by Aubree Lane
When the program broke for commercial, instead of fast forwarding through them as usual, Marissa hit pause and looked at him. She pulled a stick-on earring off his earlobe. “You forgot something.” She kissed his cheek and stroked his face. “You and Sandy have a pretty special relationship. How many other dads let their daughters dress them up? She’s a lucky little girl.”
Nothing turned Marissa on more than when she saw him being tender with the kids or when he cleaned something. Tonight he had done both. If he continued to play his cards right, Sandy wasn’t going to be the only lucky one.
His wife wore a pair of pink sweatpants that rested low on her hips, and her hair hung down messy and loose, just the way he liked. But just as he was about to move in for some heavy-duty necking she said, “I have to try and talk to Annie again.”
David reared back. “Seriously? You really know how to break the mood. You have to back off for a while. She’s not ready.”
“Not about the Terence joke, it’s about the other thing.”
Marissa raked her hands through her hair, and David watched her breasts rise with the motion. Her nipples were pebbled beneath the thin knit top. His wife was not wearing a bra and her breasts were as free and loose as her hair. His crotch jerked, and for him at least, the mood came rushing back. “Are you talking about the thing with Alan?” He leaned in and nibbled on her neck. “I don’t see why, it’s all water under the bridge.”
Marissa covered her face with her hands, and began to cry. “It’s still a lie. I have to come clean and make everything right with her.”
David’s erection ebbed as the flow of Marissa’s tears increased. He could see his new found alliance with Annie slipping away and wished his wife would keep silent, at least until the custody issue was settled. “Are you sure you aren’t doing this to cause trouble between her and Terence? What if Annie decides she needs to see Alan? I don’t think that will go over extremely well with her already jealous fiancé.”
Marissa sat up and glared. “Let me get this straight,” she shot at him. “You think I’m trying to break them up, too?”
David watched any chance of intimacy disappear in the rearview mirror. Regardless, he was not going to fight with her tonight. He grabbed the remote, popped through the commercials, and started the program up again. The pesky neighbor had just walked into the newlywed’s apartment, unannounced as usual, and caught them in a passionate embrace. At least someone was getting some, he thought to himself. “Quiet, it’s back on.”
Marissa snatched the remote out of his hand and turned off the television.
David scowled and tried to reign in his irritation. “We watch practically every episode for years, and you turn it off now because of a fib, a little white lie that everyone will laugh at someday. All I’m asking is that you wait and not dump another problem on her right now.”
Marissa eyed him suspiciously. “You’re full of crap, but I no longer wish to discuss it.” She flopped back into the cushions and flipped the television back on.
David knew he’d bought himself a little time, but not much. He continued staring at the television, but he was no longer paying attention. He was worried about Erika. The more he discovered about Alexander and Hannah, the more he feared something might have happened to her in that house. He wanted to discuss it with his wife. Marissa was a terrific sounding board. She would instinctively know the best way to handle the situation, but at the moment his hands were tied.
• • •
After a sleepless night of tossing and turning, David decided to get some answers. He drove out to the Turner Estate and parked across the street under a large shady tree. It was time for a little undercover surveillance work.
He came prepared with his binoculars, a camera with a strong telephoto lens, several different colored baseball caps, sunglasses, and most importantly, a snack. Trail mix was his favorite stakeout food. It kept well and could be counted on to give him a boost of quick energy whenever he needed it.
The last thing in his arsenal was a small ice chest full of ice chips to suck on. No coffee or soda for him. He hated being in the john when his subject started to move. David kept an empty bottle handy to relieve himself in, but he was always nervous about exposing himself in public. Pedestrians had an unfortunate habit of walking by at the worst possible time. Once he failed to put the cap back on the bottle correctly, and its contents had spilled out all over the floorboards.
He’d caught hell from Marissa for that one.
There was also the problem of where to dispose of the bottle once it was filled. He couldn’t bring himself to be like the thousands of truck drivers who peed in a used soda bottle, then tossed it out the window onto the side of the road. He read somewhere that those containers were considered hazardous waste and cost the state millions of dollars to have specialized crews collect and dispose of them properly.
He gave his gear one last check, then he slunk down until he could barely see over the steering wheel. He put on his sunglasses and rested a dark blue ball cap lightly on his head. If anyone walked by, it would appear as if he were taking a little nap. It was a ploy, which was difficult to get away with in a residential area. People in neighborhoods tended to get suspicious fairly quickly. He figured he had an hour at the most before someone called the cops. Hopefully, that would be enough time to get a line on Hannah.
An hour and a half went by without any known movement inside the Turner mansion. David knew he had pushed his luck. He was also fairly certain he had gotten away with the napping ploy for so long because he had actually fallen asleep.
He grabbed the binoculars and scanned the windows. The place looked emptied out. He wished he’d checked the place out first. It would have saved him a lot of time. Lack of sleep had caused him to make a rookie mistake.
David got out of the car and walked around to the trunk. Marissa left a hair dryer there, and luckily he kept forgetting to give it back.
