Carter pulled a card from his inner pocket along with a pen. “Should we become separated…” He printed clearly on the white square. “This is the address. I’ll meet you there.”
“Thank you.”
His hand gripped hers with the small card in between their fingers. “I think a game of twenty questions would be fascinating with you, Miss Carson.”
“You hold onto that thought, Mr. Shipley,” Anna said softly, her shoulders stiff and lashes narrowed warningly.
He watched the slim, strong fingers pull free of his, long jean covered legs that ended on one end in a pair of knee length leather boots and at the other end in a very nicely rounded derriere. He slid into the back seat of the waiting car and gave his instructions, opening the waiting computer and working on the short drive to Defiance Point.
His estimation of her rose when she stepped from the large vehicle, her sweater pulled over her head and tossed to the seat. She lifted a small digital camera from inside the pack she’d carried, leaving her sun glasses on the dash and keys dangling from one pocket as she walked around the spacious grounds, taking photos and standing to peer out at the Sound in the far distance down the hill.
Anna followed the systematic procedures she’d used since she began changing landscapes. Begin on the left and swing to the right, front, back and sides. It was a nice house, large and adobe style. High, curved archways, stark white columns and half pipe tiles in deepest red making up the roof.
Carter watched her, followed her and finally realized as far as she was concerned, he wasn’t even there. He opened the button on his jacket, shoving the sides back and his hands caught in his pockets. He leaned against the waist high wide stone wall around the back, his palm unit out and tapping over it when she told him with an absent wave that she’d be right back.
She didn’t see him snapping photos of her. She didn’t seem to notice much of anything but the house and grounds at the moment. He watched her move to the very edge of the property, her back to the Sound and her camera taking a few photos before she let it dangle from her wrist. She lifted a large drawing pad, angled one foot against the wall bordering the edge and held the pad in place on her thigh.
There were few things Carter Shipley indulged himself in where his mind wasn’t focused on business. He’d quickly come to the conclusion that watching Anna Carson was one of those few things. Dark brown eyes darted, high, low and everywhere at once it seemed, her hand holding a thick pencil at an angle as she drew. She was left handed, he noticed.
Her face tilted, shifted, her gaze sweeping and drinking in every corner, arch and line of the house. She had a slightly squared chin, the cleft very slight, the tilt incredibly stubborn. If the sunlight rising behind the house bothered her eyes, it didn’t show. He could see the glint of red flashing in them as she moved and sketched. By the time she stopped moving, stilled her hand, she had four pages turned and filled.
“This is your home,” she said after a few silent minutes. The sound of the boats behind her and the sea gulls over head making her smile.
“It is my home,” he answered simply. “I bought it about a month ago. I want landscaping to match the design, but I also want things that will survive the weather here.”
“I understand,” she closed the drawing pad and stood up with a long stretch.
“May I see what you drew?”
“No. Not yet. I’ll be in touch, Mr. Shipley,” she said vaguely. “Spring is a good time to make changes like this…gives the plants a whole season to get settled,” she said as if talking to herself.
“Would you be free for lunch, Miss Carson?” He walked with her toward the waiting vehicles. He watched her turn and face him, his hand up to stop her when she started to speak. “Let me guess…you have a no personal time with clients rule.”
Anna pulled a white card of her own from inside her pack and handed it to him after writing on the back. “I’ll be in my office, Mr. Shipley and I generally lunch a little after noon, if that’s alright. I’ll expect you or I can meet you someplace, if that’s easier.” She felt a glint of satisfaction at the surprise in his eyes. He was slick, she thought, but he managed to keep it off his features, just buried deep in his eyes.
“I’ll look forward to it, Miss Carson,” he tipped his head as she fastened her belt and drove off without looking back. He pushed a pent up breath between his lips, one corner tilting. “A fascinating surprise, Miss Carson,” he opened the back door of the car and glanced at the screen he had left open and working.
He sat back, closed the computer and stared out the side window for a long quiet minute before pulling his phone out and making reservations for lunch. A quiet, private place at the marina.
Chapter Three
Anna had the drawings tacked on the wall she used for designs. She was slowly printing off the photos she’d taken, several large books lying open on her desk, bold, brilliant colors bursting from the pages she’d opened. She was chewing on the inside of her lip, head tilted when Aaron sauntered into her office.
“How you manage to create such things looking like that, I’ll never know,” he teased with a shake of his head.
“Hi, to you too,” she responded absently. “How was your morning?”
“Made a killing for us in futures,” he laughed when she looked up, her puzzled frown something he was used to where their finances were concerned.
“I thought the markets were depressed? I thought someone was depressed…” she murmured.
“Don’t watch the news. It just baffles you, little sister,” he opened her fridge and pulled out a bottle of water. “New client? Nice digs….It’s up on the hill, isn’t it?”
“Yep…not a client yet…” She met the too familiar eyes honestly. “I accepted an invitation for lunch, Aaron. If I do anything weirder than that for me, take me into a shrink, okay?” She listened to his laughter, watched him shake his head and wander back to his office, still chuckling to himself.
