Heart of Love

by Shanna Hatfield

  “Oh, hi.” Anna tugged on her T-shirt, twisted from the tickling, and walked into the kitchen. “Did you have fun?”

  Lisa popped Sam on the arm while Sue glared at Ken and pointed a finger his direction. “I told you there wasn’t anything wrong.”

  “What’s going on?” Anna set iced tea and cake left over from the bridal shower on the counter.

  Lisa laughed. “We heard you begging Jake to stop as we came up the walk. Our resident cavedwellers jumped to the worst conclusion possible. They charged in here, prepared to rescue you.”

  Anna’s mouth made a round “O” while Jake blushed from the top of his head all the way down his neck. Since he couldn’t slink out the door and go home, he glanced at Anna. “We were just having fun. I didn’t know Anna was so ticklish.”

  “Did you try her feet?” Sam grabbed the cake platter and set it on the table. “That always throws her for a loop.”

  Everyone laughed as the tension left the room. They gathered around the table and enjoyed dessert while discussing Sam’s new truck and the gifts Lisa received at the shower.

  Anna snuck a sideways glance at Jake. He winked and her heart sighed in pleasure.

  Chapter Sixteen

  “I can’t believe the wedding is in three days,” Anna commented to her mother as she tugged at the neckline of her bridesmaid’s dress. She shouldn’t have waited so close to the wedding date for the final fitting. More generously endowed in the bust than the design allowed, Anna didn’t know what to do as she plucked at the top of the gown.

  Lisa chose sage green as the color for the tea-length taffeta dresses, styled with sweetheart necklines, tight princess seams, and full tea-length skirts. Wide satin ribbon straps were all that stood between Anna and a decidedly unfortunate wardrobe disaster.

  “Are you sure this is my dress?” Anna asked as her mother looked through the rack of dresses for the wedding, each one clearly labeled. Lisa had four attendants. Her best friend would serve as maid of honor and her two sisters, along with Anna, would be bridesmaids. It wasn’t hard to figure out which dress belonged to Anna since the other girls were all considerably shorter and petite.

  “Yes, it’s yours,” Sue confirmed. “We’ll just have to get it fixed. Yank it off and let’s see what the seams look like.”

  “Do you think she’d notice if I wore a shawl?” Anna asked with a saucy smile. Lisa had planned every detail of this wedding right down to what color socks Sam would wear. They both knew Lisa would immediately discover the wardrobe addition and have it rapidly removed.

  The seams were wide so Anna left further direction for alterations in Sue’s capable hands and hurried back to work.

  The day of the wedding arrived, seeming unseasonably warm for September. Not a cloud filled the sky as Anna and Sue sipped tea, enjoying a few peaceful moments before the chaos of the day erupted.

  The explosion came earlier than they planned as Sam barreled into the kitchen, panicked.

  “What's wrong, Sam?” Sue assumed something terrible had transpired from the stricken look on his face.

  “Kyle has the stomach flu,” Sam said of his fourth groomsman, a convincing double for the fourth horseman of the apocalypse. “He just called. He isn't going to be able to stand up with me. Lisa is going to come unhinged.”

  Sam sank onto a kitchen chair and ran his hand through his hair with a dramatic sigh. Anna had never seen him like this.

  “We'll just have to figure something out.” Anna patted her brother’s arm, attempting to ease his concerns.

  What a fine time for that moron to get the flu.

  Kyle seemed well at the rehearsal last night, but Anna had a sneaking suspicion his supposed flu bug had more to do with the party after the rehearsal rather than anything contagious.

  Why Sam chose Kyle to stand up with him was beyond her ability to understand. In her opinion, the man failed to possess a single redeeming characteristic. Although Kyle had been a childhood friend of Sam’s, he seemed incapable of maturing past the mentality he embraced his sophomore year of high school.

  Sam sat up and stared at Anna. “Would you ask Jake?”

  “Ask Jake what?” Anna inquired, not sure what her brother was getting at.

  “If he would stand up with me.” Sam grabbed Anna’s hand in his, squeezing it in a silent plea. “Honestly, I prefer Jake to Kyle, but Kyle agreed to do it long before Jake entered the picture and became a permanent a fixture around here.”

