Hearts in Harmony (8 page)

The pressure of her mouth on his gradually lessened, until they had almost separated, but not quite. With their lips still touching just enough to feel the brush of their softness, Adrian started to tilt his head to kiss her again. Before he could make full contact her tongue flicked his lower lip, she gave it a little nibble, her hands drifted down to his chest, and she kissed him again.

A flush of exhilaration coursed through him. Not that he'd never kissed a woman before, but he'd never been in a relationship where the woman was so enthusiastic, so enticing, or so aggressive. Every other time he'd kissed a woman he was dating, the experience had been chaste and…boring.

Celeste's kisses were anything but boring. Fireworks went off in his brain when her hands moved again, this time to rest on his hips, without Celeste easing up on her kisses.

Every coherent thought in his head evaporated. He thought he should shift positions, but his brain wasn't connecting with the rest of him to allow him to do anything.

Just as he finally managed to move one hand on her back, Celeste began to release his mouth, so slowly it was almost painful. Short of behaving like a caveman and grabbing her to pull her back, he couldn't think enough to figure out what he could do to keep her there.

The situation was spinning out of control. At first, he'd thought she was going to say she loved him, but she'd kissed him instead of talking. And it was much more than just a simple kiss. He was wired from the top of his head all the way down to his toes. He hoped she'd said with actions what he wanted to hear with words, because he felt the same way.

Adrian's heart pounded at the realization. He was in love. Between the discovery of how much he loved her and the mind-numbing fervor of her kisses, he felt as if he'd been poleaxed.

Slowly, Celeste's eyes opened, eyes a man could drown in. Beautiful eyes, the color of polished jade, unique, just like the person whose heart they reflected.

She blinked a few times, and her eyes cleared. “Adrian? Are you okay?”

Adrian sucked in a deep breath to regulate his ragged breathing. He wanted to kiss her again, only this time he was ready and primed for more, because he knew what to expect. Yet, he knew they'd stepped into dangerous territory. His heart was pounding, and all his senses were on edge. He needed to hold her, to kiss her and to be kissed by her so bad it hurt. But if they continued, he didn't know that they would be able to stop, and that would be wrong. He'd never needed to exercise control more than this at any point in his life.

“Yeah, uh, I…” He tugged at his collar. “It must be hot in here,” he said, only half joking.

Of course, one look at him would tell her that he wasn't okay, and she was looking. He grinned weakly. “Wow,” was the best he could come up with.

Her face paled, and she backed up. “You know, it's getting a little late, and I'm awfully tired. I think it would be best if you went home.”

“Home?” Adrian checked his watch. It wasn't late. Most Sunday evenings at this time, they would have still been at the church, packing up. Usually the five of them went out for coffee and donuts afterward, especially if Randy didn't get his favorite kind of donut before the youth group stormed through the refreshment area. “But…”

His protests froze in his throat. Her eyes widened and her whole body tensed, as if she was about to run—she looked just like the scared out-of-gas rabbit he'd found at the side of the highway not that long ago.

He didn't understand what had happened, but tonight a line had been crossed. He thought they should probably talk about it, but Celeste suddenly looked as if she didn't even want to be in the same room with him.

Adrian didn't know what he'd done wrong. It wasn't as though he'd done anything she didn't want to do. Celeste had started it—she'd kissed him as he'd never been kissed before. However, with the way everything so quickly spiraled out of control, they both obviously had a lot of thinking to do. He didn't have enough experience with women in general to know what he was supposed to do next.

Adrian stiffened, cleared his throat and rammed his hands into his pockets. “I guess you're right. Goodnight, Celeste.”

Even though he knew he shouldn't, Adrian wanted to kiss her again at the door, on his way out, now that he knew the potential. Instead, the door closed gently behind him before he had a chance to turn around.

She didn't want to see him any more tonight, but at least he would see her the following evening, when he would pick her up for the Monday-night Bible study meeting.

