by Marci Bolden
She shrugged just the slightest bit. “It all worked out.”
“Yes, it did,” he said with quiet sincerity. “You’ve done amazingly well for yourself. And your family.”
He tightened his fingers on her arm and ran this thumb over her bicep, as if to reassure her. Instead, it set her on edge, and she felt as if she were about to fall over. Damn it. What kind of voodoo was this man doing to her?
Annie’s focus shifted to her daughter in an attempt to undo whatever it was that had made breathing nearly impossible. Her smile returned as Mallory squealed and hugged a friend who had just arrived at the party.
“I can’t believe it,” he said. “Our girl just graduated college.”
Annie’s attention snapped back to him. “Our girl?”
“I know I didn’t have any part in raising her, but we’ve gotten close over the years. Like I said last night, she’s the closest thing I’ll ever have to a daughter.”
Marcus smiled, and as tended to happen these days, her chest tightened and warmth spread through her. His gaze softened as he stared at her, and she sighed.
She actually freaking sighed.
His deep blue eyes were like an abyss that she fell into every time he looked at her like that. Like that meant with a tenderness he shouldn’t have for his boss.
She didn’t need anyone to tell her how inappropriate that was. She’d told herself a thousand times. That didn’t stop her breath from catching whenever he touched her or their gazes stayed locked a few seconds too long—like they were right now.
Thankfully, an obnoxious round of laughter pulled her from his gaze. Annie glanced at her brothers. “I was, um, on my way to the kitchen. Excuse me.”
She forced her feet to move her away from the tall drink of temptation in her living room. Alone in the kitchen, she shook her head and leaned against the island, where the extra chips and platters were piled. She closed her eyes and let her head drop forward like it weighed a hundred pounds.
“Get a grip,” she muttered.
The door behind her opened, and she nearly laughed. She didn’t have to turn around to know Marcus had followed her.
“Need help with anything?” he asked.
“No. I was just…”
Her words faded when he moved to her side, much too close, and she couldn’t stop herself from looking at his clean-shaven face. She was tempted to run her fingers along his oval jaw to see if his skin was as soft as it looked. Her self-control was fading quickly. She’d used up damn near all her resolve during the graduation ceremony. He’d sat next to her, his arm resting along the back of her chair during most of the commencement. For nearly two hours, she’d sat stiffly, her hands clutched as she silently reminded herself not to lean into him. Not to put her hand on his knee. Not to smile up at him. Not to rest her head on his shoulder. And to breathe—just breathe, damn it.
Now he was that close again, and the urge to lean into him was nearly irresistible.
His smile faded, easing the deep lines around his eyes, and she did that stupid sighing thing again. Clearing her throat—again—she focused on the food.
“Chips,” she said. “I was…getting more chips.”
“Let me help—”
“No,” she snapped but then tried to cover by softly laughing. “Go back out there. Enjoy the party.”
“This is Mallory’s party. You go enjoy it. You deserve to celebrate along with her.”
Her cheeks heated. That affectionate tone struck a chord it shouldn’t, and her heart picked up its pace.
She lifted the chips. “I’ll just take these out and then enjoy the party.”
“Wait,” he said.
The warmth of his hand gently grabbing her elbow spread like wildfire through her. She’d barely gotten control after his touch a minutes ago. Was he trying to kill her?
“Annie, I think we should—”
The swinging door to the kitchen opened. Annie’s sister-in-law, Donna, stopped in her tracks and looked from Marcus to Annie then back to Marcus.
Donna smirked a bit. “Sorry. I, um, I thought this was the bathroom.”
Annie drew her eyebrows together. “That’s the best you can do?”
Donna giggled and disappeared, probably to run off and tell their family all about whatever she thought she’d just walked in on.
Marcus laughed quietly as the door swung closed. “Uh-oh. The gossip wheels are turning.”
Annie heaved a sigh—this time with frustration instead of whatever it was that made her exhale heavily when Marcus looked at her. “If Donna weren’t gossiping, I’d be worried something was wrong with her.”
“I’m sorry.”
She wasn’t. Okay, maybe a little, but only because she didn’t want to deal with her family questioning her about her relationship with Marcus. They were convinced that just because they were all happily paired off, she should be, too. Worse, none of them saw anything wrong with Annie dating Marcus. Not that they were dating. Not even close. They were just co-workers—friends—who shared dinner a few nights a week. And lunch a few times a week. And attended events such as Mallory’s graduation together.
And who shared a habit of staring awkwardly at each other.
She really wished her siblings hadn’t started dropping not-so-subtle hints about Marcus liking her. She hadn’t been this bumbling mess around him until the first time Donna and Dianna teased her about how Marcus looked at her. Hell, she hadn’t even noticed he looked at her at all. Then Paul and Matt got on board, telling her what a great guy Marcus was. As if she needed them to tell her that. She knew Marcus was great. That was why she had hired him.
That and his stupid smile that made her stomach twist around itself.
She lowered her face and closed her eyes for a moment.
“Better refill the chip bowl,” he said.
Annie lifted her face. “Hmm?”
