#hfthp2

“You ok?” She asked, coming to stand awkwardly by his side. “I’m fine” His frown displayed how unhappy he was to be asked the question. Even so, his eyes raked over her body, taking in every curve the dress showed off. She began to blush under his gaze, “I’m glad you wore something I bought you, instead of one of your ridiculous pantsuits.” “I don’t only own pantsuits.” “Don’t you?” He raised an eyebrow, slowly seeming to relax, “They’re all I’ve ever seen you in.” “So? I’ve only ever seen you in suits. I’m sure you wear something else away from the office.” He only frowned in confusion at her statement. Surely, he didn’t only wear suits. Even Eric must own casual clothes. He couldn’t wear suits to bed.

She was still trying to shake the mental image of just what exactly Eric wore to bed when she heard a cry from behind them. His arm awkwardly snaked around her as he turned them to face a woman who could only be his mother. She was impeccably dressed, a suit that could only be from a designer label, and perfectly tailored to her form. There was a drink in her hand, stable despite the slight shake in her fingers which suggested this was not her first of the night. “Eric, darling, this must be the girl your father was telling me about.” His mother swept her up, giving her a heavily perfumed peck on either cheek, before stepping back to properly admire her. “You have no idea how happy it makes me: to see you with a serious girlfriend. And such a pretty one as well.” Eric’s mother looked up at him with true love in her eyes, it would have melted her heart, had she not known that Eric could not return whatever misguided affection his mother felt. She would never have bought a near stranger into her own mothers’ home just to prove a point. Guilt suddenly washed over her. Eric’s mother was looking at her with such joy as if trying to commit each aspect of her to memory, and it was all a lie, a cruel trick being played on her by her own son. “I think I need a drink.” She had wrenched herself out of Eric’s awkward embrace, all of this lying, just for a job. Was she as bad as he was? “Of course, dear,” Blindly she moved away from Eric and his mother, hearing the beginning of their conversation fading behind her “So how did you meet her?”

The benefit of a fancy party like this was that there was no shortage of alcohol. The drinks were strong and plentiful, leaning against the wall she threw back one, and another was instantly put in her hand. “Steady there. I didn’t know Eric was such a painful date.” She looked up to see an attractive man leaning on the wall next to her. He too was in an expensively tailored suit. Unlike Eric, however, there was something more relaxed about this one, tie hanging lose around his neck, sleeves rolled up to reveal tanned forearms. Where Eric was closed off, uninviting there was something open, albeit cocky, about this man. He offered her his hand, with a pang she realised he was the first person to actually introduce themself to her and not simply treat her as an accessory on Eric’s arm. “I’m Tobais, old family friend of Eric’s, fellow prisoner at the holiday celebrations.” She accepted his hand gratefully, enjoying the flirtatious tone in his voice.

“Go on then. Drinking like that I can’t imagine you’re here by choice. How did Eric rope you into this?” He clinked his own drink with hers before throwing it back, “I’m his date. We’ve been dating for a couple of months. Office relationship so we haven’t really told anyone until now.” She gave him the script her and Eric had carefully prepared, “Office part I’ll believe the two of you look more like business partners than a couple. You’ve barely touched him since you arrived. If I was here with a girl who looked like you do I wouldn’t be able to keep my hands off you.” He had stepped in closer now, a hand lifting up to tuck away a lock of her hair. She caught his hand with a playful grin, removing it from her hair, although she certainly didn’t step away. “presumptuous to believe that I would let you.” He grinned at her words, raising his eyebrows slightly. Evidently, Tobias liked to play.

Suddenly she felt a body pressed against her back. Without looking she could feel who it was, eyes having already taken in every curve of this frustratingly taught body. She could feel Eric’s glare over her head, confirming what Tobias’s flirtation had already made her suspect. Their families may be friends but Tobias and Eric were not.

“Congrats Coulter, she’s much too good for you,” Tobias told him, an amused grin spreading across his face. She wiggled, trying to remove herself from Eric’s body, and the way it was making her stomach turn. He only held on tighter, securing her against him, as if trying to protect her from the harmless man in front of them. “What’s that supposed to mean.” “I mean she deserves a… lover” Once again Tobias’s eyes raked over her, “Not a business partner.” “What…” As fast as she could she reached back to silence Eric, preventing him from saying something that would get them both in trouble. With no sight to aim for and little room to move, however, she ended up grabbing his thigh. It had the desired effect of silencing, the low hiss he emitted, however, nearly made the breath catch in her own throat. “Tobias was just telling me how he struggles to comprehend a couple not partaking in PDA.” Quickly releasing his thigh, she resisted the urge to wipe her hand on her dress, “I was just telling him that unlike other couples we save our intimacy for intimate moments.”

