A Million Kisses or More (9 page)

Stopping in the kitchen so Harrison could set the soup down, he looked at her and gave her a boyish grin that had her grinning in return, though she had no idea why they were smiling at one another like a couple of fools. Lifting the lid, he took a deep breath and Ana swore his eyes rolled up in pleasure, “Lord, that smells good.”

“Thank you,” she beamed, pleased by his response. Goodness knows she had made soup for plenty of people but Harrison’s appreciation was so much more… gratifying.

“You made this?” he asked, looking at her. At her nod, he reached up and grabbed a bowl from the cupboard. “My stomach is probably going to rebel but there is no way I am going to put this away without trying it first.”

“I don’t want you to get sick,” she protested as he ladled some into his bowl.

Bringing the bowl up to his nose, he inhaled deeply again and sighed, “If it tastes anywhere near as good as it smells, I might eat the whole thing myself.”

“It’s really good reheated,” she promised, watching him as he took a spoonful and put it between his lips, unable to tear her eyes away. Moisture glistened on his flesh and she wanted to lick it away. But then he moaned and her knees went weak. He took such pleasure in eating, she could almost imagine how carnal he’d be in the bedroom.

“Oh, god, that’s good,” he groaned, taking another spoonful before holding out his hand and leading her out to the dining room where Jolie was still eating her pizza.

The little girl’s eyes lit up when she saw Ana and she came out from behind the table, coming over and giving Ana a hug. “Hi! Did you come over to discuss my costume?”

Returning the hug, feeling a little less awkward and self-conscious by the action, she shook her head, “Actually, I brought soup but your father tells me you’ve already eaten or in your case, still eating. But we can discuss your outfit after you finish.”

Jolie slid her little hand into Ana’s and dragged her over to the table. Even though it was strange to be holding a child’s hand, it was a good strange and Ana decided she liked it. “Daddy gave me a few of his old shirts so I don’t have to cut up any of my clothes and I was thinking that we could start work on them tonight, if daddy says it’s okay.”

Jolie sat down, still talking a mile a minute, and Ana looked up to see Harrison watching his little girl with such love in his eyes she fell a little bit in love with him. He looked up and caught her staring at him and there was nothing in this world or the next that could have made her look away. Seeing the longing and hopelessness in his chocolate eyes, she almost relented and told him she wasn’t as young as he thought she was. But what she told Maris was true: she was a little bit afraid of the powerful attraction. Lying about her age, at least for a little while longer, kept her safe from her own rampaging desire because she knew Harrison wouldn’t act on it no matter how hard she pushed.

Also, she wasn’t the type of girl to jump a guy a few days after meeting him, no matter how attracted she was to him. Hell, she wasn’t the type to jump a guy period, except no man had ever been as tempting as Harrison Miller, AKA Harris Fallen. He snuck in before she had ever even met him.

Clearing his throat, he looked away, putting a damper on the connection that twined them together. Smiling at his daughter, he said, “Why don’t we wait until this weekend to destroy my old shirts, sweetie. Miss Ana might have plans tonight.”

Ana opened her mouth to let them know that she was free but he glanced at her, warning her not to say anything with a look. Snapping her mouth closed, she saw the smile play at his lips before he turned back to a disappointed Jolie.

“But, daddy….”

“Sweetheart,” he consoled, brushing his large hand over her fine hair. “Do you plan on getting really messy?”

“Yes,” Jolie said with a little smile, dimples peeking out on her cheeks, too.

“Well, it’s almost time to head over to your grandparents’. You’d only have half an hour before you’d have to take a shower so you don’t show up looking like a little ragamuffin,” he continued, his daughter watching him with such earnestness on her little face. “Don’t you think it would be better to get messy on the weekend and spend more time working on your costume?”

The smile that spread across Jolie’s face was beautiful, pure and sweet, and it made Ana press a hand against her heart. She was too overcome with emotion to eat, even when Harrison slid a slice of pizza over to her. Was this what it was like to have a father? No, not always. She had friends whose fathers were the complete opposite of Harrison, if they were there at all. Harrison was truly special and if she wasn’t careful, she’d forget all about her carefully orchestrated life and be content to simply be his.

