“What if you are what makes me happy?” A single tear fell down her cheek and before I could stop myself, I reached up and wiped it from her cheek. “People change their minds. They do it all the time. Things change. What they want in life changes. Even you changed.”
“Me?” I had no idea what she was talking about. I’d had a plan for my future since I was ten and, aside from playing in the NFL, I’d stuck to it.
“Yeah, you were going to ask Ali to marry you. You even went ring shopping.”
“Who told you that?” I hadn’t even told my parents or brothers any of that.
“Cara was at the jewelry store in Dallas and overheard you talking to the sales associate. When he asked who the lucky lady was, you told him Alison.”
Damn small towns. They even follow you to big cities.
Picking up on my irritation, Harmony explained, “The magazine she works for is around the corner, she was there working on a story about family-owned businesses.”
My mind was spinning. How did I miss Cara being in the store? I was a cop. It was my job to be observant.
“Why did you change your mind?” She asked like the question like an attorney interrogating a witness. I knew that she thought she was going to use my answer to prove her point, what she didn’t know was she was the reason I changed my mind.
“I realized if it was the right girl, I would’ve asked my mom for my Grandma Burke’s ring. That if I was shopping in a jewelry store for a ring, it wasn’t the right girl.”
Her face softened. “That’s so romantic.”
You have no idea.
“But that’s not the point.” She shook her head as if to get back on track. “The point is, you changed your mind. You thought you wanted one thing, and then you realized you didn’t. I know what I want, Hud. I want you. I love you.”
Hearing her say those three words, I love you, almost took me to my knees.
“It wouldn’t work,” I said on autopilot. I wasn’t sure if I was saying it because I’d been telling myself that for so long or if I really believed it.
“I think I already proved that theory wrong.” A grin pulled at her lips as she referred to us in the barn, when she’d said those very words against my mouth.
My jeans grew uncomfortably tight at the memory.
“See.” She looked down. “He remembers.”
I smiled. I couldn’t help it. Harmony had a way of making me smile at the most inappropriate times. She could turn anything into a joke or a sexual innuendo. It was part of her charm and one of the thousands, no, millions, of things I loved about her.
The way she was looking at me now, like I was a cold beer on a hot day, was definitely on the list, too.
“I better go.” If I didn’t, things would get out of control. Like they always did around Harmony.
She grabbed my wrist, just like I had the night of her birthday. “Don’t. Don’t go.”
“Harmony.” I honestly didn’t know why I said her name in a warning tone, it’s not like she ever heeded it. In fact, it had the opposite effect, like she interpreted it as a challenge.
“On my birthday you asked me for one night. Just one night.” She took a deep breath. “That’s what I’m asking for now. That’s all I want. One night, Hud.”
I knew I shouldn’t. I’d done what I’d come here for. Harmony knew how I felt. Why I’d said and acted the way I had. Now, I should go.
“Please,” she whispered before lifting up on her tiptoes and pressing her lips to mine. “One night.”
Even though I knew it would be harder to leave in the morning, I just couldn’t bring myself to walk out that door.
“One night.” I repeated as I wrapped my arms around her and started to lift her up.
“No.” She swatted my arms away. “This is my one night. My rules.”
Damn. Was she trying to kill me?
After giving Romeo a treat, her fingers threaded through mine and she led the way to her bedroom. When she closed the door she instructed, “Take off your clothes.”
I knew that she wasn’t trying to be cute, but that was exactly what she was.
When I didn’t move she put her hands on her hips. “Take off your clothes, Superman. I want you naked. In that bed.”
A large smile spread on my face as I removed my shirt, pants, boxers, shoes and socks.
“Bed. Now.”
This was a first. I’d never let someone else take the lead in the bedroom. Not that I wouldn’t have, it was just that none of them did. The girls I’d been with had always seemed more than happy for me to run the show. But this was Harmony. She had as many control issues as I did. I climbed onto the bed, and lay in the center.
Harmony slowly began undressing. She pulled her dress up and over her head, revealing white lace panties and bra. If I were running things, I’d tell her to leave them on so I could tease her through the material. But since I wasn’t in charge, I just laid back and enjoyed the show. It turned out to be less of a striptease than I’d expected. Instead of removing any more of her clothing, she turned on her LED candles, started soft music playing, and turned the nanny cam teddy bear to face the bed.