He jerked his head toward the living room. “The chip bowl.”
She looked at the bag in her hand for a second. “Oh. Right. Chip bowl.” A strange half-laugh sound left her. “Right.” She left Marcus and pushed the door open as she went back to the party. She ignored Donna and Dianna and frowned at the chip bowl that didn’t need to be filled.
An hour and a half later and with the last guest barely out the door, Donna planted a kiss on Annie’s cheek. “Good night.”
Annie pulled away. “What do you mean good night? You said you’d help clean up.”
“The girls have…a thing.”
Matt shrugged.
“Marcus can help,” Donna offered. Marcus didn’t know Donna nearly as well as he knew Paul and Dianna, but the mischief in the woman’s blue eyes was plain as a sunny day.
“Marcus is a guest.”
Donna creased her brow at Annie. “What am I?”
“Family.”
“I don’t mind,” Marcus offered. He almost wished he hadn’t at the look Annie gave him. Her eyes widened, and her jaw set as if he’d offended her.
“We have to run, too,” Paul said, hugging his fiancée to him.
“Sorry, Annie.” Dianna’s pout was as fake as the thing Matt and Donna had to run off to do with their kids.
Annie narrowed her eyes at Paul, who smiled as he held his hand out to Marcus. Her brothers clearly weren’t fooling her one bit. They were intentionally ditching her and Marcus because Donna thought she walked in on something in the kitchen. They were setting her up to be alone with Marcus. As agitated as this seemed to be making Annie, Marcus was tempted to thank them.
Paul flashed his smirk Annie’s way even as he spoke to Marcus. “It was good seeing you. Thanks for helping Annie.”
“No problem, Paul,” Marcus said, accepting the handshake.
The door closed behind her siblings. Annie and Marcus were alone in the house.
“You don’t have to stay,” Annie said. “I can clean up.”
He grabbed a box of big black trash bags and pulled one out. “I don’t mind.” He shook t
he bag and held it open as she collected a stack of paper plates.
“I should have stopped Mallory from sneaking out before helping with this mess.”
“She was pretty eager to get home.”
Annie frowned. “Yes. I reminded her she will be responsible for any damage to that house.”
“I doubt she’s having a party.”
She gave him a look of disbelief as she added trash to the bag he was holding. “She applied for a few jobs in California.”
“She’s wanted to move west since I’ve known her. Why are you surprised?”
“I’m not,” she muttered.
He caught her gaze as she shoved a handful of napkins in the bag, but to his disappointment, they didn’t get trapped in a lingering stare this time. “Then what’s the problem?”
“There is no problem. I just…”
He laughed softly. “You’ve stuttered and tripped over your words more in the last two days than you have in all the years I’ve known you. Just tell me what’s on your mind, Annie.”
She sighed as she stopped gathering trash. Facing him, she tilted her head. “I want her to go out into the world and be her own person. I’ve raised her to do that. But now that it’s time for her to”—she flicked her hand as she searched for the words—“leave the nest…”
“You’re worried?”
She closed her eyes. “Marcus, I’m terrified. And I don’t know why. I don’t know what to do with all this”—she waved her hand again—“stuff.”
He grinned as she looked at him, as if silently pleading for him to understand. “They’re called emotions, Annie, and this is normal. This is maternal, empty-nest-syndrome stuff.”
“She hasn’t lived at home for three years.”
“But she’s here several times a week. She’s always dropping by the office. She comes and goes,” he said, reminding Annie of all the complaints she had shared about her daughter’s not-quite-independent ways. “She can’t do that if she’s in California.”
She groaned as she rolled her eyes. “Do you know how far San Diego is from Stonehill? One thousand seven hundred and fifty miles. I looked it up, Marcus. I actually looked it up just in case she gets a job there. I’m not that kind of mom. What is happening to me?”
He chuckled. “You are that kind of mom, Annie. You’re the kind who loves and worries about her kid. I hate to break it to you, but just because you raised her to be independent doesn’t mean you want her to leave. And do you know what is about ten miles from Stonehill? Des Moines International Airport. They have planes there that can transport people from Iowa to California in a matter of hours.”
Annie frowned and went back to gathering used cups.
“She’s just like you, you know.”
Her steel-gray gaze snapped to his. “What does that mean?”
“She knows what she wants,” he clarified. “She’s going for it. She gets that from you, Annie. You aren’t afraid of anything.”
Her only response was a scoff and a shake of her head.
“If you hadn’t been left to raise Paul and Matt after your mom died, what would you have done?”
She shoved the last handful of paper plates into the trash bag. “I’ve never thought about it.”
“Don’t lie. You were thinking about it last night. We all think about what our lives would have been like if we’d just taken that one chance we denied ourselves.”
She paused with a tray of uneaten fruit in her hands. “What does it matter what I wanted, Marcus? This is what I have, and I have absolutely nothing to complain about. Except that my daughter wants to move halfway across the country because she thinks Iowa is boring.”
He grinned as he followed her. “Iowa is boring. Some people just like that.”
