She rolled her eyes. “Awhile.”

She walked across the sand toward the hotel entrance, shaking her head.

Maybe Barrett was right and she needed some space to think about men in general. Because right now getting involved with any man—Barrett included—seemed like a giant waste of her time.

Men were obtuse, made no sense, and clearly did not care about women’s feelings.

All men.

Okay, so maybe Barrett had gone too far in his discussion with Harmony, but if he’d succeeded in pushing her away, it had been the right thing to do.

Right?

After all, that had been his intent. To make her see that she was possibly attracted to him only because she was on the rebound from her breakup with her ex-boyfriend, and she needed some time to honestly think about what it was that she wanted.

Only now she was pissed at him, and that part he didn’t like.

They’d had fun today. At least after her bout with hypoglycemia this morning, she’d eaten and relaxed and they’d managed to have a good time.

Now he’d gotten her all riled up, and that part he hadn’t intended.

Plus, it didn’t sit well with him that she’d lumped him into the category of “all men are assholes.”

He wasn’t an asshole. He could be brutally honest with a woman at times, and he’d managed to piss off a few, but he’d never lied to a woman in his life and he didn’t intend to start now.

But this was Harmony, and she was . . . different.

He was going to sit here awhile and let her have her space.

Then he was going to try the talking thing again, maybe this time with a touch more tact.

Fourteen

After going up to the room and taking a shower that cooled her down, followed by some quiet time with a great book, Harmony found her mood improved dramatically.

She’d blown up at Barrett for no reason whatsoever. What could have been a highly enlightening conversation on the relationship differences between the sexes had turned into her throwing a tantrum because Barrett refused to see things her way.

That wasn’t how she normally behaved. She was typically levelheaded and saw the other person’s point of view in a discussion. She might not agree with it, but she was always willing to listen.

So what the hell had gotten her so emotional?

She laid her book down and stood, walking over to the balcony to look out over the water.

She knew exactly why. Because he wasn’t playing her game. He was trying to get rid of her and she didn’t like it. She’d flirted with him, and to a certain extent he’d flirted back, but for the most part, he’d held his ground—rather firmly, much to her frustration.

She might think he wasn’t interested except she knew better. He’d sprouted some rather impressive erections around her. Biology, sure, but a man who wasn’t interested in a woman didn’t get hard around her.

And he’d definitely gotten hard around her. She wasn’t a naïve kid. She was a woman, and a woman knew when a man was interested.

It was just his stupid man code rearing its ugly head. And while she appreciated all that nobility crap and his dedication to her brother, she was going to have to stand firm if she wanted Barrett in her life.

Resolve firmly in place once again, she changed out of her shorts and tank top into a sundress, fixed her hair and applied makeup.

Then she left a note for Barrett and headed downstairs.

Figuring a couple of hours should have been enough time to leave Harmony alone, Barrett made his way up to the room. When he opened the door, he peeked his head in first.

“Harmony?”

No answer. Maybe she was in the shower, so he stepped in and shut the door.

The bathroom door was open and she wasn’t in the room.

Huh. He walked into the room to find a note on the pillow.

Barrett—

I’m downstairs in the bar. Why don’t you clean up and come meet me?

H

Okay, so maybe she wasn’t pissed at him anymore. That was a good sign. He took a quick shower and changed clothes, then headed downstairs to the bar. He saw Harmony sitting at the bar chatting with some dude. The guy wore shorts and a button-down shirt. Looked to be a vacation type. Only he had no wife or family with him. He was a big burly guy with short, spiked blond hair and lots of muscles.

Harmony laughed at something the guy said and the guy laid his hand over hers.

Okay, enough of that shit. He walked over to the bar. Harmony saw him and smiled. The dude smiled, too.

Whatever, buddy.

“Hi,” Harmony said. “Barrett, this is Ted Lester. He works here at the hotel. Ted, this is Barrett Cassidy.”

Barrett shook his hand. “Ted.”

“Barrett. You play for the Hawks, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Big fan.”

“Thanks. What do you do here at the hotel, Ted?”

“I manage the bar.”

Barrett had a burning urge to tell him he should go manage it. “Off duty?”

“My shift isn’t starting yet.”

“Ted was telling me about how much he’s traveled. He’s worked for hotels all over the world. Tokyo, Sydney, London, Beijing.”

Barrett cocked a brow. “You must love travel.”

Ted grinned. “I do.”

“So what are you doing in Tampa?”

“My family lives here. Grandparents are getting older and frail. Figured I’d set down roots here for a while, put the travel on hold for a bit, ya know?”