ANNE: Are you busy?
MIKE: Busy, yes. But not too busy for you.
She smiled at that. Why did he always say just the right thing? His ability to know just what she needed was really making it hard to keep this casual. Her tears threatened one more time, which was completely insane. How could this be happening, now, with this man? She hadn’t been looking for him, or anyone. But everything about him was so … perfect.
ANNE: I’ve been thinking of you.
MIKE: I’m glad, Perfect. I’ve been thinking of you too.
A wave of relief spread through her entire body as she read the words. When he dropped her off Friday night, there hadn’t been a lot of conversation between them, just a quick kiss and a whispered good night. Before she could formulate a reply her phone dinged again.
MIKE: Been thinking about anything else?
ANNE: Maybe. Claire and I are going to the park for a picnic soon. Want to come?
MIKE: Yes.
She couldn’t believe how quickly he’d replied. Her heart pounded as she saw he was typing again.
MIKE: When?
She glanced at the clock. The picnic idea had been a spur-of-the-moment decision. She didn’t want to ask her mother to leave so she did some figuring in her head.
ANNE: 1:00.
MIKE: What are the rules?
ANNE: What do you mean?
MIKE: Around Claire. Can I touch you? Or are we friends?
Warmth radiated through Anne’s cheeks. This man made her feel things she didn’t know were possible. Silly things from songs and movies seemed not so silly anymore. A heart could quicken, a breath could catch, and a few words could make you feel alive. She wanted to feel this, but it was dangerous. He said he wanted to know her, but for how long would that last? How long did she want it to last? Was it even possible that this could turn into something real? Was she crazy to even give that consideration? She didn’t want Claire to be hurt or confused. She didn’t want to be hurt or confused, although she was already one and fearful of the other.
ANNE: You can touch me a little when she’s not looking. If you want.
MIKE: I want. I’ll try to keep it to a little.
She giggled lightly but shut herself up as Claire and Grandma Ree came down the stairs. Anne caught her mother’s eyes on her and felt embarrassed. She’d filled her in a little about Mike, but not with these latest developments. She knew what her mother would say. Have fun, Anne, worry when there is something worth worrying over.
She would try that, have fun today, but she would still be worried about her mother because that something was worth everything.
* * *
Mike stared down at his phone with a huge grin on his face. He couldn’t help it. He’d been waiting for her to contact him and she’d finally done it. He had planned on toughing it out, but he’d known he wouldn’t have made it another day before he’d given in and called her. However this victory was sweet.
“Good God you look like fifteen-year-old girl grinning at your phone like that,” Derek said as he walked into Mike’s shop through the large bay door.
“Fuck off.” Derek and Mike had been friends since grade school, and they’d always communicated through shit talking and foul language. It worked for them. They’d lost touch a little after high school when Derek went to college and Mike chose the wrong path for a few years, but they’d picked back up five years ago like nothing had ever happened. He still hadn’t told Derek everything about those few years after his father died, and like a true friend, the guy didn’t pry. But Mike knew if he ever needed anything, Derek would be there for him. It didn’t need to be said.
As an architect and contractor, Derek was all business. His firm was doing deals left and right for projects large and small. The guy seemed to work eight days a week unless he was with his son, Tanner. For that reason they didn’t hang out often enough, despite the fact that they worked out of the same building.
“What’s going on?” Derek walked over to the little fridge in the corner and helped himself to a beer. “You sexting?”
“With your mom.” Mike laughed at his own joke while Derek tossed obscenities his way. Mike pushed off the worktable he’d been leaning on. “I’ve got a picnic date in an hour, so if you came to shoot the shit you better make it fast.”
Derek sputtered against the rim of his beer bottle. “A picnic date? Who the hell with? That chick you left Smokey’s with last Friday?”
“Yep, but she’s not that chick, her name is Anne. We’re taking her daughter to the park.” Mike met his friend’s eye, daring him to say something.