He pulled on a suit jacket and tucked the compact dryer inside. He casually walked up to the front door and rang the bell. As he expected, no one answered, and he didn’t hear any movement inside. It was safe to look around.
David walked around back and found what he was looking for, an exterior electrical outlet. He plugged in Marissa’s hair dryer and flipped the switch, nothing happened. The electricity had been turned off, which confirmed his suspicion that Hannah was officially gone. It was time to book a flight to Montana.
Chapter 23
“This is Annie Harper. I’m sorry I missed your call. I check my messages frequently throughout the day so leave a message and I’ll return your call as soon as possible. If this is an emergency, call my office at 858-A-HARPER, or 1-800-A-HARPER. Nathan will be happy to help you.”
Like Terence hadn’t already done that about a million times. All he got out of Nathan was that Annie was busy and a snooty response about how Nathan could take a message, but he could not make her dial his number.
Terence jammed the phone back into his pocket. Frustration grabbed hold of him, and he almost threw the expensive little Christmas present he received from Lena and Erika against the wall. Instead, he flipped on the television in his Ohio hotel room and scanned the menu till he reached the music channels. He searched for a station that played the music Annie liked. He needed to feel connected to her, and it appeared that was as close as he was going to get tonight.
Their relationship was in trouble. He could feel it, but he couldn’t fix it if she wouldn’t talk to him. She left him just as many messages as he had her, but the ones she left had a different feel. His were about how he longed to see her, hers were sad and cryptic, and they scared him to the core.
Soon music that had once been his mainstay screamed from the flat screen. It was a while before he realized he was listening to an oldies station, not the current up-to-date music Annie liked. He continued flipping stations until the tune he remembered hearing standing outside Annie’s office blasted out of the speakers.
Terence closed his eyes and remembered how close they used to be, even when they were forbidden to speak to each other. He couldn’t understand how they could be so far apart now when they were engaged and wanted to spend the rest of their lives together.
The only thing Terence knew for certain was that he needed to wrap things up in Ohio as quickly as possible. He and Annie needed to be in the same state, the same city, and in the same room. Better yet, they needed to be in the same bed. All the talking in the world didn’t beat a good roll in the hay, and that was one thing he and Annie did exceptionally well. In the end, it probably wouldn’t fix much, but it would sure make the both of them feel a whole lot better.
• • •
Annie was digging out old, moldy, thirty-year-old grout from an upstairs shower of one of their more tolerant client’s bathrooms. The renovation was behind schedule, along with all their other projects, but at least this one had finally begun. If she wanted to get a decent price for her baby, she had to keep the business up, running, and successful.
Nathan was dealing with a tremendous amount of scheduling problems, so in order to keep this job moving forward Annie was reduced to performing all sorts of menial labor. The only tool she had available to her was an old worn out flat-headed screwdriver. She had never done this type of work before. She was positive there was a better way of doing the job, but she was pleased with the progress she made. The mindless labor also gave her the opportunity to sink into the depths of her depression while still being able to accomplish something.
As soon as a buyer was found, she would head back to Hawaii and into Terence’s loving arms. She still felt it was necessary to call off their engagement to give them the time and space they needed to get their relationship back on track. So much happened in such a short period of time, it was overwhelming, and it was time to take a step back. She no longer had any intention of dissolving her relationship with Terence. Her plan was to discover everything about him and to love him, inside and out, but she wanted to do it without the stress of Erika’s custody or the pressure of planning a wedding hanging over their heads. Once Erika was settled and happy, then they could focus on building their relationship, but trying to do it now was too much to ask of anyone.
The family was supportive. Lena had lent her a sympathetic ear while maintaining her complete and total loyalty to her brother. Larry, who was staying at Terence’s house while he was in Ohio, listened to her talk for hours. He agreed with her assessment that she and Terence had rushed into the engagement and suggested it might be prudent for them to take a step back and reevaluate their relationship before making it permanent.
The result of her conversation with Larry ruffled her feathers. She called him hoping he would tell her she was wrong. She wanted him to say that she and Terence were made for each other and that she should move forward with the engagement. She hadn’t liked that he agreed with her, or that he advised her to give Terence back his ring. Reluctantly, Annie found a large part of her still trusted him. She wanted to believe that Larry no longer held her best interest at heart, but she knew he was right. She had always known it. Everything had happened so fast. She had tried to express this to Terence when he first asked her to marry him, but when she saw the look on his face and realized he hadn’t heard her concerns, she didn’t have the heart to repeat it. That, coupled with the fact that Annie hadn’t wanted to be practical, made it easy for her to give in and consent to marry him.
She should have stuck to her guns. If they hadn’t become engaged, Erika would have never overheard her conversation with Larry, and that would have given Terence the chance to break the news about her paternity in a much more loving and caring way. And last but not least, Annie would have never got into that silly pissing contest that day on the beach with Erika’s tutor.
