by Jaci Burton
"I did. Already signed them. They're in my car. I meant to bring those inside with me."
"No hurry. But the sooner we get those executed, the sooner we can get started and finished. I know you'd like to move into your house."
He nodded. "The condo's a little tight for me. I'm on the road a lot during the season, but off-season it gets claustrophobic."
"I'm sure it does, big guy like you in a condo."
"Yeah, it wasn't exactly my best move. I should have leased a town house, kind of like what you have here. You have more space than I do."
"I wanted more room than a traditional condo. The town house affords me that. I would have preferred a house, but then there's all that lawn maintenance."
His lips curved. "Not a fan of mowing?"
"I don't mind it, but my business has taken off, and I often have evening and weekend meetings. I'd like a bigger place with space for an office. Maybe sometime down the road I'll opt for the house. Right now, letting the homeowner's association deal with it works for me."
He studied her in her cute little dress and her perfectly manicured turquoise toenails and matching fingernails. She had tiny feet, too, her heels smooth as polished stone.
"I can't imagine you pushing a lawnmower."
She cocked a brow. "Is that right? Who do you think mows the lawn at Mama's house in late summer when you and Drake are out of town at some road game?"
"Don't you have a lawn service?"
She laughed. "Mama would never allow a lawn service. She thinks it's a frivolous expense."
"That sounds like her."
"And with her bad back, she can't handle the mower anymore. So I do it. Which is another reason I didn't buy a house. I have to make the time to do the yard work at Mama's. No way I could find the time to do that at her house and mine."
He made a mental note to mention that to Drake. If Drake could convince Mama Diane to move into a new house, he could wear her down on a lawn service, too.
"You're just a tough girl, aren't you?"
"It's not that hard to mow the lawn, Barrett. Or run a weed whacker. Mama did it for years until her back issues. We Evans girls are made of strong stuff."
"And yet you look tiny and fragile."
She snorted out a laugh. "I also take kickboxing classes, so don't mess with me."
"That sounds like another challenge."
"You might be all big and muscular, but we could go a few rounds. Who knows? I might be able to take you down."
An instant visual of Harmony--naked and sitting on top of him--hammered his brain.
That would be one hell of a takedown. A tangle of limbs, her writhing on top of him, her sweet body undulating as she rode his dick . . .
Goddammit. What was it about this woman--this particular woman--that stirred him up like no other woman had before? He'd never had a problem walking away from a woman. Some were the right woman, and some weren't. And when they weren't, he never looked back.
So what was he still doing here, and why hadn't he left yet? He stared at the now empty bottle of wine on the table.
This was the time. He'd done what he'd been asked to do. They'd shared a meal. Dishes were done. They'd had after-dinner wine and conversation. He could make a polite exit.
"Oh, but speaking of things that maybe I can't do, I was wondering if you'd help me with something while you're here."
So much for his exit. "Sure."
"It's upstairs in my bedroom. Follow me."
She slid off the sofa and he followed her upstairs, careful to stay right next to her so he wouldn't be tempted by visuals of her legs or her butt.
She walked into her bedroom, and he prepared himself for some kind of assault, like her pushing him against the wall and rubbing her body all over him.
He was strong. He could withstand temptation. He'd just tell her no--politely but firmly, while reminding her about his friendship with Drake.
"Okay, so here's the deal," she said, pulling him from his righteous fantasy. "I bought these shutters for the bedroom windows, and I thought I could save on installation costs by doing it myself. The problem is, it's kind of a two-person job because these things are heavy. I was wondering if you'd be willing to give me a hand."
Okay, so no assault. Instead, a home improvement project. He hadn't even been in the vicinity of guessing her motivations.
"Oh. Sure, I can do that."
She grinned. "Awesome. Thanks."
She hadn't stripped down or pushed him against the wall or rubbed her body on his. Instead, she led him into her spare bedroom, where two boxes sat on the bed.
So maybe that seduction fantasy had been all in his head, not hers.
"These are the shutters?" he asked, focusing instead on the task at hand.
"Yes."
He picked up the boxes--she was right, they were heavy. He carted them one by one into her bedroom and laid them on the floor.
In the meantime, she'd grabbed a cordless drill while he unpacked the boxes. Then she disappeared again, and he had no idea where she wanted these. He assumed the two windows on either side of the bed, since that's where they'd seem to fit, but he didn't want to make assumptions, so he started reading the instructions.
When she came back upstairs with a ladder in her hands, he got up and took it from her.
"Jesus, Harmony. I could have gotten that for you."
She lifted her gaze to his. "I don't have the expectation that you're the man and I can't do anything for myself. I planned to install these shutters myself. It's just the windows are higher than I expected, the shutters are heavy and I was a couple hands short."
"You know, I get that you're all female empowered and all that shit, and I have no doubt you can move mountains on your own. But it's still okay to ask for help if you need it."
She arched a brow. "I just did, jackass."
He wasn't insulted. He liked when she got feisty and stood up for herself. It made him like her even more. He didn't enjoy women who were doormats, who let a man walk all over them. Harmony obviously wasn't that woman and he respected her for it.