Derek blew out a breath. “Okaaay.” He contemplated for a moment and then tilted his head to the side.
“Damn, who’d have thought? Mikey Everett settling down and playing house.”
“Shut up,” Mike growled as he headed for his office. He heard Derek follow him.
“You know what you’re getting yourself into, right? It’s kind of parent code, no kids involved unless it’s … something.” Here it was. Mike knew that Derek took the whole “kid in the relationship” thing very seriously. So seriously he was pretty sure no woman Derek dated ever met Tanner. Shit, Mike took it seriously, too, although he’d never experienced it before.
Mike sat down in his chair and Derek reclined on the old couch waiting for a reply. Derek had been burned badly by his ex. In fact, she managed to keep burning Mike’s friend, something that really pissed him off. Derek was a great father, but he didn’t get to spend near enough time with his son.
“Well, maybe it is something. A big maybe. I haven’t figured it out yet, but her daughter is a friend of Bailey’s so it’s not too weird.”
Derek took another swig of beer then pursed his lips before he finally spoke. “Fair enough. What’s she do?”
“She plans parties. And something else.” Mike grinned and angled his computer monitor so Derek could see it from the couch. He only had to go to his drop-down screen to pull up the site since he’d visited it a million times. “Look at this.”
“My Perfect Little Life? What the hell is this for?”
“It’s Anne’s blog. It’s like … crazy popular.”
He angled his head to see the main page, only to find a new post and the photos she’d taken of their Pie Days date. He hadn’t seen that yet, but he instantly recognized the beer, the Ferris wheel, and the rows of muscle cars. He scrolled through quickly, scanning her commentary. Nothing, oh no wait, she’d gone with a friend. A friend? He didn’t say anything because he’d be damned if he let Derek know—
“Didn’t we go to that last year?”
“Uhhh, not sure.” Mike scrolled down to the comments, ignoring his question.
“Wait, no we did, go back up. That was the Pie Days thing in Green Mound, you dragged me down there for that car show. Damn, that was the best pie I’d ever had in my life.”
Mike didn’t respond, just kept reading through comments. She could have at least called it a date. But a friend? She couldn’t be serious.
“You took her there didn’t you? So why’d you just get all bitchy? You not want her to talk about it?”
“First of all, I did not just get all bitchy,” he spit out. Okay, maybe he sounded a little on edge. This woman did this to him. “But no, that’s the annoying part.” Mike sat back and Derek leaned forward to pull the mouse toward him. He continued to look through the site as Mike went on. “She hasn’t even told me about this blog. I mean she’s said she has a blog, but she hasn’t told me about how huge it is. Two strangers recognized her at this Pie Days thing and yet she completely downplays it with me, says it’s no big deal. It’s a big fucking deal, I know because I’ve been reading every day. Each post gets like … over a thousand comments. It’s nuts.”
Derek grinned.
“What?” Mike asked.
“You read it every single day?”
“Dude, focus. I’m just wondering why she’d hold back from me. She shares so many things about he
r life, and yet this is the second time she’s noticeably left out that she’s been seeing me.”
“Maybe she’s trying to protect her privacy, and yours. And sorry, but you are getting all bent outta shape, like a woman.”
“And you cried during Forrest Gump, dickhead. Anyway that would make sense, but why won’t she tell me about it?”
Derek shrugged but kept reading, probably only half listening, which was fine. Mike wasn’t really looking for advice, only venting.
“Well listen to this, you’re gonna love this comment from twenty minutes ago.” Derek laughed and wagged his eyebrows.
“What? Read it.”
“What the hell kind of name is Pattypie?” Derek asked.
“Just read the damn comment.” Mike remembered Pattypie, and it had been all he could do not to walk right up behind Anne and make her really uncomfortable … but he hadn’t.
“All right, damn.” Derek cleared his throat than read. “So glad we finally got to meet you, Anne, you are the sweetest thing. Your boyfriend was also the hottest piece of man meat we’ve ever seen. Yay for you, Anne! You deserve to be happy.”
