A Million Kisses or More (11 page)

“What branch?” she asked.

“Army,” he answered. “I joined when Carrie found out she was pregnant because it was training and an income. Not too bad for an eighteen-year-old kid with an unexpected baby on the way. Carrie hated it.”

“Where does she live now?”

He smiled, “Minneapolis. She prefers the city life to this.”

“So living here, you’re close enough for your ex to visit,” Ana said softly, her eyes uncertain as if she was silently asking him if there was anything still between him and his ex.

“And far enough away to discourage any visits,” he said, seeing the immediate relief in her expressive face. He shouldn’t be encouraging her. “We’re much better off as exes than we were as a couple.”

“Were you the crazy one or was she?” she asked.

He chuckled, “At the time, I think we were both a little crazy.”

“But obviously you’re a little less crazy since you have Jolie.”

“Perhaps,” he answered, not wanting to admit how terrified he had been when Carrie decided she no longer wanted to be a wife and mother and had taken off in the middle of the night while he was still in the army. But he had no regrets now because Jolie was the most precious thing in the world to him, and to his parents. “When we first moved back up here, we lived in an apartment in town but then this house went up for sale last year and I jumped on it. I wanted someplace safe and spacious to raise my daughter.”

“And yet you showed up with your gun drawn because you were afraid something might have happened to me?” she asked with a wry smile. She reached across to put her hand on his arm but then hesitated, drawing her hand away before she touched him. At least she was trying to keep her end of the bargain, though he wouldn’t have minded a soft touch.

“It wasn’t my gun,” he corrected her, his heart picking up its pace in his chest. He should have known she was perfectly safe in this house but a part of him, a large part of him, had wanted to see her. That’s why it was so easy to believe the absurd fantasy that she was in danger. If a part of him wanted to be Justice coming to her rescue… well, he wasn’t going to think about that. “It was my Taser.”

“Being jolted by a million volts makes me feel so much better,” she said, rolling her eyes even as she grinned at him.

“I wouldn’t have used it on you.” Her smile was contagious and he found himself smiling back.

“If there had been a burglar in my house, I think I would have preferred you drew your gun.”

“I’ll have to remember that.”

“Of course, if you really want an excuse to see me, all you have to do is come on over,” she said. “It’s not like I’d slam the door in your face.”

Ignoring her tempting offer, thinking about the sexy southern drawl, he asked, “Where are you from?”

She smiled at him, aware of his blatant evasion. “All over. When I was young, my mom and I travelled a lot for her business, though I usually spent my summers with my aunt and uncle or my grandparents. I’ve been living in Savannah with my grandparents since I was fourteen so I guess that’s where I’m from.”

“So you drove here from Georgia?”

“I did,” she answered with a slight smile.

That seemed like a lot of driving but just to quench his curiosity, he asked, “And you’ll be driving out to California?”

“Yes.”

“Haven’t you ever heard of flying?”

She laughed. God, he loved her laugh. “I hate flying.”

“A lot of people have a fear of flying….”

“I don’t fear it, not exactly,” she said. Pursing her lips, she started to explain, “When I was younger, my mom and I flew everywhere. Whenever it got a little bumpy, she’d wrap her arms around me until it was over. The first time I flew solo, the turbulence was so bad it felt as if the plane was being torn apart. In my mind, it was a warning.”

Tilting his head to the side, he asked, “How so?”

“I had basically told my mother to go to Hell and then I told her that I was going to live with my grandparents. She didn’t stop me even though I saw the hurt and longing in her eyes,” she said flatly. He could see the pain in her eyes and he wanted to know more but she didn’t know him well enough yet. Maybe someday he would learn her secrets. With a casual shrug, she continued, “I figure the next time I fly, the plane will go down. That’s why I drive whenever I can. It’s… less risky. And, yes, I know the statistics but they don’t seem to matter.”

There was a hint of laughter in her voice so he smiled as he said, “You poor thing.”

She grinned back as she said, “Yeah, well, it was the first time I really threw a temper tantrum and I made the most of it.”

He chuckled, glad to see the hurt receding even though he still had a million more questions. Still smiling, he asked, “Well, what about your dad?”

