And, much like the first time he’d kissed her, he lost himself.
When he finally pulled away, she stared up at him, much as she had that night so long ago. He could tell she was a little bit angry—but she was also a little bit excited.
“Sorry,” he breathed. “For some reason, I just couldn’t stand the thought of some accountant being your kiss goodnight.”
“Good night, Drew,” she told him, still just a little breathless as she broke away from him and headed up the stairs.
“Good night, Annabelle.”
~*~
When Drew woke in the morning, Anna was kneeling in front of him, a steaming mug in her hand. She smiled brightly. “Good morning, sunshine.”
“Oh, let’s not talk about sunshine. Everything is much too bright.” He covered his head with a pillow and Anna laughed, snatching it away from him and hitting him on the shoulder a few times.
“Up and at ‘em, Tiger. I’ve got errands to run. Assuming you intended for me to take you to go pick up your car this morning, you’d better get a move on.” Drew groaned loudly before pulling himself into a sitting position.
“Morning, Drew!” Alice called and Drew peeked over the back of the couch to see her waving from the kitchen. He waved back, his head throbbing with every motion he made.
“Her voice is very high pitched.” Drew muttered, and Anna smiled warmly.
“Here, take these. Drink this. And go take a shower.” Drew looked down to see her offering him a couple of aspirin in addition to the mug. He tossed the pills in his mouth and took a drink from the mug, almost choking. “Oh, it’s tea. Sorry, all out of coffee this morning.”
“Then I think I’ll just skip straight to the shower, if you don’t mind.”
“You need it. You smell like a brewery.” Alice called, her voice sending ice picks stabbing into his frontal lobe.
“Thanks, Alice. You’re really helping.”
“I do what I can.”
Anna set the mug on the table and pulled him to his feet. “Go on.”
He made it upstairs and, remembering how terrible his last showering experience had been here, found himself looking forward to going home and taking a very nice, long shower. Alice had been right, though, so he would make the best of what little time he had here and hurry through it.
Besides, the less time he had to remember what an ass he’d made of himself last night, the better.
He knew that he’d kissed her again, which at the time, had seemed like a very good idea—but in hindsight, he knew differently. A conversation about relationships and passion.
Hadn’t she been wearing his shirt?
By the time he was sitting in the car beside Anna, he had already remembered too much.
Mostly because he’d purposely played on her generosity. He knew she would never turn him down when he was in need, especially because she already felt indebted to him.
Yep, he was a selfish jerk alright.
“Sorry about last night.” He told her. “I…”
“You weren’t that bad.”
“I wasn’t great.” She chuckled at him, shrugging her shoulders.
“I’m glad you called, though.”
“You don’t have to lie.”
“I’m not lying.” She stopped at a light. “I never told you about my parents, did I?” Drew only shook his head. He had a feeling he was going to feel a lot worse in just a few seconds. “It was a drunk driver. He was coming back from a bar, and he fell asleep at the wheel.”
Yep, he had graduated from selfish jerk to giant asshole.
“I’m sorry.”
“It’s not your fault. I mean, yeah, it sucked growing up without parents, and I wish I could remember them better. But we had Nana, and she gave us a nice life.” She shrugged her shoulders. “So what I’m saying it—even if you had interrupted my date, I wouldn’t have been mad. And not just because it was terrible.”
“How old were you?”
“Four. Allie was two.”
He flashed to his own childhood in that moment, remembering a pretty brunette woman laying in the hospital bed in front of him, the machines surrounding her keeping her alive.
He knew that most people would have taken that opening to share their own experiences—but not Drew. He shoved the images away, locking them up in the corner of his mind.
He wasn’t the sharing kind, he reminded himself. Sharing was caring, and that was the last thing Drew wanted.
“So young.” He replied finally. It was the last thing he said until they arrived at his vehicle, feeling like a jerk the whole way.
She put her car in park and they sat there for a few moments. “Thanks for the ride. And the couch.”
“Oh, I didn’t mind.” She smiled sadly at him and Drew turned away, unable to stand it. Finally, he reached out and grabbed for the handle, pushing the door open. “Hey, Drew?” He leaned in, wondering how she could even stand to look at him.
“Yeah?”
“Don’t disappear, okay?” Her olive eyes held firm to his, and he felt something clench within his chest.
Because, as much as he wanted to—as much as he knew he should…he couldn’t.
Which, really, should have been reason enough to run.
But when she smiled at him, like she was doing just now, he couldn’t help himself.
“I’m not going anywhere, Annabelle.”
Chapter Ten
They were sitting in the lounge, a small crowd surrounding them. Anna was involved in a very serious game with one of the older boys—one of the rare moments she’d been able to spend with them in far, far too long. Most of the group was cheering her on—except for Drew, who was encouraging her fourteen year old opponent with great enthusiasm.
When, at the last moment, the younger boy caught her in a trap, Drew cheered loudly, high-fiving the boy. “Your turn?” She offered her friend the controller with a raised eyebrow—which he immediately declined. “He doesn’t want you guys to see how bad he is, that’s all.”
“Or maybe I don’t want to humiliate a teenager in front of all of his friends.”