  Anna gave her brother a look that said he was about to tread on thin ice. “Why don't you ask him? I'm sure he'd be happy to help since he’s going to be there anyway.”

  “Please ask him for me, Anna. You know he won't turn you down,” Sam pleaded. “Besides, I've got a long list of other things I need to take care of today and finding another groomsman and getting him a tux isn't on the list. Please? Please, Anna?”

  “Stop begging. I can't take the pathetic whining and suffering.” Anna laughed, nodding her head. “I'll call Jake after we have breakfast and see what he has to say.”

  Sam grinned. “You’re the best sister, ever.”

  “You just say that because I'm your only sister,” Anna teased as she continued sipping her tea.

  “But you'd still be the best, even if I had ten sisters.”

  “Merciful stars,” Sue exclaimed. “I don’t even want to think about that.”

  Anna tried calling Jake after they ate, but he didn’t answer his cell phone. She left him a voice message and sent him a text, but found it unusual for him not to respond.

  The house he shared with four other guys didn't have a landline, so she had no other means of getting in touch with him. After trying twice more without a response, she wasn’t sure what to do. They usually talked or texted each other by nine in the morning on weekends. Odd that today, of all days, she couldn't get an answer.

  Before Sam reached full-blown hysteria, Anna took Kyle's tuxedo and went to find Jake. She arrived at his house about a quarter past ten. She had never been inside the two-story house shared by five men, although she was curious about what it looked like. Jake once brought her by, but left her in the truck while he ran in to grab something. She didn’t know what to expect.

  As she hurried up the steps, she was impressed the outside appeared clean and orderly. She knocked on the door, hoping nothing was wrong and Jake was home. His truck was parked on the street, providing a good indication that she’d find him inside.

  Slowly stretching as he came awake, Jake had slept in for the first time in a long while. He went out the night before with Sam and his friends after the rehearsal dinner. As one of the designated drivers for those who had too much liquid fun, he got in late.

  Mindful of a busy afternoon and evening ahead of him, it was almost ten when he rolled out of bed and jumped in the shower.

  When he sauntered into the kitchen, clad in a pair of jeans with his hair still wet, he found their resident health-nut, Van, mixing up one of his smoothie concoctions.

  Paul and Mark sat on the sofa eating cold cereal and watching cartoons while the sounds of Phil’s snores resonated from upstairs.

  The five of them had been friends growing up and when Mark's parents moved, they allowed him to stay and rent out rooms as long as it he kept the property well maintained. Part of their ridiculously cheap rent every month went to a yard service to keep the lawn in shape and a cleaning service that came weekly and mucked out their messes. After all, five single guys couldn't be expected to do much in the way of housekeeping, even if Jake and Van were dubbed “neat freaks.”

  Van was pouring the smoothie into a glass he held over the sink, idly gazing out the kitchen window, when his head snapped up and he yelled, “Code pink! Code pink!”

  After one unfortunate mishap of a girlfriend walking in to find three of the roommates in their underwear and embarrassing them all, the guys devised “Code pink” as a way to announce an unplanned female guest.

  Jake leaned over, watching a girl stride
up the front walk. If his eyes weren't playing tricks on him, it was Anna.

  Mark and Paul scrambled for cover while Van turned and ran for his room. That left Jake to get the door.

  Anna’s face registered surprise when the door opened and Jake smiled at her.

  “Mornin', Sugar,” he drawled, pushing the screen door open and kissing her cheek. “What brings you by?”

  Anna stepped into a surprisingly clean, and from all appearances, well-kept house. Although she expected weird smells, piles of garbage, and general chaos, it looked like any other respectable home.

  “I'm sorry to drop in, but I tried calling and couldn't get a hold of you. We've got a wedding glitch and Sam is hoping you can help him out.” Anna glanced around, spying two of Jake's roomies on the couch. From the looks of the hair pinwheeling around their heads, they’d recently crawled out of bed.

