“Sure, I get it. I don’t like people telling me what to do either.”
She tried not to be impressed—and turned on—by the fact that he got her so well. It was hard, though, considering no one ever did—not even Lyric, who knew her better than anyone. But knowing and understanding were two different things, something Dalton was proving with every word that came out of his mouth.
Not that she wanted him to know that, of course. A woman had to have some secrets, and Harmony had spent her life guarding hers.
* * *
Chapter 9
* * *
Dalton had a million things to do, but he just wanted to spend a little more time with Harm. He’d forgotten his phone last night and had meant to just pick it up and leave, but he’d smelled oatmeal cookies baking, and knowing who was behind them had forced him to check it out.
The oatmeal cookies were fantastic, but catching Harm in a bikini was even better than winning the lottery. He’d have loved nothing more than to spend the rest of the day exploring her lush body. She had fuck-me eyes, miles of hair, and legs that went on forever. Legs that he’d love to have wrapped around his waist as he ran is tongue over every single one of her tattoos. And then there were her natural Double D’s. He could spend the rest of the day just on those. He tried not to stare at them, but he was most definitely a boob guy. Then again, around Harmony he was a boob guy, a tattoo guy, a leg guy … or maybe he was just a Harmony guy.
He wasn’t sure how he felt about that. But he was pretty sure he’d like the chance to find out.
“Hey, eyes up here.” Harm dropped the first of this latest batch of donuts into the oil.
“Sorry, they’re just well … so uncovered and so spectacular.” Fuck. That had made so much more sense in his head. “That really sounded bad.”
“Yes, but at least you noticed and acknowledged it. So we’ll just pretend you were talking about the donuts.” She unwrapped two bars of some fancy chocolate that he’d never heard of, crumbled them into a glass bowl, and stuck the bowl in the microwave. “Easy ganache.”
“That’s a lot of ganache just for me.” He wouldn’t mind sharing, especially if sharing meant dunking every part of her in it and then licking it off. Slowly. His gaze went back to her chest before he could help himself, but he caught himself before she busted him again and made sure to look her in the eye.
His phone buzzed with yet another new text. It had been going crazy all morning, and as he pulled it out to check it, he already knew who it was from.
It was from Eleanor, just as the other five billion texts had been. She wanted to know where he was and if he was planning on coming into the office today. He pulled up his calendar. Budget meeting followed by a couple of advertising conference calls, and then there were the hundreds of emails he needed to go through.
He just didn’t feel like messing with it today. He’d never played hooky—not from school and certainly not from work—but this morning, he wanted to hang with Five-Alarm Harm just a little bit longer. He shot off a quick text telling Eleanor he’d be in by eleven, then he did something else he’d never done. He turned off his phone.
Harmony noticed. “Wow. Should I be flattered?”
“By my gentlemanly behavior?”
“Yeah, because staring at a woman’s tits is soooo gentlemanly.” She nodded to his phone. “I get the impression you aren’t a guy who ignores work very often.”
“You know what they say about all work and no play.”
“I don’t.” She leaned against the counter and arched h
er back in a way that somehow displayed her magnificent breasts to even better advantage. “Maybe you should come over here and fill me in.”
He would love to fill her in, and fill her up. But that wasn’t going to happen, not here and not now. Because he really did have to be at work in a couple of hours, and he had a feeling that once he got Harmony into bed he was going to keep her there for days.
“I think I’ll just go ahead and let you work it out for yourself.” He couldn’t resist stepping closer, couldn’t resist running a finger along the top edge of her bikini bottoms.
He liked how soft her skin was, how warm and silky she felt. But he liked even more the way she shivered and the way her breath caught in her throat.
He leaned in a little, close enough that his lips were almost brushing against hers. Her eyes sparked at him just a little, but she didn’t push him away. Just shifted a little so that her stance was even more inviting.
Which, in the end, was why he pulled away when he really wanted nothing more than to feel her mouth beneath his. But Harm thought she was in control here, and that so wasn’t going to fly with him. He liked control too much to give it up, even to her.
Especially to her.
Which was why, when the microwave dinged, he very casually reached past her and pulled out the melted chocolate. “So, got any plans for today?” he asked as he put the bowl on the counter and stepped away.
Harmony stared at him for several long seconds, eyes narrowed and mouth pursed in what he was quickly coming to recognize as her plotting look. Good. He liked that she felt the need to plot around him. It meant she was invested … and that she didn’t quite know what to do with him. Master manipulator that she was, he had a feeling Harmony didn’t meet very many people she couldn’t handle or figure out. He liked that he was one of them.