Editor's Choice Volume I - Slow summer Kisses, Kilts & kraken, Negotiating point
Page 28
Because she was Anna, she was sitting at the table with a notebook in front of her, diligently taking notes. Even her bearing was different, he mused as he watched her. She sat straighter and each time she put her pen down, she tried to smooth her hair as if she’d only just realized it had been running wild on her. He liked it natural, with its slight wave and tendency to blow into her face.
The conversation went on a few more minutes and he knew her well enough to hear the note of excitement underlying her “looking forward to meeting you, too” and goodbye. A slow smile lit up her face before his movement caught her attention and she saw him.
“Did you hear?”
“Congratulations.”
“Oh my God! I have so much to do. I’m glad I didn’t leave all of my suits at Gram’s because I won’t have time to go there tomorrow. I just hope the ones I brought still fit okay because my diet’s been seriously relaxed. If I leave here at six, I’ll have plenty of time to drive down and catch the train into the city. I’ll visit Gram and Gramps after for a few hours.”
He was tired just listening to her. Tired and heading toward heartbroken. Tomorrow. “You need to catch your breath before you pass out.”
She was beaming. “You don’t think breaking my nose on the decking would impress them?”
“You could go in with two black eyes and your suit gaping at the buttons and you’d still impress them.”
“You,” she said, giving him a quick peck on the lips, “are very good for my ego.”
“Just call it like I see it. You need help with anything?”
“What?” She’d already picked up her pen and was starting a list. “Oh…no thanks. I’ve got a million things to do, but there’s nothing you can really help with.”
“I’m going to go back to work, then, and get out of your way. Catch you later?”
“Sure. I want to brush up on the markets and make sure I’m at the top of my game. And I need to go through the suits I brought. God, I hope Gram has an iron. So, anyway, maybe we could just heat up some leftovers for dinner?”
She looked distracted and he realized it was as good a time as any to start saying goodbye. “I might work late, anyway—give a buddy a hand with some stuff—so maybe I’ll just see you before you go. Give you a kiss for luck.”
“Oh.” He wasn’t sure if he imagined the hurt that flashed across her face. “Sounds great.”
As he tore down the dirt road, sending up a cloud of dust that obscured the two houses in the rearview mirror, he told himself to suck it up and move on with his life. He’d always known she was leaving. He just hadn’t thought it would be so soon.
At quarter of six the next morning, he was waiting outside when Anna walked out onto her grandmother’s front porch. She was in her power suit, with her hair straight and sleek and her makeup perfect. Polished black shoes with heels she could commit murder with clacked across the wood as he watched, and he felt like he’d already lost her. This Anna was almost a stranger to him.
Until she saw him and her face lit up. “I can’t believe you got up!”
“I told you I’d give you a kiss for good luck.”
He walked to her since walking across the grass in shoes like that wouldn’t end well, and he was careful not to muss up her lipstick as he kissed her. For luck. Not goodbye.
“Knock ’em dead,” he told her.
“I’ll be back later tonight. I’ll tell you all about it.”
“Can’t wait.” She gave him a questioning look, so he forced himself to smile. “You’ll be great.”
She kissed him and then got in her car. He waved and then watched her until she was out of sight. He supposed it was some small consolation that she looked back in the rearview mirror.
* * *
A parking garage. Story after story of sparkling glass. Plush carpets and office doors made of real wood to muffle the noise. It was Anna’s world and being back in it was a high she hadn’t fully anticipated.
“The sky’s the limit here,” one of the suited men sitting around the table told her. “The hours are long, but associates willing to put in the hours are richly rewarded. Very richly.”
It was everything she wanted to hear, from the very people she wanted to hear it from. And, despite her expectations of a more intense hiring process, they’d actually offered her the position. It was hers if she wanted it.
She’d learned well at her stepfather’s knee, though, and she smiled serenely. “I appreciate your generous offer, gentlemen. I’m sure you understand I’d like twenty-four hours to consider all the information you’ve given me to ensure I have no questions or concerns about the position.”
Bland smiles were given and hands were shaken and then she was out in the heat and humidity again with everything she wanted there for the taking. She found the right train and sat quietly on the ride back to the station where she’d parked her car. After unlocking the door and getting inside, she started it to let the air-conditioning run and then she banged her fist on the steering wheel until her hand hurt.
Damn Cam Mayfield. Damn him for being in her head the entire time she was touring one of the most reputable investment firms in the country. Damn him for popping into her head during the discussion of working hours—most of them hitting between fifty and sixty—and making her realize that schedule wouldn’t allow her much time, if any, to visit him. If she took this job, she’d be leaving him behind.
No. When she took this job, she’d be leaving Cam behind because she couldn’t turn it down. She’d worked too hard and she wasn’t cut out to sit around watching leaves hit water ripples all day, no matter how much she loved him.
And, dammit, she loved him.
