Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11) (14 page)

Harmony had fallen asleep. She wasn’t sure if it was her utterly draining morning, or the rotating ceiling fans that had lulled her into a prone position on the sofa, but she opened her eyes to realize she’d conked out, cold. She picked up her phone to see she’d been out for over an hour.

She sat up and realized she wasn’t the only one snoozing. Barrett was on one of the chairs, his feet propped up on the ottoman, his arms laced over his stomach. His eyes were closed and his breathing was deep and even. She took a moment to simply admire his beautiful body.

Even asleep, he looked formidable. She wanted to snap some photos of him with her phone, but that would be taking advantage without his permission, and she wouldn’t do that. Instead, she leaned back, grabbed her ice water and took a long, slow sip from the straw, enjoying the eye candy. Her mind filled with visuals of stripping
naked and straddling him, rubbing herself against his board shorts until he got hard.

She inhaled a deep breath, imagining him taking hold of her hips, rising up to kiss her. The kiss would be hot, passionate, and he’d fill his hands with her breasts. She could already imagine her breasts rubbing against his chest as he rose up only long enough to shed his board shorts, his cock springing up, hard and pulsing.

He’d sit again, only this time she’d slowly lower herself onto him and—

“Stop that.”

She startled out of her fantasy, snapping her gaze to Barrett, who hadn’t moved but his eyes were now open.

“Stop what?”

“Staring at me like that.”

She swallowed past the dryness in her throat evoked by her oh-so-intense fantasy. “Like what?”

“You know like what.” He pushed upright and grabbed for his water, then leaned forward to take a drink, but not before she caught sight of his erection.

He must have been awake longer than she was aware, and he’d caught her staring at him. Had her expression given away her thoughts?

Her lips curved and she leaned back against the sofa and took a long swallow of water, then set the glass down. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about, so don’t play innocent with me, Harmony. And there’s something I need to talk to you about.”

“Really. And what is that?”

“Your ex-boyfriend.”

“What about him?”

“I think you’re not over him yet, and you’re only interested in me because you need a rebound.”

Men were so clueless sometimes. “Uh, no.”

“Really, I totally understand how that happens. You got dumped and you want to jump right back on board with a new guy. It’s happened to me before.”

Her lips quirked. “You got dumped and wanted to jump right back on board with a new guy?”

“Funny. No. But after a breakup, the first thing I did was get together with a new woman. Like right away. It’s an ego thing. I needed to feel wanted, and there’s no better way to do that than with another person. The first available person.”

“Oh, so you think I latched on to you at Mama’s right after Levon and I broke up, and I’m using you to rebound.”

“Yes.”

“No.”

He let out a sigh. “Harmony.”

“Barrett, I appreciate you looking out for me and all, but I can assure you I didn’t select you as my rebound guy. Frankly, I could have used any random guy to rebound, if that’s what I was after. I mean, look at me. It’s not like I can’t get men.”

He stared at her for a few seconds. “Point taken.”

“Do you think I’d go through this hassle of choosing you with you being so close to my brother if I didn’t really like you? I’d have chosen a different guy to”—she used air quotes around her next word—“rebound.”

He didn’t say anything, and she knew that she had him.

“Your whole notion of me rebounding is idiotic, Barrett. I’d have to be heartbroken to rebound, and, frankly, I wasn’t all that into Levon.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

“I thought you were upset that night.”

“I was upset. No one likes to get dumped. We were seeing each other fairly exclusively, you know? But it wasn’t love or anything.”

“I see.”

She could tell he didn’t see at all. “I’m not a player. I don’t date multiple men. Levon and I had been exclusive for about three months. But I could see the writing on the wall with him well before that night. He had some idiosyncrasies that were beginning to get on my nerves. It was only a matter of time until we broke up.”

“But maybe you wanted to be the one to do the breaking up?”

“Not necessarily. Maybe I wanted it to be more of a mutual thing, where we’d sit down and have a civilized discussion about where we saw our relationship heading, and that we didn’t see eye to eye on a lot of things, so we should probably go our separate ways. What I didn’t expect was his it’s-not-you-it’s-me speech and how he didn’t have time to devote to the relationship so we need to break up bullshit, which wasn’t the case at all. I mean, is it too much to expect an honest conversation from a guy?”

“Of course not. But I can tell you’re still harboring some hostility over him dumping you.”

She stood, irritation rising. “No, I’m not hostile. To be hostile I’d have to care, and trust me, I don’t. What aggravated me was his less than honest way of ending the relationship.”

“Okay, I think I see your point. You wanted him to sit down with you so the two of you could mutually end your relationship with an honest discussion about why it wasn’t working.”

