by Regina Duke
“Don’t worry,” he said softly. “I’ll catch you.” And he kissed her again.
Meredith felt herself floating on air as the kiss took on a life of its own. Of all the people who might turn out to be great kissers, she’d never expected it of Christopher Dann. When he pulled her close and held her tight, she could feel his muscles through his tee shirt. He dressed to hide it, but he was an amazing athlete. She felt so protected in his arms. How wonderful to feel safe and cared for at the same time, she thought.
They ended the kiss when a group of young passersby hooted and hollered at the sight of them making out in the car.
Meredith looked away. Chris blushed.
“Hey,” she said, “I thought the girl was supposed to blush.”
“Blame my Gran,” said Chris. “She passed on the blushing gene.” He started the car.
Meredith quipped, “Maybe we’ll get lucky and our kids won’t inherit that one.” Then realizing what she’d said, she also blushed a bright pink. “Sorry,” she mumbled. “That didn’t come out quite right.”
“It sounded good to me,” said Chris warmly. “But no rush. It took us three days to kiss. I think we’re looking at kids sometime in the next century.” He glanced sideways at her. “I guess I want to be sure you’ll stick around for a while.”
Meredith reached out and trailed her fingers along the back of his neck. “I was just hoping the same about you.”
Chris found a charming restaurant in Auburn, in the old part of town, and they had a table in the corner with two candles casting a soft glow as they ate. Meredith felt so special. Chris’s eyes never left her, not even when the cheerleader-like waitress practically shook her booty at him. Like so many girls, Meredith had spent years doubting her own attractiveness. She was tall and slender, but she didn’t have the Hollywood femme-fatale kind of looks. She didn’t even have the bikini-busting Sports Illustrated kind. But Chris never seemed to tire of staring into her eyes.
After dinner, they drove back to Davis. Meredith was sleepy after their day on the slopes, and the fine meal they’d shared contributed to her drowsiness. Chris put classic love songs on the CD player and drove the whole way with one hand because his other hand was holding Meredith’s.
She must have dozed off, because all too soon, he was gently nudging her awake. “We’re at your motel,” he said softly. “I hate dropping you off, but I don’t think it would be fair to invite you back to my place. You’ve just ended an engagement.” He looked at her sadly.
Meredith was tempted to disagree. She wanted nothing more than to see what his grandmother called a bachelor pad. She wanted it so much that she knew he was right. Going back to his place tonight would mess her up emotionally in the worst way. She needed time to think, time to figure out how much of what she felt for him was because he was wonderful and how much sprang from the contrast with Dwayne the Loser.
“I hate to say it, but I think you’re right. Just promise me I’ll see you again tomorrow. I know I’m taking you away from your business.” She averted her eyes. “But the idea of not seeing you tomorrow makes my heart ache.”
Chris pulled her close for another warm kiss. This one grew into a passionate embrace, and when they came up for air, he pressed his lips against her neck and laid a trail of kisses up and down. Those caresses set off alarm bells in Meredith. She knew she had to stop that very moment, or there would be no force on Earth that could tear her from his arms.
“I, I, I have to go,” she said breathlessly. “Nine a.m. again?”
“Mmmm,” said Chris. “What would you like to do tomorrow?”
Meredith’s eyes gleamed with desire. “Maybe I can see your bachelor pad. It should be safe enough in the daylight.”
Chris chuckled. “Your wish is my command. Let me walk you to your door.”
Once there, he kissed her again, softly this time. “See you in the morning.” He waited until she’d gotten inside and turned on the lights. “Good night.”
Meredith sighed dreamily as she closed the door and slipped the deadbolt shut. She dropped her purse on the foot of the bed and noticed a light blinking on the motel phone. That was odd. No one knew where she was. Well, no one but Teresa, her friend in Michigan.
Frowning, she dialed the front desk. “Hi, there’s a message light blinking on my room phone, and I don’t know how to access it.”
The clerk said, “I’ll play it for you.”