Mike grinned. Well, well, Perfect. You’ve been outted. “No shit? Read farther down.”
Derek scrolled the wheel of the mouse, a smile creeping up on his face as he mouthed bitch. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, stalkin’ on this chick’s website. Looks like just a bunch of ‘woohoos’ and ‘yays,’ and several demands for pictures of the ‘man meat.’ You’re famous, jackass.”
“Unbelievable.” Mike felt a little smug, but he’d feel a whole lot better if Anne would just tell him about her damn blog. “Well, she’s gonna have a hard time denying things now.”
“You’ve got to be shittin’ me.” Derek’s humor had turned to irritation with the outburst. “That’s Lindsey Morales.”
Mike sat up and leaned forward to see what Derek was looking at. He’d gone to the bio page. Mike looked at the third woman, the only blog girl he hadn’t met yet. She was pretty, beautiful even. Her dark hair sparkled in the sunlit photo of them in the grass. Her dark eyes were exotic and her skin a deep tan. “Look who’s stalkin’ now. You know her?”
Derek took a deep breath and blew it out. He fell back on to the couch, visibly shaken. “Yeah I know her. Or did know her. We dated, in college. She was … damn. I haven’t seen her in years.”
Mike looked at the monitor again. He was pretty sure based on random conversations that Derek had dated quite a few girls in college, but there was obviously something about this one that had his friend pretty undone at the discovery. He wondered what it was, but didn’t ask.
“She’s pretty hot,” Mike said. Derek glared at him. Interesting.
“Have you met her?” Derek asked.
“No, and I don’t know anything about her because Anne doesn’t talk to me about this blog, remember? But hold up, Lindsey does posts about painting furniture and other old shit.”
Derek smiled at that. “I’m not surprised, she was an amazing artist.”
Mike scrolled down to the individual bios and he heard Derek’s breath suck in as he leaned forward to look at the head shot of Lindsey. Mike had to agree, she was definitely gorgeous—there was no denying that. Derek read silently and Mike waited, unsure of what to make of Derek’s reaction to this woman. Either way he didn’t have time to sit here and figure it out.
“Here.” Mike jotted down the website on a sticky note and handed it to Derek. “I won’t make you embarrass yourself by asking. Take this and stalk on your own time. I gotta get to the park, it’s ten till one.”
Derek reluctantly looked away from the screen and got up before snatching the post-it note from Mike’s hand. “Fine, I’ll go. But I came by to let you know I started making a sketch and design for a house. You need to get out of this shithole and I had a little extra time.”
“Extra time, you?”
“Well … relatively speaking. But I told you I’d do it and I was sorta in the mood. I’ll let you know when I’m ready to get your input.”
“Ha, nice try. You never want my input.”
“Good point. I’ll just do it my way.” Derek headed down the little hallway calling out over his shoulder. “And just so you know, Forrest Gump is sad as hell, asshole.”
Mike laughed, sat back in his chair, and looked around his office. He’d never planned to stay here this long, but he’d never been in a hurry to purchase or build a house on his own or for himself. It seemed like something you did when you wanted more. A family. Was it coincidence that Derek brought it up now that he found himself attracted to a woman who was the epitome of home? He shouldn’t put much thought into it. Things with Anne were still at the beginning stages, although he couldn’t deny that he’d never had feelings this strong for a woman before.
Right now he just couldn’t wait to see Anne. He wondered if she’d read the blog comments yet. Would she mention it? ’Fess up about how popular her blog really was? The ball was in Anne’s court now. It always had been, really.
Seventeen
Anne heard Mike’s car before she saw it, which made her stomach quiver with anticipation. His sleek Camaro pulled into the spot next to her SUV, and she watched as he stepped from the driver’s seat, all masculine grace and sexiness. Even in jeans he was breathtaking, and she was ridiculous for ogling. She turned back to the playground as Claire came down the slide and then spotted him.