Tobias let out a sarcastic scoff before giving Eric the once over “Coulter, always a pleasure.” His eyes drifted to her one last time, “I’ll see you around.” She only nodded in response, lightly biting her lip at the heat in his gaze. As soon as he was out of sight Eric released her, seeming to all but push her away. “Stay away from Tobias, he’s dangerous. If he caught onto what we were doing he’d have no qualms in using it against me.” What exactly had transpired between Eric and Tobias, she wondered, whatever it was it had left no shortage of bad blood. Eric, evidently, had wronged the other man in some visceral way. “I don’t think we have to worry about him. He was just enjoying meeting a like-minded person at this party.” Someone under the age of fifty he didn’t hate. “What about you, did you enjoy his company more than the others at this party?” There was a hint of jealousy in Eric’s voice that gave her pause. Apparently, Eric could not stand to share even his fake toys. Well, she would not be treated like a possession any longer at this event. “I said I’d help you, I never said I’d enjoy it.” She turned to walk away from him, before she could, however, he reached out, catching her wrist and pulling her back towards him. One hand reached up for her hair, burying his fingers in her hair, where Tobias’s fingers had sat only moments previously. His lips were heavy on her own, possessive and demanding, it left her completely breathless as she pressed herself harder into him, wanting to feel every inch of him against herself, his hard body against her soft one.

All to soon he had pulled away, “What do you think?” He asked smirking, “Enough to convince our friend we want each other?” “Huh…” Was all she could manage, the feeling of his hot lips against her own still lingering.  His smirk grew as his eyes came down to inspect her. He leant forwards to whisper in her hear, hot breath making the hairs their stand on end, “I can always make this enjoyable for you if you want…”

Before she could respond or recover, two women were upon them. Eric’s mother and what she could only assume was one of her friends. “I haven’t seen a display like that in quite some time. Really, Eric, I know this is new but you could maintain some more control at an event like this.” His mother was looking at her with disproval now, evidently worried she had captured her son with something other than good, family values. “I don’t mind it at all, good to see some passion at these events, Lord knows I don’t get enough of it. You must tell us the story of how you met if current interactions are anything to go off it must be quite the tale.” The friend was standing by her side now, giving Eric’s mother a warning glance.

“Nothing quite so exciting I’m afraid. We started at work around the same time. We met by working together. Respect and other feelings came much later.” She hoped these words would reassure Eric’s mother, and she certainly did seem calmer, taking her son’s arm into her own. “The story you should here is the one Eric was telling me earlier, about the moment he first knew he was in love with her.” She was looking proudly up at her son now, “Mother…” There was a warning in his voice that cemented her need to know what exactly she was talking about, “I don’t think Eric’s ever told me this story. When exactly did you know you were in love with me.” He gave you a withering look which you ignored, turning to his mother, knowing she would be your best hope of hearing the story he had made up. “He told me it was on the Jackson case…” She remembered that case, evidently Eric was following his own advice of trying to keep his stories as truthful as possible. That had been early on in their work, the first case where she had bested him, finding a flaw he and everyone else at the company had overlooked. Of course, solving it had involved sneaking into his desk and stealing the 

file. She had thought he might kill her when she handed her solution into their bosses. She’d savoured that look ever since. “Apparently the two of them were rather competitive. He said he’d never seen such a masterful solution, that he’d never seen such a brilliant mind in his life.” “Mother.” Eric had gone bright red now, a nice touch she thought. “I don’t think I worded it exactly like that.” “You did. Don’t be embarrassed Eric, it’s a sweet story.” Turning back to her friend she continued. “He told me he knew in that moment this was the women who would push him to be better, would make him the best version of himself. Is that not the sweetest thing you ever heard?” She felt her heart stop. She knew it was just a tale, a story he had weaved to make his mother believe they were together, even so, it was exactly what she had always hoped a man might one day say about her. “I think you’ve said enough mother.” Eric reached out, grabbing her hand and pulling her away from his mother and her stories.  

“Well, you weave a believable story I’ll tell you that.” She joked, trying to hide just how hot her skin was once again feeling. “Sure.” He told her, refusing to meet her eyes, “Great story.” Eyes searching around the room he pulled at his tie, frustration all over his face. “Room full of Alcoholics and I still can’t seem to get a damn drink”