She wanted everything from him.
She moaned softly, the sound astonishingly clear in the silent darkness. She heard Drew’s sharp intake of breath just before he pulled her to him, crushing her against his chest. His lips touched her hair, her eyes, her nose, her chin, and then finally, briefly, her mouth.
“Ann, Ann, don’t you see?” he whispered with an edge of desperation in his voice. His hand gently smoothed back errant wisps of her hair. “It’s not me you’re fighting. You’re fighting yourself.”
“That’s not true,” she denied weakly, closing her eyes against the raging tremors in her stomach. His finger outlined her lips, a touch so sensuous Ann felt herself sway into him. Her breasts were flattened against his chest. She could feel the tingling awareness in the sensitive tips, longed to move them against him, letting the delicious friction drive the ache deeper and deeper within her.
But she held herself still in his arms, still and unyielding as a tide of emotion threatened to carry her away.
“Let go, Ann,” Drew murmured against her ear, letting his tongue flick out to moisten her lobe. “Let yourself feel what your body’s trying to tell you.”
“I don’t feel anything,” she denied, the quiver in her voice betraying her vow.
“Don’t you?” His breath, warm and urgent, feathered against her skin, causing prickles of sensation along the delicate column of her back. She shivered in his arms, feeling them immediately tighten around her. “I can feel your heart pounding,” he said softly, sliding one hand between them to splay it against her left breast. “I can feel you trembling.” His thumb wove an erotic pattern around the hardened nipple, so seductively prominent beneath the layer of silk. “I can feel your desire.”
He groaned softly as she responded to his touch. His thumb continued the magic while he pressed his hips against her, letting her feel the hardness of his own desire.
His tongue rimmed her lips, teasing, tormenting, then slid inside her mouth, grazing the edges of her teeth, probing deep, deeper, until he forced hers to reciprocate. His mouth ground against hers in a kiss that was far less gentle than any she’d ever known from him, and far more provocative. It was the kiss of a stranger and yet its familiarity was an erotic stimulation, a drug that lulled her senses and promised her a forbidden paradise.
“Drew, don’t,” she pleaded when he lifted his mouth from hers to rain hot, liquid kisses along her neck. “Please. This isn’t right.”
He paused, raising his head to look down at her. His eyes were dark and heavy, smoldering with barely leashed passion. But there was also a spark of anger there, and that was the emotion that caused Ann to shudder.
“I’m making it right,” he said darkly, his gaze reckless and daring. “I want to see you again. Tomorrow night.”
It was a command, not a request this time, and Ann felt her defenses regrouping in protest. “I can’t.”
Drew stared down at her, his hands moving to grasp her arms as he held her in front of him. “Can’t or won’t?”
“Maybe I already have plans,” she said angrily, jerking her arms from his grasp.
“Then you can change them for me. You can’t hide from me forever, Ann. I’ll pick you up at six.”
“No! I mean...I’ll meet you at the restaurant,” Ann conceded grudgingly.
Drew’s eyes narrowed on her as he moved toward her. “Can I trust you to be there?”
“You’ve no reason to distrust me,” Ann said innocently, but they both knew her words were laced with a double entendre.
Drew gave her a tight, little smile that had nothing to do with mirth. His head dipped toward hers as he said in a low, threatening voice, “That’s right, I don’t. And besides, if you don’t show, I’ll come looking for you.”
Before she could object, he lowered his head, swiftly capturing her lips in a steamy, illicit kiss that aroused Ann to a fevered desperation beyond her wildest imaginings.
* * *
Angel? Angel?
Ann moaned softly as her head thrashed against the pillow. A cold draft tripped along her skin, causing her to shiver in her sleep. She tried to pull the cover on her bed higher, but her hands were numb, lifeless.
You know, don’t you, Angel?
I don’t know what you’re talking about, Aiden. Know what?
You know who Drew sees when he looks into your eyes. He sees me.
That’s not true! You’re lying!
Have I ever lied to you, Angel? Why else do you think he’s come back to you after all these years? He’s looking for me.
