“No, you’re fine where you are.” He winks, wrapping his hand around my leg.
“Oh shoot! Rose!” I say. Leaning forward, I pull the curtain back. “Hey, you want to join us?”
She shakes her head, smiling. “Nope. I’m going to write some stuff while I drink my cocktail. Keep chatting, though. This is great. You two are sort of like a telenovela!”
Zach furrows his brow. “Did she just say ‘you two’? Did you tell her something about us?”
“It’s a long story. How about we get some drinks?”
Chapter 12
Zach
A smile stays plastered on my face while Harmony holds on to the back of my neck. I’m flopped back in the chair, my muscles loose, my head touching her shoulder as she stays seated on my lap, directing the server where to drop her drink.
Harmony’s palm presses into my chest, and my head feels light and dizzy. This woman’s presence makes my entire body buzz with endorphins.
There’s no other way to put it: she makes me high. She gives me that light-in-the-stomach feeling of walking on air whenever she’s around. There’s a hundred other people in the bar this Saturday night, but I don’t see anyone else.
I only see her.
Wow is right.
“Cheers.” She smiles sweetly, bringing up her glass of rosé and handing me my whisky.
“Cheers,” I repeat. “To tomorrow. It’s finally here.”
We lock eyes as we take our respective sips, but it’s not the whisky I’m getting drunk off of.
It’s her.
She lights my heart on fire.
I was starting to think I might not ever be with a woman. A wild thought, I know. Not that I didn’t have my share of them making passes at me. But none of them felt right.
Cradling the back of her neck, I bring her to me for a deep kiss, tasting the rosé on her lips. She purrs softly, and liquid heat rushes through my body as we release.
“So your friend just rushed out of here,” she comments, threading a hand through my hair.
“Jerry Malek? Yeah. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. He’s been sort of a dick lately.”
“Yeah,” she shakes her head. “He wouldn’t even give me your number.”
My eyes bulge out of my head like an alien.
“You asked him for my number?”
She swallows. “Yes.”
Wide-eyed, I sip my whisky in disbelief. She continues, “He said the only way he would give me your number is if I went on a date with him.”
My heart pounds with anger and I bite my lower lip. “That asshole.”
“Yeah,” she sighs. “With friends like that—”
“Who needs enemies,” I croak, finishing her sentence.
She nods, sipping her wine. “I feel like I’m in the same boat. My dad—for some reason he’s conspiring for me to not ever see you.”
My skin tingles, blood rushing to my face.
“Oh?” I say simply, prodding for more information.
“Yeah,” she nods. “My dad was the one who told Sebastian and Cole to intervene and keep us away from each other. And then my dad deleted your number from my phone!”
I swallow anger and then chase it with whisky, shaking my head. I crack the slightest of smiles. “I just assumed you didn’t want to talk to me.”
Glancing at my ear, she motions for me to move it closer so she can whisper into it.
Lips brushing my lobes, she whispers, “I want to do more than just talk with you. Although talking is nice.”
Her expression is positively devilish when she pulls back. She wiggles her eyebrows.
I shrug. “I guess I would have just had to go to The Hungry Burger next week again to find you.”
She drops her gaze, and her shoulders droop. Bringing her eyes back up, she stares out the window.
“You okay?” I ask.
Shaking her head, she chokes out the words, “My guitar is gone.”
My pulse races for her. “I don’t get it. Gone? You just had it the other night. It got stolen?”
She takes a deep breath. “No. My stepmom left it out in the rain. On purpose. Now it’s ruined.”
Her eyes flutter. I wrap my arms around her, and she presses her head against me. Tears roll down her cheek.
“She said it was a lucky accident that my guitar is gone, and that I should focus on something sensible since I wasn’t going to make it as a singer.” Her voice shakes. “She also said I should stay away from you. Everyone’s on me after that stupid ride home I took with you.”
My heart feels like it shatters as I loosen my arms wrapped around her.
“And what do you think about that?”
She clears her throat. “I think I like you. But you really do have to tell me about your past. And I’d rather know now. Just come out with it.”
I think about what Harmony just told me and I make a decision. “Let’s get out of here,” I retort.
“Out of here? Where would we go?”
“The sky cleared up. It’s beautiful out. We could go anywhere.”
“Where do you want to go?”
I shrug, pulling out a twenty-dollar bill and leaving it on the table for the server.
“We could go anywhere. Let’s just get on my bike and see where it takes us.”
Chapter 13
Harmony
Taking me by the hand, Zach leads me out the door of Firehouse. I wave goodbye to Rose as I leave, heading to his motorcycle parked in the street.
This time, as I get on, he doesn’t have to give me any instruction. I know where to wrap my hands around him and can feel the full strength of his muscles through his T-shirt and jeans. I press into him with my tank top and shorts.
Clamping my hands down on him, the town feels like it’s flying by, but in slow motion somehow. My senses are heightened, like this is no ordinary ride.
The air flowing past my body feels therapeutic. I consider asking Zach where he’s taking me. The words are on the tip of my tongue, but as I move my jaw against his shoulder, I hesitate. I’m not sure why. Maybe because I feel like our communication is beyond words. Or maybe because I want to know what he’s got in store for me without my influence.
It’s not lost on me that he’s putting off telling me about his past. I wonder if he’s just waiting for the right time. What could it be that’s so bad?
We pass the city limits, heading into the countryside, and the scenery turns greener.
Pressing my chin against him, I catch a glimpse of his focused face—with sunglasses on—in the side mirror. He looks hard, and everything about him is big. Big muscles, big chin, big sunglasses. Well, except his smile. His smirk is so slight it’s barely detectable. But I know it’s there.
Zach turns down a gravel road. A few hundred feet later, he pulls over. It’s not quite sunset and there’s still a healthy amount of natural light left.
Leaving the bike, we head toward Old Salt Creek.
Goosebumps tingle on my skin as Zach takes my hand, leading me down a narrow path. Trees and brush hem us in on either side. The sound of water trickling over rocks gets louder, and I lick my lips as I follow this man.