Pokrewne

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Chelsea Handler Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang (epub
Brit Brinson [Dia of the Dead Dia of the Dead (epub)
Cody Goodfellow [Radiant Dawn Radiant Dawn (epub)
Cate Tiernan [Immortal Belove Immortal Beloved (epub)
C J Busby [Deep Amber 01] Deep Amber (retail) (epub)
Carl Ashmore [Time Hunters 01 The Time Hunters (epub)
Drew Hayes [Super Powereds 02 Super Powereds Year 2 (epub) i
Beth Harbison [Shoe Addict 02 Secrets of a Shoe Addict (epub)
Cara Lynn Shultz [Dark World The Dark World (retail) (epub)
[heft] Perry Rhodan 1600 Wenn die Sterne erloschen

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.’‘Everybody? That seems a bit of a generalisation and incredibly dismissive.’ Harmony glanced back at him and lifted her eyebrows.‘Some of those people are my friends, you know.’‘I’m sure the ones that are your friends are fascinating.’ She smiled, pleased she no longer felt girlish and silly.They surveyed the pictures, side by side in silence.She was aware of him next to her, it was as if he had a force field around him that crackled the nearer he was to her.After a moment or two he leaned in close to her.‘So what do you think?’‘Of the pictures?’ He nodded.‘I think they’re beautiful.’He shook his head.‘They’re not beautiful.They’re staged and smug with a hint of narcissism that makes them unbearable.They reek of self-promotion.’A small laugh escaped Harmony’s lips.Immediately, she clapped her hand over her mouth, but it was too late, her disloyalty hung in the air around her and she felt a twinge of guilt.‘You can’t say that,’ she said.‘They are a lovely family and very good friends of mine.’‘Not dull then,’ he said with a glint in his eye.She smiled.‘The one with you in it is good though.Exactly how a photograph should be.A perfect moment, suspended in time.You look beautiful.’She wrinkled her nose.‘I’m young in it and youth is beautiful.’‘Yes, perhaps,’ he said, though there was an edge to his voice, a reticence, as if he didn’t believe her.She held her hand out.‘I’m Harmony.’He shook her hand, his grip firm, holding on for a fraction too long.‘An unusual name.’‘My father chose it,’ she said.‘I was lucky.According to my mum the choice was between Harmony and Sunrise.’ She laughed lightly.‘He was a Bohemian artist type, a bit of a hippie, apparently.’‘Apparently?’‘He left when I was three.’ Like a fart in a storm, as her grandmother always grumbled.‘You didn’t tell me your name,’ Harmony said.‘Would you like a drink?’‘No, I have one thanks.’ She lifted her almost empty glass.‘Aren’t you going to tell me who you are?’ She was intrigued by the way he looked at her; his eyes didn’t waver but stayed locked on hers.‘Why do you need to know?’The mocking in his voice suddenly grated and the hold he had on her was broken long enough for her to consider walking away from him.‘I don’t need to know,’ she said.‘But it’s fairly normal behaviour in our society; I tell you my name, you tell me yours, we talk a bit, we run out of things to say, we move on.’He laughed.‘And by society you mean the masses? The herd?’‘So damning of society? Let me guess, society exists merely as a concept and in the real world there are only individuals?’‘Oscar Wilde,’ he said.‘I’m impressed.’It was Harmony’s turn to laugh.‘Christ, you can’t be impressed by an Oscar Wilde quote,’ she said with a derisive shake of her head.‘They fall out of Christmas crackers with knock-knock jokes and plastic key rings.’He stared at her, narrowed eyes flicking back and forth over hers as if trying to read her thoughts, and she felt her cheeks flush again.She drank the warm, flat dregs of her champagne to fill the silence.‘You said you’re not enjoying the party,’ he said.‘Why not?’‘I didn’t say that.I said I wasn’t in the mood.’ She paused and shrugged.‘I suppose it’s just all a bit loud and crowded in there.I’m not great with parties at the best of times.But it’s my best friend’s fortieth, I’m sure I’ll get into it soon.’‘It’s not a very good party.Too showy.No intimacy or subtlety.I’m not enjoying it either,’ he said, pausing for a beat.‘At least, I wasn’t.’Harmony dropped her eyes.‘As long as Emma has a good time, that’s all that matters.’He placed his glass on the console table and stared at her, silent for a moment or two, until she finally looked up at him.When she did he smiled.‘Harmony, what would you say if I asked you to leave and have dinner with me?’Harmony laughed abruptly, taken aback by his question.‘Excuse me?’‘Right now, if I asked you to leave the party with me, would you come?’Her heart began to race as she realised he was being perfectly serious.‘No,’ she said quickly.‘Of course I wouldn’t.’‘Why not?’She faltered.The hairs on her forearms stood proud.Her heart hammered.‘I’m married.My husband’s here.’The stranger held her eyes for a moment or two and then gave a deferential nod.‘He’s a lucky man.’As if on cue she heard Will’s laugh, unmistakeable in its generous fullness, one of those infectious laughs that set other laughs off like a line of falling dominoes.She turned to look over her shoulder and saw him standing with his back to her at the entrance to the living room.He was talking to a man she didn’t recognise.She was filled with a sense of relief as the tension between herself and the stranger disappeared like water through a cupped hand.‘In fact, that’s him now,’ she said.‘He’s probably come looking for me.I should join him before we sit for supper.’The stranger stared at her, and then gave a curt nod of his head.‘You must.It was nice to meet you, Harmony.’She held out her hand again.‘It was nice to meet you, too,’ she said.‘Whatever your name is.’He took her hand and as he did he stroked his thumb against her, barely there, like a butterfly’s kiss.Her skin tingled.As she walked down the corridor away from him she felt his eyes burning into her back.She went straight up to Will and kissed him on the lips.The man he was with chuckled drunkenly.‘What was that for?’ Will asked with amusement.‘No reason.’ She glanced over her shoulder but the stranger had gone and she felt a sharp stab of disappointment.C H A P T E R T H R E EThough Harmony looked for him she didn’t see the man again that night.She had half-hoped she might find herself sitting next to him at supper.He was interesting and she’d enjoyed his company, and when she recalled him asking her to leave with him she got a rush of excitement.There was a self-assuredness, an inner purpose about him that was different to any other person she’d met, and it intrigued her.Instead she found herself between two men she’d met a couple of times, neither of whom she had much in common with, and she spent most of the meal sitting quietly, toying with her water glass and watching other people as they chatted and drank.Will spent no time at the table; instead he leapt about with his camera like a man possessed.Harmony felt a warm glow as she watched him [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]