Ann’s eyes flew open, staring wildly into the darkness as a scream rose in her throat. Her heart slammed against her chest as she lifted a hand to her face, feeling the cold, clamminess of her own skin.
A dream.
It had been a dream. She was sure of it now as her surroundings slowly came into focus in the surreal half light of the moon. She gasped as a sudden movement at the window caught her eye. The curtains billowed ghostlike in the distorted light, their shape suspended for a moment by the mild breeze that stirred them.
On the nightstand by her bed, the clock told her in electric blue neon that it was nearly three in the morning. Hours since she’d seen Drew.
Ann slid back down against the pillows, but she didn’t close her eyes. Drew had come back, after all these years, and he’d brought the nightmares with him....
Five
The next evening Ann stood inside Donna Cooper’s hospital room and dialed the number for the Crossfield Motel. Her heart gave an unexpected twist when she was connected through to Drew’s room and his voice sounded across the line.
“Drew, it’s Ann.”
“Hi, honey. Are you already at the restaurant? I was just about to leave—”
Ann missed the rest of his sentence because she’d pulled the receiver away from her ear. She stared at it. Honey? She put it back to her ear and quickly said, “I’m not at the restaurant. I’m at the hospital.”
“Hospital? Are you hurt? Sick? What happened?”
The concern in his voice was so genuine, guilt stabbed at Ann for what she was about to do. She dashed it away, telling herself she had no other choice. Her friend needed her. “I’m okay, but Donna Cooper’s here. I dropped by to see her a little while ago, and she started having contractions. Wayne’s out of town so I drove her to the hospital.”
“Is she all right?”
“The doctor says it was false labor, but he’s keeping her in the hospital overnight. I—I just don’t think she should be alone right now. This is her first baby, and both of us were pretty scared earlier.”
“I see.” Disappointment was obvious in his voice, but so was his concern. “Would you like me to come over?”
“That’s not necessary, but I appreciate the offer. I’m...sorry about dinner.”
“So am I. I’ll call you when I get back. Take care of yourself, Ann, and give Donna my best.”
“I will. And, Drew? Thanks for understanding.”
“You bet. See you in a few days.”
Ann hung up the phone slowly, wondering if the strange little fluttering in her stomach was relief or remorse. With a heavy sigh, she turned to face Donna, who was glowering at her from her hospital bed.
“Why did you do that?”
Ann gave an indifferent little shrug as she sat down on the edge of Donna’s bed. “What?”
“What? What? Break your date with Drew, that’s what. The doctor said I’m perfectly fine. I’ll be out of here in the morning.”
“Well, I just thought you might need me,” Ann said defensively. “Besides, it wasn’t a date.”
“Excuse me, but didn’t he ask you to have dinner with him? And didn’t you say yes? That’s what most people call a date.”
“Well, this was just business,” Ann insisted.
Donna’s dark brows lifted over her brown eyes, flashing Ann a “give me a break” look. Ann started to protest again, but knew it would do no good at all. Her friend was
a hopeless romantic, always had been and always would be. Ever since Drew had come back to town, she’d been dropping hints right and left of a fairy-tale ending for the long, lost lovers.
But, of course, she and Drew had never really been lovers, and not for the first time in the last ten years, Ann felt a keen stab of regret over the loss of something she had never had.
“Of course, I haven’t even seen him yet,” Donna was saying as Ann forced her attention back to her friend. “But Kelly told me she and Jack had lunch with him the other day. She said he looked wonderful.” Donna laughed ruefully as she folded her hands on top of her generous stomach. “Actually, she said he looked positively gorgeous and if Jack hadn’t been there, she would’ve been drooling all over the place.”
“That sounds like something your sister would say,” Ann commented dryly.
“He always was positively gorgeous,” Donna continued, eyeing Ann knowingly. “I used to think he and Jack were such hunks in high school. You and I were the envy of every girl in town. I never can pass the drive-in without remembering how the four of us used to double date all the time.”
