”
“We’re together.” The words came out like a squeal, and I realized that all my friends had witnessed the infamous union of Harry and Tiffany last night, meaning Iris would be the first person that I actually recounted the story to. Iris walked over to the door in a hurry, her skirts swishing behind her. Once locked, she spun around, her eyes alive with mischief.
“I can see that you’re together, but I want details—all of them. Now, the bar is stocked, the ice bucket is full, and the drawer is counted. I don’t need to unlock that door for another thirty minutes so you better pull up a stool and tell me how you two went from not speaking to him pressing you against the door and kissing you like he was a soldier going off to war.”
I recalled the sensation of Harry pressing me against the wood of the door to kiss me good-bye, and I felt woozy. Pulling out a stool, I sat down while Iris went around the bar and poured two glasses of water over ice.
She placed a coaster in front of me and then the cold water. “Here. Looks like you need it.”
Grateful, I drank a few gulps then told her my story. Everything from the kissing booth to him getting advice from Brit of all people to the rest of our night to him dropping me off at work.
“Well, when you two get hitched you be sure to invite me. After all, you did meet in my bar.”
I glanced over at the stool Harry used to always sit on when he came in with his friends. “Captain Jack,” I said, still in disbelief that my crush was now my boyfriend.
“Captain Jack,” she repeated and clinked her glass with mine.
On Tuesday night, Harry returned to the dance studio, and I was thrilled to have a partner again. When Harry walked in, I noticed he had brought two roses with him. He walked over to Miss Margery and presented her with a flower. “I apologize for my absence. I look forward to tonight’s class.”
Ms. Margery eyed him with caution, then took the rose and gave him a curt nod. “Welcome back, Mr. Archer.”
He hung up his coat then crossed the floor to me, rose in hand. “I’m sorry for not being here. I promise you won’t be dancing alone anymore.”
I took the rose and smiled then placed it with my belongings before getting in place.
Ms. Margery crossed the floor to the center of the room, her red skirts flowing behind her. She was in a black leotard, and her hair was pulled back in a low side bun with a flower barrette. “Welcome once more to our class. Tonight is the dance a lot of you have been waiting for. Tonight… we Tango.”
“Like in the Addams Family,” Harry whispered, and I shushed him.
“The Tango is an emotional dance. We are sensual beings by nature, so ladies, explore this side of you. Be uninhibited. Gentlemen, you must learn the art of self-control as she guides you through the twists and turns of temptation.” Everyone giggled but Harry, and I was afraid to even look at him. “Be warned in this dance you must gaze into each other’s eyes, and sometimes the eyes say so much more than the lips. All right.” She clapped her hands. “Let’s have some fun.” The music began, and Ms. Margery showed us the steps. Harry looked as though he were concentrating so I wasn’t surprised when she told us it was our turn, and Harry fell effortlessly into the rhythm.
“Why, Mr. Archer, I do believe you’re trying to seduce me.”
“Don’t distract me. It takes a lot of work to look like I know what I’m doing.”
I laughed. “You’re doing very well.”
“Excellent, Mr. Archer.” Ms. Margery cut in and pulled him away from me. “Watch his feet, everyone. He is the lead, and so he shows me where to go.”
Harry was bright red, clearly he was not prepared to have Ms. Margery sweep him off his feet.
“Remember to look into my eyes,” she said, and I had to turn my head for fear I might burst out laughing. The music ended, and Ms. Margery curtsied as we all applauded. “Bravo!” she said. “All right, again from the top.”
Harry took me once more in his arms, his cheeks still flushed.
“I’m not sure I can compete with that.” I giggled.
“Glad I can amuse you.” He looked into my eyes, and I wondered how it was possible to fall in love with him over and over again.