Finding Harmony by Jomarie Degioia Read Free Book Online Page A

his mind. The fitness center was packed with guys, but a few women worked
the machines in front of him. There was a nice view of the lush green trees and
shrubs outside the wide windows. The women on the bikes and stair-steppers in
front of those windows weren’t bad, either. Tanned and smooth, fit and healthy.
In spite of himself he pictured Harmony’s form again. She hiked and biked and
canoed, she’d said. Well, her body was better than the pampered women in front
of him. Lush and natural and… real. What the hell was wrong with him?
    She was just a pretty girl with plants on her mind. She was
just different from the women in Boston, that was all. He’d asked her to dinner
again, a reasonable request which surprised him as it flew out of his mouth. She’d
turned him down without hesitation. Just drove away on that funny little
scooter of hers. Bouncing gently along as she hurried the hell away from him. He
let the weights fall and grabbed up his towel.
    A glance toward the mirrored wall showed him a mess. His
hair was wet and stuck to his forehead in curls. Stubble darkened his cheeks. God,
it was the same way he’d looked when he ran into Harmony last week. Big
surprise she’d turned him down.
    In Boston he’d never let himself be seen without being
clean and pressed and perfect. Bill ran a tight ship, a fact he shared with
anyone who’d listen. His son had to project the corporate image at all times. Well,
he wasn’t the golden boy today. No, today he looked tired and sweaty and
frustrated. Well, he was all that.
    November loomed and there was still nothing on the site
location’s status. The Institute was dragging its feet on picking an
alternative site, as well. He felt like his skin was too tight. He itched to
get out of Cypress Corners for a while. To drive out to the coast and sit by
the ocean. To ignore the damn stars above his head as he sat on his too-cozy
front porch. Special street lights, Harmony had said. Yeah, right. Special
girl, but he didn’t want to think about her under those stars. He could almost
taste that near-kiss they’d shared.
    He ended his workout session after about an hour. A steam,
then. Maybe that would bake Harmony out of his mind. He left the weight room
and turned down the corridor leading to the private steam rooms. He’d seen them
before, each one a little larger than a shower stall with a built-in bench and
a place to rest his bottle of water. He dug out his fitness center pass and ran
it through the conveniently-located drink machine opposite the row of opaque
steam room doors. The bottles held flavored water, infused with different plant
extracts. He chose one with lavender—to help you relax, the label said—and
turned to find a vacant room. One door swung open and a rosy and steamy Tammy
stepped out wreathed in moist air.
    “Rick!” She flicked a long wet strand of black hair over
one bare shoulder. “If I’d known you were here I’d have waited for my steam.”
    He easily deflected her flirting today. It hadn’t been
difficult the first time and grew easier the longer he stayed at Cypress
Corners.
    “Hello, Tammy,” he said. “I just worked out and need a
steam.”
    Her eyes glinted as she ran her gaze over him. “Pity. Doesn’t
it seem so odd that we Floridians take a steam when all we have to do is step
outside.”
    He smiled. “When does it cool down around here?”
    “You should be here in July, Rick.” She pouted. “It’s
really not so bad, is it? Especially out by the lake?”
    He shook his head. “The lake’s too crowded for my taste. Families,
kids.”
    Tammy shrugged and adjusted her towel, which showed more
cleavage for the effort. “There’s always the other lakeshore. The one we’re
developing next year.”
    He recalled seeing nothing more than a notation on the site
map he’d been given. With the trouble the recreation café was causing him, he
hadn’t given more than a passing thought to next year’s big project.
     “I