By the time noon arrived, she had pictures and drawings tacked along the whole wall she used when she was in design mode. One finger tapping on her cheek as she wandered from drawing to drawing, making adjustments, stepping back and appraising and making another adjustment before nodding in satisfaction.
“Looks like your new client is here,” Aaron called through the connecting door.
“I…he’s early,” she growled softly, finding one of the large folders and carefully collecting her drawings.
“Now there’s a surprise,” her brother chuckled, striding to the front office. “Traveling in style.”
“I hate limos,” she mumbled to herself, too many memories.
Dark eyes appraised the man stepping from the back of the black vehicle. It was a normal looking town car at least, he thought, and not a stretch limo. Both stood for a quiet minute looking each other up and down before Aaron withdrew a palm from the pocket of his slacks and extended it.
“Aaron Carson.” He knew the face, knew the movements.
“Carter Shipley,” pale eyes surveyed the interior of the large two office building. Nicely, tastefully decorated with a shared receptionist.
“You’ve thrown off her schedule.”
“I’m perpetually early,” Carter returned with a casual shrug.
“Then this promises to be quite a show,” Aaron commented with a laugh.
“Brothers aren’t allowed to talk to clients,” Anna called from inside her office. “I’ll be right there.”
“Older brothers have to keep an eye on little sisters,” he teased.
“Five minutes. Five flipping minutes and I hear about it my whole life,” Anna came through the door, head down and fastening the snaps of her art folder. “I’ve got the designs completed and we can go over them at lunch.”
“I don’t do business over food, Miss Carson,” Carter took a step forward and lifted the folder from her hands, ignoring the opening and closing of her mouth and the wildly wide eyes. He offered it to Aaron with a half grin.
“I’ll have her back by two.”
“I…hey…no, I don’t…” Anna blinked and looked down at the palm snugly held in his larger hand.
“It’s called a date, sis,” Aaron chuckled. “Go have lunch and I’ll put these on your desk.”
“I do not…date…potential clients,” she said through her teeth, her glare shifting to the open back door of the black vehicle.
“And you dislike limos,” Carter met the narrowed eyes without flinching. “You don’t hide some things very well, Anna. I’m curious to know why. It’s a comfortable way to travel and I pay well. Please, after you.”
She was fuming.
That, Carter Shipley decided, was putting it mildly. She hadn’t changed her clothes, hadn’t enhanced her face with make-up. Whatever he felt zinging around inside him, she wasn’t indulging with feminine wiles.
“You aren’t just an attorney,” she said after several frosted minutes of silence.
“I have a variety of interests,” he admitted, glancing casually at his watch. “I made reservations at the marina. They have excellent food and quiet tables.”
“I completed the drawings and wanted to discuss how you wanted the landscaping done,” she dug deep inside her, working to keep her temper from erupting.
“And I’ll be happy to come into your office with you after lunch and talk about it,” he told her smoothly, shifting to the side and watching her fight with herself. “You’ve never had lunch with a client before?”
“No. I don’t mix business with my personal life,” she informed him, sitting stiffly, arms crossed over her chest. “If a client insists, then he’s not a client. I don’t need the business that badly.”
“You have some vibrant, loyal clients on your website. Impressive testimonials and photographs,” he complimented honestly, his grin crooked when she kept staring straight ahead. “Have you always locked yourself away, Anna?”
“Mr. Shipley…” Anna deliberately drew out the syllables of each word, her eyes following the way the car maneuvered through the parking lot and her hand going to the door handle. “Unlike me, I’d be willing to bet you thoroughly investigated me and my business before you scheduled a consultation,” she ground her teeth when his expression didn’t change. Without waiting, she shoved the door open and stepped onto the concrete, striding to wait patiently near the awning leading to the entrance to the exclusive restaurant with wide windows facing the Sound.
“You’re determined to make this uncomfortable,” he remarked, gently taking her elbow and guiding her along the ramp and into the restaurant. “Reservation for two, Shipley, please,” he informed the woman striding to greet them.
Anna watched the smart way she snapped to attention, quickly and quietly lifting two menus and guiding them among the tables to a far corner with an excellent view of the marina.
“Your server will be right with you,” the woman said and vanished.
“To be quite honest, Mr. Shipley, I’m not entirely sure what ‘this’ is,” Anna opened the menu, the fragrant aromas getting to the growl in her stomach.
“This…is a pleasant luncheon date between a man and a woman,” Carter watched his words strike her as surely as if a palm had reached out and slapped her in the face. “I find you to be a fascinating woman, Anna Carson.” He glanced down the list and set the menu aside, his head shaking. He watched her mouth open and then close when the waiter appeared beside the table. “I think we’re ready to order,” he said cheerfully, looking at Anna with a slightly arched brow. He listened to her request before placing his, lifting the glass of water and taking a long drink.
“What are your other varied interests, Mr. Shipley?” Anna leaned back in the comfortable chair, her hands clasped on the table top.
“I have a select few business clients. I specialize in locating lost relatives for inheritance issues. I perform in-depth investigations for people needing them,” he seemed to consider before continuing. “I’ve been known to buy up floundering businesses, revamp them, improve their management and make them considerably more profitable. Occasionally I take clients in need of an attorney. Usually friends.”
