His eyes crinkled at the edges as he smiled.“That’s amazing.When you know something is right, you don’t have to question it, but you’ll do anything you can to protect it.”
Harmony’s cheeks warmed at his words and the possible implication.She pushed the thought away and asked, “Have you ever been close to settling down?Besides moving here for Morgan?”
Damien chuckled.“Ah, no.Not even with Morgan.She was great, but I was looking for something she couldn’t give me.Something I wasn’t even sure about at the time.”
“And you still haven’t found it?”
Damien looked dead in her eyes and hesitated.
That look.She could see into his soul.Into the man who was looking back at her and telling her he found it in her.Harmony cleared her throat and tore her gaze from his.
Damien flipped through the records, focusing on that instead of her.
She appreciated the reprieve.More than he knew.Harmony had never been the focus of a man’s attention like she was with Damien.She knew she was attractive, but she never let herself be fully available.Her education came first.Always.She told herself she’d have time for love later, but later never seemed to come.
It was an excuse.She knew it was.She accepted it was.But it was all she had.If she convinced herself she wasn’t available, she couldn’t be disappointed to be thirty-six and single.
Damien chose a record and slipped it from the sleeve, setting it on the turntable without Harmony seeing what he chose.When the opening chords ofMy Girlplayed, she smiled.
“Will you dance with me?”Damien asked, getting to his feet and offering her his hand.
Harmony slipped her hand into his and let him help her to her feet.He turned their hands to fit and pulled her closer with his other hand on her waist.She rested her hand on his shoulder.
The man had moves.He took it easy on her, but it was obvious he had excellent rhythm and an ease with his body.They moved around her couch and toward the door.When Harmony tensed, he guided them back toward the record player.
Her fingers flexed on his shoulder, and he stepped closer to her, his hand sliding across her back.He didn’t break his stride or his eye contact.
The song ended, and the record continued to the next one.Damien moved their joined hands closer until they were resting against their shoulders, their bodies brushing with each shift of their weight.
Harmony sucked in a breath, her chest brushing his.
Damien moved closer, bringing his forehead to hers.“Can I kiss you?”
“Finally.”
He chuckled, but he didn’t rush.He brought his hand to her face and trailed his fingers over her cheek.He cupped her jaw.When his lips brushed hers, it was a simple kiss, barely more than a peck she would give a distant relative.
But Damien wasn’t done.
He peppered her lips with whispers of kisses, teasing and tasting from one side of her mouth to the other and back to the center.He sighed against her lips as though he were just as turned on as she was.He settled his lips over hers and licked against the seam of her lips.
She parted them on a half-sigh, half-gasp, and he responded with a growl that sent a shiver through her.His tongue brushed hers, and a switch flipped.
His hand on her back hauled her tight against him, leaving no space between them.She felt the hard length of his erection.He sucked in a breath, his tongue plunging into her mouth and turning her body to liquid heat.
Just as quickly as he turned up the heat, he eased up.He left her with more gentle kisses that felt like resistance.His heart pounded hard against hers, his fingers clutching her back and not letting her go far.
“Sorry I got carried away,” he whispered.
“I was right there with you.”
He smiled.“Good.”
Harmony struggled to make out his features through her foggy glasses.His smile came through in his voice, his desire in the way he held her.She didn’t want to slow down, but she knew they needed to.It was good he had more foresight than she did.
The record fell silent while they danced and kissed, and Damien kissed her forehead, then stepped away to remove it from the turntable.He selected another record before leading her to the couch.“Tell me about your parents.”
Harmony sighed, a smile easily lifting her lips.She sat next to him and talked about her dad’s insistence she get a good education, his constant push to give her everything she needed and more, and his never-ending love for her mom.
