by Leger, Lori
Drake faced Annie. “I needed a few things, but I can’t say I’m disappointed. How are you doing today?”
Annie shivered at the seductive lilt of his voice. She caught a whiff of something delicious. Something—Armani. Allowed herself the luxury of one deep breath. Acqua di Gio, definitely, along with the purely masculine scent of one Drake LeBlanc. She knew the smell, remembered it from that night, the night that turned her life into a dread fest of tortured longing for a man who wasn’t good for the future she’d planned for herself.
She shook herself out of the pheromone induced trance long enough to speak without sounding like a dim-witted groupie. “I’m okay. Are you sure you aren’t in stalking mode again?”
“No, but if you’re going to accuse me of it anyway, I could always start. It may not be such a bad idea, considering your current situation.”
“What current situation?” Julia asked.
“No situation. What do you have in that bag? Listening devices for my phone, cameras to spy on me?” Annie asked, hoping to change the subject.
“I picked up a few Polo shirts, socks, tee shirts, jeans, things like that, oh, and several new pair of undershorts. You want to see?”
Miranda turned to her aunt wearing a smug look. “Maybe she’d like to set up a modeling sess—”
“Shut up, Miranda, and no, I don’t want to see. All I want is to attend family functions and go shopping without having to see you every time I turn around.”
“What’s the situation?” Julia asked again.
“Polo shirts and jeans?” Annie continued. “I figured you for the stuffy three thousand dollar suit kind of guy, like most arrogant lawyer types.”
“I find the suits I have aren’t getting much wear these days. I did purchase a couple of sport coats though. They’re being altered for me. I’m leaning for casual.” He leaned toward her and smiled. “If I’d known you were so interested in my wardrobe, I’d have asked you to come along with me. I could have used a pretty lady’s opinion.”
“Hey!” Julia’s voice rose insistently. “What current situation are you talking about?”
Annie bit her bottom lip and looked from Jules, to Drake, and back to Jules. “That guy that attacked me—I sort of told him Red was my brother. Drake thinks that if he decides to come back and ask around, he might be able to find me.”
“Oh shit!”
Jules spun around to face her daughter. “That mouth, Miranda.”
“Oh, sorry, Mom, it slipped out. But, that can’t be good—what are you going to do?”
Annie stood and hung her purse on her shoulder. “I don’t know. Be on the lookout, I guess. I know self-defense—it’s not that big of a deal.”
Julia grabbed her arm, and pulled her to a stop. “You knew self-defense the night he nearly raped you. That’s not good enough. You have to be smart about this.”
Annie closed her eyes and dropped her head back. “I’m trying to be, but what the hell do you want me to do about it, Jules? Move back in with mom and dad? I have a business in Kenton.”
“No, but you need some kind of protection.”
“Red suggested hiring someone to tail her,” Tiffany volunteered.
Rubbing at the steadily increasing throbbing at her temples, Annie took small comfort in knowing that at least it wasn’t a crippling migraine. “That’s just what I need—to have someone know my every move. This is frustrating.” She turned to Tiffany. “Now that I’m good and depressed, are you about ready to go?”
Tiffany pointed to a bench. “I’ve got a couple more errands to run. Wait here and I’ll meet you in fifteen?”
Both angry and on the verge of tears, Annie wanted to be anywhere but in the middle of a crowded mall.
“You know what, let’s just go,” Tiffany said. “I can run those errands another day. I’ll bring you to the ranch to get your car.”
Drake stepped up. “Actually, I’m leaving right now. Let me take you to your car and Tiffany can get the rest of her shopping done.”
Annie stole a glance in his direction and decided she didn’t want him thinking she couldn’t trust herself alone with him for a few minutes. “Only if you promise to keep your hands to yourself.”
“Absolutely. I’m ready when you are.”
She turned to Jules. “I guess this is it before you leave.”
Jules nodded and pulled her close for a hug. “Don’t be afraid to take a chance every now and then, Annie. Just not with your life. Let others help take care of you. You mean too much to everyone.”
