“Call me Barrett. Nice to meet you.”
Rosalie nodded and turned her attention to Harmony. “The countertops are in on the Robinson project. I called the contractor to let them know. Delia Spring also called and is interested in doing a living room redesign. I told her you’d get back to her.”
Harmony nodded. “Thanks, Rosalie. Can you get back to Delia and make an appointment with her? I think I have time tomorrow morning but double-check my calendar.”
“Will do.”
Harmony motioned to Barrett. “Come on back to my office and we’ll go over some design features.”
Her office was located in the back of the shop. Her desk was neat and tidy, with a laptop and pens and a pad of paper.
“Have a seat,” she said, closing the door behind them.
The office had windows on all sides, and was spacious enough even for him. He pulled up a chair and instead of sitting behind the desk, she grabbed her laptop and pulled up the chair next to his.
“We’ll start by going over a few items you’ll need to select. Once I get an idea of your likes and dislikes, we’ll take a look at some of the samples we have out in the showroom.”
“Sure.” He wasn’t thrilled about being here and having to do this, but Harmony had told him on the phone that she wasn’t going to pick his countertops or his flooring or paint color, so he was going to have to do it.
Fortunately, she had everything organized, so it went pretty fast. They were out in the showroom within an hour, where he chose the type of granite countertop he wanted, along with the flooring and backsplash—with Harmony’s guidance, of course.
“I think you’ll be happy with the porcelain tiles,” she said, as she finished making notes in her tablet. “They have the look of hardwoods, but with your pool and all the rain we get, they’ll hold up better.”
“Agree.”
“I think we’ll wait on paint color in the kitchen and living area until the floors go down and the appliances and counters are in. It’ll give us a better feel for how the space looks.”
“You would know best.”
She smiled up at him. “Why yes, I would.”
He picked up his phone to check the time. “So are we done here?”
“Why? Anxious to get away from me?”
“No, actually, I have a thing to do today.”
She arched a brow. “A thing?”
“It’s a team thing. Not really a team thing, since I’m the only one doing it today.”
“Okay, Barrett, you’re being vague.”
“Sorry. It’s a community outreach program for at-risk teens. There’s a facility near the stadium that the team supports.”
“Oh, okay. I know that one well. Drake’s involved with it, too. He’s spoken there a few times. Great program. Are you giving a talk over there today?”
He nodded. “Yeah. Some of the kids are in a summer program, so I’m going to talk with them about sports—and grades. I figure if you talk about sports to them, they might actually listen to how important school and grades are.”
“That’s fantastic. I’d love to go with you. I know the coordinator there.”
“You do?”
“Yes. We went to college together. And we can grab some food while we’re out.”
He liked how she’d inserted the “we’ll eat together, too” part of the day. “Are you sure your schedule will allow that?”
Her lips curved. “Still trying to get away from me?”
“No. I just don’t want to make you late for any appointments.”
“Trust me, Barrett. I know exactly where I’m supposed to be at any given time. I’ve got time for this. Plus, I want to see what you do with these kids.”
He shrugged, knowing he wasn’t going to get out of bringing her along. “Sure. Let’s go. It’ll be fun.”
More time with the seductress in her sweet dress, while he tried not to ogle her sexy legs in front of middle school kids.
Yeah, it’d be about as fun as a hard-on with no relief in sight.
Ten
Harmony knew she’d backed Barrett into a corner by inviting herself along to the community center. But she’d actually wanted to go. She hadn’t seen her friend Lachelle in a long time. Both of them had hefty schedules, plus Lachelle had eighteen-month-old twin boys, so trying to get a night out with her friend was nearly impossible these days.
So when she walked through the doors of the community center, she couldn’t help the smile on her face or the way she leaned into Barrett. She was so excited to see her friend.
“Lachelle and I were roommates freshman year at Florida State,” she said to Barrett as they waited at the front desk. “We became friends right away, and were inseparable through all our years of college together.”
Barrett grinned. “Like Drake and me.”
“Yes. Exactly like that. Though she majored in social work and I did interior design. We didn’t exactly have sports in common like you and Drake did.”