3. Harmony

CHAPTER 3

Harmony

H ow the hell did I get stuck at the same table as this nut? He's still staring at me. There's something hot and dark and dangerous in his eyes. Something that makes my heart race and has my belly quivering with…

I'm not really sure what. I don't remember ever feeling these kinds of feelings. So confusing.

But one thing is not confusing at all. The guy's hot as hell. Dark and brooding and dangerous-looking. His deep chocolate eyes are pools of heat. His long dark lashes make me want to smack the hell out of him because any woman would. That shit's not fair.

But he's also nuts! All that stuff he was babbling about needing to touch me. That we're meant to be?

For fuck's sake! Should he be alone on this cruise? Maybe he's got a nurse somewhere who lost track of him and is searching for him with a vial of something to put him to sleep.

Heat pools in my belly and my eyes catch on the way his biceps stretch the suit jacket he's wearing. His shirt is tailored to perfection.

Of course the guy's rich as hell. He could buy his own squad of tailors to lovingly cut each piece of his clothes to exactly the right fit, the cut that most shows off what he's got.

And he's got a lot to work with! My mouth waters. A helluva lot!

His hands flex on his napkin as he dabs at his mouth. He looks so civilized but it's all a facade. I feel it. This man plays the perfectly-civilized man but the way his muscles flex and roll?

I see the caveman in him. I shudder softly. He's a jungle cat hiding amongst tame little tabbies and when his dark eyes shift to mine, I see that animal inside him. He's feral and the urge to run covers me for just a heartbeat, a quickened breath.

My heartbeat stutters in my chest and my fight or flight response roars in my body.

His full lips twitch when he catches me staring at him. "Tell me about yourself, cara Mia."

"There's nothing to tell."

"I doubt that very seriously. You're a beautiful woman. Beautiful women always have stories of some sort. Tell me yours. Maybe start with your name since you're still hiding that from me, baby girl."

I set my fork down and huff out a sharp breath. "My name is Harmony Henry and there's not much to tell. I'm divorced and I have three girls." I purposely choose to tell him that. He needs to realize that there's nothing here. He's too young, too pretty.

I'm too old and tired. We don't fit.

He grins. "I know you're telling me this to try and deter me from talking to you or being interested in you. But I love an experienced woman, baby girl."

My lips twist. "I am quite a bit older than you, Drake. I don't think you can call me baby girl."

He leans towards me with a shit-eating smirk on his face. "You'll find out once you get to know me better, angel, that society's norms mean nothing to me. I follow my own path. Choose my own life. It's the only way to live."

Snorting, I take a bite out of my steak and chew it slowly. "That's not me. I have plans and dreams. I am not impulsive. At all. And I'm sure as hell not about to climb on your dick if you show me a little attention! I'm not that much of a pushover. Jeff aside," I mutter under my breath.

"Who is Jeff?" His lean face is suffused with red, darkening with a strange look that makes me wonder what's going on with him.

"My ex. He's a doctor. We met on the campus when he was just getting ready to graduate and head out for residency."

"Humph!" He snorts and crosses his bulging arms over his chest. I wish my eyes didn't follow the movement but I am human! His dark eyes gleam with triumph when he notices and I want to smack myself in the back of the head and tell myself to knock it off.

I'm an adult, dammit! I need to start acting like one! And not a lecherous cougar either!

This time he snaps his fingers in front of my face. "Hello, angel? I like looking at you too but perhaps you could reel it in long enough to tell me all about you."

Jerking up, I glare at him. "I have triplet daughters named, Hesta, Artemis and Minerva."

His mouth quirks up again. "Goddesses. Well, with you for a mother they couldn't help but be goddesses."

I eye him cynically. "Do those kinds of lines actually work or do you just think I look easy?"

He snorts and his deep ebony eyes gleam with laughter. "I would never call you easy."

"Terrific. Maybe we should skip the chit chat rule and we'll just eat and go back to our cabins."

He leans on his big hand and my mouth goes dry. There's just something about this guy.

He flutters his lashes at me. Actually, flutters his dark lashes. "Or we could both go back to my cabin and get to know each other better?"

I throw my head back, laughing loudly. "Do you ever give up?"

His dark head tilts, a gentle smile on his face. "Why would I ever give up when I know that this is where I'm meant to be and you're the woman I'm meant to be with."

Shaking my head, I mutter, "How old are you, Drake?"

"Twenty-nine. How old are you?"

"You do know that you're not supposed to ask a woman's age, right?"

Shrugging, he eyes me expectantly. "You asked first. I'm just returning the favor."

"I'm forty. As of yesterday," I say.

His dark eyes widen, gleaming in the dim light. "Yesterday was your birthday? Have you celebrated it yet?"

"Nope. I've been too busy trying to keep from losing my lunch. I hate boats!"

Me too! Another thing we have in common, cara Mia." He stands up and holds his hand out to me. I eye it like it's a living thing and it's about to bite me.

"We need to celebrate your birthday. Come with me, angel. I'll make sure you have a good time."

"I'm not going to have sex with you."

Instead of arguing with me, he just raises a dark brow. I stand up like someone hypnotized. "I'm not asking for sex. I think that you need to let loose a little bit and remember that you're a woman with needs and desires." He shrugs. "Can I fulfill those desires? You better believe it, sweetheart. But I won't push you on it. One of these days you'll come to me on your own and when we make love it will be explosive!"

I'm shaking my head even as I stand and reach my hand out to him. "Not gonna happen."

His dark head leans over me and he whispers in my ear, leaving goosebumps up and down my arms and throat. "It will happen. And it will change your life!"

Like a lamb to the slaughter, I follow the crazy man and try to convince myself that I shouldn't be doing this although it feels so right I know it can't be wrong.

I'm starting to believe it's true and we really are meant to be together. Even if it's only for a short time.

Maybe he'll help me feel something again other than stupid and old.