Annie stepped away, nodding. “I’ll be fine. And tell my stupid brother it’s time to straighten up and fly right.” She reached for her bag, and when Drake tried to take it, she jerked it away. “I’ve got it,” she snapped.
They walked silently to the opposite end of the mall, had just cleared the exit when someone called out to Annie. Already in protective mode, Drake pivoted to check out its owner, a man, a tad over six feet and of medium build. The guy stood staring at Annie as if he couldn’t believe she was real. Drake turned at the sound of Annie’s barely audible gasp. She also stood frozen in place, but pale-faced, and staring at the man as if he’d returned from the dead. It only took an instant for Drake to know he didn’t like him.
“Annie, I can’t believe it’s you.”
“T.J. What are you doing here?”
Drake snapped to attention at the title.
“My fiancé’s family lives here and we’re down for the holidays. How are you?”
“I’m fine. Your fiancé?”
“Yeah, I moved all the way to California and ended up meeting someone from here in Lake Coburn, ain’t that a kick? We’re getting married next month. Her name’s Britt Holland.”
Drake watched Annie’s face as she attempted to absorb the news. He could see how she struggled to keep her composure, but then, she’d been doing that before this new bombshell had fallen into her lap.
She finally seemed to collect herself enough to speak. “Congratulations. I wish you the best.”
The man turned to Drake, who made the first move and extended his hand. “Drake LeBlanc.” He reveled in the opportunity to squeeze the crap out of T.J.’s hand. “Congratulations on the upcoming nuptials. I hope it all works out for you.” Buddy, I hope you have eons of wedded bliss.
“Thank you. Tom Boudreaux. Nobody’s called me T.J. in years. I’m an old—friend—of Annie’s from Gardiner.” He looked back and forth between Drake and Annie. “Are you two—”
“No!” The word burst forth from Annie’s mouth as her face flushed pink. “Drake is just the brother of my new sister-in-law. Red got married the day after Christmas.”
“Red is married? Mom usually keeps me well informed on everything that goes on in Gardiner, but I hadn’t heard that. How are your parents, Annie?”
“They’re good. We-we were just leaving,” she stammered.
“Oh, well then, I’m holding you up. It was good to see you Annie.” He took a step forward and placed both hands on her shoulders before leaning in to kiss her on the cheek.
Annie’s barely noticeable flinch at the contact had Drake offering no more than a silent nod at the blast from her past. He placed a hand possessively on Annie’s lower back, and turned her toward the parking lot. Surprisingly enough, she allowed it and they walked to his truck in silence. Drake opened the door for her, took her bags, and placed them in the rear seat. Once they were strapped in, he glanced at the passenger, who sat staring straight ahead and stone faced.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded. “And before you ask, no, I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Is he…” he began.
“I don’t want to talk about it.”
Drake waited a good ten minutes before attempting to speak to her again. He’d just turned down the long stretch of roadway that led to Red and Tiffany’s ranch when he glanced over at her. She continued to stare blindly ahead, as if she were deep in thought.
“H
on, we need to discuss what we’re going to do with you.”
She blinked several times and finally turned toward him. “We? What is this, we? You’re not a member of my family. Red will obsess about this enough for everyone.”
“I want to do something. I feel responsible.”
Annie shook her head. “That doesn’t make any sense. You stopped him and brought me home. Why should you feel responsible?”
He slapped his hand on the steering wheel. “Because I listened to you, dammit! I pushed aside every instinct I had, and I walked away from that asshole. I don’t know why I listened to you, but I did. I should have called Red.”
“Red would have over reacted, as usual.”
“Like we’re over reacting now? He’d have done what needed to be done with him. Can’t you see what’s going on here? Don’t you understand that he could still come after you—find you? That he could …” Drake let his voice trail off as he rubbed his hand roughly over his face, feeling about as ineffective as a gelding on a stud ranch.