Teresa’s voice came on the line, sounding like a hundred years ago. But before Meredith could grow nostalgic for her friend, the message froze her to the core. “Hi, Mer. You weren’t answering your cell so I called here. I just wanted to warn you that Dwayne booked a red-eye for California this afternoon. Be careful.”
CHAPTER 7
Tuesday morning, Meredith woke up groggy. She’d tossed and turned all night. Why was Dwayne taking a red-eye to California? Teresa hadn’t specified a location, but why would she alert Meredith if he was going to Los Angeles or San Diego? She’d texted Teresa, but her friend had the irritating habit of only turning on her phone when she wanted to communicate with other people. That seemed incomprehensible to Meredith. In this day and age? Turning off her phone? At the moment, it even felt rude because Meredith desperately wanted to know where in California her ex was going to land.
She felt the pod-people effect again as she moussed her short mop. It was wet so she knew she’d showered, but she’d done it all in a fog. She wore brick-red jeans and two light-weight layered tees in orange and red tones. Her black flats would have to serve again. She’d only brought her running shoes and one pair of flats. Had she somehow thought she’d be returning to Michigan? Was that why she’d left her other two pairs of shoes?
“No, silly, you left them because you wore them on your dates with Dwayne.” She shuddered and returned to sit on the edge of her bed. The maids didn’t have much to do while she was there. Out of habit, she’d made the bed already, something the Dorm Storm girls had insisted on. It kept them from crawling back in on days when they had eight o’clock classes.
She checked her phone for an answer from Teresa. At last! Her text must have arrived while she was in the shower. She cringed at the single devastating word: “Sacramento.”
So Dwayne was definitely looking for her. Her heart froze in her chest. What if he found her? What would she do?
“I’ll send him back to Michigan,” she said aloud, pushing defiance into her voice. That helped. “If I can’t feel brave, at least I can sound brave.” Then she wondered, Why am I worried? He’s the one who chose Sienna over me. I’m the one who was wronged! Not him. But she hated confrontation. She dreaded seeing him again and listening to him try to talk her into whatever he wanted. “Oh my gosh, that’s what he’s been doing from the beginning. He manipulated me with his slimy suaveness.” She cradled her phone in her hands, hanging onto it as if it were Teresa herself, and not just her text. She stared at it mournfully. “I don’t think suaveness is a word.”
The knock at the door rattled her, and she dropped her phone. She wasn’t ready for this! She didn’t have it in her to face down Dwayne this morning. Not after three marvelous days with Chris. It was such a joy to spend time with him, and so uplifting to know he adored her, just like the old song said.
Another knock. She stiffened her spine, picked up her phone, and went to the door. She peered through the peephole and sagged against the wall with relief, then unlocked the deadbolt and opened the door.
“Chris!” She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her cheek against his. He smelled wonderful, like shampoo and musk. When he wrapped his arms around her and hugged her, she decided she could spend the whole day just like that. They didn’t have to go anywhere. They could stand there in the doorway hugging for hours.
His voice was soft and warm against her ear. “I love the way you say good morning after a day in the mountains. We’ll have to go hiking a lot.”
Meredith planted a kiss on his cheek and loosened her grip. �
��I’m just so glad it’s you.”
Chris’s emerald eyes clouded with doubt. “Who else were you expecting?” Then his eyes widened. “Did that jock Forest call you?”
Meredith smoothed his brow. “Forest?”
Chris looked relieved, then embarrassed. “I sort of called him and bragged a little about dating you.”
Meredith was delighted. “You bragged about me?”
Chris nodded. “I hope that was okay. But if he called you and tried to get a date”—he shook his head sadly—“I’ll just have to choose between you, I guess.” He unwrapped his arms and held his hands out like a scale. “Forest, my best friend from college,” he said, weighing the friendship on his right hand, “or Meredith, my sweet Annie Oakley, who finally walked back into my life and stole my heart.” His left hand quivered then dropped with the weight of the comparison, as if filled with gold. “Too bad, Forest. Meredith wins.” He embraced her again. “As I recall, yesterday we crashed the kissing barrier. Do you mind if we take up where we left off?”
