by A C Warneke
“Um, did you by any chance pick up the copy of Justice that I threw at you?” she asked, chewing on that lower lip of hers.
“I did,” he said, his gaze focused on that tender flesh, wanting to be the one biting her lip. “Why?”
“Could I maybe have it back?” she asked, almost shyly.
“No,” he said. At her wounded gasp, he grinned at her, “I’ll give you your own copy, Ana, one that isn’t a proof. I should be getting them any day now.”
Her tongue smoothed over her abused lip as she looked up at him through her lashes and asked, “Will you sign it for me?”
“I’ll give you a copy of all of my books and sign each and every one of them if it would make you happy.”
She squealed as she flew off her seat and around the table. In the next moment, she was straddling his lap, her arms were around his neck, her breasts were pressed against his chest, and she was hugging him before he had time to think. Automatically, he put his arms around her, hugging her and holding her tight. It took all of the strength he possessed to stand up, let her go, and take a step away from her. But he didn’t move far enough away as she stood up on her toes and kissed him again. Having had her on his lap, in his arms, his resolve was utterly destroyed. He grabbed the back of her head and held her in place as he gave in to temptation.
Her lips parted on a sigh and he stole into her mouth, tasting her sweetness and wanting to devour her whole. Sliding his other arm around her waist, he pulled her to him until her body was flushed against his. The lush softness of her breasts pressed against his chest and all of his honorable intentions were shredded. Her slender arms wrapped around his waist as she held onto him and he realized he could kiss her for the rest of the night.
Hell, he could kiss her for the rest of his life.
He was going to go to Hell for kissing her.
Tearing his lips away from her, he rested his forehead against hers and tried to dredge up some regret. The only regret he found was the regret that he wasn’t still kissing her. Her panted breath was hot against his lips and he knew it would be so easy to simply kiss her again.
“I think I could kiss you all night,” she panted, her body fluid against his. Tilting her head back, she murmured, “I could kiss you a million times or more and it wouldn’t be enough.”
Unable to disagree with her, he kept his mouth shut, silently vowing that he would keep his hands to himself the next time he saw her. Or better yet, he wouldn’t put himself in a position where he was alone with her. Holding her until she was steady on her own feet, he stepped away from her and cleared his throat, “I really have to go. My break ended about five minutes ago.”
“Oops,” she offered with a guilty smile. “I’ll see you later?”
“Yes,” he said, grimacing because he really shouldn’t be so excited about the prospect. “Goodbye, Ana.”
He started to head towards the door when she cried out, “Wait!”
Stopping in his track, he looked over his shoulder at her and raised his eyebrow in silent question. She gave him a sheepish smile as she nodded toward the stairs, “Can you shut my window first?”
“Will you promise to remain in the hallway?” he asked, knowing how frayed his restraint was.
She laughed at him as she started walking towards the stairs, looping her arm through his along the way. “I promise. And I also promise that I won’t open it again to throw another book at you.”
Chapter 5
The pounding on her front door and the incessant ringing of her doorbell Friday night had Ana scrambling off the kitchen stool to get up and answer it, wondering what had happened to Harrison and why he felt the need to make so much noise. She didn’t bother to wonder how she knew it was Harrison and not anyone else. In the thirty seconds it took to reach the door, she imagined a million scenarios, from Harrison needing a cup of sugar for a cake he was baking to him cutting his hand off in a freak printer related accident. There were only a few that ended with him taking her into his arms and kissing her mindless but those were the least probable because he wouldn’t be pounding so frantically if all he wanted to do was kiss her.
With her heart in her throat, she pulled the door open as Harrison was about to knock again. Seeing his desperate look, she felt her stomach drop and she whispered, “What’s wrong?”
“Thank god you’re home,” he panted, leaning against the doorway as if he had run a marathon rather than ran across the road. He was wearing his uniform and looked sexy as can be, which bothered Ana that she could notice how attractive he was when he was in obvious distress. “Jolie’s mom was supposed to be here this weekend but she cancelled at the last minute and my parents aren’t able to watch her tonight and I was wondering….”
