Finding Harmony (4 page)

He shook his head. “No. Last year when The Clubhouse was
built we stayed over at the beach. It was easier to grab a bite on the way out
there.”

Harmony nodded and drank some more of her beer. A drop of
foam decorated the little indent on her upper lip and he pointed to his own. “You
have a little… ”

She touched her mouth and he swallowed a groan as she
licked the foam off her finger. He shifted again. God, this bench was hard.

The food soon came, sparing him any more embarrassment over
his extreme response to her mouth. The dish held pieces of meat that looked
like chicken nuggets, batter-fried and served with a trio of sauces.

Harmony popped a piece into her mouth and chewed. “Mmm.” She
looked at him. “Aren’t you going to try it?”

He watched her mouth again. Her lips were rosy in the dim
light of the place, full and moist as she licked them.

He stabbed at the food with his fork and dipped it in the
orange sauce. The sauce was good, like spicy marmalade. The chicken or whatever
was terrific. It was kind of chewy but very moist and flavorful. He ate few
more pieces as she watched him with a small smile.

“All right, I admit it,” he said. “This is pretty good. Is
it chicken?”

“Nope.”

He stopped in mid-chew, a sense of foreboding coming over
him. “What is it?”

“It’s alligator.”

He stared at her. “Alligator?” he asked around a mouthful
of the stuff.

She nodded and he managed to swallow. She laughed as he
drank deeply of his beer, a contagious, joyous sound. He laughed with her and
wiped his mouth with a napkin.

“Alligator, huh?” he asked at last. “Well, at least it
wasn’t one those grasshoppers.”

She laughed harder, reaching out to touch his hand. He
looked at her fingers dancing over his flesh. She stilled and he stared into
her hazel eyes. Her skin was flushed in the light from the stubby candle on the
table, and her luscious lips parted. Laughing Harmony was even better looking
than arguing Harmony.

She seemed to realize she was touching him and quickly
withdrew. He felt a chill where her hand had been. They returned to their meal,
the alligator bits followed by a big juicy burger she promised was local beef, and
when she offered to order him dessert he didn’t argue. He’d just made sure she
tried hers first.

“So how long have you worked for the Institute?” he asked
as they dug in.

She blinked at him, then shrugged. “I’ve worked for the
Institute for nearly six months.”

Brr. Her tone was chilly. He just nodded at her terse
answer. He wouldn’t push her tonight. Damn, but he was usually able to get
whatever he wanted from a woman. Information, a kiss, a lay. Harmony Brooks
wasn’t like the women he dated in Boston. Nope. He was having the damnedest
time maneuvering around her.

Some sort of berry tart followed for dessert. It wasn’t
fancy but very delicious. A lot like the girl across from him. He noticed she
took pains to keep from touching him again, but that didn’t stop him from
feeling the pull between them.

They returned to the Welcome Center and this time she
waited for him to come around and open her door. She stepped out and gasped,
looking up at the sky. He followed her gaze, seeing a purple-blue sky filled
with stars. Some were bright but others were mere twinkles on the canvas. There
seemed to be thousands of them.

“I’ve never seen so many stars,” he said.

“It’s because of the lights,” she said, her voice lowered
as if in awe.

“The lights?”

“They’re dark-sky lights,” she said. “Special street lights
that shine downward and don’t throw up any light pollution. They’re more expensive
than conventional lighting but they let all the stars shine.”

He nodded and continued to stare up at a sky filled with
more stars than he’d ever seen. “It’s worth it.”

“Isn’t it beautiful?”

He glanced at her then, at the starlight dancing over her
hair, her skin. At the pleasure etched on her face as she drank in that night
sky. “Yeah.”

“I had a nice time tonight, Rick.” She faced him. “Thanks
for dinner.”

“My pleasure,” he managed to say.

He stared at her, at those pretty lips, and let out a
breath. Unable to resist he leaned forward, drawing her scent deep into his
lungs. She gasped and he felt it to his soul. He was so close, he could almost
taste her. He could feel the gentle puff of her breath on his face.