As her lashes lowered, he wished he would have kept the question to himself even though he was interested in hearing the answer. Though he could hear the strain in her voice, see it in the set of her shoulders. she answered breezily, “He’s not in the picture.”

Even though it was none of his business, he asked, “Why not?”

She huffed out a wry laugh, “It’s funny you should ask. He’s the reason I threw my temper tantrum.”

This was too interesting to ignore, so he silently encouraged her to continue. Making a face at him, she did after a moment. “My mom was an aspiring actress and while she was pretty enough to get parts in music videos, she couldn’t act to save her life, which is funny since all she does is act. Anyway, I was the result of a fling with some guy she met during one of these shoots, she’s just not sure which one.”

“Your mother actually told you that?” At her nod, he winced in sympathy, “Ouch.”

“It wasn’t something any fourteen-year-old wanted to hear about her parents,” Ana said with a self-deprecating sound. “Especially since I wanted my parents’ love story to be a grand, tragically beautiful love affair, like she couldn’t be with him because he gave his last breath protecting her or he was some fantastically wealthy prince of a foreign land and he couldn’t marry her because she was just a commoner and she couldn’t stay with him because she couldn’t bear to watch him marry someone else. Apparently, I read way too many gothic romance novels growing up.”

“Poor Ana,” he murmured.

“It seemed a lot worse when I was younger,” she admitted with a mocking grin.

“You must have gotten your looks from her,” he said, because the girl sitting in front of him was fast becoming the prettiest woman he had ever seen.

She snorted, “I look nothing like my mom, except for my hair.” Grabbing her braid, she held it up and grimaced, though he thought it was beautiful. “Strawberry blond. Mom has these intense amber eyes that can just look into a person’s soul. She’s elegant and fashionable and glamorous and I’m just me, a jeans and t-shirt kind of girl.”

“You’re beautiful,” he blurted, briefly wondering if she was strawberry blond all over or if she preferred no hair between her slender thighs. Both held their appeal because that meant he was with her while she was naked. He shifted slightly to make room for his surging erection, hoping he wasn’t too obvious.

Going. To. Hell.

A rosy blush stole over her cheeks and with her red hair, she turned red all over. “Thanks. Anyway, I figure I must take after my father.”

“Then he must be a very pretty man,” he teased, wanting to see that smile again.

She stared at him a moment and then tilted her head back and laughed, the sound doing strange and wonderful things to his insides. He was so screwed. Why couldn’t she be a few years older or maybe a little less appealing? God, if he didn’t have to work, he’d stay there all night and just talk with her, which was infinitely more dangerous than just fucking her and being done with it. He genuinely liked her.

Leaning back in his chair, he let out a long sigh, “I should probably let you get back to sleep. I do have streets to patrol and keep safe, after all.”

“Um, did you by any chance pick up the copy of Justice that I threw at you?” she asked, chewing on that lower lip of hers.

“I did,” he said, his gaze focused on that tender flesh, wanting to be the one biting her lip. “Why?”

“Could I maybe have it back?” she asked, almost shyly.

“No,” he said. At her wounded gasp, he grinned at her, “I’ll give you your own copy, Ana, one that isn’t a proof. I should be getting them any day now.”

Her tongue smoothed over her abused lip as she looked up at him through her lashes and asked, “Will you sign it for me?”

“I’ll give you a copy of all of my books and sign each and every one of them if it would make you happy.”

She squealed as she flew off her seat and around the table. In the next moment, she was straddling his lap, her arms were around his neck, her breasts were pressed against his chest, and she was hugging him before he had time to think. Automatically, he put his arms around her, hugging her and holding her tight. It took all of the strength he possessed to stand up, let her go, and take a step away from her. But he didn’t move far enough away as she stood up on her toes and kissed him again. Having had her on his lap, in his arms, his resolve was utterly destroyed. He grabbed the back of her head and held her in place as he gave in to temptation.

Her lips parted on a sigh and he stole into her mouth, tasting her sweetness and wanting to devour her whole. Sliding his other arm around her waist, he pulled her to him until her body was flushed against his. The lush softness of her breasts pressed against his chest and all of his honorable intentions were shredded. Her slender arms wrapped around his waist as she held onto him and he realized he could kiss her for the rest of the night.

