What Could Have

by D. C. Stone

  Anna

  May 9, 2011 12:46p.m EST

  Anna,

  Flirting? Who? Me? Never! LOL I would never flirt with an agent of the law. Well…although, there is something that kicks into all those fantasies involving some super-secret spy. Fishnet stockings … garter belt … short black skirts. (And we’re moving on to the next topic).

  Fate does seem to have been cruel to us. I will tell you this, Annabelle. I looked for you. For so long, I searched over and over for you. But it was as if you had been plucked right off the face of this earth. It drove me insane. Why did you never reach out from Italy?

  My offspring, as you so eloquently put it, is exactly as you described. A mini-Lucas, and you are a day late on the world shaking. We are now in the phase of watching as the world pisses in its pants. AJ is three going on thirteen with his attitude. His favorite past times include drinking chocolate milk, chasing the dog around, and charming the pants off the ladies. He truly makes me proud.

  What about you? Any children? Plans for any?

  Luc

  May 9, 2011 11:22 a.m PST

  Luc,

  I snorted so hard at your first line that coffee spewed out all over the screen! Coffee doesn’t really feel too good when coming out of those twin holes. Now I swear it’s the only thing I can smell!

  Never flirt with an agent of the law! Pffft, if I remember correctly, you used to flirt with one of the instructors from technical school as well! (Is blacking out any memories of said fantasy involving a super-secret spy).

  You looked for me? What do you mean, you looked for me?

  Your child, AJ sounds JUST LIKE his father! I’ll make sure to bring a diaper in order not to piss myself when I come down to see you all. And maybe since he likes to charm pants off, I shall pack the duct tape, too.

  NO children. Not any time soon, of course. I work entirely too much and travel way too often. My life feels somewhat complete at this moment and I think I’ll give this working woman a few more years before we start to discuss children.

  Now, I must get back to work before my boss gives me the evil eye one more time. I swear he knows what I’m doing. In that case, HELLO JACK!

  Anna

  May 9, 2011 2:54p.m EST

  Anna,

  Who is this Jack? Your boss?

  I did NOT flirt with Sergeant Jones, SHE flirted with ME. What can I say; it must be my good looks. Shall I send you some tissues for said coffee coming through the nose? Or has your sense of smell returned yet?

  (Speaking of fantasies, what is yours, Anna?)

  I did look for you, searched the internet, and tried anything I could do to find you. Eventually, I gave up. But I tried. (I also noticed you haven’t answered my question.)

  Save your luggage space on the diapers and duct tape. I will stock up for your visit and speaking of which, when are you coming down to see us?

  HELLO JACK!

  Luc

  She sat back in her chair and had to read the email again to make sure she hadn’t been seeing things. Lucas asked about her fantasy? He was flirting. It caused her stomach to flutter with butterflies, but also made her feel like she was doing something wrong. She was a married woman, for goodness sake.

  Lucas had also not lost his attention to detail. No, she hadn’t answered his question. How could she tell him she hadn’t contacted him from Italy because she loved him so much she set him free. She figured it may have been pretty clichéd of her to do so, and looking back on it, she would have changed her tactic. But, the whole saying If you love someone, set them free. If they come back, then it was meant to be, struck her as the right thing at that time.

  She hit reply.

  May 9, 2011 1:16p.m PST

  Luc,

  My fantasy? Like fantasy football? Or do you want me to write another kind of fantasy in this email? Who are you and what have you done with my Luc? Surely the quiet creature I knew in technical school isn’t the same asking me to do such a brave thing. What shall you do with knowledge of my fantasy?

  And to answer your question, as a matter of fact, I am coming to Florida. I am due to arrive next Tuesday, and it’s part of an investigation I am conducting. I will be down there for three days and only a short distance away from you. Would you like to meet up for dinner? Let me know.

  Anna

  P.S. Quit teasing my boss. (Waves at Jack)

  May 9, 2011 4:35p.m EST

  Anna,

  No, I do not want you to write your fantasy in this email. Especially if Jack will be reading it. I want you to call and tell me. 555-231-0112

  It is still your Luc here. The one and only. There shall never be another.

