Page 20 of SEAL's Harmony
They settled at the table, and Ry draped his arm across the back of her chair and squeezed her shoulder.
Considering what she’d just learned from Sky, she should be uncomfortable, but it was the opposite. Warmth slid along her spine and shoulders, and she leaned against him.
“What’s going on in that pretty head of yours?” Ry whispered close to her ear. Then he lifted the pitcher as he raised his eyebrows.
After her nod, he filled two glasses and set one in front of her.
“Nothing really, why?”
“You look serious. Is this too much? We can leave and I’ll take you somewhere quieter.” Concern was obvious in his expression.
“No, it’s not that. Sky made me wonder about the whole alpha thing. And you surprised me when you introduced me as your girlfriend.” Even as the words left her mouth, Harmony winced inside. Why had she just blurted that out? She could have brought it up when they were alone, not in front of his teammates and friends, when they could barely hear themselves speak.
She needed to get out more with people her age who enjoyed doing things. People who didn’t spend all their time working and hiding from life. Wasn’t that the reason she moved to Virginia in the first place? To escape not only her father and her ex, but to have a life she could enjoy.
“Well, I’m not sure about the whole alpha thing, be we do tend to be overprotective. But if you ask Chrissy, she’ll tell you how to deal with that. Ryan was probably the worst of all of us.” Ry chuckled. “As for saying you’re my girlfriend, I apologize if it upset you. It wasn’t my intention at all. Probably more like wishful thinking. Plus, I didn’t want anyone else hitting on you. Most of the women here are regulars, either in a relationship, or looking to take a SEAL to bed.”
Harmony gazed around the room. That’s when she saw groups of women standing by the jukebox or sitting at the bar, their gazes focused on the tables filled with men. Dang it, their expressions were positively feral.
“It’s not that you upset me, exactly. Just didn’t expect it.” Harmony reached up and squeezed his hand where it rested on her shoulder.
“Maybe you’d rather hang out with one of them?” Ry asked with a devious twinkle in his gaze.
Harmony was on to him this time. “Hmm, I could go check them out? A couple of them are kinda cute. But then so is Quinn.” She tried to say it with a straight face, but she’d barely finished speaking when she giggled.
“Funny woman. I’ll get you back for that.”
“I’m not worried. Whiskey will protect me. Right, buddy?”
The big German shepherd moved between them and sat down.
Ry chuckled. “You remember whose dog you are, right?”
Harmony took a drink of the beer and realized she felt more relaxed than she had since she moved to Virginia Beach. It was due to Ry and his friends, and she hadn’t fallen or tipped over a beer yet.
As she listened to the friendly chatter around her, she glanced over the menu and decided on a burger and fries.
7
Ry reintroduced Harmony to all the guys at the table. She hoped that she’d remember their names this time. Although it wasn’t her strength, it usually took a few times before the name stuck with the face. It embarrassed her father, and he’d called her stupid more than once. He’d called her worse too. But this was a date, her first real one with Ry, and she didn’t need to be thinking about the past.
Quinn involved Ry in conversation, but she didn’t mind. Surrounded by all this happiness was almost more intoxicating than the beer.
“It’s great to see you again, Harmony,” Fergus “Doc” O’Brien said. He was sitting on her left side.
“Thank you. I’m happy to see you, too.”Ugh, small talk.She sucked at it, big time. The last thing she wanted to do was embarrass Ry.
Fergus must have picked up on her discomfort and smiled. “Ry said you worked in a bank?” He said it like a question.
Questions she could deal with. Collecting her thoughts, she took a sip of her beer.
“Yes, I have for a while now. I worked for the same bank back in Iowa and was able to get a transfer.”
“That had to make the move a lot easier. Having to find work in a new place would be hard.”
“Oh yeah. I don’t think I would have had the courage to do it if I didn’t have a job waiting for me here.” Again, her mouth moved before her brain caught up. The sympathetic gaze in his light-blue eyes said he understood, and he didn’t push her for answers.
“Can’t beat that, for sure,” Fergus replied, his voice deep enough that she heard him without having to lean closer.
