Forbidden Harmony (Harmony Falls #3) - Elizabeth Kelly Page 0,2

for her. She and Preacher had zero in common.

You don’t need to have anything in common to fuck him, Addie.

She cringed at her inner crudeness, but it did make a valid point. Casual sex wasn’t about a connection with someone, it was about fulfilling a need. But regardless, Preacher was not the man for her.

“You’re still blushing,” Kira said. “If you don’t want to do this, you don’t -”

“I want to,” Addison said. “In fact, Daniel mentioned the other day that a few of the firefighters will be at the Thirsty Beaver tomorrow night watching the baseball game.”

Kira clapped her hands. “Banging a hunky firefighter is totally the right call. Oh shit! I’m going to Willington tomorrow night with Connor to have dinner with his parents. Damn.”

“Willington, ugh.” Grace pretended to spit on the floor.

Kira laughed. “Hey, it’s not my fault my boyfriend is from Willington. You’re the one who set me up with your boss, Grace.”

“You’re welcome,” Grace said before raising her beer bottle in Kira’s direction.

Addie smiled a little. Her two best friends were happier than she’d ever seen them. After over a decade of crushing on Addie’s older brother, Daniel, Kira finally tried to make him jealous by faking a relationship with Grace’s boss, Connor, a handsome dentist who’d moved here from their rival town of Willington. It didn’t take long before Kira and Connor fell in love for real.

“Shit, what time is it?” Grace glanced at her watch. “I told Gideon I’d be home by seven.”

“You really gonna let my big brother tell you what to do?” Kira said with a grin. “I know he’s the sheriff, but it’s not like he’ll arrest you for being a few minutes late.”

Grace laughed. “Nope, but he might give my burger to Tank.”

Addison smiled at her. “Have I told you how happy it makes me to see you so happy, Gracie?”

“Thanks, Addie,” Grace said. “Gideon’s the best thing that ever happened to me and I still can’t believe that we’re finally together. The other night in bed, he -”

“Ew!” Kira said. “No sex talk, Grace. I’m super glad you and my brother are together, but I don’t want to hear anything about your sex life.”

Gracie laughed. “I know. It wasn’t about sex, you dork. Anyway, Gideon’s working tomorrow night, so I’ll go with you to the Beav, Addison.”

“You don’t have to,” Addie said.

“I want to.” Grace stood and finished off the last of her beer before leaning over and kissing Addison’s forehead. “I’ll meet you there around seven, okay?”

“Okay, thanks, Gracie.”

“Don’t mention it.” Grace held up her arm and pointed to the friendship bracelets that were wrapped around it. “We’re besties, remember?”

Addison laughed. “I love you guys for wearing the silly bracelets I made.”

“They’re not silly,” Kira said. “I love them and you’re mad talented. Connor and Gideon are still wearing theirs too. Hell, even Preacher still has his wrapped around his wrist.”

“He does?” Addie said.

Shit, did she sound weird? She sounded weird.

“Yep,” Kira said. “He was over the other night with Gideon and I saw it on his wrist. Anyway, I’m sorry I can’t go with you tomorrow night, but I fully expect you to text me in the morning with all the details of who you banged.”

Chapter Two

“Yo, Preacher, that guy is here.”

Preacher finished spraying the metal side table in the room he used for piercing. He wiped up the disinfectant spray with a clean cloth. “Can you be a little more specific, Nolan?”

“The interview guy. Shit, he told me his name, uh…”

“Nix,” Preacher said. He liked his apprentice and Nolan wasn’t stupid, but sometimes he acted like a complete idiot. “Tell him I’ll be a few minutes.”

“Right.” Nolan lingered in the doorway. “Hey, uh, you’re happy with the shit I do around here, right?

“I’m hiring another tattoo artist because the shop is busy,” Preacher said. “It has nothing to do with you or your work.”

“Okay, good, ‘cause I know I kind of messed up that tattoo the other day, but I learned from it and it won’t happen again.”

Preacher shrugged. “It was your buddy you were tattooing. I don’t give a fuck if you messed it up.”

He could almost see Nolan’s body deflate in front of him. “Right.”

He turned to leave, and Preacher said, “You’re doing fine. Stop fucking worrying so much. You’ve got talent. It was a hard tattoo and you did better with it than ninety percent of the artists I’ve worked with would have done.”

Nolan’s face brightened. “Yeah? Thanks, man, I appreciate that.