  I would love to meet for dinner. Let’s discuss on your call.

  Luc

  P.S. I’m sure Jack is learning a whole lot about you, Annabelle. (Smirks at Jack)

  Holy shit! If any question about flirting had been in her mind before, it washed away. Would she call him, or just blow it off? She bit her lip trying to decide, but as he had agreed, they would discuss meeting for dinner. She was about to take a precarious step that would bring things to a different level. They were both married to others. This didn’t feel right. But more, she craved to hear his voice, wanted to see him and who he’d turned into all these years later.

  She missed the hell out of him, had been missing him for ten years. She couldn’t say no.

  Pulling out her phone, she keyed in Lucas’ number and then typed up a text message. You are being extremely naughty with your requests, Luc. In regards to dinner, let’s meet Friday night. There is a steakhouse called Shula’s in my hotel. Say seven?

  “Deep in thought?”

  She practically jumped out of her seat at the sound of Mike’s voice and hit send. Tossing her phone on the desk, she pushed her hands down her skirt and plastered on a smile. “You need to quit doing that.”

  “Doing what? And why do you look like I just caught you with your hand in a cookie jar?”

  Did she look like that? Her face heated. “I do not. And you need to quit sneaking up on me.”

  “You do too. What is it?” He leaned against her desk as if making himself comfortable. “And I didn’t sneak up on you. I was standing here for a few minutes. But you were lost in,” he said and glanced at her cell phone on the desk, “thought.”

  She was so not going there. “Nothing. Coffee?”

  He smiled as if confident he would get it out of her. “Of course.”

  Her phone chose that moment to buzz on her desk. She glanced at it, then looked up at Mike who was also looking at her phone. He turned his gaze back to hers and arched a brow. “Gonna get that?” he drawled slowly, knowingly.

  She glared. God…Sliding it into her hand, she checked the incoming message. From Lucas. Of course.

  You know you want to. I’m expecting your call. And it’s a date.

  Crap. While she wasn’t a virgin, hadn’t been one for a while, she’d never talked dirty to anyone. And that’s what Lucas was trying to get her to do. It was unreal, alarming, and extremely naughty. It brought a delicious thrill up her spine, and on the heels, guilt.

  Worse, she was actually considering telling him a fantasy. It was Lucas, the one she never got over. Keying in a response, she ignored Mike’s low chuckle.

  Peer pressure doesn’t suit you. I’ll call you later. Now, I must work.

  She sent the text and stood, clipping the phone to her waist, and shot a glare in response to Mike’s smile. “Oh, girl…”

  “Shut. Up.”

  Thirteen

  Lucas didn’t know why he deliberately pushed Annabelle. Hell, even he knew what he was asking and that it took things one step further. But he couldn’t help himself. This was his Annabelle. The one who had gotten away.

  It wasn’t like he didn’t love his wife. He did. But too many trust issues in their marriage had him wondering where his life headed.

  Even with knowing Anna was married, he tried to feel remorse, but the thought of her
revealing her fantasy to him…his once shy and sweet Anna, caused a shot of heat to pulse through his body like a speeding bullet. He couldn’t take it back.

  It had been over fourteen hours (who was counting?) since her last text. His mind kept wandering to her. What did she look like now? How happy was she? Had she thought of him as much as he had her?

  He really did try to find her. Four weeks after he left San Diego, four weeks of enduring silence, he made his mind up and scoured the internet. He even went as far as to pay thirty bucks for one of those background checks, but all that turned out was public record information, and none of it helped him find her.

  He had wanted Anna and had been willing to do whatever it took, including going active duty, in order to get to her. He even tried to find a way to transfer to where she was, but being an overseas base they had no reserve section, or any spots available for active-reserve. His search ended with heartache and anger. And he, empty handed.

  His phone ringing broke him from his thoughts.