“No way, now you’ve gotta play!” The younger boy grabbed the controller from Anna and shoved it at Drew, who looked at Anna as if to plead for help.
“Don’t look at me. You dug your own grave.” He rolled his eyes at her as he took a seat on the couch, turning his focus to the TV.
She enjoyed watching them together. Drew fit right in with them, having barely matured past their level himself. She laughed as they talked trash to one another, knowing the whole time that Drew didn’t have a chance—and knowing that, even if he did, he was likely to throw the game, just because that was the kind of guy he was.
Several minutes later, Anna was high-fiving the boy she’d lost to as well. “He’s pretty terrible, isn’t he?” She offered, a smile on a her face.
“Man, I bet my little sister could take him down.” Michael, the boy who’d beat both of them, agreed.
“In my defense, I don’t perform well with an audience.” Drew chimed in.
“Right—that’s why you’re on the radio.” Michael said, and the group dissolved into laughter—Anna included.
“Touché, my young friend. Touché.” Drew bowed his head, and Michael laughed again.
“Okay, guys—I hate to do it, but you know the drill. Time to lock up.” Anna announced, smiling sadly at her brood.
“You gonna be at the dance on Friday, Miss Anna?” Michael asked her as he gathered up his backpack and headed toward the door. A quiet little boy waited beside him.
“Me, miss a dance?” Anna rolled her eyes. “Never. I’ll school you out on that dance floor just like I schooled you a few minutes ago.”
“Oh, it’s on!” Anna laughed again and Michael stopped just long enough to wave before hurrying to catch up with his friends, his little brother tagging right along with him. Behind her, Drew was shutting off the TV.
“You had fun tonight.” It wasn’t a ques
tion, but Anna nodded in response anyway. “They did, too.”
“I used to spend all of my time with them. Michael, the boy you were playing against—he misses school at least once a week because he has to babysit his youngest sister since his mom can’t afford a sitter. He’s part of the reason I asked for the daycare.” She bent down to pick up a stray candy wrapper, tossing it in the trash near the door.
“He seems like a good kid.”
“He’s one of my favorites. Totally selfless—just wants everyone to be happy.” Anna sighed. “He’s not half-bad at drawing, either.”
“How long has he been coming here?” Drew asked.
“Since he was about eight years old. His brother was the little one standing on the chair over there so he could see you guys playing. We’ll have his sister here as soon as we get the daycare up and running.”
“Still nothing new on the studio funding?” Anna shook her head as she turned the lights off and they headed down the hallway to her office.
“I put in an order for some candy bars yesterday morning. It’s something, anyway.” She had grown tired of sitting on her hands, feeling as if she wasn’t making an progress. Selling candy bars was barely going to make a dent in the funding she needed, but it was, at the very least, a start.
“Hey, why don’t you offer some free advertising to the contractor? That should knock the price down a bit.” Drew suggested.
“Where would I advertise?” She pushed her office door open and he followed her inside.
“Well, you wouldn’t. But, as your friend Michael so astutely pointed out earlier—I am on the radio.” Anna stopped in her tracks, turning to face him.
“You would do that?”
“I said I would help, Annabelle. And I meant it. There might not be much I can do, but I’m all in. Maybe we could set up a website, too, and I could plug it on the show. Just small donations, but they could add up.”
She couldn’t stop herself. She lunged at him, wrapping her arms around his neck as tightly as she could. Drew laughed, and she felt him circle his arms around her waist.
“You have no idea what that means to me.” Her tone was light and happy.
“It’s not a big deal, Anna. Really.” She pulled away from him so that she could look into his those clear blue eyes, ignoring the way her heart did a funny little flip-flop in her chest.
“It’s a huge deal. And I appreciate it way more than I’m capable of expressing.”
“Oh, I could think of a few ways…” And she dropped her arms, taking a step away as she rolled her eyes at him. Leave it to Drew to turn a genuine moment into a lewd one.
Still, she couldn’t help but smile.
She grabbed her purse from a drawer in her desk and Drew held the door open for her, the two of them making their way toward the exit. “So—what are you doing Friday night?” Anna asked him.
“Currently, my schedule is free. I would ask you, but I’m pretty sure I heard you talking about schooling some kids on the dance floor.”
“Want to come with me?” She didn’t even think about it as she offered the invitation.
“Are you asking me on a date?” Drew asked semi-mockingly and Anna swatted at him. “I’ll take that as a no.” The chuckle obvious in his voice. “Well, in that case, I would love to go to the dance with you.” They reached her car and she stopped, turning to face him. “Are you sure you don’t want to ask the accountant?”
At that, Anna rolled her eyes again. He wasn’t going to let her live that one down. “So you can call me up drunk again in the middle of the night? If you’re not careful, Drew, I might think you’re jealous.”
“Of that guy? Please. I’m the one getting asked to the dance.” He offered her that impossible grin of his and Anna sighed, deciding to let the issue go. “Seriously, though—pass it on to the contractor and let me know what he says. I’ll talk to one of my tech friends and see if they could set something up.”
“Thank you, Drew.”