  “Sorry. I slept in and haven't checked my phone this morning.” Jake guided her into the living room. “Anna, this is Mark and Paul. I don't think you've met before.” Jake made brief introductions. The two guys attempted to share a small fleece blanket. Bare feet and legs peeped below the stretched fabric while bare shoulders poked out above. They both sported bright red faces.

  Anna inclined her head, blushing while she averted her gaze. “Nice to meet you both.”

  Aware of the need to relieve the agony of his friends and his girl, Jake turned Anna toward the stairs and grabbed her hand. “Let's go to my room to talk,” he said as he hustled her upstairs and into his bedroom. His bed was unmade and the clothes he wore yesterday were in a pile on the floor. He gave them a swift kick toward the hamper.

  However, Anna didn't seem to notice. Enthralled, her gaze lingered on Jake's bare chest. She thought back to all the times they had been together and realized she had never seen Jake shirtless. It was probably a good thing she hadn't, since the sight of him caused sensations she'd rather not deal with to rocket through her entire body.

  Although she knew Jake had a fine physique, seeing his upper body bare in the broad daylight with hard, sculpted muscles on display was enough to completely rattle a girl. No wonder he could pick her up as if she weighed no more than a sack of potatoes. Awestruck, Anna couldn’t pull her gaze away. To keep from reaching out and touching one of Jake’s brawny muscles, she held her hands at her sides.

  Recalling he was only half dressed, Jake grabbed a shirt from his closet and slipped it on. He’d paraded around showing off his muscles to more girls than he even wanted to think about, but something about Anna, something sweet and untouched, gave him a healthy dose of modesty. Regardless, he didn't have a big enough dose to button his shirt and instead turned back to face Anna.

  With a portion of his tanned bare skin teasing her from behind a shirt that made his eyes all that much bluer, Anna concluded the open shirt was worse agony than his bare chest. Jake’s hair was still damp and curled around his forehead making her fingers itch to run through the dark strands. She breathed deeply and inhaled the fragrance of his aftershave, along with his fresh, just-out-of-the-shower scent.

  Her knees grew weak as she finally understood what the phrase “sex appeal” meant. If it had a name and face, at that moment it was Jake Chandler.

  “What’s the problem?” Jake asked, observing undefined emotions flit through Anna’s expressive violet eyes. She acted unusual, even for her, and he wasn't sure what to make of it.

  Instead of answering his question, she continued gaping at his chest. Unnerved by her intense perusal, he turned his back and he made his bed.

  “Anna?” He glanced over his shoulder, hoping she'd eventually get to the point of her unexpected visit. “What's the problem, Sugar? You said there was a wedding glitch?”

  Finally snapping out of her trance, she blinked her eyes and turned her focus to Jake’s face. That was what she needed to do... focus.

  Wedding?

  That’s why she was here. Sam needed Jake’s help.

  “One of Sam's groomsmen is sick and can't be in the wedding. Sam wanted to know if you'd stand in. I know this is very last minute, but would you be at all interested in helping him out?”

  “Sure. I'd be honored to stand in.” Jake dropped his dirty clothes into the hamper and tidied his already neat room. “Let me guess, was it Kyle?”

  “How did you know?” Anna stared at Jake as if he harnessed psychic powers.

  “He appeared to enjoy himself last night.” Jake looked around and couldn’t find anything else to keep his hands busy. Anna’s continued ogling of his upper anatomy had him thoroughly flustered.

  “You’re a lifesaver.” Anna threw her arms around Jake in a grateful embrace. He settled his arms around her and held her close. She could easily stay in his arms where warmth unlike anything she’d ever known poured into her from the places where his bare skin touched her.

  On any other day, she might be tempted to do just that if the thought of it didn’t frighten her witless. Today, though, she had a hundred things to do before the wedding and getting Jake into a tuxedo was one of them.

  She took a step back and attempted to inhale a calming breath. As Jake’s scent filled her senses, it made her anything but relaxed. “I hate to ask, but will you come with me to the tux store so we can get one to fit you. There's no way Kyle's will work on you.”

