Not His Type

by Shanna Hatfield

  Jake was thinking like crazy, trying to invent some excuse to linger with Anna, but couldn’t come up with a single reason. The ebbing sunlight was picking out golden highlights in her braid and casting a warm glow on her shoulders. He’d like nothing better than to take her in his arms and kiss her, but he was pretty sure it would frighten his little library mouse half to death. At the very least, he’d love to see all that glorious hair down instead of in a braid or a bun.

  “Say, Anna,” Jake said, thinking of a way to get at least one thing he wanted before he left this evening. “If Dave and I were to make a bet on something would you help me win it?”

  Anna laughed, leaning over to pet the farm dog, Patch, who wandered over for some attention. “You know I don’t believe in betting. Besides, it would depend on the bet.”

  “Well, what if we only bet a dollar and you were the only person who could help with it,” Jake asked sweetly, laying on his charm and best smile.

  “Tell me what the bet is and then I’ll decide,” Anna said, pleased by Jake’s teasing. Anything that kept him here and smiling was fine in her book. She stood on the other side of the open pickup door, absently scratching the dog’s head, enjoying their easy banter.

  “Dave may or may not be convinced you have really short hair and just put on a braid extension. I told him he was wrong, but I really don’t have any proof,” Jake said innocently. “The only way to prove him wrong is to see it myself.”

  Anna laughed, that deep throaty laugh that made Jake’s toes tingle. “You can see perfectly well that I have hair Jake Chandler and that it is firmly attached to my head. My stars, the inane things you two discuss.”

  “Well, how do I know you don’t just have a braid attached to a really short ponytail or something? I need proof, Anna, really I do,” Jake teased, a wicked gleam in his eye. This was going even better than he’d hoped. “Can’t you let me see for myself so I can gloat to Dave? Or are you really bald and hiding it with a wig?”

  Anna raised an eyebrow at him and swung around like she was going to go back in the house. Jake jumped out of the truck and caught the end of her braid, giving a gentle tug. She stopped and turned back toward him. “You are impossible, Jake. You do know that, don’t you?”

  “So I’ve been told,” he said, still holding the braid and very much liking the feel of the silky strands in his hand. “Are you going to give me proof or not?”

  “Not,” Anna said, taking immense pleasure in teasing Jake. She wondered what this whole sudden conversation about hair and bets was really about. Certainly not proving anything to Dave.

  “What if I beg, would that help?” Jake said, tugging ever so slightly on her braid and drawing her closer.

  “Nope.”

  “What if the band accidently came off and a sudden wind whipped your hair loose?” Jake asked, slipping off the hair band.

  “There isn’t a wind blowing,” Anna stated matter-of-factly with a smug smile in place.

  “Could we pretend there was?” Jake pleaded.

  “I don’t think so.”

  “Anna, please, let me see your hair. Please?” Jake asked earnestly. He was beginning to get a bit desperate. Now that he decided he had to see it he couldn’t rest until he did. And dang it all, Anna was not being the least bit cooperative. Of all the times for her decide to tease him, now wasn’t it.

  Anna answered by blushing and shaking her head.

  “Please, Anna,” he rumbled, a sound that came from deep in his chest and made warmth pool in her belly.

  Studying his face, Anna didn’t say anything for a while. What Jake was asking was something that seemed oddly intimate to Anna. Even though she sometimes wore her hair down to work, pulled back with a barrette, to unbraid it in front of him was very personal. It smacked of a closeness they didn’t share. Finally, she released a long sigh. “Ok, if it means that much to you and Dave. But you have to turn around. I’ll tell you when you can look.”

  Anna wasn’t completely convinced this was the best idea and she sure wasn’t going to undo her braid with him watching. Having him stand so close with the intense gleam in his eyes was unnerving her enough as it was. And knowing her family, if Jake didn’t leave soon, they’d all be looking out the window to see what they were doing. She quickly unwound her golden brown strands and shook them free. Bending over, she gave her hair another shake then straightened back up.

  That was the moment Jake chose to turn around, as she flipped her head back up and her hair floated down like a golden curtain.

