“Mmm, that sound amazing, glamorous,” Whitney breathed. Sitting up on the couch, she folded her legs and curled her arms around her knees, watching Harmony carefully paint her fingernails. Pulling the throw blanket from the back of the couch, she tucked it carefully around her legs. “What do you think it will be like, traveling with him? Romantic?”
“I doubt there will be much time really. Probably just the same as it would be if we weren’t dating,” Harmony answered. “He’s got a romantic streak for sure, like that night when we sat and watched the sunset, but he’s very professional at work. He doesn’t mess around much.”
“Oh, so no slipping fingers in training then, huh?”
Laughing, Harmony closed the nail polish and settled it carefully on the coffee table. Holding her hands out, she quickly inspected her nails to make sure they were perfect, and then nodded approvingly. “You’re cute, Whit, but we don’t train together.”
“Seriously?”
“Yeah, I train with Lauren, mostly. They have actual trainers there, too, but a lot of the time it’s just me and Lauren. She teaches me the moves, shows me how to do them. We practice them, work out the kinks. And we choreograph our matches ourselves.”
“Oh, I thought it was all scripted,” Whitney said, confusion clouding her blue eyes.
“It is, mostly. But it’s like acting, too; there’s a lot of ad lib. In the matches, we know who’s gonna win and we usually have a time slot to fill, but we have some creative freedom with the match itself. Like a dance, you work the moves so that they flow well and take up the appropriate amount of time.”
“So you can just mix and match the moves until it looks right and you like it?”
“Pretty much,” Harmony shrugged. “And it’s fun too, because I feel like I have different input than the other girls. With my gymnastics history, I bring something new to the table because I can use a lot of that in my matches. It’s a part of my storyline actually, so I’m sort of obligated to work back handsprings and stuff into my moves.”
“Wow, really?” Whitney reached for the bottle of nail polish resting on the table, spinning the bottle between her hands to warm and mix the paint. “I bet you like that, huh? Being able to still use all the old moves?”
“I do,” Harmony grinned. “I was really down about leaving gymnastics behind and losing that option. But it’s not really over with this, because I can play to that strength with AWG in a way that I couldn’t before, even when I was teaching the kids at the gym. I can keep it going with this, and I can use all that training to better myself in the ring.”
“That’s definitely a good thing,” Whitney said, nodding. “I’m happy for you, Harm. I could tell you were really down for a while ... you weren’t really yourself for a long time and I was getting concerned. It’s good to see you happy again, even if I did have to shove you into it.” Winking, Whitney twisted the cap from the nail polish and propped her foot on the coffee table, bending forward to apply the polish to her toes.
“Yeah, I’m feeling pretty happy for me, too,” Harmony laughed. “I stayed away from guys for so long, worried that I’d end up like Cameron. But the more I see her with Mac, and I see how much she’s healing … it makes me a little envious maybe. And it gives me courage to try, watching her learn through Mac that it doesn’t always go bad. Having him around has been good for the whole family, you know?”
“I can see that,” Whitney nodded.
“Then there’s Cass and how in love she is with Drew, and then love suddenly doesn’t seem as scary. It’s sweet, and it’s healing, and it does something amazing to the people involved. And you know what? I want something like that for myself.”
“Don’t we all,” Whitney muttered dryly.
“It’s just nice to see how good it can be and let go of the old fears a little bit, to have Xander in my life and be able to see the other side of it. When Cameron was raped, it was this huge thing for the whole family, and she was so hurt. The Cameron I grew up with … she kind of … died. She wasn’t affectionate anymore, she wasn’t chatty or funny, and she was afraid of everyone and everything.”
“I remember,” Whitney said. Gesturing for Harmony to go on, she tightened the top on the bottle of nail polish and left it on the table before rising carefully from the couch. She walked on her heels to the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and reaching in to pull out a couple of water bottles. “So what are you saying, Harm?”
“Just that it’s nice to be seeing the other side of it, the way I should have been seeing it all along. The way she should have seen it, if things hadn’t happened the way they did. I mean, I watched her fall apart, and it was really hard to see because I’d always looked up to her, you know? And I was so young when it all happened, so I guess it just had a really strong affect on me. It’s nice now, to see that it doesn’t have to be that way.”
“The funny thing is how you never saw the better side of it all before,” Whitney said, dropping back to the couch and passing one of the water bottles over to Harmony. “I mean, look at your parents. They are the only people I know that have stayed together for that long, and that’s an amazing thing. And you didn’t see them through all of this.”
“I know. I guess sometimes you have to learn the hard way.”
“Can’t see the forest for the trees or whatever.” Whitney teased. “But Xander helps you?”
“He does,” Harmony replied, smiling softly. “I don’t know how, but he does. He’s the complete opposite of all the things that I was afraid of.”
“That’s good to have,” Whitney said, raising her water bottle to her lips. She drank deeply, sighing as she lowered the bottle and rested it on the coffee table.
