by Lynn Young
you practically smolder. Every time he looks my way, I get kind of a tingly feeling in my tummy. ”
“I hope he’s not too much for you,” Pepper said. “For a lesser woman, I can see that he might be overwhelming.”
Serena tossed her hair so that it lay back down in artful disarray. “Oh, don’t you worry, I’ve not met a man who I couldn’t handle, yet.” Then she posed in the mirror, trying out different seductive looks. “By the time desert comes around, I’ll have him eating out of my hands.
Something tells me that he might be a handful in bed, though.”
“He is,” Anna Marie said without thinking. She cursed herself when they looked at her.
“I…I mean, you’re right, he probably is a handful.”
Serena rolled her eyes and she and Pepper exchanged pitying looks, both having the same thoughts. It was so pathetic the way wallflowers like Anna Marie tried to live their love life vicariously through women like them who were superior to her in so many ways, not the least of all in looks and attraction.
Pepper gently pushed her sister towards the kitchen. “Anna, darling, why don’t you go and get a pitcher of water. Make sure you use the bottled water and not the tap.”
“Now, honey, you would be absolutely gorgeous as a winter bride,” Anna Marie heard
her sister tell her friend as she went into the kitchen.
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Chapter 7
As always with Pepper, dinner was delicious, her guests dining on assorted grilled and steamed shellfish, Caesar salad, garlic French bread, sautéed vegetables with garlic and almonds.
During dinner, Serena was determinedly putting to good use her redheaded beauty,
pulling out all the stops in playing the siren to Dallas’s darkly dangerous hero. All her attention was directed at him, every look and gesture designed to draw his eyes to her lips, her eyes, and to her breasts. But for the most part, Dallas was unmoved, remaining detached, the impassive mask on his face immovable, and his eyes hooded. But this did not seem to deter the Serena.
Anna Marie did not know whether to laugh or choke on her food as she watched across
the table Serena make such an obvious play for the Navy SEAL.
“So, Dallas, your brother tells me that you’re a Navy SEAL. How exciting,” Serena said, her eyes warm, her lips curved invitingly, and her upper torso turned to his direction so that he could have the full advantage of her cleavage, as modest as it was.
“It has its moments,” Dallas answered blandly.
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“I mean, you’re risking your life everyday for your country.” She leaned closer to him on her elbow so that her upper arm pressed against her breast to push it up higher for his view. “To think you risking your life for little ‘ole me.”
Dallas merely flicked a look at her and went back to shelling his lobster.
If she was disappointed in his lack of response, Serena did not show it. Instead, she cradled her chin in her hand and gazed up at him from lowered lids so that she could give him the benefit of her long, dark auburn eyelashes. “I so much admire men who are so brave and so strong. They’re so rare these days. We no longer have men who had the virtue and fortitude to forge a whole new country, like the founding fathers, Lewis and Clark, Davy Crockett, and Sam Houston. Now, they were real men. These days the only real men around here are ones who enter special armed forces, like you.”
Anna Marie turned her face away from the table to hide her smile, and she glimpsed
Cameron wincing a little and barely able to suppress a roll of his eyes.
“And Dallas gets to meet a lot of important people in his job, don’t you, Dallas?” Pepper said encouragingly. “He mostly takes orders from the top brass in Pentagon, and so he hobnobs with a lot of the movers and shakers in Washington. He often has lunch with the Secretary of State. And then when he is on a mission, he often comes into contact with that country’s leaders.
Of course, he can’t help it if the leaders are dictators who are corrupt or brutal. Didn’t you tell me you, Dallas, that you met the ousted Aristide when you were in Haiti, right before he was forced to leave the country?” She leaned towards Serena in a conspiratorial manner. “He won’t admit it, but I bet he was down there in order to force the dictator’s exile.”
Serena’s large luminous eyes widened as she directed them at Dallas with a hero worship look. “Oh, how exciting. Is that what you were really down there for?”
