So it was well after lunch by the time she was free, and, conscious of what had happened to her yesterday, she stopped and had a great salad before heading back to the office.
Since she hadn’t slept at all last night, by the end of today she was going to drive back to her town house, do a workout at the gym, then climb into a pair of shorts and a tank top and settle in on her sofa for a night of relaxation. Maybe she’d get back to that book she’d been reading yesterday, or catch a baseball game on TV.
Either way, she was already wiped out and looking forward to the end of the day. All she had left at the office was some paperwork and several e-mails.
She walked in to find Barrett having a conversation with Rosalie.
He was the absolute last thing she needed today.
“What are you doing here?” she asked.
“I need to talk to you.”
Not wanting to get into it with him in front of her assistant, she nodded. “We can talk in my office.”
She led him into her office, then closed the door behind him. She moved to her desk, needing to put distance between them.
“What are you doing here, Barrett?”
She was still standing. He moved to the front of her desk. “I need to talk to you.”
Trying to act as if her heart wasn’t pounding, she shrugged. “I think you said enough last night.”
“Yeah, about that.” He started to come around to her side of the desk, but she held her hand up.
“No.”
He stopped.
“Harmony, I screwed up last night.”
Yes, he had. Except for the kissing her and touching her part, which unfortunately she hadn’t been able to get out of her head. Which was why she hadn’t slept at all. “Tell me something I don’t know.”
He tried to come over to her, but her “come any closer and I’ll cut you” expression made him pause.
“Okay, look. You . . . surprised me when you came out on the balcony in your underwear.”
“That hideous, am I?”
He cocked his head to the side. “I think from the response you got from me you know better. But I guess I got into it—into you—a lot more than I expected to.”
Okay, now things were getting interesting. “Go on.”
“And I backed off because there were a hundred things going through my head at once. How turned-on I was. How I’ve known you for a long time. How I could potentially hurt you. I don’t want to hurt you.”
“You haven’t mentioned my brother.”
His lips curved. “Harmony. I had you nearly naked and underneath me. I can guarantee you I wasn’t thinking about Drake at the time.”
She finally smiled. “I’m glad to hear that.”
He made it around the desk and smoothed his hand up her arm. “I’m sorry. I let all those thoughts take over what we were doing. And what we were doing was really good. I backed off because I honestly was afraid that if we went too far, it would hurt you.”
She leaned against the desk. “Tell me why you think you’ll hurt me.”
“I am going to bring your brother into this. You know how protective he is of you. He’s also my best friend and my teammate and the last thing I want to do is piss him off. He wouldn’t like the two of us together.”
She shrugged. “Drake doesn’t like me with anyone. He doesn’t think anyone is good enough for me.”
He leveled a smile at her. “That’s because he cares about you.”
“No, it’s because he’s overprotective.”
“Either way, I’m being selfish about this. The last thing I want is to get in the middle of a battle between the two of you. Or even worse, do anything to damage the friendship I’ve built with Drake. This has disaster written all over it, Harmony. Even you have to see that.”
Maybe she did and maybe she didn’t, but the last thing she wanted was her brother to interfere in her life in any way. Especially her romantic life. “I can see where you’re coming from, Barrett. But I won’t let Drake dictate the terms of my life.” She shoved a finger at his chest. “Nor should he yours.”
“Yeah, I know. But there’s more than just Drake involved in this. Say you and I get all hot and heavy.”
“I like the sound of that.”
He gave her a sexy grin. “Yeah, me too. But then what happens if it doesn’t work out? If you and I have a big blowout of a fight, or we decide we’re not compatible? Can you imagine the mess that’ll make? And then what happens to my friendship with your brother when he does find out that I’m the one who broke your heart?”
She appreciated that he’d thought this all out, but she wasn’t one to think long-term. “That’s easy. Don’t break my heart.”
“Harmony. I can’t make that guarantee and you know that. I can’t guarantee you anything other than right now.”
“I know that. Which is what I’m trying to tell you. I just want today, Barrett. You and me and right now. I know there are no guarantees of tomorrow and I’m sure as hell not asking you to fall in love with me. I just got out of a relationship. I wasn’t looking for a commitment or a boyfriend. I just wanted sex.”
Leave it to Harmony to put it out there, straight and with no bullshit.
He didn’t know why he’d been so reluctant.
Or so stupid.
“Okay.”
She gave him a wary look. “Okay?”