“Really, it’s nothing.” She opened her mouth to argue with him, but he interrupted her. “You’d better get out of here before things get serious again. I wouldn’t want you weeping in the parking lot or anything like that.”
She didn’t bother bantering with him any longer, instead just opening her door and climbing in her car. She took comfort in the way Drew waited until he was sure her car was going to start before he crossed the parking lot and climbed into his own vehicle.
When they approached the exit, Anna waved at him in her rear-view mirror before turning the opposite way he would turn.
As she made the drive home, her mind slipped back to this past weekend. As soon as she and the accountant had arrived at the restaurant and started talking, she knew that it wasn’t going to work. The more he talked, the more he sounded like Jeff—and that was the last thing she wanted.
He was nice—which should be the thing she was looking for.
But all she’d been able to think about was Drew standing there in front of her, half naked; the embodiment of passion.
That was what she wanted.
At some point, she’d almost sent Drew a message to ask him to rescue her, but she’d thought better of it and had pushed through the evening.
And then, just as her date had been dropping her off, her phone had gone off. She sighed aloud as she remembered him kissing her, and she knew that, even if he wouldn’t admit it, he’d been just a little bit jealous—and that sent the tiniest thrill trickling through her veins.
It shouldn’t matter, she knew. But for some reason, it did.
~*~
Anna smiled from the sidelines as she watched Drew dancing with a young girl. She was about eleven, and she’d been standing off to the side, very obviously feeling awkward. Drew had noticed her from across the room and then he’d slipped away, whisking the girl off her feet.
They were both smiling, but Anna could tell the little girl was having the time of her life. She couldn’t blame her—she remembered a night, several years ago, when Drew had stepped in and carried her away, too.
A few songs later, Drew parted from the girl, making his way across the gym to where Anna stood, serving drinks. She wore a spaghetti-strapped sundress, with a short denim jacket to act as her cover up. “You seem to have a knack for that sort of thing,” she told him as she held out a cup of punch.
“What’s that?”
“Rescuing girls in distress.”
“Eh, it’s my thing. What can I say?” Anna smiled at him before glancing back out toward the floor. The lighting was dimmed down, a few decorations here and there. Every month, they hosted a dance—but it was more than just that. There were stations in the hallway, too—games and activities, and the lounge was open. This month, there were photo scenes, board games, and crafts—mostly for the younger kids, as the older kids were pretty entertained by the music.
“It seems like everyone is having fun.” Anna nodded, smiling warmly. “How about a dance, Annabelle?” She looked over at Drew, standing there in his jeans and black button-down shirt, the faint shadow of scruff on his cheeks, offering his hand to her…
And she couldn’t refuse. He led her to the dance floor, where she wrapped her arms around his neck and he rested his hands on her waist. It was so funny how easily he took her back in time—how just being around him sometimes made her feel that sensation she had as a high school girl whenever she was around her latest crush.
“What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?” He asked, and Anna dragged herself back to the present. Drew was smiling at her in that way only he could.
“Honestly?”
“So long as you’re not going to start crying.” Anna laughed airily, shaking her head. He spun her around, sending her from his arms and pulling her back in. She laughed again, resting her head against his chest.
And in that moment, she knew that this was what she wanted. Not forever—no. Drew wasn’t the forever kind of guy.
But he was perfect for r
ight now.
“I was just thinking…” She pulled away, so that she could meet his eyes. “I was thinking how much I’m enjoying myself.”
“Well, that’s a nice start. Is that why you invited me instead of the accountant?”
“Maybe. Or maybe it’s because when you flash that stupid little smile at me, Drew, I feel like I’m the only girl in the room.” She reached up and touched his cheek with the tips of her fingers, making sure he was paying attention. “I know you have that effect on everyone, and I know I’m not special. But you make me feel sexy, and I don’t know why, but I like that.”
She didn’t notice that they had stopped moving until after she’d finished speaking, and she was once again grateful for the dim lighting as he held her eyes. Anna could feel the blush rising, coloring her chest and cheeks.
She wasn’t able to read his expression, and before he had the chance to say anything, she felt a tug on her wrist and she turned to find Michael’s little brother staring up at her.
“Miss Anna, could you come draw a spaceship with me?” Anna knelt down so that she was eye-level with the boy.
“A spaceship? That sounds a lot better than dancing with this guy!” She pointed at Drew over her shoulder, then reached out and tapped Eddie on the nose. “Come on, Eddie, let’s draw the best spaceship this place has ever seen!” She stood, taking the little boy by the hand.
“Can we put it on the wall?” he asked.
“I’ll put it front and center.” Anna turned, mouthing an apology to Drew as she walked away. He waved her on, his eyes matching the smile on his lips. She turned back to Eddie, racing him out into the hallway.
There was an art station with an easel that was much too tall for the five year old boy, so she tore a piece of paper from it and laid it out on the floor, sitting down beside the boy. “Now, what kind of drawing were we thinking here?”
“I like those sparkly crayons.” He pointed to a box of crayons on the table against the wall, so she stood up and grabbed them, along with a few other boxes.
“Oh, these are my favorite crayons. What if we use them for the sky, so it sparkles with stars?” She told him as she settled down beside him again.
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