  “There, now you can claim your dollar from Dave,” Anna said, giving him a nervous smile.

  “Anna,” Jake said, entranced. Anna’s waist-length hair rippled in long waves. Caught from behind by the setting summer sun, golden and fiery strands danced all around her. Noticing him watching her, Anna turned around in a quick circle, setting the shimmering mass to swaying.

  “Your hair is beautiful,” he finally managed to whisper. Anna looked at him uncertainly. Once again, he forgot that here was a woman he could never speak to in whispers.

  Taking a step closer, he tried to keep his hands to himself, but found the temptation impossible to resist. He assured himself that just once wouldn’t hurt and buried his fingers deep in her hair. Looking into her face he said, “Anna, your hair is beautiful.”

  Anna again blushed. She couldn’t even think with Jake’s hands in her hair, standing so close to him. She’d give just about anything for him to kiss her right now. Instead, he dropped his hands like they’d been singed and stepped back into his pickup.

  “I guess I better get home,” Jake said, starting the pickup. Anna gave him a small wave and started back toward the house, braiding her hair as she went. She was nearly at the door when she heard Jake yell at her. Turning back around, Anna waited as he leaned across the pickup seat and yelled out the passenger window. “You are gorgeous, Anna Zimmerman!”

  CHAPTER FIVE

  Shaking her head, Anna walked in the kitchen to find her mother and Lisa standing at the kitchen sink. If she didn’t know better, she would think they’d been watching out the window.

  “So, Anna, things seem to be going along well with Jake,” Sue said, sitting down with some new fashion catalogs at the table.

  “I guess,” Anna said, distracted. Jake was such a tease, she was never sure if he was serious or kidding when he said things like “You’re gorgeous.”

  “What’s up, Anna?” Lisa asked. Even though she was engaged to Sam, she was also a good friend to Anna. She knew there was something spinning around in that quiet head. “Come on, you might as well tell us what you are thinking. We can see the wheels turning.”

  “I think it is finally time for a makeover,” Anna said, knowing both her mom and Lisa would be overjoyed. They’d been trying to talk her into one for months. “Do you have plans Saturday?”

  “We do now,” Sue said, giving Anna a hug while she simultaneously bounced up and down. “This will be fantastic!”

  “Do you think Sam and Dad could come with us part of the day?” Anna asked, still thinking.

  “Well, what on earth for?” her mother questioned, looking at Anna like she’d lost all her marbles. “They won’t want to go clothes shopping.”

  “Nope, but they will go car shopping with me.”

  Lisa looked at her a minute then let out a squeal. “Car shopping? You’re getting a new car, too? Oh, this just keeps getting better and better!”

  “I’m tired of driving that undependable heap. If Daddy can drag it to the Chevy dealer, I’m trading it in,” Anna said. “And I know exactly the car I want.”

  <><><>

  Bright and early Saturday morning, Lisa drove out to the farm then the five of them headed into town. Ken towed Anna’s car from the library to the Chevrolet dealer where they offered her a small trade in, more than Anna expected. Her brother dropped his jaw when he saw the car Anna picked out – a dark gray metallic Chevy Camaro, complete with chrome wheels.

  �
��Sugar, what are you going to do with a car like that?” Ken asked, shocked but not surprised that his baby girl would choose a fast performance car.

  “Pretty much anything she wants,” Sam remarked as he hobbled around the car. “Are you sure this is what you want Anna? It will draw a lot of attention.”

  Anna had thought about that and decided the dark gray color wouldn’t stand out all that much and she wanted a car that was fun to drive. For once in her life, she was ready to cut loose and enjoy herself. She felt like she had definitely earned it.

  “I don’t care. This is the car I want. Now, will you guys help me get a deal on it or not?” Anna asked squaring off with her dad and brother.

  While her mom and Lisa browsed the showroom, Ken and Sam joined her with a salesperson more than willing to cut Anna a good discount when he found out she was paying cash.

  “Are you sure you don’t want to do payments, Miss Zimmerman? That is a lot of money to spend in one day,” the salesperson asked one final time.