“Sure,” she said before he could even finish asking, her heart stuttering back into a normal rhythm. The guilt she was feeling just moments before for finding him hot dissipated because it wasn’t a dire emergency; he just needed a babysitter. “Do you want me to come over there or do you want her to stay here?”
He looked stunned by the question as his lips parted to answer but no sound came out. Taking pity on the poor, gorgeous man, she said, “She can stay here. I’ll make up the guest room and everything.”
“You’re a life saver.” His sigh of relief was a thing of beauty and if she wasn’t mistaken, he took a step to hug her but stopped himself at the last minute. Not one to let the opportunity pass, she closed the distance between them and hugged him. She smiled as his arms fluttered uselessly by his sides before he gave in and hugged her back. Despite his reluctance to hug her, he hugged her as if he didn’t want to let her go. Still, his voice was weary when he groaned, “Ana.”
“It’s a simple hug,” she said, releasing him and taking a step back.
“Things are never simple when it comes to you,” he rasped. Before she could respond, he said, “I’m just going to get Jolie. Thank you for doing this for me,”
“Any time,” she murmured to his back, wondering if she should let him know she was older than eighteen. In the five days since Harrison unexpectedly showed up in her bedroom in the middle of the night, she had hardly spent any time with him. It wouldn’t have been so bad except she knew he was desperately trying to avoid her. It was frustrating and hilarious and wonderful all at once because that meant he liked her. So she made a point of flirting shamelessly whenever she did see him.
For her own self-preservation, she let the ruse continue because she knew the moment she told him the truth one of two things was going to happen. Either he’d be so furious with her, any desire he might have had for her would disappear in an instant and she’d never see him again or the desire would flare so bright and hot between them that there would be no prisoners. Whatever that meant. She knew which way she wanted it to go, even if the thought of having sex with him was as overwhelming as it was thrilling.
Also, the longer she didn’t tell him, the harder it was to tell the truth, as if the little white lie was taking on a life of its own. The moment she told him, the beast would be killed and it was doing everything in its limited power to stay alive. Oh, hell, who was she kidding? She’d tell him the next time they were alone because it was no longer fun tormenting him just because she could. In fact, it had never been fun but a necessary evil.
A few minutes later, Harrison was back with Jolie by his side. Looking at her but not quite meeting her eyes, he said, “Since it’s Friday, her bedtime is ten o’clock so don’t let her try to convince you otherwise. She’s already had dinner so you shouldn’t have to feed her but just in case, she doesn’t have any allergies. Um, here’s my house key in case you need anything.”
He handed her the key and when their fingers touched, she felt the electricity pulse through her body. Oh, yeah, they were combustible. “Are you going to want it back?”
He looked at her and swallowed audibly, making her a little giddy that she hadn’t told him the truth yet. “I can get a spare key made up for you.”
Her cheeks hurt from grinning, “Aren’t you afraid I’m going to use it?”
“More than you’ll ever know,” he muttered, giving her a look of such longing she almost relented. Turning to Jolie, he kissed the top of her head and murmured, “You be good, okay, pipsqueak?”
“I will,” the little girl promised and Ana’s stomach rebelled at the idea of being responsible for an impressionable child. But then Jolie looked up at Harrison with those eyes that were just like her father’s and Ana’s unease lessened. “Bye, daddy.”
As soon as Harrison left, Jolie looked up at her with bright eyes and an even brighter grin, “Can we have some ice cream?”
Ana laughed, ruffling the girl’s brown hair and leading her to the kitchen. “If you want ice cream, you’re going to have to earn it.”
“What do I have to do?” she asked so seriously, Ana wanted to hug her.
“You’ll have to stir the batter,” Ana said, glancing around at the mess Harrison’s pounding had interrupted. “I was just about to make brownies and nothing tastes better than ice cream on fresh baked brownies.”
