Finding Harmony by Jomarie Degioia Page A

was nice when he’d seen her in her
khaki shorts and a camp shirt. But seeing her now in those low-riding shorts
and tiny tank top? Whoa.
    Her shirt rode up to show a flat, sculpted belly begging to
be touched. Her arms and shoulders were as lean and strong as her legs. Her
skin glistened in the moonlight, so smooth he longed to stroke his fingers over
every delectable inch he could see. And several he couldn’t.
    He got hard. He couldn’t help but picture her moving
beneath him and the lust he’d felt in the steam room came screaming back to him.
He sucked in a breath with each of hers, counting to ten as he willed his body
to grow as relaxed as hers obviously was. It wasn’t working fast enough.
    “Harmony,” he said.
    She jerked and sat up, flipping her hair over her shoulder
as she turned toward him. He could feel her apprehension and held up his hand
in a slight wave.
    She blinked and then squinted in his direction. “Oh!” She
seemed embarrassed as she fidgeted on her bottom. “Rick. For a second I thought…
What are you doing here?”
    He stepped closer, looking down at his feet to let her
collect herself. He’d been a jerk to intrude on her solitude. He wouldn’t make
her feel like he was some leering pervert now. He held back a smile. Okay, he’d
leered a little.
    “I heard you lived out here and thought I’d stop by.” Lame. He held up the beer bottles. “You know. To have a drink and hear if the
Institute had anything new.” He managed to smooth his expression. “May I join
you?”
    He waited for her response, watching her face. If Harmony
didn’t completely buy it she didn’t let on. When she blinked and inclined her
head a notch, he knew he was in.

Chapter 6
    Harmony folded her legs and sat cross-legged. She waved him
over. “It’s a beautiful night but I suppose I could use a cold drink.”
    He handed her one of the bottles and sat, his chinos
stretching as he mimicked her position. Nice and comfortable, these pants. He
rested a hand against the dock. It wasn’t made of wood like he’d thought, but
of some kind of recycled plastic planking. He’d seen benches and other things
made of the stuff scattered throughout Cypress Corners. It was smooth against
his palm. No wonder she didn’t mind lying on it.
    As he shifted his knee touched hers but he didn’t pull away.
He noticed she didn’t, either. He wished he had shorts on, too. Even her knees
were sexy.
    He focused on the night air and the sweet scent of the girl
beside him. He shifted again and drank deeply. Looking out at the lake instead
of staring at her seemed to help the need now stretching his comfortable pants.
    “Nice view.”
    His comment hung in the moist air.
    “I don’t know anything new, Rick,” she said at last.
    He shrugged away the tightness in his neck her words caused.
“There’s still time,” he said, more to himself.
    They sat quietly for a few minutes. The lake seemed to
stretch on forever, black at the edges far on the other side. Like that night
at the dockside restaurant, he heard all sorts of sounds from the woods around
them. There was a splash to the left and he glanced at Harmony.
    Her eyes sparkled for a moment as she sipped her beer. She lowered
her bottle and smiled. “Gator.”
    He froze. He didn’t get up and run, which made him feel
pretty good. She didn’t seem worried so he took his cue from her and drank more
of his beer. “I hope he’s not related to last week’s dinner.”
    She laughed softly and he turned toward the lake again. Now
was his chance. To get her on his side and push the Institute to make a decision.
To set aside the lust and the unexpected comfort he felt being next to her and
get her to work with him. He had to get the job done, and damn his own feelings
for the girl standing in his way.
    He turned and flashed his most charming smile. “Tell me about
your work at the Institute.”
    She visibly stilled, then took a sip of her beer. “You want
to know about my