  “I’m sure, Mr. Gilley, and I plan to spend a bit more before the day is over,” Anna said with a grin.

  While the salesmen went to ready the final paperwork, Ken looked at Anna and smiled. His daughter had long ago learned the value of a dollar, saving and investing her money since she was 16. He supposed it helped that Sue worked for an investment firm and had encouraged both their kids to save and invest rather than waste their hard earned money. When Anna worked in the city, she put in long hours, tucked away a good portion of her earnings and now she could walk into a car dealership and pay cash for the exact car she wanted. It was a proud day to be her daddy.

  When Anna had the keys in her hand and was ready to leave, she offered to let the guys take the car for a spin before the girls headed off to go shopping for the rest of the day. Although Sam and Ken would have liked nothing better, they knew the girls were anxious to get on with Anna’s makeover.

  “You girls go on ahead. We’ll take a ride when you get back,” Ken said. “Have fun and drive safe, you hear?”

  “We hear and thanks Daddy!” Anna said as she climbed behind the steering wheel. Lisa, who was going to sit in the back, was giving Sam one last kiss goodbye before climbing in the car. When they all three were buckled in, Anna started the car and took off toward Portland with a flurry of smiles and giggles coming from the car.

  By the time they arrived home late that evening, all three women were completely exhausted. Dragging in bag after bag of purchases, they piled them on the kitchen table and sank into chairs with tired sighs. When the guys came wandering in from the family room, Sue begged Ken to bring them something cool to drink. Ken poured lemonade and brought over a plate with cookies, then sat down next to his wife.

  “Is there anything left in any of the stores?” he asked with a teasing smile.

  “I don’t know, but I refuse to go back, even if there is,” Anna groaned from her chair in the corner where Sam and her dad couldn’t even see her over the tops of the bags.

  Grabbing the bags and dropping them onto the floor, Sam and Ken both were speechless to see Anna.

  “Merciful stars, girl,” Ken exclaimed, “Don’t you look a picture!”

  Anna’s waist length hair had been cut into layers that fell mid-way down her back. She looked like she had twice as much hair, not that she didn’t have plenty to start with, and it was free to wave and bounce at will. She’d received a facial, spent an hour at a make-up counter and had a manicure.

  Lisa and Sue made her try on so many clothes, she felt like she couldn’t even see straight, but what she ended up with was a wardrobe that was interchangeable, giving her plenty of options and outfits. She now owned multiple slim skirts, fitted trousers, three church dresses, a dozen blouses, a handful of knit tops, a trench coat, a business suit and one very pretty cocktail dress that Anna was convinced she would never wear.

  In addition, she came home with several pairs of shoes. “No flats!” Lisa said, laying down the law. She found Anna an assortment of strappy sandals, wedges, and one pair of dress heels that Lisa declared would make Jake fall at her feet. They threw in a few pieces of versatile jewelry, two handbags, hair products and make-up.

  Insisting that everything had to be new, her mom and Lisa made her choose new sleepwear and robes, new slips, even new undergarments. They promised tomorrow to help purge her room of every old and baggy piece of clothing she owned. The icing on the cake was the arrival of her new glasses Friday afternoon. They were perfect.

  They both knew she was “sweet on Jake” as her mother liked to put it. Being his friend was nice, but Anna wanted so much more. She knew if she was ever going to capture Jake’s interest, she was going to have to step things up a bit in the fashion department.

  And it wasn’t all for Jake. Anna had been thinking about doing something like this for a very long time. She just never found a good enough reason to make it happen. Now that she had, she was excited and frightened and temporarily stunned by the dent she’d put in her bank account.

  “Anna, if Jake doesn’t drop his teeth when he sees you, he isn’t half the man I give him credit for being,” Sam said, as he looked at his only sibling. She was a pretty girl, but her shyness and sensitivity about her hearing made her withdrawn, unapproachable. Since Anna had taken a shine to Jake, he could see her coming out of her shell. She’d always been relaxed at home, but this was something different altogether. Anna was getting confidence, getting to know herself, finding her niche.

