Page 18 of A Home for Harmony (Blossoms #16)

MIXED REACTIONS

“ H armony James is here to see you.”

“What?” Micah asked, lifting his head. Candy was the assistant who sat at the front behind the glass and dealt with the public that came into the building. She just popped her head into his office.

“She asked if you were around and if she could talk to you. She doesn’t have an appointment, but I thought I’d check before I took a message.”

“I’ll come get her,” he said.

He couldn’t imagine what this was about, but wouldn’t leave her standing there either.

He stood up and followed Candy to the front, buzzed the door open and popped his head out.

“I’m sorry,” Harmony said.

“Come on back,” he said, not letting her say much more.

She looked upset. Not scared like the first time he’d seen her waiting in her car on the side of the road, but her happy peppy personality was gone, even though she was forcing a smile.

They got to his office and he shut his door.

“I shouldn’t have come here,” she rushed out to say. Her eyes traveled the length of him in uniform, his gun in the holster on his shoulder. “Whoa. Damn. Talk about mixed reactions.”

The smile wasn’t so fake this time. “I had my gun and uniform on the day I helped you.”

He’d been in uniform, but she obviously hadn’t realized it with his winter jacket on. His own jacket. He left his police-issued one at work since he didn’t always go out in the field.

“I was too nervous to pay attention to that,” she said. She looked around as if she was worried someone would hear her and then dropped her voice while her hand moved up and down in front of him. “This is hot.”

His lips twitched but didn’t smile. “That’s why you stopped over?”

“No,” she said. “I’m sorry. Back to that. I was at Blossoms taking care of some work and Ivy Scarsdale came rushing in not knowing I was there. She wanted to see Brooks after what happened.”

He nodded his head. “That was hours ago,” he said.

“I know,” she said, sighing. “I stopped and got lunch and went home to eat with Erica and thought I was calm. I was searching online for anything I could. Ivy said Brooks’s captain talked the guy out. I knew it was you.”

“Did you tell them that?” he asked.

“No. I’m surprised they didn’t notice how pale I became, but then I remembered she said it was over and they arrested the guy.”

The minute the gunman was outside and cuffed, Micah went back to his car, texted his daughter he was fine and would be back in his office soon. It hadn’t occurred to him to do the same with Harmony.

He never did with Trinda. She didn’t want to know. She’d told him more than once it was too stressful for her to know what was going on while he was working, so he kept it to himself daily.

“Okay,” he said. He was still trying to figure out the reason for her visit.

“You know Erica knows about us, but I haven’t said it to anyone else and won’t until you say we can.

I mean,” she said, waving her hand. “Again, I’m getting off track.

I was nervous that you were there. Scared too.

I didn’t think much of these things before.

We talked about it. It was one of those ‘you won’t know until you do’ things. I guess I know.”

And she came to his job to break up with him in person? What the fuck kind of joke was that?

“What is it you know?” he asked. He wasn’t letting on to anything he might be feeling. Not that he did often anyway.

She was almost wringing her hands. “Can I have a hug?”

She looked unsure of herself and a little lost.

Vulnerable.

That was probably why he said, “Sure.”

She hesitated. “If you don’t want it, fine,” she said. “I was just scared for you. And I wanted to see if you were okay with my own eyes. I texted you, but I guess you’re busy.”

“Shit,” he said. “You did?”

He moved over and picked up his phone. It was on silent so he could get his report done and deal with things when he got back and not worry about distractions.

There was her text saying she heard, and though she knew he was fine, she just would like to hear it from him.

“I don’t expect you to reply to me immediately.

Never that. But...I’m being an idiot. This is new for me and I’m probably scaring you and acting like a complete child over it, but I won’t know how to move on for the next time if I don’t take some steps now and feel it out.

That’s how I’ll learn to react and what to expect. ”

“Next time,” he said. “So you’re not breaking up with me over this?”

“What?” she asked. Her face was comically perplexed. Her upper lip scrunched, her eyebrows together, her nose twitching like there was some foul odor in the room. “No. Why would you think that?”

He let out a sigh, moved toward her, and pulled her into his arms. “Come here.” He held her until her body relaxed. Her hands weren’t digging into his back as much either and were almost patting him now like a child.

“I wouldn’t break up with you over that. I don’t even know what we have other than we are exclusive.”

Guess he made a misstep there, assuming it was a breakup. People her age didn’t really have relationship commitments this early on.