Annie glanced at her raw knuckles and decided they needed a break from the digging. She stepped out of the shower and washed her hands in the sink. Annie looked down at the mess she created and grabbed a dustpan. She dropped to the floor and began to pick up the strips of cruddy old grout.
“Would you like some help?”
Terence’s voice echoed in her ears. She froze. It was too soon. Annie was not ready to confront him. She hid her hand behind her back hoping he wouldn’t see that she was no longer wearing his ring.
He sat on the floor beside her. “I didn’t know you were this handy. It’s nice to know my wife will be able to do this kind of stuff. It will save us a lot of money.” He set the dustpan aside and pulled her arm out from behind her back. He rubbed her empty ring finger. “I’ve been an idiot,” he said softly. “I hope you took this off so it wouldn’t get messed up, and not because you no longer want to marry me.”
She didn’t know what to say. Annie stared at their entangled hands and tried to gain the strength she needed. “Terence,” she began tentatively as he nervously tightened his grip on her hands. “We need to talk.”
She wanted to look him straight in the eye and tell him the engagement was off, but she couldn’t bear to see the pain she was about to cause.
“Please, don’t do this,” he begged. “We will work everything out.”
She choked back her tears and forced herself to continue. “We need more time. You know it’s true. Larry thinks we should take a step back, and I agree. If we’re not engaged, the pressure will be off, and it will give us the opportunity to build a stronger relationship. One that won’t come apart the first time something goes wrong.”
Anger flared in his eyes. “Larry thinks? What does Larry have to do with us?”
Terence made Larry the focus of their problems, but that wasn’t it at all. Bringing Larry into this had been a mistake, and she wished she never mentioned his name. Annie struggled to make him understand. “He doesn’t have anything to do with us,” she stumbled. “It’s you and me, we went too fast. We need to slow down.”
Anger burned in his eyes and Annie knew he wasn’t with her anymore. He had gone to that far off place he ran to when he didn’t want to face what was happening. “Terence! Look at me,” she commanded. She untangled her hands from what had now become a vice grip and grabbed his face. “Look at me!”
He tried to brush her hands away, but she held on tight. Terence tried to turn away, but she wouldn’t let him. Then he blinked, and she knew she had his attention.
“Are you back with me?” she asked tenderly.
Terence nodded.
“Did you hear what I said?”
He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “We can’t be over.”
“You can’t keep doing that. Every time I say something you don’t like, you fade out and I have to repeat myself. It’s hard enough just saying it once.”
He gave her a guilty grin. “I don’t do it on purpose. Frank says it’s my defense mechanism kicking in gear. I don’t have any control over it.” He kissed her neck. “See what you do to me. See how much I love you? How much I need you?”
She closed her eyes and gave into his touch. “I didn’t say we were over.”
That was all the assurance he needed. His hands began to stroke her lovingly. Annie slipped her hands under his shirt and traced her fingers across each muscle of his abdomen. His dark eyes clouded with passion. She was feeling the same way. Annie pressed her face into his neck and whispered, “Let’s just slow down and do it right this time.”
He held her tight and stroked her back. “Annie Harper,” he rasped deeply in her ear. “Will you,” he paused and ran his hand down her thigh, “share some seriously salacious sex with me?”
She let out a nervous laugh and sighed with relief. “Well, sure. I can do that.” For a moment she thought he was going to ask her to marry him again, and force her to explain it to him one more time.
He rose to his feet and pulled her along. “Is there an empty room around here?”
“No way!” she protested. “This is a client’s home, we can’t.”
He held her firm against
his body, and she felt his erection grow against her abdomen. “But they aren’t here.”
Annie held a warning finger up in front of his face. “If we get caught, I get fired.”
He ignored her concerns. “There you go, wagging that finger at me again. I guess we both have things we need to work on.” He hooked her finger with his and pulled her to the nearest bedroom. “This one looks good.”
Annie shook her head and pulled him in the opposite direction. “This way, Romeo. There’s a room over here that isn’t being used. If someone comes home, at least it won’t be the first place they look.”
She looked at the doorknob and sighed. “No lock.”
Terence nudged her inside and wedged a chair under the knob. “Anything else in need of my attention?” he asked slowly backing her up against the bed.
Annie couldn’t believe she was actually about to do this. She reached down, grabbed the edge of her shirt and pulled it up over her head. Soap scum and dust floated in front of her face and she coughed. “Maybe this isn’t such a brilliant idea. Too bad I just tore apart the shower. I could use one right now.”
Terence’s voice was thick with passion. “You’ll be clean in a minute.”
“What?” she asked, shaking the dust out of her hair.
With both hands he gently embraced her face and tilted her head until they gazed into each other’s eyes. His wolf-like grin took her breath away.
He licked her nose.
She closed her eyes and melted into the bed with Terence’s body glued to hers. His tongue moved down her neck to her shoulders. Wanting to be more open and closer to him, she grabbed hold of the iron rails of the headboard and arched her back. She moaned and spread her legs when he touched her breast. Annie begged for more.
