Absolute harmony a harmo.., p.1
Absolute Harmony (A Harmony Falls Novella), page 1
ABSOLUTE HARMONY
A HARMONY FALLS NOVELLA
ELIZABETH KELLY
EK PUBLISHING INC.
CONTENTS
Absolute Harmony
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
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Copyright © 2023 Elizabeth Kelly
Published by:
EK Publishing Inc.
ISBN: 978-1-77446-156-3
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This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the author’s imagination and are used fictitiously.
Edited by:
L. Nunn Editing
Cover art by:
EK Designs
ABSOLUTE HARMONY
Finding love after loss.
Widow Savina Ras is ready to love again.
Too bad Harmony Falls has a serious lack of older men interested in long-term commitment.
To make matters worse, she has an inappropriate crush on her late husband’s best friend, vet tech Hal McGinnis. Hal is kind, sexy, and her closest friend.
At least, he used to be.
He’s avoided her for a year, and Savina needs to move on. Then one unexpected, steamy encounter with Hal changes everything.
Hal’s playing with fire and avoiding Savina in their small town proves nearly impossible.
But it’s for the best.
Until Savina finds herself in a dicey situation, and Hal has to intervene. Their mutual attraction soon burns out of control, and once Hal has tasted Savina’s sweetness on his lips, he can’t walk away.
But for Hal, old guilt and regret are a heavy burden. Will their love be enough to bury that guilt for good?
Author’s Note: “Absolute Harmony” is a novella in The Harmony Falls Series. It is a stand-alone story in the series.
Read more about the Harmony Falls series, HERE
For a FREE Elizabeth Kelly short story, as well as excerpts of upcoming books and contests and giveaways, sign up for Elizabeth’s newsletter here
CHAPTER 1
“Seriously, you’re gorgeous. I’ve never seen an older woman as hot as you.”
Savina gritted her teeth, keeping the smile she’d pasted onto her face cemented in place. “Thank you.”
Her date sipped his drink before studying the packed pub. Savina drank the last of her wine and signaled the bartender for another. This would be her third glass, making it two more glasses than she usually drank, but she needed the liquid courage.
If you need liquid courage, you’re making the wrong decision.
No, she wasn’t. Michael was handsome and articulate, and he’d never once sent her a dick pic the entire time they’d texted. She was having sex with him tonight, and if she needed to be a little drunk to do it, that was okay.
“I’ll be right back.” Michael smiled at her. “Just need to use the restroom.”
“Sure,” she said.
She watched him weave past the tables, studying his ass in his jeans. He had a nice butt. Of course, she’d known that from his Instagram posts. Michael loved posting gym selfies.
She, on the other hand, never set foot in the gym. In fact, if she was being truthful, she and Michael had very little in common.
What does it matter? Tonight is about hooking up, not finding your soulmate.
The bartender set a new wine glass in front of her and took her empty. She nodded in thanks before sipping at the wine. Tonight was about hooking up, and she would have a damn good time doing it. Michael was the perfect guy to break her dry spell.
He’s younger than you!
That was true. Younger by a decade, in fact. But what did that matter? She’d been nearly fifteen years younger than Alan. She had zero interest in younger men, but after failing spectacularly with the men closer to her age, she’d decided to take a chance.
Michael slid back onto the barstool next to hers. She took another slug of wine when he rested his hand on her knee, hoping he hadn’t noticed how she tensed.
“So,” Michael’s gaze dropped to her breasts and then back to her face, “you must get tons of compliments on how young you look, huh? Because you definitely don’t look forty-three. I couldn’t believe it when I read your bio on the dating app.”
It was getting harder and harder to keep that smile on her face. She swallowed more wine and said, “I appreciate that, but I think I look my age.”
“You don’t. Trust me. I would normally never hook up with a woman older than me,” Michael said, “but you can pass for in your thirties, so I told myself to go for it. Especially since the older ladies are well known to have high sex drives.”
His lascivious grin made her smile slip. Did he think he was complimenting her?
Michael squeezed her knee before sliding his hand further up her thigh. She regretted wearing a dress when he slipped his fingers under the hem of it and - sweet Jesus - headed north.
She placed her hand on his, relieved when it stopped his forward motion. She glanced around the pub. No one paid attention to them, and she wasn’t against PDAs, but was this a thing men did now? Just stuck their hand up a woman’s dress in a crowded pub?
“What’s wrong, gorgeous?” Michael squeezed her leg again.
“Nothing,” she said and drained the rest of her wine. Her head buzzed, her pulse thumped, and she knew she was drunk. But that’s what she wanted, right?
Sex for the first time since she’d gone from Savina Ras, wife, to Savina Ras, widow, required copious amounts of alcohol and a man she had no intention of ever seeing again.