A
drian jumped high in the air, catching the ball meant for Randy. He landed squarely, bounced the basketball once, and even though he knew he was beyond his optimum throwing range from the hoop, he tossed it anyway.

All the movement in the gymnasium stopped as Paul, Randy and Bob watched the ball arc, then begin its descent.

Adrian held his breath as the ball hit the ring, circled once, twice, and then fell to the side.

“Wow. Nice try,” Bob muttered from beside him. Tonight, Bob and Adrian were teammates for the evening for a game of two-on-two against Randy and Paul. Because Adrian hadn't scored, Bob took off at a fast run to recover the ball before Randy or Paul could reach it.

Randy, however, didn't run. “I've never seen you try a shot from so far away, but that was really close. Have you been practicing without us? You haven't made it out the last few times. I expected you to be worse, not better.”

“I've had other stuff to do on Tuesday nights,” Adrian mumbled, then took off to guard Bob against Paul. The four
of them tried to meet once a month in the basement of the church, which was a small gymnasium, to play basketball. It was something they all looked forward to, although lately Bob hadn't been as regular as in the past because he needed to spend more time working at his business. The last couple of months Adrian hadn't been as regular, either, but Adrian's absence had nothing to do with work.

Randy also took off at a run, but not after the ball, which was now in Bob's possession. Randy followed Adrian.

At the hoop, Bob bounced the ball once, took aim, and jumped. Being more stocky and not as tall as Adrian, Bob couldn't jump as high, but he was much closer to the hoop than Adrian had been. Bob did manage to score, which meant that as soon as the ball dropped from the hoop, it was free for Paul or Randy.

Randy made no move forward, either for the ball or toward Bob to keep him away from Paul, who was now dribbling the ball down the length of the small gym toward the other basket. Adrian took off after Paul. Again, Randy followed Adrian.

“Shouldn't you be over there?” Adrian called out over his shoulder as he jogged.

“No way,” Randy panted behind him. “I want to know what you're doing here.”

Adrian ran a little faster, but Randy still continued to shadow him. “I'm playing basketball, in case you can't tell,” he mumbled, this time not turning his head as he picked up his speed.

Randy's panting became more pronounced, but he didn't stop running. “I meant, why aren't you doing whatever else it is you've been doing on Tuesday nights lately? Is Celeste busy or something?”

Suddenly the room went silent except for Adrian and Randy's footsteps. The distinct rap of the ball sharply hitting the hardwood floor once echoed through the room. Paul's voice reverberated through the near-empty expanse. “Randy! Here!”

The ball hurtled in Randy's direction. However, as Randy raised his arms to catch it, Adrian barged in front of Randy, caught the ball, then took off, dribbling it back in the other direction.

“Randy!” Paul shouted. “That's twice in a row! What are you doing?”

Adrian didn't look behind him. He quickly approached the basket, jumped and shot the ball, this time scoring a basket.

From the other side of the court, Bob let out a big whoop.

Since Randy was closer than Paul, Adrian caught the ball after it dropped from the basket and sent it in Randy's direction. Randy bounced it once and started to dribble it back down to the other side, but Adrian knew that Randy was already winded.

With a burst of speed, Adrian ignored his pounding heart and the fact that he was also starting to pant fairly heavily as well. He caught up to Randy, smacked the ball away, bounced it once and threw it to Bob.

“Hey!” Randy exclaimed, finally starting to sound annoyed. “What's with you? Knock it off!”

A trickle of moisture dribbled down Adrian's chest beneath his T-shirt, which was already soaked. He couldn't remember ever being so sweaty, but instead of being disgusted, he felt invigorated. Motivated. Strong. He felt no guilt from taking advantage of Randy. Adrian wasn't usu
ally so aggressive, but today Randy annoyed him. It had started with Randy's wisecrack that he was there only because Celeste was busy.

It didn't help that Randy was right.

Bob caught the ball easily, and began to dribble it to the hoop. Paul skidded to a halt and stared at Bob, who, in his mind, shouldn't have had the ball at that moment.