She gave herself a few minutes to cry tears of frustration and sadness and then she put her car in gear and headed toward her grandparents’ house. Maybe spending a couple of hours with them would help her get her balance back and she’d be steady by the time she got back to Askaskwi Lake.
“Anna!” Her grandmother met her in the driveway and wrapped her in a hug that didn’t care about wrinkling her suit or mussing her hair.
And Anna didn’t care, either. She squeezed Gram and then let Gramps have his turn when he caught up with his wife. “I missed you guys so much.”
“Look at this car! I couldn’t believe it when you said you were driving to the station,” Gram said.
“Cam thought it was important I learn how to drive so I wouldn’t have to depend on people and possibly get in a bad situation.”
Gramps nodded. “I’ve always liked that young man.”
So did Anna, but she just smiled. “He’s very neighborly.”
“Let’s get in out of the heat,” Gram said. “I brewed some fresh iced tea and I left some unsweetened just for you. And, yes, it’s decaf.”
Once Gramps had gotten caught up on the basics, which to him meant the job offer, he left the two women to gossip in the kitchen, as he put it.
“I can’t get over how good you look, Anna. Your skin’s glowing and you put on just enough weight to fill out your cheeks.”
“But not enough to outgrow my suits,” Anna said, and Gram laughed.
They talked about her time on Askaskwi Lake and Anna told her almost everything. The knitting club, the bicycle, the leaf floating in the water. And, though she didn’t mention the nature of her relationship with Cam, he added the color to most of her stories and Betty Frazier wasn’t a stupid woman.
“Cam’s a really great guy.”
“He’s a great guy now, Gram. Where he is. He wasn’t a great guy—or a happy guy—when he lived in the city.”
The older woman sighed and went to the counter for the porcelain rooster, which she carried back to the table. Once she lifted the head off it, she tipped the jar in Anna’s direction so she could take out some soft-baked chocolate chip cookies. Anna took four because she felt like she’d earned them.
“You know your grandfather and I have been together more than a dog’s age. I believe in
love and I believe in fighting for it. But you’re my granddaughter and seeing you throw away everything you’ve achieved for a man breaks my heart.”
“I won’t, Gram. I can’t.” She took a big bite of cookie and sighed as she chewed and swallowed it. “Me giving up my career doesn’t fix anything any more than him giving up his life to go back to one he hates does.”
“Which brings us to the secret of a long and happy relationship—compromise.”
“He’s so perfect there. He belongs there. And the thrill I got being back in an office today and hearing the bustle and the phones…I belong there. I just can’t see any way to make it work.”
She chewed the rest of the cookie, and then the second. It was during the third she started to see a way and, by the time the fourth cookie was gone, happily-ever-after was in her sights.
* * *
Cam was getting ready to fire the grill and make himself a burger when he heard Anna’s car coming up the dirt road. From the kitchen window, he watched her pull in and then he sucked in a breath when she opened the door and stepped out.
She looked like the Anna he’d first met, only magnified. The sleek, perfectly straight hair and expertly applied makeup. Back in her power suit, with killer heels accented her amazing legs, it was a look that demanded attention, while at the same time putting out a don’t touch vibe that made his heart ache. This Anna belonged to a world he not only didn’t fit into, but didn’t want to.
As he watched, she stepped out of the heels and, instead of going into the house, she walked around it and headed down back. She unbuttoned the suit coat as she went, letting it slide off her shoulders and fall on the grass behind her. After yanking the tail of her white blouse free of her skirt, she did the same with that.
Concerned now, Cam moved to his back deck just in time to see her step out of the skirt. She walked down the dock in just her matching white lace bra and panties and then, to his utter shock, dove into the water. He didn’t run, but he walked down to the water at a fast pace and was surprised to see her floating lazily on her back, with her hair plastered to her head in waves and her eye makeup starting to run. Some other time he might have appreciated what wet, white lace did for her body, but concern trumped everything else.
“You okay?” he asked.
She kept staring up at the clouds. “They offered me the job. Fifty to sixty hours. Generous salary with a killer incentive package. Nice office and an option to lease an apartment at a cut rate through a company they partner with. Everything I was looking for, with a nice signing bonus cherry on top.”
Disappointment knifed through him. It had been stupid to think they wouldn’t offer her the job or that she wouldn’t take it. And, even if this one hadn’t panned out, there would be another. All he had to do was picture her in that suit now littering the lawn to know she was going to leave. “Need some help packing?”
“I turned them down.”
For a long time, the only sounds were the birds chirping and the breeze rustling the tops of the trees as Cam tried to get a grasp on what she meant—on how he felt. “I don’t get it. Is it Boston? I know it’s not New York, but—”
“I missed you today. Even though it was only one day, I felt far away and I missed you.”
She still hadn’t looked at him. Maybe if he could see her eyes, he could figure out what was going on and what missing him had to do with turning down a great job and why she’d stripped and thrown herself in the lake. “I missed you, too.”