“Then you obviously have plenty to do in your life,” she said easily.
“Why are you against dating, Anna?” He watched the shields come down over her eyes. Given what he knew to date, it wasn’t a surprise.
“Mr. Shipley…”
“I’m coming to dislike it when you say my name in that manner,” he said with a soft laugh. “It seems to preclude a lecture about what I should and shouldn’t consider within the realms of possibility.”
She drew in a long, slow breath and closed her eyes for a moment to consider her lecture. “You’re an obviously…” she worked the words around in her brain. “An intelligent, witty guy who wouldn’t have a single problem finding companionship for lunch or much of anything else. You’re pleasant to look at and quick with your words. Entertaining, one might say. All that said…” She leaned forward slightly, holding his eyes steady behind those gold frames. “Why give yourself grief with someone like me?”
“I’d say something sexist like the pure challenge of it all, but I’d rather we had a peaceful lunch,” he watched her gaze narrow. “We were working on twenty questions.”
“No…we weren’t,” she corrected and reclined slowly. “We…were working on sketches for your landscaping. We…don’t have curiosity where you are concerned, other than questioning your sanity at this point.”
“You’re not even the slightest bit curious about what my research turned up regarding one Anna Carson?” He asked carefully, watching the definite hardening in those wide, dark eyes. “And you don’t see yourself as the least bit fascinating or attractive to the opposite sex. This whole lunch thing really is baffling you.”
“Then it would appear your research didn’t quite give you all the answers, Mr. Shipley. I’m single and I enjoy it. I like my work a great deal.”
“Do your parents live in the area?” He asked abruptly. If he wanted her off balance, he was disappointed when she simply looked at him, those wide eyes blank and revealing nothing.
“No. Do yours?”
“I’m an only child and my parents are happy in the warmth of Arizona. I think their only lament is the fact I’m also single,” he answered easily, his attention on the plates being placed on the table before each of them. “And that I don’t get to that end of the country as often as they’d like.”
Anna stared into the plate of pasta and seafood, eating quietly. She never knew what to say when people started talking about their families. Aaron was all she had, all she had ever known. She’d learned all the proper platitudes, appropriately placed responses.
“I’m sure they miss you.”
“Do you miss yours?” Nothing showed on her face, but he did see her fingers shake, just a little. It wasn’t what he wanted and didn’t like the feeling it caused in his stomach.
“I don’t have parents. We were orphaned at four years old,” she answered, looking up from her plate and meeting his gaze without faltering. “I’m sure all that was revealed in your research, Mr. Shipley, so what was the point in having me state the same out loud?”
“I’m sorry, Anna, honestly. It wasn’t my intent…” He stopped when he realized she wasn’t listening, her napkin down and hands pushing against the table. Before he could respond, she was up and striding towards the restroom. He threw his own napkin down, cursing softly.
He was lying and she knew it. It had been his intent. He had to get her talking to verify what he’d uncovered before he could take the next steps.
Anna was glad the restroom was down the long corridor. She passed the door and kept walking, striding into the sunshine and refusing to look back. She pulled her phone from her pocket and glanced around for bearings before tapping in a request for a cab.
She refused to be upset but she was shaken. Solid boots struck the wooden flooring of the office, her pack in her fingers and wallet out to pay the
cab. Without waiting for more than a frown from her brother, she had her keys out and was in the SUV heading to the nursery to work.
She didn’t look over her shoulder and didn’t want to talk right now.
With sunglasses in place, she threw herself into the busy season, helping people find things they were anxious to plant around their homes. Her mind stayed on plants until the doors closed at seven, her jeans lightly coated with dirt and stomach growling. She should have stayed long enough to finish the pasta, she thought ruefully, leaving the closing to her manager. She washed up and was headed out when Darlene waved her down, a plastic bag in her hands.
“This was left for you a little while ago,” she held up the neatly knotted bag, the shape of a take out container obvious. “He said you’d probably be hungry since you missed lunch. Really cute guy…”
“Thanks, Darlene,” she took the bag, nodding absently. “Yeah…he is kind of cute…and persistent,” she said mostly to herself as she walked to the SUV. But it wasn’t her he was interested in, she thought, guiding her vehicle along the road to home without being aware of it.
She needed information. She knew how to get it. She knew how to hide it and rebuild it. It was almost eight when she dumped the empty container into the trash and stared at her computer. Without looking back, she grabbed up her pack and keys and slid behind the wheel of her SUV.
Chapter Four
Carter Shipley heard the solid pounding on the outer door and watched Deann go along the corridor to answer it. He offered a mild apology to the older couple at the dinner table and was about to rise when the dark haired woman stood framed in the arched entrance to the dining area. The older woman was the one to gasp, loudly, her palm up and on her lips.
“I want to talk to you,” Anna demanded without looking at anyone but him. “I’m sorry if I interrupted your dinner.”
“It’s quite alright. Would you care to join us?”
WindSwept Narrows: #16 Anna Carson & Catherine Jenkins Page 2