Jolie’s eyes lit up as she clambered onto the stool, eager to work. “Are these the ones you made the other day?”
“Nope,” Ana said. At Jolie’s look of disappointment, she added, “These ones are triple fudge brownies. I’m making chocolate cream cheese and adding chocolate chips so they’ll be nice and chocolaty.”
“I wish daddy would marry you,” Jolie sighed wistfully.
“Oh, sweetie,” Ana murmured, smoothing her hand over Jolie’s hair. “I’m leaving in a few months.”
“Oh,” Jolie murmured, bowing her head in disappointment.
“But I plan on coming back,” Ana said, not sure why she was telling that to the little girl, not when she wasn’t sure whether she really was coming back. She hadn’t decided she’d stay out in California but the idea had been in the back of her mind that she might, especially if everything worked out with her internship. Now, she was no longer sure, which was so stupid since she barely knew Harrison and she sure as heck wasn’t going to throw away her life for anyone, no matter how gorgeous and kind and heroic. But he was a reason to come back, a very compelling reason if it came down to it.
God, this habit of getting ahead of herself was becoming tragic.
“When?” Jolie asked.
“Next Christmas?” Ana answered, wondering the same herself. Well, even if things went really, really well in California, she could easily make the promise to return for Christmas. That was simple enough. It had been too many years since she had spent the holidays with her aunt and uncle and it was something she needed to rectify. Except, what if they were going to be away from home next year? The two of them were known to travel quite extensively so it was a possibility.
The next time they talked on the phone, she’d just have to request they stay home next Christmas. Whether or not she’d give the reason remained to be seen. If they did plan on travelling, maybe Harrison wouldn’t mind if she stayed with him.
“But we’ll have to wait and see,” Ana added, just in case. Just in case things with Harrison didn’t pan out, just in case he found someone new, just in case she found someone new…. She didn’t think it was possible but then she thought of her friend Donna who had been madly in love with every man she had ever been with only to fall out of love with them just as quickly.
Not that she was in love with Harrison, not yet. The potential was there, the attraction was definitely there, and she appreciated his mind like nobody’s business, but it wasn’t love. However, it was more than lust. Was there something between lust and love? Infatuation? Maybe, but that seemed to be too weak of a word for what she was feeling.
Shaking her head to dispel the thoughts, she gave Jolie a spoon and directed her on how to stir the eggs and sugar as she added the flour mixture. She wracked her brain for something to talk about but she had absolutely no experience with children, other than seeing them in stores and on TV. Maybe it wasn’t so wise agreeing to babysit when she had no idea what she was doing. What if Jolie started to throw a temper tantrum? Or was she too old to do that?
“Do you think you can braid my hair?” Jolie asked, eying the sloppy braid in Ana’s hair. At Ana’s blank look, she continued, “Daddy tried once and it was a disaster. He had to cut off three inches of my hair and then he had to take me to the hair salon to get it fixed. Gramma has arthritis in her hands so she can’t do it. My mother doesn’t live here so I can’t ask her. But you have long hair and it’s even braided. So can you?”
Her little speech was given without taking a breath of air and Ana was surprised Jolie wasn’t blue in the face. Dumbly, she nodded her head, her chest tightening at the sweet smile that brightened the little girl’s entire face as Jolie asked, “Now?”
“When the brownies are in the oven?” Ana managed, her brain still trying to work through everything Jolie had told her. Ana’s mother used to fix her hair all of the time and it was some of Ana’s favorite memories. Sitting on the stool as her mom twisted and braided her hair, she had felt like he luckiest little girl in the world.
“Cool,” Jolie beamed, her smile practically frozen on her face.
“If you want,” Ana suggested, trying to remember what she liked to do when she was almost nine years old. Well, Ana had spent a lot of time exploring old ruins and castles and art museums with her mom when she was that age so that wasn’t really an option. But they also used to put fancy clothes on and find little, out of the way cafes and have tea. “We could play dress up. I have….”