So he laughed and took the ladder from her. "Okay, let's take down these curtains."
"They let too much light in," she explained.
He set up the ladder against the first window, climbed up and pulled the curtains off the rod, then used the drill to remove the screws. He shoved the screws in his pants pockets and dropped the drapes onto the floor.
"And when I sleep, I want to sleep. Plus, the shutters are prettier."
When he just stared down at her, she quirked a smile. "Okay, I can see you don't care at all about the reasons for the change in window treatments."
"Not so much." He climbed down, kneeled on the floor and broke open the plastic package in the box. He took her hand, flipped it over so her palm was up, and dropped the screws in her hand. "Hold these and follow me."
He picked up the first shutter frame and positioned it against the window.
"Screw."
She handed him a screw and he drilled it in. It went that way for a while, until he had the frame mounted, and then the shutter.
"You make it look easy," she said after he finished the first window.
He smiled at her as he picked up the ladder and moved over to the second window. "I'm a lot bigger than you, so for me it is easy. I can see how this would have been unwieldy for you."
"I can handle most any project around the house. I'm handy with power tools. I hung the drapes myself."
"You did a good job." He took the curtain down and mounted the shutter on the second window. When he was done, he folded the ladder and took a step back so she could inspect his work.
"These shutters are beautiful, just as I envisioned. I don't know what I was thinking putting drapes in here. It was a wrong decision. This is so much better."
"Glad it worked for you."
She closed the shutter louvers and darkened the room. "Perfect. I won't have any trouble falling asleep now."<
br />
"And I won't have to worry about you tossing and turning at night."
She laughed. "Yeah, I can imagine that's going to occupy a large amount of mental space in your head."
He carried the ladder and the tools back downstairs and put them in their places in her neat and orderly garage. She actually had a toolbox out here with more than enough tools to handle any task.
Good for her. He came back into the house.
"So was that another decorating project to deal with you being upset?"
She cocked her head to the side. "A . . . Oh. No. It was actually something I've wanted to do for a while now. I just needed two people to get it done. The painting, however, was definitely a redecorating project. I like to paint or redecorate and it helps me think and work through problems."
He kind of had an idea where this was going. "Problems like ex-boyfriends?"
"Maybe something like that."
"Gotcha. So any other 'honey dos' you want done before I take off?"
She leaned against the kitchen counter. "No. All the light bulbs are currently in working order. Though I can replace those myself."
He moved in closer to her. "I'm sure you can do most anything yourself."
She pushed off the counter and stepped toward him. "Yes, I can. Though some things are more fun done with someone else."
He knew exactly what she was talking about, and the look she gave him not only gave him dirty thoughts, but made his cock come to life.
He took a step back. "Harmony."
She took a step forward, pressing her hands against his chest. "Barrett."
The last damn thing he wanted was her hands on him. It was also everything he'd thought about lately. Her hands on his chest. On his cock. Along with her mouth.
Fuck.
He grasped her wrists. "Not a good idea."
She lifted her gaze to his. "Why not?"
"You know why not."
She raised a brow. "If you tell me right now that you're thinking about my brother, I'm going to seriously question which side of the field you're playing for."
He took her hand, slid it down his chest and laid it on his now-hard cock. "That has nothing to do with your brother, and everything to do with you. Which is a problem."
She let out a soft laugh, then rubbed his erection with the palm of her hand. "Yes, a pretty sizable problem from what I can tell."
He wanted her hands on him. He wanted to take this further. He wanted to kiss her pretty mouth and slide his tongue inside to taste her.
He wanted a lot of things, but he'd learned a long time ago that he couldn't have everything he wanted, and some temptations were better left alone.
Harmony was one of those temptations. And he owed it to Drake to keep his hands off his sister. So he took a step back, regretting every inch he moved backward.
Harmony cocked a brow. "You sure about that?"
"Not really, but it's a choice I'm going to have to make."
"Because of Drake."
He nodded.
"Okay. I'm not going to throw myself at you, Barrett." She walked him to her front door, then turned to face him. "But I think it's the wrong decision. And when you're lying in bed tonight with your cock aching and hard, think about that decision and what you could have had tonight. Because we're two grown-ass adults and you should be able to make your own choices about who you see--and who you take to bed."
His cock was already hard. But this was complicated. "Good night, Harmony."
She opened the door for him. "Good night, Barrett."
He walked outside, blasted by the hot, humid air, which didn't improve his frustrated, irritated mood at all.
As he slid into his SUV and started the engine, he turned the AC to arctic, hoping it would cool down his desires on the drive back to his place.
Unfortunately, the cold AC made him think of Harmony being in the car with him--naked--the air vents blowing on her nipples, arcing into tight points. She'd rub them, teasing him as he drove.
Shit.
By the time he pulled into the garage of his condo, his dick was rock hard, throbbing, and he needed some relief.
Too bad he'd walked away from a very willing and receptive Harmony.
He'd made the right choice, even if his dick didn't think so at the moment.
He threw his keys on the kitchen counter, grabbed a beer from the refrigerator and, leaving the lights off, walked into the living room. The drapes were drawn, so he stared through the French doors into the darkness.
