Page 13 of Beautiful Harmony

“I appreciate the rescue,” she said, “but I’m also not cool with you being arrested for assault. So, until you calm down, we’re not leaving this room.”

He glared at her before running his hands through his hair. “Fuck this fucking day.”

“Tell me what else is wrong,” she said.

“Nothing,” he muttered.

“Lucas,” she said.

He sighed. “I have a bad headache, and I fucking suck at knitting, and I’ll never be able to finish her -”

He bit off what he was going to say, his face twisting and sorrow landing on it with an almost audible thump. An undeniable instinct to comfort him pushed Emma forward to wrap her arms around Lucas’s shoulders.

He immediately slid his arms around her waist and buried his face in her throat. She rubbed his back, staying quiet as his warm breath tickled her skin. When his body stopped vibrating and the tension had leaked out of him, she said, “I’m sorry you’re having a bad day.”

“Thanks,” he said, his voice muffled.

His lips moving against her throat sent more familiar but ultimately useless sensations skittering across her skin. She stepped away from him, clearing her throat as Lucas rubbed at his temples again. “Sorry for freaking out.”

“It’s fine,” she said. An awkward silence descended, and anxious to dispel it, she said, “And you’re doing fine with knitting. You can’t expect to be perfect at it the first time you try.”

He laughed a little bitterly. “I suck, and we both know it. I can barely remember how to do a knit stitch even though I’ve been doing it repeatedly for the last two hours, and my tension is….”

He sighed in annoyance. “I thought knitting was supposed to be relaxing.”

“Learning in a group environment can be tough,” she said. “I’m happy to give you one-on-one lessons if you want?”

“Really? You wouldn’t mind?”

“You know I don’t,” she said. “We can do another lesson after our gaming thing on Friday.”

“Okay,” he said. “Thanks, Emma, I appreciate it.”

“You’re welcome,” she said. “Thanks for coming to my rescue with that douchebag Brendan.”

He studied her, his hazel eyes back to their usual colour. God, she loved those pretty little flecks of green in them.

“I know you can take care of yourself,” he said.

“I can,” she said, “but it doesn’t mean I don’t appreciate the chivalry.”

His crooked grin set off the butterflies in her stomach. “Are you sure you’re okay, Emma?”

“Just fine,” she said.

She forgot to breathe when Lucas stared at her mouth and said, “When I saw how he’d penned you in, how he was trying to intimidate you, I wanted to fucking kill him.”

Her voice unsteady, she said, “I was getting ready to kick him in the balls when you showed up.”

His familiar easy-going Lucas grin appeared, and some of the tension she felt for his emotional state eased. “Now I’m kind of pissed that I stepped in when I did. I’d pay good money to see that.”

His gaze roamed over her face, and she turned her head so her left cheek was hidden. A frown flickered across his face before he traced a finger down her right cheek. Goosebumps covered her skin when his gaze dropped to her mouth again.

“Emma,” he rasped, “I -”

“Emma?” Cora pushed open the door, and Emma stumbled away from Lucas, clearing her throat and willing herself not to blush.

“Hey, what’s up?”

---