No, she couldn’t give up her internship at Madd, no matter how wonderful Harrison was. She couldn’t afford to pay back the scholarship that was contingent upon agreeing to the internship. Plus, there would always be that question in the back of her mind of what could have been and if everything fell apart, she’d blame him for stealing her dreams when she had been the one who had given them up, even if she was still trying to figure out what her dreams were. God, she was getting so far ahead of herself, it was absurd. They hadn’t even had a date and she was planning their break up. Why did the thought of breaking up with him hurt so much? They weren’t even together.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to put everything in perspective. She had two and a half months and then she was going to be heading out to California for a year. A year wasn’t so long in the grand scheme of things and maybe the space would make things clearer. Her feelings for him were a little jumbled because he was Harris Fallen and because he had saved her from the cat’s evilness. But even without all of that stuff, she’d be attracted to him. She just wasn’t sure if the attraction would be so all consuming to the point of making her insane and irrational.

Again, she was getting ahead of herself. It was almost as if she knew Harrison was a part of her future, which was just as absurd as how far ahead of herself she was getting. Then why was it so easy to imagine being a part of Harrison’s and Jolie’s lives? Studying them across the table, the way they interacted so easily, the way Harrison was firm but loving, she realized how easy it would be to fall into this life.

She also realized that she was intruding upon their time together and she really didn’t have the right. How selfish was she being because she didn’t want to be alone?

“I should probably go,” she said, standing up. Both Jolie and Harrison looked at her in surprise. Offering a sheepish smile, she tried to come up with some reason why she couldn’t stay and came up blank. Offering a lame excuse, she said, “I’ve got to feed the cat.”

Harrison snorted but quickly erased whatever expression he wore so when she looked at him, he looked perfectly innocent. Standing up, he murmured, “I’ll walk you to the door.”

“Are you afraid I’ll sneak off and disappear somewhere in your house if I see myself out?” she teased, trying to ignore the way her heart perked up at the idea of having a few more moments with him.

“Not at all,” he said easily. Bending down, he pressed a kiss to the top of Jolie’s head and told her, “I’ll be right back.”

The little girl gave him such a knowing look, Ana was taken aback. Were all children so perceptive? God, what was she getting herself into? If she was wise, she’d call her aunt up and tell her that she couldn’t watch her demon cat any longer and then she’d drive out to California early. Everything within her rebelled at the idea, from her roiling tummy to her raging heart, and she knew she would stay come hell or high water. Keeping her smile plastered in place, she let Harrison lead her back to the front door.

“Oh!” she managed, remembering that there
had
been a purpose to invading his dinner. Stopping just before he opened the door, she faced him and said, “I didn’t know you were Dan’s brother.”

A strange look came over his face as he crossed his arms over his broad chest. “I didn’t know you knew my brother.”

“I’ve known him for years. He’s really grown up well, hasn’t he?” she said, waving her hand through the air as her heart continued to dance in her chest. A part of her was chastising herself for not saying anything about Asher but she didn’t want to talk about him, especially not with Harrison. “I worked at Jesters the last summer I was here and we hung out occasionally. I even met your sister and your other brother but I never saw you. Why didn’t I ever see you?”

A muscle ticked in his jaw as he stared daggers at her and she wanted to pirouette in glee because he was
jealous
. She was so going to Hell for tormenting this poor man. “I actually have to work for a living so I didn’t have time to hang out with a bunch of children.”

She snorted, the sound so embarrassing she hoped he didn’t hear it. “That’s what your brother said. However, I think we would have gotten along famously if we had met the last time I was here.”

Shards of ice were now shooting from his chocolaty brown eyes and all she could think about was how nice it would be to drink hot chocolate with him in front of a roaring fire, no clothes necessary. “I would have been thrown in jail so fast for just looking at you, Ana. That is if I survived your uncle’s fists.”