He wished Harmony was standing next to him. Her scent still lingered around him, so he took a deep breath and closed his eyes, imagining her moving in front of him to put her arms around him, pressing her breasts against him. Her hair would tickle his chin and he'd grab a handful of it, tilt her head back so he could take her mouth in a deep kiss.
His cock strained against the zipper of his jeans. He set his beer down on the coffee table and returned to the back door. In the dark he had plenty of privacy, so he unzipped his pants, drew them and his briefs down over his hips and pulled out his cock.
His gaze was fixed outside, but that's not what he was looking at. He was firmly implanted in his imagination, where Harmony had dropped to her knees, her hands taking hold of his cock just as he had hold of it now. As he began to stroke, so would she, only her hands were smaller and softer than his.
She'd sift his shaft through both hands, looking up at him as she tilted his cock toward her lips. And when her sweet pink tongue darted out to lick at the crest, he groaned.
"Yes, suck it," he whispered to himself, caught up in the fantasy of her mouth covering his cockhead.
He stroked the shaft, fisting it in his hand and drawing it through, imagining it disappearing in the warm recesses of Harmony's mouth. He shuddered at the visuals of her lips compressing over his flesh, of her tongue darting over his cockhead.
He could go all night doing this, fantasizing about her sucking him. But dammit, he could already feel his balls tighten, could already feel them quiver in anticipation of his climax.
He reached over on the table for a tissue and held it in one hand while he pumped his shaft harder and faster in his fist, wishing Harmony were here. He'd want her to watch him get off. Hell, he'd want to watch her get off. Now that'd be something he'd enjoy. Her, naked and spread-eagled on his sofa, her sex open to his view while she pumped her fingers inside and teased her clit. God, he wanted to see her naked so damn badly.
"Fuck." The visuals were all too much. He let loose a stream of come into the tissue, his hips pumping hard as he groaned and shuddered through an orgasm that was filled with images of Harmony crying out while she came, too.
Spent, he crumpled up the tissue, pulled up his pants and went into the bathroom. He flipped on the light, flushed the tissue and stared at himself in the mirror while he washed his hands.
"You could have had her, dumbass. Instead of jacking off into a goddamn tissue, you could have been inside of Harmony."
Except for that number-one rule--she was Drake's sister.
He stared down at the sink and shook his head. Yeah, he'd gotten off, but he felt no more satisfied now than he'd been before.
With a disgusted sigh, he turned off the bathroom light and left the room.
Harmony got ready for bed, already anticipating the awesome night's sleep she was going to have now that Barrett had installed the shutters for her.
She washed her face, brushed her teeth and turned off the lights, smiling as the room was bathed in utter darkness. As she stared up at the ceiling, she thought about tonight.
She had put on a brave, aggressive front for Barrett tonight, making sure to show off her confident side. But inside, when she'd touched him, she'd been a quivering pile of gooey marshmallow just waiting for him to touch her back.
And when he hadn't, her confidence had taken a hit.
But she wasn't the type of woman to take one setback and give up. Because Barrett had definitely been interested.
Hard as granite interested. Just the thought of him getting hard over her made her wet.
God, the man was so damn stubborn, though. He could have been in her bed tonight. Instead, now she lay here, frustrated, every nerve ending taut with tension.
She slid a hand inside her top to fondle her breasts, imagining what it might have been like tonight if Barrett had pushed her against the wall and kissed her.
She could feel his lips on hers, soft and firm, taking command, rubbing his hard cock against her pussy as his tongue warred with hers.
With a whimper, she tucked her other hand inside her panties to cup her sex. She gasped and rubbed her clit, visualizing how it would have gone down tonight had Barrett stayed.
He was a demanding, powerful man, the kind who would take what he wanted from a woman. She could well imagine him drawing her underwear down and putting his mouth on her pussy, licking and sucking her until she came.
The visuals slammed into her as she quickly rubbed her clit. She was so wet, so hot, and when she came, she moaned his name, begging him to fuck her over and over. Her climax was a crazy release, and one she welcomed. One she'd desperately needed.
She rested her hips on the bed and let herself float down from that amazing high.
"Dammit, Barrett," she said to the ceiling. "We could have had such a hot time tonight."
With a little pressure, she could wear him down.
She respected him wanting to honor his friendship with Drake, even though his loyalty was a bit misplaced. If she'd been seventeen or something, then definitely.
But she was no child, and Drake was already overprotective enough about every aspect of her life. She would not let her brother call the shots over her romantic life.
She wanted Barrett.
She intended to have him.
With renewed confidence, she turned on her side and closed her eyes.
Nine
Harmony and Jeff both told Barrett the crew would show up today to start demo on his house, and he wanted to be there to watch. Plus, Harmony had called and made an appointment with him for this morning to meet about some design stuff.
What he hadn't expected was for Harmony to be at his house. When he parked his SUV on the street, she was outside in the driveway talking to Jeff. She was holding a stainless steel cup in her hand and waving it around as she talked. Obviously an animated conversation was going on, and she wasn't happy about something.
He grabbed his cup of coffee out of the car and headed their way.