“Oh, yes, could we?”
Ana chuckled at Jolie’s eagerness. “As I was saying, I have makeup and some fancy clothes.”
“Can I do your makeup?”
“Sure,” Ana agreed easily. “Why not?”
*****
At nine thirty, Harrison knocked on Ana’s door, wanting to kiss his little girl good night. At least that is what he told himself. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to say good night to Jolie, he did, but he also wanted to say good night to Ana, too. And if she kissed him, he wouldn’t object too strenuously. After all, it was a good night kiss and his daughter would be right there. It would be a perfectly harmless kiss between two neighbors.
When Ana didn’t answer, he tried the doorknob and grimaced when it turned in his hand. He was really going to have to talk to her about locking the damn door, especially when she was watching Jolie. If necessary, he’d start coming over every night to make sure the damn thing was locked himself. Even if it meant running into a scantily clad Ana, it was a chance he was willing to take to ensure her safety. Just because they were in the middle of the country didn’t mean there weren’t home invaders.
Hearing laughter from the living room, he felt his anger slowly fade away as he followed the sound. Jolie’s sweet laugh blended perfectly with Ana’s richer, sultrier laugh in unreserved mirth. Not wanting to intrude but needing to see what was happening, he peered around the corner and had to swallow back a gasp at Ana’s face. Purple, bright, vivid purple, circled both eyes and was running down onto her cheeks, which were bright pink. Her luscious lips were almost obscene beneath the blood red lipstick. Her hair was pulled back into two, lopsided piggy tails and there was glitter everywhere. She looked like a child who had gotten into her mother’s makeup.
Almost afraid to see Jolie, he slowly turned his head. The little girl sitting there with a huge smile on her face looked about twelve years older and absolutely stunning. He wanted to storm in there and tell her to wash that stuff off her face, that she didn’t have to grow up so fast and he wanted her to remain his little girl forever. But he restrained himself, just barely, because Jolie was having so much fun that he wasn’t going to ruin it. The makeup would wash off.
Leaning against the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest, trying to appear casual even as his bulky jacket and warring emotions made it impossible, he cleared his throat. Both girls jumped and an expression of gui
lt fell over Ana’s face even as Jolie’s lit up with joy. “Daddy!”
Jolie raced over to where he stood and leapt into his arms, hugging him with all of her heart. Ana, on the other hand, was a little slower to get up, a blush making her pink cheeks even brighter. She joined them and rested a hand on Jolie’s back as she looked up at him but didn’t quite meet his eyes, “We weren’t expecting to see you tonight.”
“Apparently,” he murmured, trying to keep his expression grim but it was difficult. Up close, Ana’s makeup was even more outlandish, with little swirls that he hadn’t been able to see from afar. Holding Jolie with one arm, he touched the tip of Ana’s nose and chuckled, “It looks like Jolie missed a spot.”
Rubbing her nose with her hand, her eyebrows drawn in confusion, she asked, “Pardon?”
“Never mind,” he said with a grin, no longer able to keep it in. Turning to Jolie, her smile still beaming at a thousand watts, he asked, “Have you been behaving yourself?”
“Yes,” she said with a definitive nod. Beneath her makeup and the elegant hair, she was still his little girl. But she was growing up and he wasn’t ready for that, not yet. “We made brownies.”
The wistful pain in his chest shifted to a deeper hunger in his belly as he looked at Ana. “Brownies?”
“Of course,” Ana said, looking ridiculous and wonderful. Who was this girl? “I planned on bringing them over in the morning but we decided to eat them with ice cream.”
The disappointment must have shown in his face because she laughed, “We didn’t eat all of them, Harrison. If we had, we’d be passed out on the bathroom floor, suffering from a chocolate overdose. Don’t worry, there are plenty of brownies left for you.”
The relief he felt was disproportionate to the situation but it had been a long time since anyone had made him dessert and now Ana had done it several times. Licking his lips at the thought of those brownies, he asked, “Is there any ice cream left?”