“I don’t know what terms people use now,” he said. “I just figured that it was too much for you and you were going to say that it wouldn’t work out.”

And he was prepared to say fine. It’s not like it hadn’t happened to him before.

But he wondered how fine he’d actually be knowing that he didn’t have her voice to look forward to.

“No,” she said. “This is horrible. I said I’m not clingy and yet here I am, gripping you like a life preserver in the ocean.”

She let out a half laugh and stepped back. He closed one eye at her. “That is what you did the other night. This isn’t anything like that.”

“Ooohhh,” she said as if it just hit her what he was alluding to. “You cracked a joke. I wasn’t sure you had that ability.”

“I’ve been known to do it a time or two,” he said drily.

“I really am sorry for stopping by like this unannounced. I told Erica earlier that I just wanted to talk to you. I know it sounds silly. That was before all this happened. I wanted to hear your voice, but knew you were working. I’m going out of town tomorrow.”

“You are?” he asked. Why hadn’t he known that?

Because they hadn’t done much more than have a few texts since their night together days ago.

“Yes,” she said. “I’ve got to go to New York City tomorrow afternoon. I’ve got a job there with a few other people and then I’m staying the night with an old friend and we are going to Times Square to watch the ball drop. I planned this trip a few months ago.

He wanted to tell her not to go and all the things that could go wrong on a night like that.

But he wouldn’t.

He’d come off as old and parenting to her.

She wasn’t his child.

He wasn’t even sure if he could call her his girlfriend but knew he wanted to think she was.

“Oh,” he said. “I’ve got to work New Year’s Eve. I’m covering for the other captain who had plans.”

“We hadn’t talked about it. I know Scarlet has been around too and you probably don’t want to talk on the phone at night if she’s there.”

He’d been thinking about it. He could do it in his room with the TV on. Scarlet had a TV in her room also, but half the time she had a headset on listening to music or whatever else she watched on her computer.

“We can try,” he said. “She is normally busy or doing her own thing. She’s in her room by nine with the door shut.”

“How about you?” she asked. “When do you go to bed?”

“Is this where you tell me I’m old?” he asked, narrowing one eye at her.

“Nope. I try to get to bed around ten most nights, if not earlier, and watch TV in bed or do a few things on my computer in bed. I’m not much of a night owl and will be lucky to stay awake on New Year’s Eve.

I’ll want to leave as soon as the ball is down, but I know it will take us time to get back to Lizzie’s place. ”

“Lizzie?” he asked. Sounded like a woman to him so not an old male friend.

“I worked with Lizzie at my last job. We got along well and hung out too. I was in Manhattan not that long ago with Erica for work and Lizzie and I had lunch. She knew I was going there for work and she asked me to stay with her that night. I was only going to do what I had to and leave but took advantage of it.”

“And things change,” he said. “I know. As I said, I’m working anyway.”

She looked uncomfortable standing there now. Like it all hit her where she was.

“I shouldn’t have come,” she said. “Someone might ask what this was about and then what are you going to say?”

“No one is going to ask me,” he said.

Luke was off, Brooks not in the office. They were the only two who knew Harmony. If they saw her, he’d have to say what was going on, but he’d like to put that off for now.

“Because you’re the boss,” she said, wiggling her eyebrows. “I enjoy being the boss.”

“It has its perks,” he said.

“It does. Is it bad of me to want to know if I can have a kiss before I leave?”

“No,” he said. He moved closer and gave her a light peck on the lips.

“Thank you,” she said. She sniffed him and he rolled his eyes. “You smell good. I feel so much better. I had to film the products I got from Blossoms and did it after lunch hoping to be distracted while I waited for your call. Then I said screw it and drove here like an idiot.”

“Not an idiot,” he said. “I’m glad you stopped in.”

“You are? Don’t worry, I won’t make a habit of it.”

He was glad in a way because it’s not who he was.

“It’s fine,” he said.

“Now I can go home and do my edits on the video. It’s probably horrible and I’ll have to redo it all, but I need it posted tonight since I’ll have their product on Wednesday night and my followers will understand it more.”

He wasn’t about to talk fashion with her. Or anything else. He knew most of the things Blossoms had because his daughter was asking for them nonstop.

“Send me a text later if you want to talk. We’ll figure it out.”

“I will,” she said, moving over and getting up on her toes to give him another kiss. “Thank you for not thinking I was silly coming here.”

“You’re not,” he said.

He’d be crazy to think it was silly to have a woman in his life care about him.