Dallas stared at her for a moment, then he stared at his sister-in-law Then he looked at his brother, who shook his head and shrugged his shoulders, silently communicating to Dallas that he had no idea where his wife got her ideas, because it certainly wasn’t from him, even if they were true.
“Speaking of bravery, you should have seen what are son did the other day,” Cameron
suddenly said. “He climbed up this tree in our neighbor’s yard to save a kitten that was stuck.” That earned him brief annoyed looks from his wife and Serena
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Serena went back to looking deep into Dallas’s eyes. “You know, I bet in your line of work, you’ve saved a few women from harm’s way.” When he failed to answer and continued to concentrate on his dinner, she was undeterred. “You look like the type who wouldn’t let anything get in your way in your patriotic duty, being so big and strong. I love big, strong men.” Her eyes drooped as they dropped down to his lap. “Very strong and very big. I especially adore men when they are very, VERY big.”
Anna Marie choked on a vegetable and was seized by a violent coughing fit, so that
Cameron had to reach over and give her a few sharp slaps to the back. Dallas lazily watched her as she struggled to catch her breath, the corner of his hard mouth twitching a little.
Pepper gave her sister a severe frown. “Honestly, Anna, this is becoming a tiresome habit of yours with you coughing every time you’re over here. I would have thought a person of your age would have learned how to eat.”
Serena put a long-fingered white hand with their pointed red tips on Dallas’s arm to bring his full attention back to her. “I’ve always been fascinated with special armed forces.” She noticed the hard, bulging muscles beneath her hands and she couldn’t help but give an experimental squeeze. “”Ooooh, I was right. You are strong, aren’t you?” Her blue eyes ran feverishly over the rest of him. “I bet you’re just hard all over.”
Cameron pressed his napkin to his mouth, kept his eyes down his plate while his
shoulders shook.
Anna Marie deliberately dropped her fork on the rug. She bent over her chair and stayed bent under the table while she silently shook with laughter, her hand covering her mouth. When she felt she had herself under control, she rose back up and tried to appear as if she were concentrating on her dinner, hoping nobody noticed her red face.
Cameron said to no one in particular, “You should have seen Toby trying to get that
kitten down, which he was able to by the time the firemen arrived with their truck.”
“Honey, I don’t think our guests are interested in kittens,” Pepper said, her gentle words belied by a cutting smile.
“I think it’s best if we stick to kittens. It’s a harmless subject,” her husband said with a meaningful stare.
“I’m interested in hearing about my nephew and the kitten,” Dallas said. “After all, I am his uncle.”
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“I would like to hear about the kitten, too,” Anna Marie added, trying to keep her face sober. “I didn’t think boys did things like that, anymore.”
Ignoring his wife’s narrowed eyes, Cameron launched on the tale of his son and the kitten up the tree.
Despite the change in the dinner topic, Serena remained focused on her mission, like a precision-guided missile programmed only to respond to its target. Completely ignoring the fact that Cameron was talking, not bothering to pretend she was listening, she continued to go all out to g
ain Dallas’s attention. Often, she would lay a hand on his arm, or give him a seductive smile, or lean over to him and whisper something intimate, her lips so close to the shell of his ear that they almost caressed him, letting him feel her warm, moist breath.
But Dallas continued to remain impervious, refusing to succumb to her open seduction, maintaining his cool, detached mask.
“The firemen promised Toby that they would issue him a plaque for bravery. But, now, Tessa is demanding a plaque, too, insisting that it was she who had told Toby to go up the tree,” Cameron finished his story, trying to overlook the fact that the antics of his wife’s friend was somewhat overshadowing his tale, and that Pepper and Anna Marie were trying to pretend that they were listening to him and not watching her and Dallas.
Serena put her hand over Dallas’s. “Oh, you have such big hands.” She fondled them
lasciviously between hers. “And they feel so strong and capable. I just adore men with strong, capable hands.”
“Right now, this man needs his so he can eat his dinner,” Dallas pointed out reasonably.
