Page 27 of Sweet Harmony

He gulped downthe rest of his water. He’d found it hard to make friends inHarmony Falls, but whose fault was that? He made no effort. Theguys on his ball team had invited him for drinks after games howmany times, and he always said no. The idea of belonging to a teamagain, of thinking that playing ball once a week was for anythingmore than exercise, made him feel a little anxious.

Now thatyou’re with Kira, you’re gonna need to be a lot more social. Shesounds like a damn social butterfly.

Not to mentionthat if they were gonna make Daniel jealous, they needed to be seentogether around him and other people. Of course, Daniel seemedpretty comfortable just walking into her house. He scowled, a weirdpart of him a little pissed that Daniel walked into Kira’s placelike he had the right.

He’d seenDaniel walking up the driveway and had immediately turned and goneback to Kira. He hadn’t needed to kiss her again, but she’d stillbeen sitting on the counter, her mouth swollen and her nipples hardagainst her bra. He couldn’t resist. Besides, it had been aneffective way to announce their fake relationship to Daniel andstart them down the path to making him jealous.

Yeah, exceptyou weren’t supposed to do that for a couple of weeks, remember?Kira might have promised she’d go to the wedding with you, butshe’s been in love with Daniel for years. The minute he goes afterher, she’ll back out of your arrangement.

He grimacedagain. Fuck, he’d screwed up, and he could only hope that Kira kepther word. If she didn’t, well… there was always the option ofcoming down with a bad case of food poisoning right before thewedding.

Lucas returnedand sat down again. Before he could grill him anymore about Kira,Connor said, “So, how’s work going?”

“Busy,” Lucassaid. “The company has exploded ever since Shadow Dragons went tonumber one. We’re expanding operations. The boss is looking for abuilding in Harmony Falls.”

“Sorry, what?”Connor blinked at him. “He’s starting up a company in HarmonyFalls?”

Lucas nodded.“Yeah. I mean, it’s the same company, just a second location.”

“But whyHarmony Falls?”

“Apparently hehad some connection to this place when he was a kid. I dunno. Theguy’s close-mouthed as shit about his personal life. He wants me tobe the head developer at the second location.”

Connor’s mouthdropped open. “You’re moving to Harmony Falls?”

“Thinking aboutit.”

“Seriously? Youswore when you moved to New Cassel that you’d never live in a smalltown again.”

“Yeah, I know.But,” Lucas traced a finger over the chipped table top, “big cityliving isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Anyway, I haven’t acceptedthe position yet, but it is a promotion and a pay raise, so I’d bean idiot not to do it.”

Connor grinnedat him. “Who knew that all those years of playing video games inyour basement would lead to this, huh?”

Lucas rolledhis eyes. “Dude, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’tplay video games, I design them.”

“I know,”Connor said. “Listen, for what it’s worth, Harmony Falls is a greatlittle town and I’m full on team ‘Lucas moves here’.”

“Thanks, man.Listen, keep this under your hat for now, okay? My boss hasn’tfound a building yet and not everyone in the company knows thathe’s expanding.”

“Yeah,okay.”

“Anyway,” Lucaschecked his watch, “I’d better get on the road. I told Ma I’d bethere by two and she’ll kick my ass if I’m late. If I get thechance, I’ll stop in on my way back on Sunday, okay?”

“Sure. Say hito your mom for me.”

“I will.”

Chapter Five

Kira wassitting on the porch swing when he parked in the driveway. Heclimbed out of the car and headed toward the steps. Daffodils werepoking their way through the dark earth in the flower beds in frontof the porch, their bright green leaves unfurled to soak in theearly evening rays and their yellow heads nodding in thebreeze.

He’d textedKira just before his final appointment and once he was finished forthe day, he’d gone home and eaten a quick sandwich and changed hisclothes before driving over. He climbed the porch stairs and, aftera moment’s hesitation, chose the Adirondack chair to the right ofher, rather than sitting in the swing beside her. Being that closeto her was… dangerous.

On the driveover, he’d decided the smart thing to do was to keep his distancefrom Kira. Yeah, he wanted her, and she obviously was attracted tohim, but she’d made it clear that she only wanted to sleep withDaniel. If he kept touching her, kept kissing her, he’d end uptrying to seduce her into his bed and that made him a totaldickhead.

“I’m so sorryabout this morning.” Kira wouldn’t look at him. “My brother is abit… overprotective.”

“It’s fine,” hesaid.

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