“Yeah. We actually have plans tomorrow, too.” Smiling again as her cell phone chimed on the table, Harmony reached for the device and activated the screen. “He’s texting about it now, he says he wants to come here and pick me up in the morning.”
“Has he not been here before?” Whitney asked, surprised. “Geez, I live right next door to my dad and even I don’t wait that long to let a guy come to my house,” she teased.
“Well, I’m slow!” Harmony laughed. “I like to know a guy is really okay before I invite him to my door.”
“Are you even inviting him up to the door?”
“I don’t know yet,” Harmony murmured, still tapping the screen of her phone. “I might just meet him in the parking lot.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I don’t know. I like him, and he’s a really great guy ... so far. But I don’t know him all that well yet.” Blowing lightly on her fingernails, she sniffed them to see if they were dry. “Good grief, they still stink,” she muttered.
Whitney laughed. “Uh huh, whatever. What’s the date this time?”
“Oh, you know, the average. Just hanging out, and then dinner,” Harmony said, her tone perfectly casual even as her eyes sparkled with laughter. “On Bethany’s boat.”
Whitney’s eyes widened as she covered her open mouth dramatically with the palm of her hand. “Dinner on a boat? How romantic! Oh wait, though … Is it like a family thing? With Bethany and her kids?”
“No!” Harmony laughed. “It’ll just be me and Xander. He says he used to go out on the boat all the time with Bethany’s husband, before he died. They were good friends, so they kind of shared the boat. And now that he’s gone, Bethany doesn’t use it, so Xander takes it out now and then to keep it in good shape.”
“Well, it sounds dreamy,” Whitney breathed, teasing her friend. “And it’s a good place for you guys to, uh, work off your dinner –“
“Whitney!” Harmony exclaimed, laughing as she dropped her face into her hands.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The next afternoon, Harmony waited nervously in her apartment for Xander to pick her up, wondering if she’d been right to give him her apartment number. In many ways, he was her first real boyfriend, and so much of her relationship with him was new to her; she couldn’
t help wondering if she was going about things in the right way. Wandering through her apartment, she checked to make sure everything was clean before stopping in front of the mirror in her bedroom to examine her reflection on last time.
Xander had suggested that she bring a swimsuit for sunbathing, but Harmony was a simple girl. Instead, she wore a basic red bikini under a black strappy tank top. She also wore a short black sarong with red swirls covering the fabric. “Okay, this is it,” she murmured, catching sight of the clock on her dresser. Turning back to the mirror, she slid her fingers through her hair to check for tangles, finishing just as she heard the knock on the door.
“Coming!” she called, striding down the hallway and through the living room to the door. Opening the door with a smile, she stepped back and waved Xander in, saying, “Hey, I’m almost ready. I just have to get my sandals on and that’s it. You sure I don’t need to bring anything with me?”
Shaking his head, Xander laughed. “Nope, the only thing I want on the boat that isn’t there is you,” he said.
Harmony smiled, sliding her feet into her sandals and slipping her cell phone into her purse. “Well, here I am, ready to go,” she teased. “Unless you want a tour of my place or something?”
Taking her hand, Xander stepped closer and allowed the apartment door to swing closed. “I can assume this is the living room,” he said softly, his voice sending shivers down Harmony’s spine. “And there’s your kitchen. Down the hall, I assume, is the bathroom that’s probably decked out with girly towels and some sort of smelling-good stuff, and then there’s your room. You really wanna show me that?” As he spoke, his eyes trapped her, held her in place. Not breaking eye contact, he simply tipped his head toward the hallway – and the other rooms – as he spoke, and Harmony’s skin tingled where he touched her.
Lowering her eyes, Harmony tried not to notice the sexy tone of his voice, or that they were truly – privately – alone for the first time. “Maybe I’d better not show you all that just yet,” she said softly.
Laughing, Xander took her hands and led her to the apartment door. “Come on, let’s get you out in the sun. Maybe if I wine and dine you just right on the boat this afternoon, you’ll show me those pretty towels, hmm?”
“Ha, if you’re lucky,” Harmony joked, grateful for his good humor. “Maybe I’ll even let you sniff the oil warmer that’s in there. Raspberries and cream – it’s heavenly.”
“You’re heavenly,” Xander replied, taking Harmony’s hand and interlacing their fingers as they walked down the hall to the elevator. He watched as Harmony smiled softly, her cheeks flushing as she lowered her eyes, and they stepped into the elevator without speaking.
Climbing into his truck, Harmony clipped her seat belt over her abdomen and waited as Xander closed the door and walked around the front of the truck. When he’d settled in beside her, he looked over, smiling. “Ready?”
“Ready,” Harmony answered.
When they pulled up to the lake marina where the boat was docked, Harmony slipped down from the truck and followed Xander down the dock, walking carefully as the dock swayed under their feet. The boat was a small but impressive cabin cruiser, pure white with a wide blue stripe.
“Wow, impressive!” Harmony exclaimed. “This is your sister’s?”