Adrian smirked. Paul played basketball often with the pre-teens at the school where he taught. Naturally, all the kids were shorter and slower than he was. Because Paul loved kids, he allowed himself to be sloppy with his techniques in order to let the kids win. During their monthly basketball skirmishes, it always took Paul a while to shape up and get used to adult competition. Bob was taking full advantage of the situation until that happened.

Paul took off in a run for Bob, but Adrian knew it was futile. Not only was Bob in great shape, he had the most stamina of all four of them. Between the heavy lifting he did at his auto shop, plus the longer and longer hours as his business increased, Bob quickly became single-mindedly focused when faced with a demanding task, whether business or pleasure.

Again, at just the right spot in front of the hoop, a second before Paul reached him, Bob jumped and sank another basket.

Adrian didn't know why Bob was playing extra hard today, but between the two of them, they were a team that couldn't be beat.

When the clock hit the top of the hour, the time they'd agreed to quit, Paul sank back against the wall. Like Randy, Paul had been completely overwhelmed with the degree of
competition between the two sides. Today, Adrian had played to win, and he had. By a lot.

Adrian lifted his glasses and swiped his arm across his forehead as he walked toward Paul, catching a drip just before it went into his eye. “Good game!” he called out.

“Better for some,” Paul grunted as he pushed himself away from the wall and started walking toward the door.

Adrian caught up with Paul and they continued on their way together.

Physical exhaustion was starting to replace the exhilaration of a good game and a good win. The rush he'd enjoyed on the basketball court was now fading back to reality, but Adrian didn't want that to happen so soon.

Once in the hall, Paul headed straight for the water fountain. He drank deeply, then cupped one hand, filled it with water, dumped the water on top of his head, and rubbed it into his hair. He stood straight, and turned around to face Adrian. “Wanna talk about it?” he asked, ignoring the water streaming down his cheeks.

As best friends, he and Paul talked about everything and anything. He'd been the first of his friends to actually own his own home, versus renting and he had spent hours with Paul discussing the wisdom of buying a house as a single person before he made his final decision to actually purchase. Now, however, he didn't want to share his thoughts. The intimate details of his house and his budget were one thing, but opening his heart was quite another.

“I don't know what you mean,” was the best he could come up with.

Paul glanced over Adrian's shoulder to the door leading to the gym, then focused back on Adrian's face.
“What's bothering you? I thought you were going to do harm to poor Randy.”

As if saying his name made him appear, the door opened, and Randy's voice sounded. “Hey, Adrian, how's your love life?”

Adrian clenched his fists and spun around, expecting to see Randy wearing a cocky grin, which would be the last straw for Adrian to show his friend exactly what he thought of him sticking his nose where it didn't belong. Instead, Randy's expression was very serious. Bob stood beside Randy, saying nothing.

Randy stood in silence, waiting patiently, a first for him.

Adrian blinked. All his anger diffused, if not his frustration. “My love life isn't open for discussion,” he grumbled.

Randy shrugged his shoulders. “Ah. But the fact that you say your love life isn't open at least proves that you finally have one. Speaking of Celeste, how is she? I noticed she wasn't at the Bible study meeting last night.”

Adrian vividly recalled the last time he'd seen Celeste, which was Sunday night, only two evenings ago.

At the thought of the way they'd kissed, his heart started beating almost as hard as it had on the basketball court, and he all but groaned out loud at the poignant memory.

He hadn't entirely been driven by his hormones. His brain and his heart were equally involved, which made the experience even more potent. He had a gut feeling that she had been caught off guard by the power of the moment, too. For him, the heat that had flared between them meant only one thing, and that was that she loved him just as much as he loved her.

Except she'd kicked him out, and he hadn't seen her
since. On Monday, she'd missed the Bible study meeting, and then today, Tuesday, she told him not to bother waiting for her when she got off night school, because she wouldn't need any help with her homework. Also, as if that wasn't bad enough, she'd said she was too tired to stay up for tea and donuts, which was what they did most Tuesdays and Thursdays when he picked her up from night school.