She stopped. “Excuse me? Is that how you sell this town to people moving here? ‘If you like boring, this is the place for you’? Your job, sir, is to sell Stonehill and Des Moines and Iowa to new residents.”
“I’m a real estate agent, Annie, not the Chamber of Commerce.”
She frowned at him, and he smiled. There it was. That look of annoyance that made his soul sing. Annie’s sharp wit was a never-ending source of entertainment for him. He wouldn’t say he intentionally irritated her, but there was something about the fire that lit in her eyes when she was agitated that made his heart beat just a wee bit faster. He loved the spark in her. Loved the challenge she presented when he refused to back down on something insignificant at the office.
“I should fire you here and now,” she said, backing into the kitchen.
They put away leftovers as she lectured him on the virtues of living in central Iowa—the parks, the growing economy, the low crime rate.
Marcus finished gathering the trash and tied the bag as she started in on the great education system. Just as Annie stepped back from the counter, he turned toward the back door with the full bag and they bumped into each other.
He instinctively reached out and grabbed her upper arm. “Sorry ’bout that.”
Her cheeks turned a bright red shade that made his entire body tingle. She looked to her right arm where his hand was still resting then cocked her brow at him.
“Oh,” he said and laughed awkwardly as he released her.
“Excuse me.” She brushed by him.
Trash bag in hand, he watched her head into the living room as he fisted his hand, still feeling the smoothness of her skin against his palm.
When there was nothing left for him to do in the kitchen, he collapsed the folding chairs. Once those were leaning against a wall, he folded the tables and carried two at a time to his truck while Annie carried chairs.
When the furniture was loaded, he lifted the tailgate and faced her.
She brushed her palms together as if to knock away any dirt she may have gathered. “Do you want me to come to the office with you to unload?”
“No. I’ll do that tomorrow.”
“Well, call me. I’ll come help.”
“Okay.”
“Thanks for sticking around, Marcus. I appreciate it. And I know Mallory appreciated you coming today.”
“I was glad to be here.” He shook his head. “I still can’t believe she’s got a college degree.”
“I know.”
The tinge of sadness in her voice made him want to reach out and hug her, and when she looked at him again, the urge twisted into raw desire. Standing in her driveway, the stars dim in the spring sky, the soft light from the streetlamp reflecting off her blond hair… The entire scene was the perfect setup, but he was certain if he closed the gap between them, she’d punch him in the mouth he so desperately wanted to press against hers.
She shifted on her feet as he continued to stare at her. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“Yeah. Good night, Annie.”
He double-checked that the tailgate was latched, even though he’d done that already, and then climbed into the cab and sat for several moments, debating if he should just risk everything and do what he wanted. Take that opportunity he had mentioned earlier—the one that everyone always looked back on and wondered what if.
But he didn’t. He started the ignition and pulled away, leaving another chance untaken.
“Knew it,” Annie whispered at the sound of the office door opening. She leaned back in her chair and peered into the lobby.
A moment later, Marcus appeared, his lips pulled into a disapproving frown. “What are you doing here on a Sunday morning?”
“I had this sneaking suspicion that you wouldn’t call for help putting the tables and chairs away. I figured I’d just be here to catch you in the act.”
“I’m pretty sure I can handle this.”
“I’m sure you can.” She pushed herself up. “But they were used for my daughter’s party, so I should at least help.”
As she stepped around her desk, she sensed his eyes skimming over her body and heat coiled low in her gut. She didn’t wear jeans and fitted shirts often, but she thought maybe
she should reconsider that based on how he was looking at her. She cursed herself as soon as the thought occurred. Playing games of temptation with this man would be far too dangerous. She was already certain he felt as attracted to her as she was to him. The last thing either of them needed was her exacerbating this thing. She gestured for him to move—shooing him like she would a pesky fly—when he stood in the doorway, blocking her exit. He stepped aside, and she slid past him.
He followed her out of the building, passing her only when she stopped to wedge the door open. She reached the truck as he lowered the tailgate. They unloaded the chairs, and she carried them inside while he lifted the awkward tables from the truck bed. Annie and Marcus sidestepped each other, smiling awkwardly as they moved out of each other’s way, carrying the furniture into the storage room at the back of the building. Annie focused on putting the chairs back into a neat row and tried to ignore the way discomfort filled her every time they crossed paths in the small room.
They’d been alone more times than she could count. This was nothing new, yet her nerves fired with every move he made and every time she got a whiff of his cologne. Annie silently chastised herself for being so damned aware of him, but that didn’t stop her from feeling like the room was closing in on her as he leaned a table against the wall next to her.
With the chairs organized, she turned to leave the storage room, uncomfortably conscious of him walking ahead of her. When he reached the door, Marcus faced her, leaning in the doorway, just as he had when he’d stood in her office door earlier. And just as before, he blatantly lowered his gaze over her before meeting her stare. Her heart did that flippy-flop thing, and her breath caught at the look in his eyes.
She cleared her throat and dragged her palms over her denim-clad thighs. “Is that everything?” She knew it was, but what else was she going to say?
“Yeah. Thanks for the help.”
“Thank you for hauling them around for me. I appreciate it.”