“Yeah, but it was her husband’s – an inheritance from his father. They were all lawyers in that family, and damned smart investors, too. Monroe’s father could turn a hundred dollars into a hundred thousand in a matter of weeks. Monroe’s older brother got the yacht when their father died; it’s about three times the size of this one and he actually lives on it.”
“Wow, imagine living on the water like that!”
Xander laughed, taking Harmony’s hand. “I don’t know,” he said. “I like the water, but not enough to give up living on land. Ready to get going?”
“Sure, let’s do this,” Harmony said, grinning. She stood waiting as Xander moved onto the boat and then reached for him when he extended his hand in her direction. He tugged her hand, easily guiding her onto the small deck. Turning, she found herself surrounded by soft vinyl seating that begged to be lounged on.
Smiling down at her, Xander slipped Harmony’s purse from her shoulder and opened an empty compartment hidden beneath a narrow countertop. Stowing her purse inside, he closed the little door and opened another, inviting her to bend down and look into the tiny refrigerator. Choosing a drink, Harmony caught her bottom lip between her teeth and smiled. “Thanks,” she murmured, turning to look around again. “This boat is beautiful.”
“Yeah it’s alright for being a little cruiser. Have you been boating much?” Xander asked.
Shaking her head, Harmony twisted the lid from her drink, loving the cozy space as Xander slipped past her, his body sliding deliciously against hers as he moved toward the captain’s chair. The close quarters awakened her senses, but she felt no fear, no quivering sense of anxiety at his nearness. Instead, she felt only excitement, and the joy of being with him.
“You’ve really never been boating?” he called, bringing the cruiser’s engine to life with a roar.
“Nope.” Shaking her head again and raising her voice slightly to be heard over the roar of the engine, Harmony moved closer to Xander, watching as he operated the boat with expertise. “I’ve never actually been on a boat at all. I see you’re pretty confident with it though.”
He laughed. “You could say that. Bethany and I were basically raised on a pontoon. Dad was a fisherman, a camper, real outdoorsy kind of guy – he took us out on the water as often as mom would allow. He’s actually got a cruiser similar to this one now.”
“And where are they now? Your parents?” Harmony asked, sorry for the question as she watched his eyes darken.
“Mom’s gone now, been gone a while,” he answered, his face losing its earlier cheer. “She, uh, she started with uterine cancer, but by the time she found it, she pretty much had everything-cancer.”
“I’m sorry, that must have been really hard on you guys, huh?” Harmony asked, laying a compassionate hand over the round muscle of his shoulder.
He closed his eyes for a second, reaching up to touch her hand before focusing again on the boat. “Yeah,” he answered, growing silent again as he moved the cruiser through the water. Eventually, he found a place he liked and turned off the motor, leaving the boat to drift in the center of the lake as he turned to Harmony.
“Want to talk about it?” she asked, looking down at him.
Settling his hands along the slender lines of her waist, he guided her closer until she stood between his knees. “It was hard,” he said. “My father was so wildly in love with her, and he was crushed to have lost her so young. I remember sitting at her funeral, and he just kept saying over and over, ‘it’s too soon, we didn’t grow old yet.’”
“And what happened to him?” Harmony asked, settling her hands on his shoulders again as she looked down into his face.
“He’s alright now, but it took him a long time to be okay again. Bethany and I don’t mention mom in front of him, but other than that he’s alright. Living out his retirement down south where the winters don’t bother his arthritis.”
Smiling, Harmony tightened her hands on his shoulders. “I’m glad your dad’s okay. And that you are.”
“Yeah, I’m okay. Come on, I’ll show you the cabin before it gets dark down there.” Standing close to her, Xander reached around Harmony’s waist and opened the door that led to the cabin below, before stepping back slightly to make room for Harmony to descend the short steps into the cabin space. It was a small area, especially with Xander’s muscled mass squeezed in beside her, and Harmony could feel his closeness like the buzz of electricity.
Xander closed his fingers gently around Harmony’s upper arms, urging her further into the space. “Okay, so over here, we’ve got a totally enclosed head – with a shower too, which is cool if you’re out here for a while or if you’ve been swimming,” he said quietly,
moving still closer to maneuver around the space. His chest pressed fully against her back as he stretched to open the door to the tiny bathroom.
“I can’t believe they fit a full bathroom down here,” Harmony answered, her small laugh sounding breathless as her body reacted to his closeness. “It’s shocking what can be done with so little space.”
“Very true.” His breath whispered over the side of her face as he closed the door to the head and stepped around, edging Harmony easily along the space as he showed off the seating area, the small galley kitchen, and then the tight sleeping cabin.
“Wow, now that’s a tiny little space too, isn’t it?” Harmony asked, bending to look down into the small sleeping berth.
“Yeah, it’s a little snug, especially if you’re built like I am,” Xander laughed. “I’ve kept the boat out overnight before, but I’ve never even tried to sleep in there; I’d probably get stuck and never find my way back out.”
Wrestling Harmony (The Kingsley Series) Page 19