Until Harmony (Until Her 4)

“Thanks for saving me.”

“Don’t mention it.” She shrugs, taking a seat in her chair, pulling out a chart, and opening it up.

Looking from her to the clock on the wall, I hold in a sigh of disappointment. I still have an hour and thirty-four minutes before I can go home. Damn. With no other choice, I get back to work.

***

I pull into my driveway at a little after eleven p.m. and notice the lights on inside. Something I’m not use to, but something I really like. I shut my car down and grab my bags off the passenger seat. The minute I open my door, I watch Harlen step out onto the front porch with Dizzy in his arms.

“Hey.” I slam my door behind me and head his way.

The moment I’m close enough for him to reach, the arm that’s not holding Dizzy slides around my waist and his mouth drops down to mine for a soft kiss. “Hey,” he says there, and I smile. “You hungry?”

“A little,” I answer as he trades my bags for Dizzy, who’s trying to get to me, and places his hand against my lower back to lead me inside the house.

“Got you Lo Mein when I ordered Chinese for myself earlier. It’s in the microwave.”

“Cool, will you heat it up for me? I’m just going to change real quick.”

“Sure.” He drops his mouth down to mine again for another touch before taking my bags with him toward the kitchen. I go to my bedroom and kiss the top of Dizzy’s head one last time before I set him on the floor, watching him run right back out of the room as I head for the closet. I trade my scrubs for a pair of loose pajama shorts and a tank top, then grab a sweater and go to the kitchen, hearing the microwave beep.

“You want one of your ciders?” he asks.

“Sure.” I head around the island toward him then watch him open the fridge. The moment I see how stuffed full it is with food, I look at him.

“I thought you were just going to pick up the basics,” I say, raising a brow, and his eyes come to me.

“I did,” he answers, opening the cider and handing it to me. Moving around him, I open the door to the fridge and look in. I wasn’t wrong. The shelves are full, along with the meat and fruit drawer.

“I hope you plan on helping me eat all this stuff,” I tell him, opening the freezer and finding it’s just as full, with different kinds of meats and frozen vegetables.

“It’ll all get used,” he answers, and I shake my head.

“I don’t normally cook on my days off, but now I guess I’ll have to.”

“Stop complaining about having food in the fridge and come eat,” he orders as he pulls down a bowl from the microwave and hands it to me, shoving a fork into the noodles.

“I’m not complaining,” I lie, and his lips twitch. “Whatever.” I take the bowl with me to the living room and take a seat on the couch, while he comes over, sitting next to me, with his own beer.

“How was work?”

“Good.” I shrug, figuring after his statement last night about being crazy jealous, it’s probably best to leave out anything to do with Dr. Hofstadter and the creepy vibe he gives me.

“Just good?”

“Yeah, nothing much happened. We had one new patient come in, but the rest of the night was quiet.”

“Quiet’s good,” he says, reaching over and tucking a piece of hair behind my ear.

“Quiet is good, but it also means time has a tendency to drag, and since I would rather have been home hanging out with you, quiet sucked.”

“I see,” he murmurs, and I catch his smile before he takes a pull from his beer.

“What did you do today?” I ask, blowing on a forkful of noodles before taking a bite.

“Work, and your dad came by to see me.”

“What?” I choke on a noodle and start to cough. Only when I’m done does he continue.

“Apparently, he heard I took you home last night.” He shrugs like it’s not a big deal, when it is, since I wanted to be the one to tell my parents about Harlen’s and my new relationship status. I knew I should have taken time to call them this afternoon, but I didn’t, and now I’m sure they’ve heard about Harlen carrying me out of the bar, caveman style.

“Oh my God,” I whisper, then ask, “What did he say?”

“First, he told me to back off. When I ignored that suggestion, he told me that if I fucked you over, he’d have my balls.”

“He didn’t,” I whisper as anger fills the pit of my stomach.

“It’s all good. It’s not a big deal.”

“It’s not all good.” I drop my bowl to the coffee table with a clank and stand. “And it is a big deal. I can’t beli—” My words are cut off and my breath leaves on a whoosh as I’m pulled down onto his lap and his arms go around me tight.