Meredith melted against him. “What a great idea.” A moment later, she was lost in his kiss. She wasn’t sure how long they stood that way, but when her knees grew wobbly, she pulled back and murmured, “Maybe we should move so the maid can get in.”
Chris’s eyes were filled with passion. He seemed a bit disoriented, but he nodded and cleared his throat. “Okay, um, sure. Sorry. You, um, I mean, I just can’t get enough of kissing you.”
Meredith traced the line of his chin with her fingertips. When had “cute” turned into “gorgeous”? She wasn’t sure, but she couldn’t deny that it had. He was the most attractive man she’d ever known. How could she have missed that in Shakespeare class?
Chris clasped her fingers in his hand and said softly, “That feels lovely, but if you don’t stop, I won’t be able to move.”
“Oh.” Meredith felt heat rising to her cheeks. “Maybe we should find breakfast?”
“Good choice,” said Chris. “And I promised to show you the bachelor pad.”
“You’re not worried anymore about us being all alone there?” teased Meredith, stepping into the room to grab her purse.
“Well, we won’t be that alone,” he said. “Don’t worry, I’ll have to behave myself.”
Rats, thought Meredith, then she giggled and let Chris lead her by the hand to his Mercedes GL.
She didn’t think anything about it when a shiny red Honda pulled out of the lot behind them and made the same left turn as Chris did.
CHAPTER 8
Chris’s place was half an hour away, not too far when it came to commuting, but he was enjoying it a lot more with Meredith in the car. It was the first time he regretted having luxurious bucket seats, because he wanted to pull her close and let her snuggle up against him. But then, when he’d made his choice of interior, he thought the love of his life was gone forever.
He glanced over at her perfect profile, those dark, deep eyes and that elegant neck. He expected to see the same look of joy and excitement she’d worn since their first dance, but today, she seemed preoccupied.
“Annie Mer”—he’d combined the names into a loving new sound—“is something wrong? You seem worried.”
She looked at him, and in an instant, he could see the concern in her eyes.
“What is it, sweetheart?”
Meredith tilted her head back against the seat. “Dwayne is looking for me.”
Chris frowned. “How do you know?”
Meredith told him about the email and text message from Teresa and the red-eye to California.
Chris shrugged. “He had his chance. He blew it. You’re with me now. Everything will be all right.”
“I thought it was pretty mean of him to withhold my paycheck,” she said glumly.
Chris suppressed a smile. “Don’t worry. Something tells me you have a very bright future ahead of you. Didn’t you tell our class you wanted to go to graduate school?”
Now she really looked depressed. “That was my dream,” she said. “But my family was pressuring me to get a job to pay off my loans.” With a look of horror, she blurted, “How will I make my payment?”
For a moment, Chris was confused. Then he got it. “Oh, student loans. Right. Well, let’s leave that worry for another day. I have a little surprise for you at my place.”
Meredith rewarded him with a brilliant smile. “What is it?”
“If I tell you, it won’t be a surprise.” He took her hand and kissed it, keeping his eyes on the road.
“Will I like it?”
Oh God, I hope so, he thought. Aloud, he said, “I’m counting on it.”
After she revealed her concerns to him, he started paying more attention to the traffic around them. He caught a glimpse of a red Honda in the fast lane, but it never passed them. Could someone actually be following them? Then he felt silly. There were millions of cars on the California highways, and a lot of them liked to drive in the fast lane. It was foolish to think Meredith’s ex could actually be following them. Besides, Dwayne had no claim on Meredith. He’d thrown her over for another woman. He was a jerk and a loser. He’d probably flown to Sacramento on a business trip.
On that note, he pulled off the highway and headed toward a neighborhood in the low-lying hills, with just enough roll in the landscape to afford privacy between the luxury homes. A few minutes later, he pulled into his long, brick driveway and stopped in front of his castle Tudor home. The exterior was sandstone brick, with a brown metal roof, and the tower next to the arched entryway had narrow windows that stair-stepped down the turret.