“That was all a long time ago,” Ann said softly, looking down at her hands.
“Oh, I know,” Donna agreed off-handedly. “But those old memories don’t go away, and sometimes it’s kind of fun to reminisce. Both Jack and Drew were such hell-raisers back then, but with you, Drew was so different, so...tender. Jack, on the other hand, was always a rascal. He never cared about anything except what Jack wanted. We had more fights about s-e-x. At least until I gave in, that is.”
Ann’s eyes widened in surprise as she stared at her friend. “I never knew you and Jack—that you—”
“Slept with him? It wasn’t something I wanted to broadcast, particularly not to you. You always had such rigid ideals about that. I never told you this, but I was very envious of the way Drew treated you, with such tenderness and respect, never pressuring you into something you weren’t ready for. Back then I think I saw him as some sort of knight in shining armor.”
Ann gave a small brittle laugh. “So did I until I found out what he really was.”
“I think I admired him all the more after that because he was man enough to do the right thing,” Donna said stubbornly. Then, impatiently, “Oh, don’t look at me that way. I know what happened was wrong and I felt terrible for the way you were hurt. But Drew was hurt, too. You’re the one who dumped him, remember? You wanted no part of the life he wanted. You disapproved of his friends, his life-style, even his plans for the future. You made him think he wasn’t good enough for you.”
“I never said that,” Ann cried in protest. “I never even thought it.”
“But Drew did.”
“How do you know?” Ann asked suspiciously.
“Because he told me. He was hurt and lonely—and vulnerable, I imagine, since you and he didn’t...I mean...well, he was a normal, healthy young man and...and...”
“And he wasn’t getting sex from me.”
“Well, yes. And Aiden had persuasions of her own she didn’t mind using. It’s not at all hard for me to visualize the scenario that night after you two broke up—”
“I’m afraid I’ve never been able to write it off so easily,” Ann interrupted bitterly, averting her gaze from Donna’s probing one.
“Don’t you think it’s time you did?” Donna asked softly. “I know you still have feelings for him. I can see it in your eyes every time his name’s mentioned.”
Ann hesitated, wanting to deny Donna’s claim, but unable to. “I don’t know what I feel,” she finally admitted in a low, defeated voice. “How can I still feel anything for him? It’s been ten years, Donna.”
“From what I hear, I’d say those feelings are not one-sided. Drew has them, too, doesn’t he?”
Ann sighed deeply, rubbing her forehead with the tips of her fingers, as though she could push away those unwanted emotions. “I don’t know,” she said in confusion, her green eyes misting as she stared at Donna. “But what difference does it make what either of us are or aren’t feeling? There’s too much bad road behind us. Too many things have happened.” Her voice broke slightly as she dropped her gaze. “Aiden will always be between us.”
“Aiden’s dead,” Donna said with a frown.
Ann shook her head sadly. “It doesn’t matter. I’d always wonder...”
“Wonder what?”
Ann bit her lip, the urge to confide her secret feelings almost unbearable. But there was no way Donna could understand the complexity of her emotions. Ann wasn’t sure she understood them herself. She shrugged dismissively. “It just wouldn’t work. Besides, when his job’s completed here, he’ll be moving on. I’m sure he can’t wait to get out of here and back to the city. He must be bored out of his mind in Crossfield, and I’m not up to keeping an old flame entertained for just a few nights.” No matter how many sparks are left, she added silently.
“Dallas isn’t that far away,” Donna insisted, refusing to be daunted by Ann’s objections. “If you decide to sell the farm, you might want to move to the city yourself.”
Ann stared at her in astonishment. “I’ve no intention of selling the farm. It’s my home.”
“Haven’t you ever heard the expression `home is where the heart is’?” her friend asked in exasperation. “We both know you’re hanging onto that old place because of the promise you made to your father. But he’s dead, Ann, and so is Aiden. You have to think about yourself now. That land is worth a fortune. You could be set for life.”
