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Once she set the plates down, I halved the eggs onto her plate and mine. Setting the frying pan back on the stove, I grabbed two small boxes of orange juice and opened them up and poured them into the glasses. My heart stopped beating for a few seconds when Harmony looked at me. For the first time since I’d known her, I saw happiness there.
Sliding her plate in front of her, along with the orange juice, I smiled. “Looks like I won, Ms. Banks. I know exactly what we’ll do today. Dress casual, it will be a long day.”
Stopping her fork before it went into her mouth, Harmony frowned. “What?”
“Your bet. You said if I found food, you’d spend the entire day doing what I wanted to do.”
“Are you sure I said that?” Harmony said with a wink.
Taking a bite of my eggs, I chewed as I looked up and thought hard about what the bet was. “Yep. It was a challenge and I won.”
Smiling a smile that left me breathless, Harmony shook her head. “Is that so? And if I refuse?”
Taking another bite and swallowing it, I pouted. “Would you really refuse me after I helped you undress last night?”
Harmony’s mouth dropped open and a beautiful shade of red swept across her cheeks. “How embarrassing.”
“Then it’s a date.”
Narrowing her left eye at me, she shook her head. “Not a date. Two friends just hanging out.”
Lifting my hands up in surrender, I said, “That’s what I said. Two friends. Hanging out.”
She was chewing on her lower lip, and I saw the mask coming back up. “Harmony, please. Just spend the day with me. I can’t bear the idea of going back to my place and seeing Sherry packing up.”
“Sherry broke up with you?”
Shit. That piece of information I didn’t want to talk about just yet. “Well…um…I kind of…I kind of broke up with Sherry. Last night. After you puked.”
Slapping her hands over her mouth, Harmony’s eyes widened. “I wasn’t even thinking of Sherry last night when I asked you to stay. Oh, Preston, if I somehow—”
Holding up my hands to get her to stop, I said, “Harmony, stop. Please let me talk.”
Closing her mouth abruptly, she nodded and remained quiet.
“Sherry and I have been over for months now. I was just too stupid…or stubborn…to see it. It was a long time coming and had nothing to do with you.”
Harmony’s face looked horrified. “Do you promise, Preston? And please don’t lie to me…I don’t think I could take it if you lied to me.”
My heart dropped to the floor and my stomach instantly formed into a knot. What in the hell is this girl doing to me?
Setting down my fork, I walked over to Harmony and picked up her hand. Lacing my pinky around her pinky, I whispered, “I pinky swear to you, Sherry and I were not meant to be and you didn’t have anything to do with me breaking up with her. I just finally saw the light.”
Glancing down at our pinkies, Harmony’s eyes filled with tears. Pulling her emotions back in and burying them like she always did, she managed to smile. It didn’t touch her eyes though. My goal was to see a smile on Harmony’s face that touched her eyes. I’d do whatever it took to make it happen.
Dropping her hand down from mine, she slowly stood. “Do you mind if I take a nap? I don’t want to be tired when you show me the town today.”
Throwing my head back, I let out a laugh. “I think I’ll crash for a bit longer, too, on your couch, if you don’t mind.”
Giving me a wink, Harmony stood and walked her plate over to the sink and downed the last of her
OJ. “The sofa is all yours, Mr. Ward. Leave the dishes. They can wait until later.”
Standing, I walked over and placed my dish in the sink but waited for Harmony to walk out of the kitchen. Leaning against the sink, I attempted to calm down my beating heart.
Just friends. We’re just friends.
—