She gave him an impish smile but released his hand. “And so practical, you are, too. I love that in a man.”
Anna Marie caught Cameron’s eye and the two quickly looked away from one another
before both broke down again with laughter.
Dinner was finally over and Pepper, Cameron, and Anna Marie began to clear the table.
Serena stayed seated, her hands firmly on Dallas’s arms, preventing him from rising without being rude.
“Tell me, Dallas, what was the most dangerous mission you were on?” she said, her blue eyes looking soulfully into his green ones.
“If you I told you that, I’m afraid I’d have to kill you afterwards.”
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Serena stared at him for a moment, taken aback. Then she trilled a laugh. “Oh, that’s right. No one must really know about your little forays into exotic areas, mustn’t they?” As the other three carried dishes into the kitchen, Anna Marie heard Cameron say in a low voice to Pepper, “I think you better tell your friend to tone it down a bit.”
Pepper put down her dishes on the counter and blew out a lock of hair from her eyes.
“Why? I think she’s doing fine.”
Cameron stared at his wife. “Are you blind? In case you haven’t noticed, Dal hasn’t taken a bite on any one of the many hooks Serena has been casting.”
“It just takes time with some men,” Pepper said dismissively.
Anna Marie set down her pile of dishes hastily then made a dash for the door, wanting to escape unnoticed.
“Oh, Anna, can you help me with the rinsing and loading the dishes. Thanks awfully.” Pepper said.
Reluctantly, Anna Marie came back to the sink and began to rinse.
“It’s embarrassing to watch Serena keep batting zero with Dal, and she’s not getting a clue,” Cameron said. “Look, as beautiful and sexy as your friend is, I just don’t think she’s my brother’s type.”
Pepper looked at her husband with disbelief. “What’re you talking about? Look at her, she’s every man’s type. A man would practically have to be blind to not want her.”
“However that may be, as little as I know of my brother’s personal life, I tend to think Dal goes for women who are a bit more low key.”
Pepper frowned and folded her arms across her chest. “Define low key?”
Cameron dumped uneaten food from a plate into the garbage bin and handed it to Anna
Marie. “I don’t know. Someone who’s not so…aggressive.”
“What’s wrong with being aggressive?” Pepper demanded.
Cameron gave her a very husbandly look. “Nothing’s wrong with being aggressive for
some men.” He bent his tall head and gave his wife a kiss on the cheek. “I personally like it. But I can’t say the same for my brother.” He turned and left.
Pepper stood where she was, her arms folded, staring at the door through which her
husband left. Then she turned to Anna Marie who was piling the dishwasher. “Why is it that men Secret Affair 89
think they know what they want? Tell me, Anna, do you think I’m completely wrong about Serena and Dallas?”
Anna Marie straightened from the dishwasher, holding a plate. “Uh…well…”
“Oh, why am I asking you” Pepper said impatiently. “As if you’d know the type of
woman Cameron’s brother would go for.” She stalked out of the kitchen, leaving her sister staring after her with her mouth still open.
When desert was served, Serena apparently had not given up. Not by a long shot. She sat as close to Dallas as her chair would allow her, close enough so that every move she made had her brushing up against him while they ate chocolate tiramisu. Once or twice, she’d take a piece from his desert and eat it. When he stared at her blankly, she’d wrinkle her nose at him, thinking she was being adorable. Another time, she held a fork with a piece of tiramisu up to him. Seeing that he had little choice, knowing by now that she had a tenacious nature and would hold the fork in front of his face until doomsday, Dallas opened his mouth and let her slip the desert into his mouth. Then she leaned over and whispered something in his ear.
Whatever it was that Serena said to him, it made him raise his eyebrows with mild
surprise. “That’s interesting. I don’t think I’ll look at tiramisu quite the same way.” As Pepper and Anna Marie cleared the desert from the table, Serena commandeered
Dallas to the couch. Sitting almost on top of his lap, she engaged him in a low, intimate conversation, gazing at him over her glass of wine. In the kitchen, Anna Marie helped her sister and her husband with rest of the clean up in the kitchen.
