What in the world was she thinking?

Was she really flirting with Dominick of all people? The wine had to be the only explanation. There was no other reason for her to be making the comments she’d made.

Maybe she hasn't?!?

She might as well have thrown herself at him right there in that classroom. Harmony thought of the picture in her pocket. On it was her real date. Pax was handsome, and charming, and would know that merlot was her last choice when it came to wine. He wouldn’t have gotten hit in the head with a car door like Dominick.

But would Pax have walked Harmony to her car?

Of course, he would.

The woman in front of the class clasped her hands together, causing eighteen pairs of eyes to dart in her direction. "It's time to start the contest. Please take the paper plates from the tabletops and place them on your head. Think of your favorite animal. Using whatever brushes and paint colors you want, draw your animal. But make sure you keep the plate on top of your head."

What kind of game was this? And what would Harmony draw?

Dog? No, too hard.

Cat? Same problem.

Ugh. Not only was Harmony battling a slight buzz, but trying to draw an animal on the top of her head? She'd be lucky if it turned out to be more than one giant blob.

All around her, participants were getting to work. A quick glance at Dominick showed he'd already started. He had mixed red and white together to make pink.

She bet he was doing a pig. Smart choice. There were only so many animals that color. It wouldn't matter if there were three legs and the curly tail was larger than the rest of the body. People would know what it was.

Harmony then realized Dominick had never completely answered her question about being competitive, nor had he asked her if she was. If he had, she would have answered with a resounding yes. Contests were exciting to Harmony, and she hated the idea of losing. Second place was just the first loser. And she did not want to lose to Dominick or any of the other people in the room.

Did she care about the voucher? Hell no. The class was cheesy, and she doubted she'd be able to drag anyone to one with her—not if they were paying full-price for their spot. But she liked to win.

"You'd better get started. Time's almost up." Dominick's voice knocked her from her silent musings. All around people were setting down their brushes.

"Crap! There was a time limit?" she asked.

Dominick's brows lowered as he looked at her. "Janice just gave the one-minute warning."

One minute?!

Harmony quickly dipped her brush into the black paint. She made what she hoped was a passable circle on her plate before returning the brush to the paint. Continuing to move quickly, she drew a couple of squiggly marks on the plate. Just as she finished the last stroke, the instructor called time.

Talk about your close call.

"Alright, folks. I want you to lower your plates and look at them." Laughter rang out all around the room. Harmony was less than amused by her work.

Just to punctuate the fact that it looked nothing like she'd intended, Dominick leaned over and asked, "What is it?"

"It's an octopus," she answered evenly.

His smile returned. He must have looked at all of this like a game. The thought irritated her more than it should because of course it was a game. "Now I see it, with the eight tentacles. Wanna guess mine?"

Harmony looked down at his plate. "Dolphin?"

"No, it's…" Dominick's smile fell as he hesitated briefly. "It's a pig. I thought for sure the color, and the curly tail would have been a dead giveaway."

Harmony let out a puff of air. "I know it's a pig. I bet the whole class will know it's a pig." She sat back against her chair and crossed her arms over her chest, forcefully keeping her gaze on the front of the room waiting for the instructor to say something else. Janice was walking around the room, giving everyone far too much time to look at their plates. Harmony had the strong urge to pick her paintbrush up and make her blob into something that actually resembled an octopus.

Just as she was reaching for it, a chuckle from beside her caused her to drop her hand. She turned to see Dominick's eyes wide. "You're a sore loser!"

"Am not." She kept her eyes from meeting his gaze.

His finger poked her arm. "Yes, you are. You're mad that I didn't know what your drawing was. Well, don't be. I have a terrible imagination."

"I'm not—"

But her words were cut off by the teacher. "I've walked around the room and have chosen three people to bring their plates up here."

Janice pointed to two girls on the other side who both squealed in delight as they walked to the front of the room. When the instructor's eyes moved in their direction, Harmony felt her heart sink. She didn't want her painting to be judged by a bunch of drunk people with no skill. Maybe she could persuade Dominick to claim it as his own.

He is still trying so hard to impress me, it could be considered an act of chivalry, she thought. He seemed obsessed with the idea of being the perfect gentleman.