  “Sergeant Angotta.”

  “Hey you,” a sultry voice answered, sounding remarkably the same as ten years ago. His heart slammed against his chest and all of the blood in his body surged south. If just the sound of her voice gave him this physical reaction, what would he do in her company?

  “Hey, yourself, Annabelle.”

  “You sound the same.” Her soft laughter rolled through the line and over his skin, just as it did…ten…years…ago.

  “Am I supposed to sound different? Maybe more like an old man?”

  More sweet laughter. “No, not at all. I guess I just didn’t know what to expect.”

  “Well, you sound fantastic. It’s nice to hear your voice again.”

  “You too, Luc. I can’t wait to see you.”

  “Me too, Anna.” He paused as silence hit the line. There was no noise in her background, nothing to tell him where she was. “Are you calling to follow through with my request?”

  He heard movement on the other side, almost as if she was shifting in her chair. The next time she spoke, her voice was lower. “Well, I don’t know about telling you my fantasy. I don’t think I’m quite ready for you to see that part of me. Nor do I understand if that’s appropriate with us. But I did recently have a dream if you want to know. And you were in it.”

  He wanted to see that part of her, and so much more. This he was certain of. The dream intrigued him and had his brows rising. “Oh? You know you just can’t leave it at that. Ten years hasn’t changed me that much. So a dream?” he encouraged.

  “Yes.”

  “Tell me.”

  “Bossy.”

  “You don’t even know the half of it.”

  Her snort sounded in his ear.

  He laughed. “Classy, Anna.”

  “Like I’ve ever tried to be the definition of today’s woman?”

  Wasn’t that statement so true? And he would have her no other way. “You’re stalling.”

  “Ugh, damn you, Luc. Okay,” she dropped her voice low. “It’s more a change in a past memory than a different dream.”

  “I’m listening.” Boy was he ever.

  “Do you remember when you came to see me in San Diego?”

  “Yes.” And he remembered how he didn’t want to leave, either.

  “That’s where this dream started. We were sitting in the theater watching a movie. Don’t ask me what movie, because like then, I don’t remember. I wasn’t paying attention to what was on the screen. Instead, my focus was somewhere else.”

  He interrupted. “Why?”

  “Why what?”

  “Why weren’t you paying attention?”

  “Because,” she blurted and cleared her throat. “I wanted you to kiss me. I was only paying attention to you.”

  Fucking hell, if he hadn’t been so much of a coward. That’s all he had been thinking about, too.

  “Anyhow, I can’t see you in this dream, but I know it’s you next to me. Your profile is just out of my view, but in my heart, I know it’s you. Your hand is on my knee and you squeeze it slightly. Only, I’m not wearing the jeans I had on from our original day.”

  His stomached tightened with desire, having an idea, but not willing to jump too far ahead of himself. “What are you wearing, Anna?”

  “A skirt.”

  Christ! He totally could picture where this was going and wanted to hear more. “I bet your skin is as soft as it looked. What happened next?”

  “Your hand slid up the inside of my thigh.” She cleared her throat.

  Had her voice suddenly become husky? It scraped over his sensitive skin, dragged across the surface like a teasing feather.

  “Your fingers brushed along the seam of my panties and all I could think about was the fact that we weren’t alone in the theater, and what if we got caught?”

  He swallowed and his surroundings dropped away. “Do you like to be watched, Anna?” His cock hardened behind his fly, and he rubbed his palm against it trying to get some relief.

  “I wanted you to slide your hand higher, but just as you were about to, I woke up.”

  He was stuck on the image of his hand riding higher and what he would have felt. There was no way in hell he could stand up right now. He wore fatigues, not the best for hiding anything, including a hard-on from hell.

  “Sweet Jesus, Anna! There is no way I’m getting up any time soon.” Bad choice of words, Luc. He cringed, but quickly sobered as her soft laughter came through the line.

  “That must be very hard for you.”

  Vixen. “Do you like that, Anna? To know your words have turned me on?”