“Yes. That’s it exactly.”

Barrett laughed. “Babe, that’s never going to happen. With any guy. First, because we’re just not wired that way. If we want out of a relationship, we want out fast. So we’re just going to end things, in the least messy way possible—at least that’s the way we figure it
out in our heads. If we have to make up bullshit reasons for it, we will, mainly to spare your feelings.”

She gave him an incredulous look. “Seriously, Barrett? You’re taking his side?”

“I’m not taking anyone’s side. If you ask me, the man was a dick. I usually try to be as honest as possible throughout a relationship and don’t set up a woman with any unrealistic expectations. And when it’s over, it’s over. But I can guarantee you the last damn thing I’m gonna want to do is sit down and have a long-ass conversation with a woman about why it’s over. That tends to lead to accusations and recriminations and tears on the woman’s part. No man wants that. It’s best to just cut the cord and be done with it.”

She stared at him for a few long seconds, then shook her head. “I do not understand your species. At all.”

“Ditto.”

He didn’t seem at all upset, while she wanted to take one of the very colorful decorative pillows on the sofa and throw it right at his damn head.

Deciding she needed a break from men in general, she packed up her things in her bag. “I’m going to the room.”

“Are you hungry?”

She shoved her sunscreen in the bag. “No, I’m not hungry. I’m pissed.”

“Want me to go with you?”

“Oh, hell no. The last thing I want or need right now is you.” She slung her bag over her shoulder. “You can hang out here, or in the water, or at the gym, but honestly, Barrett, I need some space from you for a while.”

He looked confused.

“Okay. Like . . . for how long?”

She rolled her eyes. “Awhile.”

She walked across the sand toward the hotel entrance, shaking her head.

Maybe Barrett was right and she needed some space to think about men in general. Because right now getting involved with any man—Barrett included—seemed like a giant waste of her time.

Men were obtuse, made no sense, and clearly did not care about women’s feelings.

All men.

Okay, so maybe Barrett had gone too far in his discussion with Harmony, but if he’d succeeded in pushing her away, it had been the right thing to do.

Right?

After all, that had been his intent. To make her see that she was possibly attracted to him only because she was on the rebound from her breakup with her ex-boyfriend, and she needed some time to honestly think about what it was that she wanted.

Only now she was pissed at him, and that part he didn’t like.

They’d had fun today. At least after her bout with hypoglycemia this morning, she’d eaten and relaxed and they’d managed to have a good time.

Now he’d gotten her all riled up, and that part he hadn’t intended.

Plus, it didn’t sit well with him that she’d lumped him into the category of “all men are assholes.”

He wasn’t an asshole. He could be brutally honest with a woman at times, and he’d managed to piss off a few, but he’d never lied to a woman in his life and he didn’t intend to start now.

But this was Harmony, and she was . . . different.

He was going to sit here awhile and let her have her space.

Then he was going to try the talking thing again, maybe this time with a touch more tact.

After going up to the room and taking a shower that cooled her down, followed by some quiet time with a great book, Harmony found her mood improved dramatically.

She’d blown up at Barrett for no reason whatsoever. What could have been a highly enlightening conversation on the relationship differences between the sexes had turned into her throwing a tantrum because Barrett refused to see things her way.

That wasn’t how she normally behaved. She was typically levelheaded and saw the other person’s point of view in a discussion. She might not agree with it, but she was always willing to listen.

So what the hell had gotten her so emotional?

She laid her book down and stood, walking over to the balcony to look out over the water.

She knew exactly why. Because he wasn’t playing her game. He was trying to get rid of her and she didn’t like it. She’d flirted with
him, and to a certain extent he’d flirted back, but for the most part, he’d held his ground—rather firmly, much to her frustration.

She might think he wasn’t interested except she knew better. He’d sprouted some rather impressive erections around her. Biology, sure, but a man who wasn’t interested in a woman didn’t get hard around her.

And he’d definitely gotten hard around her. She wasn’t a naïve kid. She was a woman, and a woman knew when a man was interested.

It was just his stupid man code rearing its ugly head. And while she appreciated all that nobility crap and his dedication to her brother, she was going to have to stand firm if she wanted Barrett in her life.

Resolve firmly in place once again, she changed out of her shorts and tank top into a sundress, fixed her hair and applied makeup.

Then she left a note for Barrett and headed downstairs.

Figuring a couple of hours should have been enough time to leave Harmony alone, Barrett made his way up to the room. When he opened the door, he peeked his head in first.

“Harmony?”

No answer. Maybe she was in the shower, so he stepped in and shut the door.

The bathroom door was open and she wasn’t in the room.

Huh. He walked into the room to find a note on the pillow.