“I do understand. Now. If I hadn’t been in such pain that night, I would have understood then. But it didn’t happen that way. When I have those migraines, I get irrational. I didn’t want to lose my independence, but by stopping you from acting on it then, I have done exactly that. But, it’s not your fault. It’s mine.”
Drake watched her as she stared out of her side window. He touched her shoulder, urging her to face him. “Look, Annie, we could play the blame game all day long, but the cold, hard fact is that we need to make some decisions. We need to insure your safety, and I won’t be satisfied unless I’m an active participant. You can fight me on this all you want, but I can promise you, this time I won’t listen. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
She sent him a glassy-eyed look, nodded slowly as she turned away from him.
Forty-five minutes later, Annie and Drake sat with Red and Tiffany, still trying to decide how best to handle the situation. Red had contacted his P.I., Sydney Graske, only to discover she was recovering from an emergency appendectomy. When that fell through, Drake tried to obtain his old friend, Travis Blood, to do some investigating and tail Annie. Unfortunately, he was on another case for the law firm Drake had recently left.
Red stood and walked around to his sister. “There’s no hope for it, Annie, either you move in here with Tiffany and me for a while or we’ll go stay with you at your place.”
Annie gaped open-mouthed at her brother. “You can’t be serious. I am not about to put Tiffany and the baby in danger, as well as you.” She was bordering hysteria. “I’d never be able to live with myself if something happened to either of you because of this. You’d better damn-well come up with something else.”
Red sat in front of her and took both her hands in his. “Annie, I don’t know what else to do. It’s either that or hire you a bodyguard, and you’ve said you don’t want a stranger in your house.”
“I’ve got a solution,” Drake broke in. Red and Annie faced him, simultaneously. “I can move in with her.”
“Oh, hell no!” Annie’s wild-eyed glare should have been enough to scare off a normal man. One who wasn’t crazy about her.
Drake met his brother-in-law’s gaze long enough to recognize acceptance in Red’s facial expression. The next step: to see that same look on Annie’s face. Drake stood and paced the floor, weighing the arguments in his mind, considering how best to plead his case. He finally stopped an acceptable distance from Annie and faced her.
“Look, this would be strictly for practicality’s sake. It would keep you from having a full time body guard that’s a stranger to you, and it would keep from involving Red, Tiffany, and our un-born niece or nephew in a potentially dangerous situation. I’m sure it won’t be for long. I’ll leave as soon as we know this guy isn’t a threat.”
“What if that doesn’t happen for a while? What then, huh, Mr. Mastermind?”
“Don’t blame him, Annie—he’s just trying to ke—” Red began.
“No, it’s okay, Red. I know where she’s coming from, and she has every right to be upset about this.” He turned toward the tiny woman, whose body practically vibrated with tension. “Hear me out, Annie. If I move in for a while, we’d work out a schedule for work, shopping, workouts at the gym—everything. But we have to keep you safe. What do you think?”
She stood suddenly. Her glare hard, her voice shaking with anger and frustration. “I think you’re enjoying this way too much.”
Red reached out to her. “Annie—”
She turned on her brother, her angry eyes flashing. “Put a sock in it, Red! This is my life that’s being turned upside down, and if I can’t be pissed off about it at least for a little, I’ll lose my mind.” She pivoted, marched angrily up to Drake, and shoved a finger in his chest. “I swear to God, Drake LeBlanc, if I didn’t know better, I’d think you had arranged this whole mess, just so you could take advantage of the situation.” Her eyes narrowed to two angry slits at the grin he was trying his best to hide, but couldn’t. “You think this is funny? Laugh at this!” She reared back, punched him in the belly.
“Ooo-omph!” Drake doubled over, the air whooshing from his mouth at the surprise hit.
“Jesus, Mary, and Joseph!” Red turned on his sister. “Have you lost your mind?”
Drake coughed a couple of times to catch his breath, then straightened, recovering quickly. He leaned in low, meeting the tiny little powerhouse nose to nose. “This is your one warning, lady,” he growled. “I’ve never in my life raised a hand to a woman, but I swear before God and your brother—if you ever do anything like that again, I won’t think twice about turning you over my knee and paddling that spoiled little ass of yours. You’d better find some other fool to take your temper out on, you got that?”