“Harmony… ” 

His lips barely brushed hers when she turned away and
hurried to her scooter.

He straightened in response. “You’re… you’re riding back in
the dark?”

“Yes.” Her voice sounded a little shaky. “I have a light,”
she added, flicking on a small headlight. “I do it all the time.” She started
the quiet motor and put on her helmet. “Well.”

Her eyes were on him, big and dark, and he longed to finish
that kiss.

“Um, good night,” she said.

“Yeah,” he said. “Good night.”

As she rode off he stood there in the starlight for a long
moment. Cypress Corners was a contradiction. For that matter, so was Harmony
Brooks.

He shook his head. What was the matter with him? She was
just a diversion. A means to an end. He thought again about that almost-kiss.

A means to an end? Then why did tonight feel like a
beginning?

Four days later Harmony stared up at the draped ceiling
above her bed, trying to think about anything but Rick Chapman as she began
what would probably be another sleepless night. Well, sleepless save for the
dreams involving the man in question. Darn Rick Chapman of Chapman Financial.

He was sharp and focused, despite his easy laughter and boyish
smile. He’d looked so much younger that night, less driven than she’d ever seen
him. The Florida climate will do that, wilt people’s attitude along with their clothes.
But she wouldn’t think he was anything else but what he seemed:  a
smooth-talking corporate guy with one thing on his mind. That darn recreation
café.

She recalled that flush of heat when she’d touched his hand
at the restaurant. When he’d leaned close and stared into her eyes out under
that blanket of stars. When he brushed that gorgeous mouth against hers. Well,
maybe he had more than one thing on his mind.         

A cool breeze danced over her skin, let in through open
flaps set high on the gable ends of her tent-cabin. She closed her eyes and
focused for one delicious minute on what it would be like to be kissed by Rick
Chapman, to be held by his strong arms, touched all over by those big hands. She
shivered and she knew it had nothing to do with the chill night air. She felt
hot and cold and like her skin was a bit too tight. Oh, he was dangerous.

Sure, he’d been charming a few night ago. There was no
denying that, even days after. But she couldn’t forget that first encounter,
when he’d said he’d speak with the Institute and get her fired. She couldn’t
afford to let her guard down. She needed this job. Her parents needed her to
look after them. She had to stay focused. She had to keep Rick out of her mind.

She’d managed to keep herself busy out at her camp, putting
off a ride to the Institute for fear of running into Rick.
Coward.
But
there was only so much to occupy her out at her lake. She’d sunned and read and
paddled her canoe. She’d gone over her photos and notes on the buckwheat before
hiking through the far end of Cypress Corners. Even as vast as the property
was, she couldn’t think of a thing to keep her busy out here tomorrow.

She turned onto her side and shut her eyes.
Out, darn
you!
Oh, how would she get him out of her mind and out of her bed, if only
in her dreams? After a few more minutes of trying to fall asleep, she threw off
the sheets and sat up.

“That’s that.” She snapped on the light on the table beside
the bed.

The thick rag rug her mother had made for her was soft and
springy beneath her bare feet as she crossed to her dressing area. She pulled
on her boots, grabbed her flashlight and went out to the lake. The sounds
soothed her, loud here on the narrow dock that jutted out over the smooth water.
She sat, drawing her knees to her chest as she stared out over the water. Slowly
she waved the beam of light over the water’s surface, seeing telltale signs of
others as unable to sleep as she. Water spiders and frogs winked back at her,
their eyes yellow and green as the light touched them. Then she saw them, red
eyes that could only belong to an alligator. She set the light on the dock
beside her. No swimming tonight, then. She was too tired anyway.

She closed her eyes, but even the breathing exercises her
mother had taught her couldn’t calm her tonight. She was a wreck. Over some guy
who wouldn’t look twice at her if she wasn’t standing right in the way of his investors.
But when he’d almost kissed her? Her skin heated again at the memory.

With a grunt of frustration, she stood and stalked back
into her cabin. She picked up her notes she’d taken on the wild buckwheat and
settled on her bed again. Leaf size, color gradient, stem width… At last her
precise notes doused any lingering want or confusion and she settled down for a
few hours’ sleep.