Now she turned her head toward him, her mouth curving into that sexy smile that made him instantly hard. “Did you?”
He had, more than he’d ever dreamed it was possible to miss another person—especially a woman like Anna. “I did.”
“I was sitting there, listening to them tell me everything I wanted to hear and all I could think about was never coming back here again. There would be no time to take care of my flowers. No time to fish or watch a ball game or just sit on the dock and breathe. There would be no time for you.”
She was coming close to saying the words he wanted to hear and he didn’t intend to hear them from a distance. He pulled his T-shirt off as he kicked off his sneakers, then dropped his pants and peeled off his socks. He dove out in a shallow arc and came up out of the water close enough to touch her.
“I want you to have time for me,” he told her, “but this isn’t a break for me. This is my life and I’m never going to feel an urge to move to the city and rejoin the rat race. I’ve been there and done that and this is it for me, Anna. But I don’t think this can be it for you and that means you’ll eventually get tired of it. And me.”
Anna put her hands on his shoulders and pulled herself closer, until she could wrap her legs around his waist. “How do I know you won’t get tired of me?”
“I’m being serious.”
“So am I.” She let go of his shoulders and let her body drift, with her legs still anchoring her to him. He put his hands on her hips, trying not to be distracted by her nipples showing through the white lace. “I did a little research from Gram’s house and made a few phone calls. On the way home I stopped and had a job interview with a smaller firm a bit south of Concord.”
He didn’t know a lot about it, but he didn’t think a New Hampshire address would be as prestigious as New York City or Boston. “When will you hear from them?”
“They offered me a job on the spot. I have a pretty impressive resumé, you know.”
He slid his hands up her back, which arched her breasts out of the water. “I don’t know about your resumé, but your assets are impressive.”
Her laughter echoed across the water. “I accepted their offer. Not nearly as much money of course, but it’s enough. And it’s a long commute but I only have to be in the office three days a week and I can work from home the other two and my weekends are free. That leaves plenty of time for watching leaves floating around in the lake. And for you.”
She was staying. Thoughts and questions ricocheted through his mind, but that was the thing that stuck—she was staying. “I love you, Anna.”
“I bet you didn’t see that coming.”
“You got that right.” He pulled her upright so her arms wrapped around his neck again. “Forget your bathing suit?”
“Saving on laundry.”
“I like it. But, speaking of laundry, we still have to talk about the Yankees shirt.”
“What if I only wear it to bed?”
“God, no. You especially can’t wear it to bed.”
“My grandmother said the secret to a long and happy relationship is compromise.”
“Okay. You don’t wear the Yankees shirt to bed and I won’t burn it in the backyard.” She laughed and Cam fought the urge to continue disrobing her where she’d left off. They weren’t done talking yet. “Is that on our to-do list? A long and happy relationship?”
“That’s what I want, Cam. I love you and I’ll make compromises and lists and do whatever it takes to make this work.”
“If it gets to be too much of a commute, maybe we could get an apartment near your work and split the week between the two places. I could do that.”
“Now who’s moving fast? Let’s see how this works out. I do love to drive, you know.”
He kissed her and then it hit him that he was going to get to kiss this woman for the rest of his life. “You’re the best thing that ever happened to me.”
“Just being neighborly,” she said, and then she showed him just how neighborly she could be.
* * * * *
About the Author
New York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Shannon Stacey lives with her husband and two sons in New England, where her two favorite activities are writing stories of happily ever after and riding her four-wheeler. From May to November, the Stacey family spends their weekends on their ATVs, making loads of muddy laundry to keep Shannon busy when she’s not at her computer. She prefers writing to laundry, however, and considers herself lucky she got t
o be an author when she grew up.
You can contact Shannon through her website, www.shannonstacey.com, where she maintains an almost daily blog, or visit her on Twitter at www.twitter.com/shannonstacey, her Facebook page, www.facebook.com/shannonstacey.authorpage, or email her at shannon@shannonstacey.com.
We hope you enjoyed this Carina Press anthology. Want to discover a family as quirky as yours? Craving more protection? Need a bit more steam? If you loved the stories in this collection, don’t miss these series from Shannon Stacey, Adrienne Giordano and Cindy Spencer Pape. Available wherever ebooks are sold!
New York Times bestselling author Shannon Stacey—The Kowalskis Series
Exclusively Yours
Undeniably Yours
Yours to Keep
Adrienne Giordano—Private Protectors Series
Man Law
A Just Deception
Risking Trust
Cindy Spencer Pape—The Gaslight Chronicles Series
Steam & Sorcery
Photographs & Phantoms
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ISBN: 978-14268-9383-4
Copyright © 2012 by Harlequin Books S.A.
The publisher acknowledges the copyright holders of the individual works as follows:
Kilts & Kraken
ISBN: 978-14268-9384-1