Unexpected Rush (Play-By-Play #11)(4)

Even though he’d been a few years older than she was, she hadn’t cared. No other guy had existed for her after that. Barrett had been nice to her, though he had largely ignored her, as older guys did to nearly invisible teens.

Still, her crush had endured.

During her college years she’d found other guys who actually noticed her. Then she’d replaced her fantasy of Barrett with real men.

Like Levon.

She snorted.

“What?” Alyssa asked.

“Just thinking about my journey in the man department over the years.”

“Oh. Yeah. You’ve chosen some true keepers, Harmony.”

Harmony pursed her lips. “It’s not my fault. I’m smart, I’m kind, I’m generous, I’m funny, I’d like to think I’m a proud, damn fine-looking woman, and I’m hot as hell.”

“Hell yes,” Alyssa said.

“And yet for some reason I keep attracting these losers.”

Alyssa gave her a look of commiseration. “It’s not like I’m dating winners of the year, either. It’s hard to find a good man.”

They looked at each other and grinned.

“And good to find a hard one,” they said simultaneously, then laughed.

“Too bad Barrett is off-limits,” Alyssa said. “That man is the definition of hardbody.”

Harmony didn’t believe in off-limits. She wasn’t giving up just yet.





Three





Barrett stood outside, thinking.

Thinking and watching Harmony and Alyssa inside in the kitchen, both of them talking and laughing.

Not that he was paying attention to Alyssa. Alyssa was pretty and had a banging body. But it didn’t seem to matter, since his gaze was focused on Harmony, on the way she put her entire body into it when she laughed, the way she tilted her head back, exposing the soft column of her neck, the way she reached for Alyssa’s hand when she had something important to say.

The woman had expressive body language. It wasn’t the first time he’d caught himself watching her, noticing her hair, the way she walked, the subtle curve in her hips or even her slender fingertips. And then his mind would wander to those fingertips and her hands, imagining her wrapping her hand around his neck while he explored her mouth, or raking her pretty fingernails down his bare chest or using her sweet soft hands to stroke his— Jesus. Had he really paid attention to all those things? He had been, for a while now. And then she had to go and ask him to ask her out on a date. It was like she’d read his mind, as if she’d known all the fantasies he’d been having about her lately.

Which he had no goddamned business having.

Because of the rule.

Drake was his best friend. They’d been like brothers both on the field and off. He’d never step on that friendship by touching his kid sister.

But that was the problem, wasn’t it? Harmony wasn’t a kid anymore, and hadn’t been for a long time.

He just hadn’t noticed she’d grown up—until recently. He wasn’t sure when it had happened. Maybe earlier this year, at the New Year’s Eve party Drake had thrown at his mom’s house.

They always liked to congregate here. Mainly to keep Mama Diane company, and hell, Diane liked a good party as much as anyone.

That New Year’s Eve Harmony had worn some slinky silver dress that clung to her curves, revealing cleavage and skin, and she hadn’t brought a date that night.

Neither had he, which meant he’d been scoping out the single women at the party.

He hadn’t meant to scope her out, but when he’d walked in the kitchen and she’d been bent over the dishwasher, revealing silken legs and sexy thighs, all he could think of was spreading her legs and . . .

He jerked his attention away from the window, realizing he was standing out in the backyard with a f*cking hard-on.

What the hell was wrong with him? He could still remember the day she’d gotten her braces off. She’d started late and she’d told him high school with braces had been a nightmare. She’d been so excited, and had told him she couldn’t wait to show whatever boyfriend she’d had at the time.

She’d been barely what? Nineteen? Barely legal. He hadn’t paid attention to her. He just remembered smiling at her and telling her she looked pretty.

She was more than pretty now. She was a knockout.

And he was never, ever going to touch her.

Downing the last swallow of his beer, he went back into the house and grabbed another from the fridge. Fortunately, Harmony and Alyssa had exited the kitchen, so maybe he could avoid her the rest of the night.

He made his way into the living room, where Drake and some of the other guys were playing video games. First he stopped at the dining room table to kiss Mama Diane’s cheek. She was chatting with one of the neighbors.

She patted his cheek. “Where’d you disappear to?”

“Out back. Your vegetable garden is looking healthy.”

“And don’t think of running off with my tomatoes.”

He laughed. “You know me so well, Mama Diane.”

“Yes, I do. You hungry?”

“Always.”

“You boys are always hungry. Dinner will be ready soon.”

“Thank you.”

He winded his way over to the sofas, where there was a fierce game of war going on. At least on the television. Drake was in the middle of the action, killing aliens along with Bubba Sinclair and Lionel “Mean Man” Taylor, both part of the Tampa defense. It was almost always defensive players over for dinner on Thursday nights when they were in town.