When she emerged from the kitchen, her sister and Cameron were straightening the
dining table and chairs. In the living room, Dallas was still corralled on the couch by Serena.
Seeing that there was little reason for her to stay any longer, Anna Marie fetched her purse and her coat.
“Well, I think I better be getting along,” she announced. “I have to get up early in the morning for work.”
Dallas extricated himself from Serena’s talon-like hands and rose to his feet. “That’s not a bad idea. Let me get my gear.”
All three women looked at him with something akin to mild horror.
“You can’t go now,” Serena protested.
“I need to. I have to catch an early flight to Hawaii.”
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“It’s only eight o’clock,” Pepper said, exchanging frantic glances with Serena. “Surely you can stay another hour.”
Dallas picked up his carry on and hooked it over a shoulder. “I’m afraid I can’t.”
Serena scurried over to him and put a hand on his arm. “Then let me drive you to your hotel.”
“That’s alright. There’s no need. Anna Marie will drive me.”
Anna Marie blinked at him. The last thing she expected was to be his chauffeur again.
“Me? You want me to drive you to your hotel, again?” Then she blushed when she remembered that the last time she had never actually driven him to his hotel.
There was a ghost of a smile on his lips, but he said soberly, “If that is alright with you, and if it’s not too much out of your way.”
What could she say, even if it were, she thought. “No, of course not.”
Serena and Pepper looked at Anna Marie then at each other with incredulity. Both were just beginning to realize that the evening was not going as they had planned.
“Anna, there’s no need for you to bother with taking Dallas to the hotel,” Pepper said loudly. “Serena will be more than happy to take him, and it’s much more on her way than it is for you.”
Serena nodded, a desperate look starting to form on her beautiful face. “Yes, yes. Let me get my purse.”
“Don’t bother.” Dallas’s order was like a gunshot, given by a man who was accustomed
to issuing them. It halted Serena in mid-stride. He smiled to ease the sharpness of his command.
“I really need to get going, and Anna Marie has driven me before. It was nice meeting you, Ms.
Kelly.” He turned to Pepper. “I’m sorry Pepper to run out on you like this again, but I’m afraid it can’t be avoided.” He kissed her on the cheek. “Dinner was delicious again.” He held his hand to his brother. “Sorry to make it so short, Cam.”
While the two brothers made their goodbyes, Pepper pulled Anna Marie aside and slipped a paper into her hand. “Here, this is Serena’s phone number. Can you give it to him? And can you talk her up. You know, talk about Pepper to Dallas on the way to the hotel,” she added impatiently when her sister gave her a blank look.
“You want me to talk up Pepper to Dallas? How?”
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“You know, make her look good. Talk about how beautiful she is, how smart, and sexy
she is.”
“Well, he’s just been in her company for a few hours. Don’t you think he’s already
figured that out by now?”
“Oh, for Christ’s sake, don’t be so stupid. You know what I mean, just talk about her to him. Tell him about all of her accomplishments, her talents, her ambition.”
Anna Marie gave her sister a dubious look. “Alright. I’ll try. But, I don’t really know Serena that well. I only met her tonight.”
“Okay. Here’s a quick rundown. She was valedictorian of her class, was a Merit Scholar winner with her SATs, was offered tons of scholarships, she went to Vassar and studied liberal arts. Her family’s very wealthy and she’s the hottest food editor in this country and travels a lot.
Now, go, and do your best,” Pepper hissed then quickly stepped back when Dallas touched Anna Marie’s arm to signal that he was ready to go.
Outside in her car, Anna Marie waited nervously behind the wheel as Dallas slid into the passenger side. Immediately, he tried to stretch his long legs in the small cramped interior.
Oh, here we go again, she thought, silence falling in the car as she pulled it onto the street. Her jumping nerves made her overly cautious with her driving, slowing down even before the light turned yellow, chewing on her lips as she racked her brain to start a conversation.