  Jake laughed at the picture he would make trying to wear Kyle's tuxedo. The guy was a good eight inches shorter and at least thirty pounds heavier. “Wearing his would give everyone something to talk about, wouldn't it? Let me finish getting dressed and then we can go.”

  “Would you like me to wait downstairs?” Anna asked, taking a step toward the door.

  “Nah, you better stay here with me. Mark and Paul are down there in their underwear trying to hide under that ridiculous blanket and Van is cowering in his room. I'll just be a minute.” Jake pulled on socks and boots then grabbed a belt and threaded it through the loops on his jeans. He stuffed his wallet, cell phone, and keys in his pockets, slipped on his watch, then caught his shirt together at the bottom button.

  Unable to deny her need to touch him any longer, Anna moved in front of him.

  Jake worked the second button of his shirt into the buttonhole when he glanced up at her, perplexed by the look in her eyes. If he didn’t know better, he would say it was a look of pure wanting.

  Half terrified of what Jake would do, Anna shoved aside her fears and buttoned his shirt. As she prepared to slide the button into the next hole, she pressed a kiss to the exact spot where it would cover his skin, working her way up to the top. Jake's shirt had five more buttons, five teasing kisses.

  When she finished, she gave Jake a soft kiss on the lips, then stood back gazing at him, eyes lit with an inner fire.

  Stunned, Jake didn't know what to make of Anna’s behavior. He felt every single one of her kisses up his abdomen and chest as if she'd branded him with an iron.

  In his stupefied state, he remained unmoving while she kissed him, convinced he was in the throes of one the many fantasies he’d had about Anna. There was no way his little mouse would do something seductive like that. Rapidly blinking his eyes to clear his head, he opened them to find her still standing in front of him, desire burning bright in her eyes.

  With his insides hot and molten, Jake wasn’t sure he could move his arms or legs. Anna, in all her innocence, roused his senses in a way he'd never known and he needed a moment to pull himself together before he did something they would both regret.

  The depth of his love for Anna and the myriad of emotions she stirred in him blended with the physical pleasure of her kisses. It created a potent combination that caught Jake completely off guard.

  “I'm sorry, Jake.” The reality of what she’d done suddenly hit Anna. A wave of guilt swept over her and regret colored her cheeks as she watched him struggle to keep his self-control. “I... I had no right to do that and I'm sorry.”

  Jake released a long breath, sent up a quick prayer for divine assistance,
and gradually regained his composure.

  That was his Anna — full of passion one minute, remorse the next. He pulled her into his arms, kissed her neck, and then spoke into her good ear. Although husky, he kept his tone teasing. “No apology needed, Anna. I enjoyed every single kiss. Maybe you'll try that in reverse sometime when we aren't in such an all-fired hurry.”

  Anna pulled back, distressed. “I should say not! As you know, I don't make it a habit of losing my good sense, but you looked so blasted sexy with your shirt hanging open I couldn't help myself.”

  Jake chuckled. He didn’t know the word sexy was in Anna’s expansive vocabulary. He took her hand and made plenty of noise clumping down the stairs, leaving her by the door while he ran back to the bathroom to finish getting ready.

  Van sat at the counter in sweats and a T-shirt nursing a smoothie while Mark and Paul sat on opposite chairs in the living room, fully dressed.

  The roommate Jake introduced as Mark rose from his seat and walked over to shake her hand. “We've heard all about you, but it’s nice to meet you. I can see why Jake won’t stop raving about you.”

  “It's nice to meet you as well,” Anna said, with a friendly smile, trying not to blush. “Jake speaks so highly of you all.”

  Her comment made all three men laugh.

  “Really? Our Jake?” Paul asked. “Are you sure you're taking about the blowhard in the bathroom. That Jake?”

  “What about this Jake?” Jake asked as he walked into the room and grabbed his hat from a peg on the wall.

  “Oh, nothing,” Paul said. “Anna was just telling us what a good liar you are.”

  “Whatever, man.” Jake settled his hat on his head and grabbed Anna's hand. “See you later.”

  The tuxedo fitting went well. Jake knew the owner of the shop, having been in several weddings the last few years. Anna laughed when they pulled up his file and asked if he wanted the usual.