It didn't make sense. He'd even prayed about it, but he hadn't received an answer.

The silence dragged. Paul was the first to speak. “This looks serious. Did you two have a fight?”

“No,” Adrian answered quickly. The last time he'd seen her, what they'd done was the farthest thing from a fight he could possibly think of.

As soon as the word left his mouth, three sets of raised eyebrows told him that he'd spoken too fast.

He glared at his friends. Silence hung in the air.

Bob finally spoke. “Methinks there's trouble in paradise.”

Adrian thought back to how his relationship with Celeste had developed since the first time they met. They were together every day of the week. In the time since they'd met, he'd come to know her better than any woman he'd ever dated. In many ways, he wondered if he knew her better than some of his lifelong friends. As much as he liked her as a friend, he was also very attracted to her as a woman. In all the ways he knew her, he loved her.

But at the same time, she always changed the subject when he tried to talk about anything that had happened before the day he had picked her up on the deserted Country Meadows Highway.

And that wasn't the way it was supposed to be in paradise.

“It's not like that,” he muttered.

“Let me guess,” said Bob. “She's acting different all of a sudden, and you can't figure it out.”

Adrian straightened his glasses and crossed his arms over his chest, momentarily cringing at touching his sweaty T-shirt, which had become cold and clammy. “How did you know that?”

Bob gave a single, half-hearted laugh. “I have three sisters, remember? And I have an older brother who had a few girlfriends before he finally got married. I've had to listen to a lot of nonsense. I tell you, I'll never put up with that. I've seen too much of it.” Bob paused, and also crossed his arms over his chest. “I just find it very strange that Celeste would be that way. She always struck me as someone who doesn't play mind games or have control issues. She's always been very careful not to hurt feelings or step on anyone's toes. It also seems like once she gets herself into a routine, she likes it that way. Kind of like someone else I know.”

“You're not helping.”

Bob shrugged his shoulders. “But I speak the truth. Did something happen?”

Something had happened, all right, but Adrian wasn't going to share those details with his friends. Based on past experience, when two adults finally crossed the line and kissed for the first time, that opened a relationship up, instead of shutting it down.

“I already said it's not open for discussion.”

Randy's mouth opened, but fortunately for him, he closed it again before anything came out.

Paul raised his hand and pushed his wet hair back, and
off his face. “I bumped into Celeste at the drug store tonight on the way home from school. Now that I think about it, she was acting a little funny. She kept glancing over her shoulder, as if she expected someone else would be joining us.”

Randy broke out into a grin. “You mean like that time before our first practice when she went to grab a burger, and then one at a time, when we saw her car, we all joined her?” Randy's grin widened. “And then we were all late for practice.”

Paul didn't smile back. In fact, not only did he not smile, his frown deepened. “I remember that day. But it wasn't like that. She seemed almost nervous. Jumpy.” He turned back to Adrian. “You can tell me. What did you do?”

Adrian stiffened. Unconsciously, his voice raised. “I told you, I didn't do anything!”

Paul raised his palms in the air. “Settle down, I'm just asking.”

Randy rested his fists on his hips, then turned toward Bob. “I think those two need to talk.”

Bob turned to Randy. “Yeah. Tomorrow night is practice. We'll just have to make sure we all leave on time.”

Randy nodded. “Maybe we can disconnect one of her spark plugs so after we all leave, she's stuck at Adrian's house.”

Bob rolled his eyes. “I'm not doing that. Besides, she only lives a couple of blocks away. She could just walk home.”

“Yeah, but then Adrian would have to walk her home.”

“Hello?” Adrian stepped forward. “I'm right here.”

Randy waved one hand in the air. “Not now. We're talking.”

Adrian cleared his throat. “Don't you dare do anything stupid. As bad as that car is, she needs it for work in the morning.”

Beside him, Paul snickered. “Don't worry. Randy's all talk. I'm sure you and Celeste will get some time alone tomorrow night. Come on, let's go out for coffee. It's still early, and I could use a sugar fix after a workout like that.”