***

Rick pressed upward, his muscles trembling from the
exertion. Sweat trickled into his eyes but he sucked in another breath and held
his position. Blood pounded in his ears and his legs flexed. One… two… three… With
a whoosh of breath, he slowly lowered his arms. The stacked weights behind his
head groaned as he released the bar. He arched his back against the bench,
easing the tug between his shoulder blades. An hour in the weight room of the
fitness center and at last his body was beginning to forget about Harmony.

For the past four days he’d thought of little else but the
pretty plant girl. He’d golfed and swam and jogged over every damn trail this
place had and he still couldn’t get her out of his mind. The director of the
Institute finally deemed him worthy of another meet but Rick still hadn’t
learned anything of value. The fate of the scrubby plant was still under advisement
and Chapman was spinning its wheels. More than once over these past four days
his father had found it necessary to check up on him. It was obvious Bill was
scrutinizing his every move. Terrific.

He sat up and grabbed the towel draped over the weight bench
and rubbed it over his face. God, if it weren’t for the promise he’d made his
mother he’d blow off this job and do what he wanted to. He choked on a laugh.
What the hell was that, anyway? It had been so long since he even thought about
his own dreams and aspirations, he didn’t even know what they were anymore.

Bill officially left the family when Rick was twelve, but
it had been years earlier that the man separated himself from his family. Rick
was the oldest, with Jake following behind by three years. The youngest and only
girl, Cassie, was barely six years old when Bill left. Rick threw down the
towel. At least Bill’s support payments had visited regularly.

From the moment his parents’ divorce was final his mother had
tried to make up for Bill’s absence. Her insistence that Rick had to prove
himself to Bill still echoed in his mind.

Well, maybe he’d done enough to prove himself. Top grades
in high school, excellence at track, entrance into exclusive Boston College—none of it had brought anything but more money from his father. Rick hadn’t
thought about it at the time he was in school, but taking business courses and accounting
should’ve been the first sign that he’d never break free of Bill Chapman. The
job offer as field man wasn’t the end as Rick saw it, either. He wanted the top
position at Chapman. But more than that. He wanted his father to finally admit his
firstborn was worth more than the money he made the company.

He stood and crossed to the leg press machine. He sat and
moved the pin to just beyond his last weight limit. Why let his arms and chest
have all the fun, right? Closing his eyes, he pressed and released over and
over until his thighs screamed for mercy. With a soft grunt he let the weights
settle. His whole body reverberated with a low no-pain-no-gain thrumming, and
his mind finally focused on something other than his attraction to Harmony
Brooks and his toadying to Bill Chapman.

For the last thirty minutes or so, at least.

***

Harmony returned to the Institute. Another lovely day, another
solitary ride to the Village Center. Another quick conversation with Hettie. Thank
goodness the woman didn’t know about her dinner with Rick the other night. She
wouldn’t want to guess the open speculation Hettie would indulge in, in full
hearing of anyone sitting in the crowded square.

When she walked into the lobby she smiled at Becky.

“Good morning, Becky,” she said.

“Hi, Miss Brooks. The director’s expecting you.”

This surprised her. “He is?”

Becky nodded. “He couldn’t reach you out at your camp so
he’s been hoping you’d stop by.”

She felt a stab of guilt. She didn’t think anyone would
notice she’d put off the drive to the Institute for fear she’d run into Rick. Well,
Hettie had chided her for keeping to her camp like a hermit, but then she always
teased her about her solitude. But the director took note of it, too:? Well, there
was nothing else to keep her from the Institute so here she was. She was late,
apparently.

“Thanks,” she said.

Before she could knock on his door, Dr. Robbins called out
to her. “Come in, Harmony.”

“I’m sorry, Dr. Robbins,” she said. “I wasn’t aware you
needed me here.”

He waved a hand. “Please don’t worry, my dear. I just
wanted to give you an update on our progress regarding the scrub buckwheat.”

