Sweet Harmony (Harmony Falls #1) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,21
He made no effort. The guys on his ball team had invited him for drinks after games how many times, and he always said no. The idea of belonging to a team again, of thinking that playing ball once a week was for anything more than exercise, made him feel a little anxious.
Now that you’re with Kira, you’re gonna need to be a lot more social. She sounds like a damn social butterfly.
Not to mention that if they were gonna make Daniel jealous, they needed to be seen together around him and other people. Of course, Daniel seemed pretty comfortable just walking into her house. He scowled, a weird part of him a little pissed that Daniel walked into Kira’s place like he had the right.
He’d seen Daniel walking up the driveway and had immediately turned and gone back to Kira. He hadn’t needed to kiss her again, but she’d still been sitting on the counter, her mouth swollen and her nipples hard against her bra. He couldn’t resist. Besides, it had been an effective way to announce their fake relationship to Daniel and start them down the path to making him jealous.
Yeah, except you weren’t supposed to do that for a couple of weeks, remember? Kira might have promised she’d go to the wedding with you, but she’s been in love with Daniel for years. The minute he goes after her, she’ll back out of your arrangement.
He grimaced again. Fuck, he’d screwed up, and he could only hope that Kira kept her word. If she didn’t, well… there was always the option of coming down with a bad case of food poisoning right before the wedding.
Lucas returned and sat down again. Before he could grill him anymore about Kira, Connor said, “So, how’s work going?”
“Busy,” Lucas said. “The company has exploded ever since Shadow Dragons went to number one. We’re expanding operations. The boss is looking for a building in Harmony Falls.”
“Sorry, what?” Connor blinked at him. “He’s starting up a company in Harmony Falls?”
Lucas nodded. “Yeah. I mean, it’s the same company, just a second location.”
“But why Harmony Falls?”
“Apparently he had some connection to this place when he was a kid. I dunno. The guy’s close-mouthed as shit about his personal life. He wants me to be the head developer at the second location.”
Connor’s mouth dropped open. “You’re moving to Harmony Falls?”
“Thinking about it.”
“Seriously? You swore when you moved to New Cassel that you’d never live in a small town again.”
“Yeah, I know. But,” Lucas traced a finger over the chipped table top, “big city living isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Anyway, I haven’t accepted the position yet, but it is a promotion and a pay raise, so I’d be an idiot not to do it.”
Connor grinned at him. “Who knew that all those years of playing video games in your basement would lead to this, huh?”
Lucas rolled his eyes. “Dude, how many times do I have to tell you that I don’t play video games, I design them.”
“I know,” Connor said. “Listen, for what it’s worth, Harmony Falls is a great little town and I’m full on team ‘Lucas moves here’.”
“Thanks, man. Listen, keep this under your hat for now, okay? My boss hasn’t found a building yet and not everyone in the company knows that he’s expanding.”
“Yeah, okay.”
“Anyway,” Lucas checked his watch, “I’d better get on the road. I told Ma I’d be there by two and she’ll kick my ass if I’m late. If I get the chance, I’ll stop in on my way back on Sunday, okay?”
“Sure. Say hi to your mom for me.”
“I will.”
Chapter Five
Kira was sitting on the porch swing when he parked in the driveway. He climbed out of the car and headed toward the steps. Daffodils were poking their way through the dark earth in the flower beds in front of the porch, their bright green leaves unfurled to soak in the early evening rays and their yellow heads nodding in the breeze.
He’d texted Kira just before his final appointment and once he was finished for the day, he’d gone home and eaten a quick sandwich and changed his clothes before driving over. He climbed the porch stairs and, after a moment’s hesitation, chose the Adirondack chair to the right of her, rather than sitting in the swing beside her. Being that close to her was… dangerous.
On the drive over, he’d decided the smart thing to do was to keep his distance from Kira. Yeah, he wanted her,