“Has Jack been talking to you?” Ann asked suspiciously. “He’s been bullying me to sell for months now, but that land is mine,” she said stubbornly. “I won’t allow Drew to come in here and tear down everything—”
“And that’s the real problem, isn’t it?” Donna asked perceptively. “It’s not the development project you’re saying no to. It’s Drew.”
“I was opposed to that project before I even knew Drew was involved,” Ann pointed out angrily. “And for your information, that’s exactly why we were meeting tonight—to discuss Riverside’s plans. I don’t know how I can be any more fair than that.”
“Don’t you?”
Ann whirled at the masculine voice behind her. Drew’s presence dominated the doorway. He stood with his left shoulder propped against the door frame while he held a huge bouquet of apricot roses in his right hand. The gleaming white walls accentuated the dark gray of his suit, the deep bronze of his skin, the vibrant blue of his eyes. Ann’s hand fluttered to her throat in dismay.
“Drew! How wonderful to see you!” Donna exclaimed, ignoring the long, silent exchange between Drew and Ann. “Are those for me? Aren’t you sweet!”
For one brief second, Ann thought Drew looked slightly taken aback. Then he grinned, making her stomach somersault with excitement, as he crossed the room and handed the flowers to Donna. “Of course, they’re for you. How are you feeling?”
“Oh, I’m fine. I’ll be out of here in the morning. First baby jitters, the doctor called it. Wasn’t it nice of Ann to stay and keep me company?”
“Very nice,” Drew said, letting his gaze slide to Ann, telling her with the slight tilt of his brow that he knew exactly why she had stayed. His eyes reflected a subtle warning as if to say, “See? I told you I’d come looking for you.”
“It was a little more than jitters,” Ann murmured, contritely lowering her eyes. “You were having contractions.”
“I know,” Donna agreed, the sparkle in her eyes displaced by worry. “I was scared. This baby means so much to both Wayne and me, I don’t know what he would do if anything happened.”
“Ann said Wayne’s out of town. Have you called him?” Drew asked softly.
Donna bit her lip as the furrows in her brow deepened. “No. I didn’t see any need to worry him. I know he’d drive right back home, and then I’d be worried about him on the road worrying about me.”
“Call him,” Drew said, his tone quietly insistent.
“He’ll want to know.”
He exchanged a careful glance with Ann, and she knew immediately what he was thinking because she was thinking it herself. The night Aiden had lost her baby, Drew had been out of town. He’d been in Dallas interviewing for the job with Braeden Industries. He hadn’t known about the miscarriage until he got back to their apartment in Austin a few days later. No one had known until Aiden had called her father in near hysterics, and Adam in turn had called Ann. But several days had passed before Ann could bring herself to call her sister.
At the time, she had been so consumed by her own jealousy and guilt, Ann hadn’t stopped to consider how Drew must have felt. Aiden had told her on the phone the baby had been a boy. Drew’s son. He would be almost ten years old now....
She lifted her eyes to meet Drew’s steady gaze, and it shook her to realize what she was feeling for him was compassion. Her knees trembled with the revelation because that one tender emotion paved the way for a thousand more stampeding over her, faster and stronger than the barricade she fervently kept trying to rebuild.
“Maybe you’re right,” Donna was saying slowly, drawing Drew’s reluctant gaze. “I didn’t think about it that way, but I probably should call him.” She caught his hand and held it tightly in both of hers for a moment. “Thanks, Drew.”
“For what? Not minding my own business?” he said with a grin.
“For still being such a good friend after all these years,” Donna said warmly. “You haven’t changed, you know.”
“I have and I haven’t,” he said with a small, enigmatic smile as he turned toward Ann. “I wonder if you’d mind walking out with me, Ann? There’s something I’d like to discuss with you before I hit the road.”
Ann threw a distress signal to Donna, who summarily ignored it with a wave of her hand. “Go ahead. I want to call Wayne anyway.”
She could hardly refuse, especially considering Donna was already dialing the phone. With a curt nod, she walked out of the room ahead of him.
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