“You ready to get out of here?” Michael waved down the bartender without waiting for her reply. “Hey, can we get our bill?”
The bartender brought their bill, and Michael scanned it as he pulled out his wallet. He handed his credit card to the bartender. “That’s to cover my drinks.”
Michael slid the bill across the bar to her. Her face burning, Savina took out some cash and handed it to the bartender. “Keep the change.”
“Paying with cash, huh?” Michael said. “Old school, I dig it.”
The bartender ran his card through the machine. Michael punched in some numbers and took the receipt, giving the bartender a defensive look when the man glanced at the receipt and then at him. “She covered the tip.”
“Right,” the bartender said. He looked to be in his late twenties or early thirties, with tattoos covering his arms and small spreaders in his earlobes. His dark hair was a little longer than she liked, but he had beautiful dark brown eyes and a lean and muscular body. If Savina had been twenty years younger, hell, even ten years younger, she might have considered hitting on him.
She’d been coming to the Thirsty Beaver Pub for years, but she’d never seen this guy before. A blessing, really. She had no desire for the usual bartenders, Rose or Colton, to see her on a date.
Not a date.
Right. Not a date.
She slid off the barstool and wobbled in her short, sensible heels.
“Whoa, you okay, gorgeous?” Michael slipped his arm around her, using her unsteadiness to get a good feel of side boob.
“Fine,” she said, ignoring her urge to elbow him in the ribs but tugging away from his grip.
He held out his hand, and after a moment, she took it, allowing him to lead her out of the pub. The world was wavy on the edges, and she could feel the effects of the wine. She was sluggish and unsteady as she followed Michael to the parking lot.
“You okay to drive?” he asked.
“No,” she said.
“No problem, we can take my car. You still in for fucking?”
She blinked at his forwardness, her brain trying to catch up with the rest of her. “Uh, yes, are you?”
“Oh hell, yeah.” He stopped next to a green Nissan. “I told you before, you’re fucking gorgeous. This is my car. Where do you live?”
“Oh, uh, I live outside of town,” she said. “I thought we could go to your place?”
There was no way in hell she’d let a random hook-up come back to her house. Hell, she’d had second thoughts about even doing this with Michael since he lived right here in Harmony Falls, but he really had been the best of her matches. Besides, she was a grown woman. She could handle potentially running into a one-night stand in the grocery store.
But bringing Michael to the bedroom she’d shared with Alan was a big fat no. It didn’t matter if the bed she slept on was new, and never once felt the weight of Alan’s body. Didn’t matter that she’d long since donated his clothes and most of his personal items. She still wouldn’t let Michael within ten feet of the room.
“My roommates a re home tonight,” he said. “But if you don’t care that they hear us fucking, then -”
“I’m good with a motel,” she said quickly.
He frowned, “I don’t want to pay for a motel. How far out of town do you live?”
“Too far,” she lied.
He pulled her against him, grinning down at her. “Then I guess it’s my place, and you’ll have to keep the screaming to a minimum while I’m fucking you. Or,” he reached down and squeezed her ass, “we can make sure that pretty mouth of yours is too busy sucking my dick to make noise.”
Ugh.
“I’ll pay for the motel,” she said.
He shrugged, his hand still busy squeezing and cupping her ass. “Sure, whatever.”
Without any warning, he dropped his mouth onto hers. She made a muffled squeak, her hands gripping his arms. Michael’s mouth roamed over hers. He tasted like whiskey and, she grimaced inwardly, taco meat. His tongue invaded her mouth, too big and too wet, and her queasy stomach protested.
She’d kissed a few guys in the last year or so, and the kissing hadn’t done a thing for her, which was a real headscratcher because kissing was her thing. Nothing turned her on faster than kissing. Slow, deep, soft, demanding… it didn’t matter. She loved to kiss.
Sure, but it’s gotta be good kissing.
Her stomach lurched when Michael shoved his tongue so far into her mouth that she swore she could feel it touching her tonsils. She tried not to gag and failed, pushing away from Michael and staggering back. Luckily, Michael’s car was behind her, or she would have fallen on her ass.
Michael frowned, his lips shiny and wet in the circle of light from the streetlamp above them. “What’s wrong?”
Everything.
“Nothing,” Savina said. “I … nothing’s wrong.”
He reached for her again, and when her stomach made another horrific lurch at the thought of Michael’s lips plastered back onto hers, she pressed her hands against his chest and said, “I can’t do this.”
Michael scowled. “What do you mean you can’t do this?”
“Is there another way to say it?” she asked.
A couple of women wearing microskirts and high heels walked by them, barely glancing at them as they headed toward the pub.
Michael flushed, his eyebrows drawing down even further and his lower lip pooching out like a little kid having a tantrum. “Are you fucking kidding me?”
