It’s just business,she told herself.I’m getting my happy back.
“What’s with that smile?” asked Jenny as she breezed in from a late lunch.
Harmony clapped her hands together. “I’m going to do the magic shows.”
“I knew the hot magician would change your mind.” Jenny shook her hips.
“It wasn’t that,” Harmony protested.
“Then what was it?”
The last twenty minutes ran through Harmony’s head on fast forward. There was no way she could explain how much sense Ambia made without sounding like a cuckoo bird. “Never mind.” She turned to go.
“Tell the hottie hello from me. I’m his new biggest fan.”
Harmony rolled her eyes as she left the cubicle. So Breck was hot—er, cute. So what? She could work with a handsome man and not develop a crush on him. It was totally possible. She’d just have to keep her guard up and maintain a professional distance. She could do this.
But do you want to?asked her inner voice, just to be a pain. Harmony didn’t dare answer that question, because she wasn’t sure she was ready for the answer.
Chapter Five
December 5
Breck
The small coffee shop wasn’t anything special as far as a meeting place, and Breck couldn’t shake the feeling that he should have tried harder, should have picked a spot that would impress Harmony. The brown paper napkins slumped pathetically over the edge of the dispenser, and there was a ring on the chipped tabletop.
He pulled out his phone, ready to change their meeting spot. His mind was blank. Where did a guy take a woman like Harmony?Stop it.He mentally chastised himself.This isn’t a date.
If it wasn’t a date, then why did his throat feel tight and his shirt too small?
The bell on the door dinged, and Harmony breezed in like a warm summer wind in the middle of December. He instinctively turned his face to her warmth and basked in her general sense of goodness.
“You’re not going to saw me in half, are you?” she asked as she pulled off her gloves. A moment later, she unwrapped her scarf and pulled the cute gray knit hat with a giant pom-pom off her head before sitting down.
“Depends on what kind of an assistant you turn out to be,” he joked.
“Ha ha. What are you staring at?” She glanced down at the big curls hanging over her shoulder.
“I’m trying to figure out why women never have hat hair.” He scrubbed the top of his head, where he found his hair standing on end from when he’d removed his knit hat.
She ran her hands over the crown of her head, smoothing the two hairs that dared get out of place. “It’s a gift.”
It shouldn’t have been possible, but she was even prettier today than she had been the day they’d met. Her dark brown hair was curled, the shorter layers framing her face. Her eyes were clear of the sorrow that had boxed them in, and her skin was bright, allowing her inner light to shine for all the world to see.
“So, how’d you get into magic?”
A server stopped by the table. “Can I get you two anything?”
They both ordered herbal teas. Breck could use some warm water to loosen up his vocal cords. Thankfully, talking about magic was something he could do with just about anyone, and he started in as soon as the server was gone. “My grandpa. He was always pulling quarters out of my ears, my nose, my finger.”
“How in the world …?” Harmon held out her fingers.
Breck gently took her hand between both of his. The current that buzzed between them almost made him lose his focus and mess up the illusion. As he slid his fingers along her palm, she shivered. Did that mean she felt this too?
He focused so as not to mess up; he wanted to see her response so badly. He slid his fingers along hers, and a blink later, three quarters hit the tabletop. Her eyes sparkled and she smiled wide—tilting his world. She scooped up the quarters and checked them out, focusing intently. He got the feeling she was trying not to make eye contact with him.
That was fine. He needed a reprieve from the connection he felt for her too. It was strong, much stronger than it should be for a first real conversation. There was just a sense about Harmony that stirred his desire to slay dragons.