But when the woman up front pointed to Dominick instead of her, Harmony felt sick. What was worse than having your work rejected? Having your date's crappy pig win.

Dominick smiled at Harmony before standing up. "Don't worry, if I win, I'll let you have the voucher."

"I don't care," she responded rolling her eyes.

"Of course you don't."

The next several minutes consisted of each contestant telling the class what they painted. Harmony didn't care. And now that she knew she was out of the running, she twirled her brush in the black paint and got to work on her octopus.

There was a class vote, and Dominick won. Although, Harmony wasn't shocked in the least. The appreciative awws from everyone when he said he drew a pig made it obvious he'd be the crowd favorite.

Dominick practically bounced back to his seat. "My lady." He bowed and handed the voucher to Harmony, which she greedily snatched from his hand and shoved in her purse.

"Wow," he breathed looking down at her plate. "You totally would have won if we got to see what we were doing."

A biting response sat on her lips, but when she looked up at Dominick, Harmony realized she'd impressed him. It wasn't even a good painting of an octopus, but the compliment was still appreciated.

"Thanks," she ended up saying, though it still came out as a grumble.

He mumbled something under his breath that sounded a lot like the word "confidence," then grabbed his brush and drew a pink line straight threw her octopus.

"What was that for?" Her voice was shrill from the shock of it, rather than actually being upset.

"For being a sore loser and taking my voucher anyway."

She narrowed her eyes. "You gave it to me."

Harmony was confused by his words until she saw the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was flirting, and she found herself wanting to flirt back.

"Oh, it's on!" She dipped her brush in the black paint and covered the pig.

His mouth fell open as his hand flew to his chest. "You killed Babe!"

Harmony lowered her voice and narrowed her eyes. "She deserved it."

Dominick laughed and dipped his finger into the red paint in front of him. He put in on the octopus. "Then I'll be the evil fisherman."

A giggle burst forth. "That's horrible. I bet you don't cut the plastic rings on soda cans, do you?"

"Wait." His face was serious. "You're supposed to do that?"

"Of course you are." She struggled to keep her voice light. He was joking, right? Not that she was a crazy activist, but she thought it was something everyone did. With Dominick, it was so hard to tell. He'd gone from awkward and shy to fun and confident in the course of a painting class.

When she saw the humor in his eyes, Harmony knew he was teasing her again.

Maybe it was the wine that made Dominick fun. Harmony thought she should top off their glasses to make sure the night continued on this way.

Unfortunately, the plastic cup was on the edge of the tabletop, so when Harmony started filling it, it became unbalanced and fell—right onto Dominick's pants.

She expected another easy smile—the kind she'd been growing accustomed to over the last thirty minutes. Harmony hoped he would see she was having a good time and it was just an accident. Instead, what she got was a look of horror.

His voice was stricken when he spoke. "Oh, no!"

Harmony grabbed for the paper towels on the table. She started dabbing at his pants, not sure if she was making things better or worse.

Dominick cursed under his breath, and she thought she heard him mutter, "Conrad is gonna kill me," but she couldn't be sure. Who was Conrad and why would he care if she spilled wine on Dominick's pants?

"I'm so sorry," she said, still pressing paper towels on his legs, careful to keep her hands a respectable distance from anything else. "It was an accident."

Dominick pushed her hands away. "I know. Listen, I gotta go." He looked into her eyes. "Stay. Keep painting. Please don't drink anymore."

"What?" she shrieked, drawing the attention of some of the other people in the room.

"I only mean you had a drink at dinner and then wine here. Now, you're spilling stuff on me, and I don't want you to be drunk when you drive home."

"What?" He thought she was drunk? "I'm not drunk, Dominick. The cup slipped."

His eyes were still wide, as he patted his pant leg with the paper towel that had been in Harmony's hand moments before. "I know it was an accident, and really, I'm not mad. But I gotta go. It was…" He stopped and looked directly into Harmony's eyes. "It was nice meeting you. Have a good…" Dominick sighed. "Goodnight."

With that, he was racing out the front door, leaving Harmony with everyone's eyes on her, a half a bottle of wine, and at least another forty-five minutes of class. She took a deep breath, glared at anyone who dared look her way, and settled in to finish her painting.