Hell, he could kiss her for the rest of his life.

He was going to go to Hell for kissing her.

Tearing his lips away from her, he rested his forehead against hers and tried to dredge up some regret. The only regret he found was the regret that he wasn’t still kissing her. Her panted breath was hot against his lips and he knew it would be so easy to simply kiss her again.

“I think I could kiss you all night,” she panted, her body fluid against his. Tilting her head back, she murmured, “I could kiss you a million times or more and it wouldn’t be enough.”

Unable to disagree with her, he kept his mouth shut, silently vowing that he would keep his hands to himself the next time he saw her. Or better yet, he wouldn’t put himself in a position where he was alone with her. Holding her until she was steady on her own feet, he stepped away from her and cleared his throat, “I really have to go. My break ended about five minutes ago.”

“Oops,” she offered with a guilty smile. “I’ll see you later?”

“Yes,” he said, grimacing because he really shouldn’t be so excited about the prospect. “Goodbye, Ana.”

He started to head towards the door when she cried out, “Wait!”

Stopping in his track, he looked over his shoulder at her and raised his eyebrow in silent question. She gave him a sheepish smile as she nodded toward the stairs, “Can you shut my window first?”

“Will you promise to remain in the hallway?” he asked, knowing how frayed his restraint was.

She laughed at him as she started walking towards the stairs, looping her arm through his along the way. “I promise. And I also promise that I won’t open it again to throw another book at you.”

Chapter 5

The pounding on her front door and the incessant ringing of her doorbell Friday night had Ana scrambling off the kitchen stool to get up and answer it, wondering what had happened to Harrison and why he felt the need to make so much noise. She didn’t bother to wonder how she knew it was Harrison and not anyone else. In the thirty seconds it took to reach the door, she imagined a million scenarios, from Harrison needing a cup of sugar for a cake he was baking to him cutting his hand off in a freak printer related accident. There were only a few that ended with him taking her into his arms and kissing her mindless but those were the least probable because he wouldn’t be pounding so frantically if all he wanted to do was kiss her.

With her heart in her throat, she pulled the door open as Harrison was about to knock again. Seeing his desperate look, she felt her stomach drop and she whispered, “What’s wrong?”

“Thank god you’re home,” he panted, leaning against the doorway as if he had run a marathon rather than ran across the road. He was wearing his uniform and looked sexy as can be, which bothered Ana that she could notice how attractive he was when he was in obvious distress. “Jolie’s mom was supposed to be here this weekend but she cancelled at the last minute
and my parents aren’t able to watch her tonight and I was wondering….”

“Sure,” she said before he could even finish asking, her heart stuttering back into a normal rhythm. The guilt she was feeling just moments before for finding him hot dissipated because it wasn’t a dire emergency; he just needed a babysitter. “Do you want me to come over there or do you want her to stay here?”

He looked stunned by the question as his lips parted to answer but no sound came out. Taking pity on the poor, gorgeous man, she said, “She can stay here. I’ll make up the guest room and everything.”

“You’re a life saver.” His sigh of relief was a thing of beauty and if she wasn’t mistaken, he took a step to hug her but stopped himself at the last minute. Not one to let the opportunity pass, she closed the distance between them and hugged him. She smiled as his arms fluttered uselessly by his sides before he gave in and hugged her back. Despite his reluctance to hug her, he hugged her as if he didn’t want to let her go. Still, his voice was weary when he groaned, “Ana.”

“It’s a simple hug,” she said, releasing him and taking a step back.

“Things are never simple when it comes to you,” he rasped. Before she could respond, he said, “I’m just going to get Jolie. Thank you for doing this for me,”

“Any time,” she murmured to his back, wondering if she should let him know she was older than eighteen. In the five days since Harrison unexpectedly showed up in her bedroom in the middle of the night, she had hardly spent any time with him. It wouldn’t have been so bad except she knew he was desperately trying to avoid her. It was frustrating and hilarious and wonderful all at once because that meant he liked her. So she made a point of flirting shamelessly whenever she
did
see him.