Wide-eyed with shock, Annie retreated until her back hit the wall.
“I said, you got that?” he repeated, louder this time.
Annie lifted her chin, keeping her stubborn silence. His single, angry step closer had her raising her hand to stop him. “I got it.”
Drake took a couple of deep breaths and finally backed down. “Do we have a deal, or do I let this guy get a hold of you and finish what he started New Year’s Eve?” He hated to do it. Hated the coldness in his voice that caused her to shudder visibly.
She shut her eyes, finally gave him a reluctant nod. She headed for the guest bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Drake shook his head in exasperation then frowned as he put a hand to his belly. He felt his brother-in-law’s gaze on him. Finally faced him, fully prepared to defend his words. “What?”
“Nothing. I’m-I’m so damn impressed with you.”
Drake frowned, confused by the guilt he felt at Red’s grin of admiration. “Don’t be. I didn’t want to humiliate her. I shouldn’t have lost my temper.”
“Man, I’m telling you, I have never seen her back down like that from anyone, except Mom and Dad, of course. I believe you can handle her, bro.”
Drake shook his head. “No, seriously, don’t be too impressed. She’s a little off kilter right now because of something that happened at the mall. Good old T.J. showed up.”
“She spoke to T.J.?”
“Yeah, except he’s Tom now, nobody’s called him T.J. in years,” Drake corrected, not even trying to hide his disgust.
Red shrugged. “Tough shit, he’ll always be T.J. to me. What brought him around here?”
“His fiancée’s parents live here. He said he went all the way to California to meet a girl from Lake Coburn.”
Red’s eyes widened at the information. “His fiancée—was she there? Was Annie upset?”
“He was alone. She seemed upset, but she didn’t want to talk about it. Maybe once I’m there, I can get her to open up. Find out if there’s anything else behind that story.”
Red cocked one eyebrow. “She hasn’t mentioned a word to anyone in our family about the breakup since it happened. Good luck with that.”
Drake parked his Denali truck next to Annie’s Ford Escape, dwarfing the smaller vehicle. She unlocked her door and walked inside, leaving him to unload his own suitcases and duffle bags. He met her in the kitchen, loaded down with bags. “Where do you want me?”
She didn’t even look up from slicing a large apple. “China would be nice, but since that won’t happen, second door on the left.”
Drake glanced at the assortment of fruits and vegetables she’d laid out on the counter top. “Is that supper?” He had to yell over the various cries and squawking of Lewis the bird.
She jerked her head at the bird. “It’s past his supper time. If I’m thirty minutes late he pitches a fit.”
Drake made his way to the bedroom. He deposited his suitcases, then went out to get a load of books and file folders. A third trip was for his laptop, briefcase, and various other items from his truck. He made short work out of getting everything put in its right and proper place then stuffed the empty suitcases into the closet.
He plopped down on the bed to try it out. The bed was comfortable enough, but his feet hung off the edge unless he lay diagonally across the mattress. He got up and took a long look at his new digs, however temporary they may be. He’d planned on buying a new bed anyway; he supposed he could just have it delivered here instead. He may as well be as comfortable as he could while he was here. He grabbed his phone and his laptop and walked back into the living room to meet Annie. She attempted to feed Lewis, but the bird’s distressed squawking seemed to take precedence over his hunger.
“Aaannie! Stranger danger! Oh oh—brawk!”
Annie motioned Drake to approach the cage. “You may as well introduce yourself and get to know him. It’s necessary now.”
Drake sent her a heated look. “Thanks hon, I didn’t know I mattered that much to you.”
She rolled her eyes. “You don’t, but he does. If he doesn’t warm up to you he’ll get really upset and start pulling his feathers out. You’re a sensitive boy, aren’t you Lewis?”
“Lew-is is a fox.”
“Yes, you are, you’re a handsome boy.”