“No, I’m not,” she said. Michael’s body blocked her sight line to the pub, but she could hear the soft swell of music and voices as the women opened the door. “I’ve changed my mind.”
“You’ve changed your mind,” Michael echoed. “Isn’t that just fucking great? I could have gone out with a hundred women tonight who would have been happy to ride my dick, but I chose you. Because you’re old and an easy lay, right? Or, at least, you’re supposed to be.”
“Fuck you,” she said before shoving at his chest. “Get the fuck out of my way.”
“What if I think you owe me?” Michael asked. “You’ve wasted a few hours of my time, so maybe I deserve something in return. Maybe you suck my dick right here in the parking lot like a good little cocksucker, and I won’t -”
He made a pig-like squeal, and Savina gasped when Michael was spun around and shoved up against the silver SUV parked next to his car. His head banged against the window frame, and he bellowed a curse before glaring at the man standing before him. “What the fuck?”
“Hal?” Savina stepped toward the vet tech, but the world made a crazy slant, and - Christ - spun way faster than it should have been.
She slumped back against Michael’s car, her pulse hammering erratically as she stared wide-eyed at Hal McGinnis - local vet tech, sexiest silver-haired fox in all of Harmony Falls, and her dead husband’s best friend.
CHAPTER 2
Hal told himself it was none of his business when he saw Savina on her date. Told himself he didn’t care as he watched her down three glasses of wine in rapid succession as that idiot beside her leered at her breasts and her hips.
Hell, he’d even convinced himself not to follow them out of the pub when Savina stood, and it was immediately clear she was drunk. She was a grown woman who knew how to handle herself and didn’t need a babysitter.
He’d come to the Thirsty Beaver for a drink and to give him something else to do besides mope at home thinking about the one woman he could never have. That one woman being on a date at the pub only proved that God had a real fucked up sense of humour.
He’d only lasted a couple of minutes after Savina walked out the door before he gulped down the last of his beer, slapped some bills on the table, and headed out into the parking lot. He’d almost turned around and gone right back into the pub when he saw Savina and her date.
Hal might have been across the parking lot, but the light above them made it easy to see Savina’s date had his tongue down her throat and his hands on her ass. He looked away as he wavered between going back into the pub and getting shitface drunk or climbing on his motorcycle and driving endlessly until the image of Savina being manhandled had left his brain. Maybe it would be gone by the time he hit Mexico.
He opened the pub door for two women in short skirts and high heels. They thanked him politely, their gaze sliding over him without seeing him. Not surprising. They looked to be in their twenties, and at fifty-two, he wasn’t exactly in their age bracket, which was perfectly fine with him. He’d never understood why so many men his age dated women in their twenties. He’d never seen the appeal, and he never would.
He turned to follow them into the pub, glancing one last time over his shoulder at Savina. He froze, his guts tightening as he immediately went on high alert. He couldn’t hear what her date said, but he’d known Savina for years. He recognized when she was upset, even just from her body language.
Hal jogged across the parking lot toward her, slowing down as he came up behind her date. His brain went to angry and protective caveman mode the minute he heard the asshole talk about Savina sucking his dick. He grabbed the guy, spun him around, and threw him up against a silver SUV.
The guy’s head banged against the window frame, and he rattled off a curse before glaring at Hal. “What the fuck?”
“Hal?” Savina stared wide-eyed at him and pushed away from the car she leaned against. She took a few staggering steps forward then fell back against the car with a soft groan.
“Who the fuck are you, asshole?” the guy snapped.
“Michael, he’s a friend,” Savina said. “He’s -”
“Tell your fucking friend to keep his hands to himself,” Michael snarled. “Unless he wants my fist buried in his face.”
Hal barked laughter. “Go ahead and hit me, shithead.”
“Hal,” Savina said, “he’s not worth it.”
“Fuck you, bitch,” Michael said and swung at Hal.
He dodged Michael’s wild swing easily and then punched him in the stomach, pulling the punch at the last minute, so he didn’t do serious damage to the loser.
Michael cried out, the colour fading from his face as he grabbed his stomach and bent over, coughing and gagging.
Hal watched silently, and when Savina staggered over to them, he stepped neatly in front of her, trying to ignore the feel of her soft weight as she crowded up against his back. “Hal, don’t hurt him.”
“Too late,” Hal said. He knew Savina could hear the satisfaction in his voice, but fuck it. The guy shouldn’t have spoken to her that way.
Savina pushed past him and touched Michael’s shoulder. “Michael, are you -”
“Don’t you fucking touch me,” Michael snarled before coughing again. He straightened and one hand clasped across his stomach, glared at the both of them. “What the fuck, grandpa? You have to sucker punch me to win the fight?”