She simply smiled at him before going up on her toes and pressing another kiss against his lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As she let herself out the door, she looked back to find him still staring at her with a bewildered look coming over his handsome face. Whatever the future held, she’d steal as many kisses as she could and take as much time as she was given.

*****

Driving around in the squad car later that night, Harrison couldn’t stop thinking about Ana. She was far too dangerous to his peace of mind. In fact, since he met her, she had been occupying too many of his thoughts. He kept replaying her kisses, two of them now, wishing he would have grabbed her and kissed her back. The softness of her lips lingered long after the kissed and he wanted more. If only he were a few years younger and had a little less life experience, he would chase after Ana so fast, her head would spin. But he had to consider how a relationship with her would affect his daughter, no matter how much Jolie seemed to love the vivacious young woman.

It didn’t help that she was making her way into his books and Justice had no qualms about seducing the tempting Ana… er, Mercy. All of the sexual frustration that had been building up within him since Ana came into his life was finding its way into his work and he was writing some of the best sex scenes of his career. If he let Ana read what he had written so far, she’d run so far and so fast he’d never be able to catch her.

Or maybe she’d look at him with those amazing green eyes of hers and let him act out some of those fantasies.

Slamming his hand down on the steering wheel, cursing a blue streak, he couldn’t believe how carried away he was getting. She was just a teenager with her whole life ahead of her and she was strictly off limits to him. Still, she was out in the house all by herself, surrounded by acres of woods and wildlife. What if she locked herself out again and she was waiting for him to get off work to let her back in? What if a wild animal found her frozen half to death and decided she’d make easy prey?

He tried to ignore the unease roiling in his gut but he couldn’t stop picturing her huddled and frozen. It was nearly two in the morning and it would be five more hours before he got off work, assuming he didn’t have a ton of paperwork to fill out. It was even colder at night and the poor girl was probably wearing some silky robe with hardly anything on underneath. Wasn’t it his duty to serve and protect?

Picking up the radio, he called dispatch to let him know he was going to head home and take a few minutes for his break. Then he turned on his lights and sirens and sped back to her, not caring how stupid he was acting. Since it was Thursday morning, there was no traffic so he made it to their isolated neighborhood in hardly any time at all. Cutting the lights and sirens before he turned onto the quiet street on which they lived, he inched forward, searching the darkness for a small woman.

When he didn’t find her, he pulled into her driveway, his heart clenching when he saw how dark her house was. Didn’t Helen and James always leave the porch light on? Putting the car into park and killing the engine, he got out and slowly made his way to her front door, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. Keeping his eye on the wilderness, he knocked on the door and called out, “Ana?”

When she didn’t answer right away, he knocked louder, trying the handle and cursing when it opened. The fool girl didn’t lock the door. Even in the darkness, it was apparent that the living room had been torn apart and his heart lurched in his chest. Had someone broken in to her house? Were they still there?

Adrenaline pumped through his veins at the thought of someone hurting her. If she wasn’t alone, if she was involved in some sort of hostage situation, he didn’t want to risk injuring her so he pulled out his Taser. Creeping up the stairs to her bedroom, knowing which one it was from the morning she threw his book at him, he listened for anything that sounded wrong. But the only things he heard were the creaks and groans of an old house. Softly, he whispered, “Ana?”

When he reached her room, he pushed the door open and stepped inside and nearly died when he realized she wasn’t on the bed. Had she been taken? God, he’d tear the world apart to bring her back home. He opened his mouth to call her name but the words never came out because a soft object was slammed against his midriff with a whoomf. “Oof. What the hell, Ana?”

“Harrison?” she asked incredulously, flipping on the light switch and flooding the room with light. She stood right in front of him wearing those silky shorts and camisole top, only in light purple this time, and he nearly swallowed his tongue. Her hair was braided, the length falling over her shoulder, and she was absolutely beautiful. And the way she said his name, calling him Harrison instead of Harry or even Harris, made him want to howl at the moon. “What on earth are you doing here?”