  She surprised him, intrigued him, and shocked the hell out of him. So many years ago, his timid little Annabelle had been lovingly referred to as a prude. She was anything but that today.

  “Like? Well,” she teased and paused for one heartbeat, two… “Is it bad if I say I do?”

  His cock gave a painful jerk and he gritted his teeth, groaned under his breath. “Anna, I bet you’d taste…”

  “Oh, well, hell, Luc. Guess next time I shouldn’t tell you while you’re at work, huh? Maybe this will help you with your poke-r face.”

  He could hear the smile in her voice and narrowed his eyes at her teasing. The sexy little minx she seemed to have become was a direct contrast to the one he knew so long ago. “Yes, exactly. But next time, you won’t get off so easy.” Two could play at this game.

  She laughed. “What do you mean, off easy?”

  “Meaning, I want to hear everything you wanted to happen, regardless of whether you woke up or not.”

  A sucked-in breath, and then silence. “I have to go, Luc.”

  “Wait…”

  “No, really, my boss is calling for me.”

  “You’re at work?” Holy shit, look at who’d grown up. Talking dirty on the phone with him, flirting, all of it. And while she was at work, to boot!

  “Well, yeah. Where the hell else would I be? You’re at work, too, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And now sporting quite the hard-on, I’m sure. Maybe next time you won’t be so cock-y.”

  “Jesus!”

  She laughed, the sound coming across like a brush of silk. “I’ll see you soon. Don’t forget.”

  “As if I could, Anna.”

  But she had already hung up. Setting the receiver on its cradle, he stared at the phone for a few minutes trying to get his body under control. He didn’t know what he was doing, why she caused this kind of reaction in him, or what was to come. But he had the same responses to her as ten years ago. And that was a problem.

  Fourteen

  One week later.

  Lucas glanced down at his phone and read the incoming text message.

  Running a little late. Bad guy decided he wanted to try and make a run for it when we delivered his warrant. That’s not the best part. While making the run for it, he tripped and stabbed himself with a very jeweled knife he stole from the museum. Seriously, you ca
n’t make this shit up. Excited to see you soon. Anna.

  His stomach turned with nervousness at seeing her again. It had been ten long years, and the Annabelle he pictured in his head differed from the woman she was now. And at that, a Federal Agent.

  Jesus.

  She set herself in harm’s way, every day, for her job. He didn’t know what to make of it. How often did she come under danger? But this was Annabelle, his sweet, caring, and giving friend. The thought that anyone would try to hit her, try to shoot at her—and acting as an officer of the law, it was a very real possibility—set his blood into a protective boil.

  All week, he tried to get a grip on his emotions and figure out what it was that kept drawing him to her.

  Their friendship built during a time in their lives when they were both broken down to their very bottoms, when they were built back up and turned into strong, confident military members. In a way, they’d grown up together, side by side. She was there for him when he relearned to walk, talk, and feel like a model member of the nation’s armed forces. Their military training pulled them together and started a bond that couldn’t easily be broken.

  It had to be the reason he felt such an intense, unbreakable connection to her.

  He didn’t believe in soul mates or love at first sight. That kind of shit was made for romance novels and sappy movies. Not real life. Not for him.

  So as he sent an okay in response to her message, he tried to strengthen his resolve. It was the bond they formed during basic training that had his connection to Anna so deep.

  To think it could be anything else scared the shit out of him.

  Fifteen

  Annabelle stepped into the steakhouse and glanced around. The light from the great hall of the hotel and in the restaurant was subdued and she had to allow her eyes to adjust to the darkened interior.

  The restaurant was set in rich, opaque colors. Dark wood gleamed under wax. The atmosphere everything a couple would want: private, intimate, and sexy.

  Her stomach rolled and her thoughts wandered to her husband back home. What would he think if he knew who she was meeting? Would he feel deceived or would he understand what she went through? His face came to mind and she ruthlessly pushed it away, not liking the way her stomach turned. She knew what he’d feel and it wouldn’t be good.