  “Oh, he’ll drop his teeth alright,” Lisa commented. “By the time she sees Jake Monday, he won’t know what hit him.”

  Anna blushed and everyone laughed. They’d find out soon enough.

  Lisa and Sue not only spent Sunday afternoon helping Anna sort through all her clothes, they also gave her lessons on posture, flirting and how to “work it,” as Lisa liked to call the stride she spent an hour helping Anna perfect.

  Exhausted as she fell into bed that night, she prayed for confidence. She also hoped she’d be able to finally turn Jake’s head.

  <><><>

  Jake and Dave arrived at the same time Monday morning, launching into a friendly banter about their weekend activities. Sauntering across the parking lot, they were surprised to see a brand-new Chevy Camaro whip into the parking lot and pull into one of the spaces reserved for library employees.

  That in itself was enough to cause them both to stop talking and stare. But Jake knew he was a goner when one long tanned leg followed by another came out the car door and stood on a pair of tall wedged sandals. A slim dark pencil skirt led up to a hot-pink summery blouse that hugged the wearer in all the right places. A thick chunky necklace danced at the neckline while beautiful golden brown hair seemed to cascade in soft waves everywhere. The driver of the car and owner of the amazing legs looked at them, raised one shapely brow above her sunglasses and smiled before disappearing through the library’s back door.

  “What just happened, man?” Dave said. “I think I may have had a sun stroke or something.”

  “No, man,” Jake said, pointing to the car. “It wasn’t a sun stroke. It was real. I think. Then again, I may be dreaming.”

  “I’m calling dibs,” Dave said as they walked into their office across the street.

  “Dibs on what?” Jake asked, taking off his hat, and digging papers out of his briefcase.

  “The girl,” Dave said, sitting down at his desk. “Whoever she is, I call dibs.”

  “I don’t think so,” Jake said darkly, narrowing his eyes at his friend. For reasons he couldn’t describe or even comprehend, the thought of Dave dating the girl made him want to punch his buddy right in the nose.

  If his gut was right and his suspicions were correct, the mystery girl was not going to turn out to be such a mystery after all. Those sunglasses, the mass of hair and that smile seemed all too familiar and looked strikingly like Anna’s. If it was in fact his little library mouse, there was much, much more to her than Jake had dreamed possible. I
t was an absolute crime for her to have hidden legs like those all this time.

  “Well, may the best man win,” Dave said with a cheeky grin.

  “That will be me and I’ll have a date before the week is out” Jake said, with a smile. “Oh, if Anna ever asks you about a bet we made in regard to her hair, I won.”

  “What bet” Dave asked, looking confused.

  Jake grinned. “The one I’m making with you right now that Anna has a head of the most gorgeous hair you’ve ever seen.”

  By mid-morning, Jake decided he had to find out if the beautiful brunette was really Anna, so he ran over to the library. He figured if he could locate Anna, he could put his mind at rest. Wouldn’t it be just like her to do something completely crazy and unexpected like get a makeover and buy a muscle car? Or maybe not. Maybe it was just wishful thinking on his part.

  Appreciating the rush of cool air that greeted him at the door, Jake took a deep breath. The library never failed to smell the same – of old books and furniture polish. Looking around, Jake spied Mrs. Baxter and one of the other matronly librarians, Betty, who had worked there since he was in grade school.

  Sauntering around the first floor, he failed to see Anna anywhere, so he admitted defeat and walked up to the front desk.

  “Hello, Mrs. Baxter,” Jake said politely, removing his hat, and thinking up a reason to be there. “I’d like to look at that book of old irrigation water rights if I may, please?”

  “Certainly, Jake,” Mrs. Baxter said, looking at him over her bifocals. She walked around the desk and went to the room where the special collection of books was kept. Turning the key in the lock, she opened the door and allowed him inside. “You know the rules. Let me know when you are finished.”

  “Thank you,” Jake said, nodding to her as he picked out the book he wanted and sat down at the table. Since he was here anyway, Jake decided to actually do a little research. Using strips torn from a piece of scratch paper, he quickly marked the few pages he needed to reference and then took the book to Mrs. Baxter.