She nodded and quickly sat down across from him. “What’s
going on?”

“I’ve been in contact with the FDACS, and they’re asking us
to do more research.”

The Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services,
through its Division of Forestry, oversaw the recovery of endangered and
threatened plant species in Florida. Between committees and subcommittees, she
knew the request could involve plenty of work for her. Good. She was more than
up to the challenge, and more than ready for the diversion.

“What do they need?” she asked.

“Well, the Endangered Plant Advisory Council meets within
the month, Harmony. They want to rule on the plant at that meeting. So I need
you to search all over the property for evidence of the scrub buckwheat.”

“Certainly,” she said. “Where would you like me to start?”

“Take a camera with you, and some sampling equipment. We
need you to find out if the plant grows elsewhere on property.”

She stilled. Chapman had to be behind this. Rick,
specifically.

“So Chapman can build on their chosen spot, I take it?” she
asked.

The director’s lips thinned for a moment. “Yes. We work
with
the developers, my dear. They have to satisfy their investors or Cypress
Corners would be forced to take environmental shortcuts. That’s the last thing
we want.”

She nodded. Too many communities in Florida did little to
preserve the wildlife their residents claim to value. Maybe Chapman Financial
made it possible to take a more cautious approach, but with their constant
scrutiny and interference their involvement was hard to take at times.

She looked up to find Dr. Robbins watching her. She shifted
in her seat and nodded for him to continue.

“Look for seeds or seedlings or anything else that can
indicate the plant’s growing,” he said. “Maybe we can get it off the endangered
list.”

A thrill went through her. This would be even better than
finding the plant in the first place! Chapman could have their precious café if
she could find the plant thriving here at Cypress.

She came to her feet. “I’ll get right on it, Dr. Robbins.”

He stood as well. “Good. See Becky for an updated map of
the development. We don’t want to miss one corner.”

She nodded. This was what she needed. A worthy diversion
from Rick Chapman and a worthy cause for her talents. Humming to herself, she
went out to the lobby.

As she rode her scooter past the fitness center Rick
stepped right into her path. She skidded to a stop and braced her feet on the
brick walk. He pulled back, his eyes wide.

“Whoa!” He grinned. “Hello, Harmony.”

She shut off the scooter and removed her helmet. “Sorry
about that. I… My mind was… ”

He took the towel off his shoulders and wiped his face. “I
was just working out. Killer facilities.”

She nodded, her eyes running over his body. He was sweaty
and mussed and… Wow.

“Umm,” she began. “Yes, I’ve heard they’re quite good.”

“You don’t work out here?” It was his turn to run his gaze
over her and she held herself still. “Well, you’re doing something right.”

“I canoe,” she rushed out. “I hike.”

Rick nodded, a lock of damp hair curing over his forehead. He
waved a hand over his chest. “Sorry about… this. I was headed over to the swim
center and thought I’d just hit the showers there.”

His shoulders were wide, his strong arms shown to nice effect
in his red sleeveless T-shirt. His silky black shorts draped low on his narrow
hips and she couldn’t look away from the sliver of pale flesh below his navel. What
was wrong with her?

“You look fine,” she choked out.

He studied her face for a moment and she prayed her cheeks
didn’t look as red as they felt.

“Hey, wanna do dinner again?” he asked. That boyish grin
teased his mouth again. “Only this time I get to pick the place.”

She opened her mouth to accept, darn her lack of control. She
took a breath. “No, I… ”

“We can hit the beach, maybe?”

An hour in the car there and back? No stinkin’ way. She’d
never be able to sit that close to him for that long. He’d know she was
attracted to him before the first mile-marker.

“Thank you, but no,” she said.

He waited, for some excuse obviously, but she couldn’t
think of anything.            The sparkle went out of his silvery eyes and he
lost his smile. He straightened his body and she could feel him pulling away. Good.
She had to stay focused. He certainly didn’t have tender feelings to be hurt by
her refusal to eat with him, for goodness sake.        

“All right,” he said. He showed a smooth smile much
different from his previous grin. “I guess I’ll see you around, then.”