Meredith’s mouth dropped open. “This is your ‘bachelor pad’? It’s magnificent! A fairy princess must be watching from the tower.” She turned to him and grabbed his arm. “Are you seeing a fairy princess behind my back?”
Chris laughed. “You like the house?”
Meredith put a hand over her mouth. “I’m stunned. There must be four bedrooms at least. You live here all alone?”
“Five bedrooms, six and a half baths, and servants’ quarters in the back. Well, that’s actually another little house. So technically, I guess I live here alone at night. But during the day, there are three other people. And right now, there’s even more, because I’m having a pool installed. Want to see?”
“Oh my God, I want to see every square foot.” Meredith was already getting out of the car.
Chris grinned. Her reaction was better than he had hoped. “Wait for me.”
He gave her the tour of the house, and introduced her to his housekeeper, the groundsman, and Toby, a large German shepherd.
Meredith melted at the sight of the dog. “I didn’t know you were a dog person. Why doesn’t Toby go to work with you?” She stopped and looked around for a second, then asked, “Why do you go to work at all?”
Chris shrugged. “I need something to do, and since Gran earned a fifth-degree black belt in tae-kwon-do in her youth, she made sure I took lessons for years. A gym seemed like the natural thing to do. Toby is home security, not work security.” He turned to the housekeeper. “Imelda, where’s Ron?”
“He’s out back, keeping an eye on the construction people.” She smiled at Meredith. “Nice to meet you.”
“Thanks, same here,” said Meredith. “Who is Ron?”
Chris said, “He’s our bodyguard. Imelda and her husband are here alone a lot of the time, and their grandkids come to visit. Sometimes our neighborhood is targeted by burglars, and I want her to feel safe. Come on, I’ll show you the pool. Or rather, the hole in the ground where the pool will be.” He led her through the great room, the dining room, the huge kitchen, the mudroom, and out the back door.
Chris waved at Ron and commented to Meredith, “Ron’s the one who’s not wearing an orange construction vest. He was on the pro wrestling circuit before I hired him. Impressive, no?”
“Very,” said Meredith, wide-eyed.
“Mr. Dann, welcome home.” Ron lifted a hand in greeting, then strode toward
them. “Is this the young lady you’ve been talking about?”
Chris made the introductions. “How’s the work coming?”
“They’re waiting for a piece of equipment to arrive,” said Ron. “Since they can’t do much for an hour or so, I told them they could drive to the Village Store.” He nodded as the three construction workers trudged past. “And if it starts raining,” said Ron, glancing up at the gathering clouds, “we won’t see them until tomorrow.”
“Did they lock up that front loader?” Chris gestured at the huge John Deere tractor with its earth mover wedged in the dark soil.
“Yes, sir.” Ron gave Meredith a mock salute. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.” He looked back and forth from Chris to Meredith and rubbed a hand over his mouth, like a man who had more to say but was thinking better of it. His eyes twinkled. “Guess I’ll go tend to the kennels. Got to keep the guard dogs happy.”
After he left, Meredith said, “He seems nice. And bulky. Where are the kennels? Do you have more than one dog?”
Chris nodded. “Three, actually. The kennels are behind the servants’ quarters. What do you think? Will the pool be big enough?”
“Gosh, it’s going to be awesome. Why would you ever want to leave in the morning?” She linked her arm with his. “This is a wonderful surprise.”
Chris shook his head. “No, this is just my house.”
“I could stand here and look at this view all day,” sighed Meredith.
Chris grinned. “You can wait here, then. The surprise is inside. I’ll go get it. If it starts raining, come indoors, okay?”
Meredith nodded, and Chris went into the house. He ran upstairs, taking them two at a time, and into his bedroom. Toby galloped after him, tongue lolling. Chris checked the dresser, but he didn’t find what he was looking for. “Where is it? For Pete’s sake, it can’t be lost.” He pulled out the drawers, checking each one. Outside, a car door slammed. Toby barked and ran downstairs. “I wonder if I can take an hour off the labor bill,” Chris muttered, thinking about the construction workers lazing about. He growled at himself. “Where did I put it?”