“Uncle Mike, you’re here,” Claire squealed. She hit the ground and took off running. For a moment Anne envied her daughter’s disregard of propriety as she threw her arms around Mike. Anne wished she could do the same, but instead she walked slowly toward them. Mike patted Claire on the head and then whispered something into her ear that sent her into a fit of giggles as she skipped back to the play equipment.
The wide smile on Mike’s face made Anne dizzy. He came close and grabbed her hand before lifting it to his lips and brushing a soft kiss to her fingers. “You look beautiful today, Anne.”
“Thank you.” She glanced down at her black twill shorts and gray tank as they made their way toward the wood-chip-covered play area. She’d attempted a casual look by putting her hair in a low ponytail, but of course she’d spent extra time on her makeup.
She dropped his hand and turned to lead them to a shaded bench off to the side where they could speak in private while still watching her daughter, but when she turned around Mike was making his way up the steps of the equipment and running after a laughing Claire. When they made it to a big wood-slatted bridge, Mike put an arm around Claire’s waist and lifted her tiny body over his head, causing panic to well in Anne’s body. What if he lost his balance, or dropped her? When he dangled Claire over the edge, pretending he might do just that, Anne froze. She stood up and tried to speak over Claire’s hysterical giggles. “Okay … that’s enough.”
Mike met Anne’s gaze, and his grin went wicked. He let Claire drop a little more, her laughs mixed with happy screams. Anne glared at him and spoke in a warning tone. “Mike.”
He pulled Claire upright and squeezed her to his chest. “I think we about gave your mommy a heart attack.” He gave Claire a quick kiss on the head and gently set her feet safely on the bridge.
Anne’s heart stopped, not from the near-death experience of her daughter, but the way Mike handled her. Watching him with Claire was almost painful, that swift innocent kiss, the way Claire smiled at him and laughed. It was like the two of them were long-lost friends. Anne swallowed hard and sat down as a breeze blew her ponytail into her face. Why did he have to make everything so confusing?
Mike jumped down from a plastic ledge on the play equipment and jogged toward Anne. At the last minute he glanced over his shoulder. Claire was just sitting atop a slide facing the other direction. With his body shielding the action he leaned in and kissed Anne on the mouth, his tongue quickly sliding against her lips. Before she could respond he pulled away and sat next to her on the bench. She caught her breath and looked
at him.
“I’m glad you could come,” she said, loving the way her insides fluttered every time he kissed her.
“I’m glad you asked.” He leaned back against the park bench in an overwhelmingly male way, legs wide and an arm draped behind her. They were silent for a moment while she collected herself after that sexy kiss. He seemed to know how it affected her, his grin smug as he watched Claire play. She needed to bring them back to more appropriate territory.
“So how is work on the Monser car coming along? I can’t believe the party is so soon.”
“I know, don’t remind me. It’s going into paint in a couple days, then it will be frantic installation and details until it’s done. I hope she appreciates it.”
“I’m sure she will, Jessica’s a nice girl. A little spoiled…”
He leveled a gaze at her. “A little?”
“Okay, very spoiled.” Anne laughed. “I can’t imagine you’d want to drive a pink Mustang to Pie Days.”
He chuckled, and the sound was masculine and sexy. “Hell no, that would be a huge blow to my ego. It’s bad enough working on it, knowing it will soon be the color of bubble gum.”
They were quiet once again as they watched Claire play. A few more children had shown up.
“So, I wondered if you might like to come over for dinner Friday evening.” Anne twiddled her fingers in her lap. Mike turned to face her, his thumb absentmindedly brushing against her neck.
“You know I would.”
There he went again, saying the perfect thing. She lifted a brow and couldn’t help smiling. “Well, good. Claire will be with her father again.”
“Sooo, we’ll be alone?” His playful grin made her insides melt.
“Yes, is that okay?”
“That’s a silly question, Anne. But tell me this, are we trying this out? Something more than just … sex?”
“But we haven’t had sex yet,” she said playfully.
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