Uncovering Annabelle (14 page)

Having that settled made her feel better.
She was just about to open her eyes when the atmosphere in the room
changed. She hadn’t heard a sound but knew she was no longer alone.
She’d become so in tune with Mike she knew it was him standing next
to her chair.

His warm breath feathered over her skin just
before his lips touched hers. The kiss was tender, his lips firm
and warm against hers. She yielded completely to his caress. He
took the unspoken invitation and deepened the kiss. Annabelle could
hear nothing but the deep and heavy sound of their breathing. She
could feel nothing but the warm press of his lips over hers. She
could taste only Mike, hot and masculine with a tinge of coffee. It
was heavenly.

A door slammed in the distance. Annabelle
jerked away and her gaze flew from Mike to her office door. It was
shut. She closed her eyes and sent up a prayer of thanks. When she
looked back at Mike, he was scowling.

“What’s wrong?” He certainly wasn’t looking
like a man who’d just enjoyed a kiss.

“Why would anything be wrong?” Mike leaned
against the corner of her desk, crossed his arms over his chest and
glared at her.

Annabelle wasn’t quite sure how to respond
to him. Could Mike be in a bad mood and still kiss her the way he
just had? “Did you have a good day? Did everything go all right on
the new job site?” She wanted to touch him, to reassure him that
everything was fine, but she didn’t feel that she had the right to
do so. Not with him glaring at her. She gripped the arms of her
chair to keep from reaching out.

Mike stared at her for a long moment, as if
he was looking for something in her face. Whatever he was searching
for, she wasn’t sure if he had found it or not. He unlocked his
arms from over his chest and gave a deep sigh. He rubbed his left
hand over the back of his neck. He looked tired.

Annabelle couldn’t resist the urge to soothe
him any longer. She reached out and took his right hand in hers.
She wanted to fix whatever was wrong, but not knowing what it was,
she did the only thing she could. She offered comfort instead.

“It’s been a long week. How about I cook us
supper and we relax?” Annabelle waited for his reply, unable to
believe she was being so bold, but her uncertainty had vanished. He
needed her, and if he wanted to be with her she wasn’t going to
waste a moment of their time together.

Mike’s lips tilted up at the corners until
he was smiling at her. Some of the fatigue and worry that had
plagued him only seconds before vanished. “I’d like that.” Raising
her fingers to his lips, he kissed them before releasing her. He
pushed away from her desk, dug into his front pocket and pulled out
a key. He dangled it from his fingers and held it out to her.

“What’s that?” She eyed the plain
silver-colored key with curiosity.

“Go ahead,” he encouraged.

She wrapped her fingers around the shiny
key. Mike seemed pleased when she took it. She closed her hand
around it, gripping it so tight the sharp edges dug into her hand.
This had to be a key to Mike’s house.

“I’ve got to go back to work for an hour or
so, but you can go out to the house when you’re ready.” His eyes
went dark and his voice was husky as he spoke. “Pack a bag for the
weekend.”

He seemed to be waiting for a reply so she
nodded her acceptance. “Okay,” she replied, swallowing back the
lump in her throat. She’d planned to make dinner at her place, but
Mike obviously had other ideas. And it was probably for the best.
His home was isolated. She lived in an apartment. There was more of
a chance of people seeing them together if they went to her
place.

Mike leaned down and kissed her again. It
was very different from the first one. This was a kiss of
possession. Mike devoured her, his mouth claiming hers. It felt as
though he was trying to brand her with his touch.

Throwing herself into the moment, she
wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back, making no
effort to hide the volatile emotions churning inside her. The hot
and carnal caress went on so long Annabelle began to get
light-headed.

She gripped him even tighter when he yanked
her out of her chair and banded his arms around her waist. She
clutched his hair in one hand to hold him close. He squeezed her so
hard she couldn’t take a breath. When he boldly thrust his tongue
into her mouth, she decided that breathing was overrated.

Mike was the one who finally found the
strength to tear himself away. “Later,” he gasped. “We’ll finish
this later.” He planted one last brief kiss on her lips before he
stormed out of her office. He flung the door wide with such force
it bounced off the wall before swinging shut again.

Annabelle stood glued to the spot. A pain
shot through her right hand. She looked down at her clenched fist,
the one that held the key Mike had given her. She forced her
fingers open until she could see the key in her palm. It was such a
small, relatively inexpensive item. But it meant so much. Mike
trusted her with the key to his home.

She warned herself not to read too much into
the gesture. They hadn’t been seeing one another for very long.
Things were still new and exciting, and their affair was private.
She had no idea how long their relationship would last, but she was
more hopeful than she’d been when it started.

Annabelle knew she was grinning like an
idiot but she couldn’t stop herself. She gave a little shriek and
spun around in a circle. She danced all the way to her purse and
carefully tucked her treasure inside. Mike was obviously in this
affair for the long term. She’d already known that he cared about
her. This was showing her just how much. It wasn’t a declaration of
love, but it was more than enough for now.

She practically floated back to her desk. In
less than ten minutes, she finished the last of the paperwork and
dealt with the remaining emails in her in-box. She spent another
five minutes making a list of the food and clothes she would need
for the next two days.

At exactly quitting time, she shut down her
computer, gathered her sweater and purse and left the office. She
turned off the lights and locked the door behind her.

Sedately, she walked out to the front desk
and informed her part-timer that she was leaving for the weekend.
As soon as the front door of the library closed behind her, she
hurried to her car. She had a lot to do and not much time in which
to do it.

Chapter
Nine

Mike was grateful to be home. The tension
headache he’d been fighting all day pounded against his skull like
a jackhammer. He put his truck in park, turned off the ignition and
rubbed his hands over his face. He stared at the house but made no
move to go inside.

It had been a long, frustrating week. The
closer he tried to get to Annabelle the more she pulled away. Not
physically. No, physically she gave him everything he could ever
want. She was completely uninhibited in their lovemaking. He had no
complaints in that department.

But emotionally—well, that was another
matter altogether.

When they were alone, Annabelle was a warm,
giving woman. She was constantly touching him, small caring
gestures, like stroking his hand or playing with his hair. He
didn’t think she was aware of her actions half the time. But
unconscious or not, Annabelle showed her emotions in a physical
manner. She gave of her affection generously and without
thought.

When they were in public, everything was
different. Annabelle treated him with an offhanded courtesy that
made him grind his teeth until his head ached. She acted as if they
were no more than acquaintances who barely knew each other. She
smiled and chatted but she held herself physically separate from
him. And it hurt. He wanted so much more from her than a great time
in bed.

He laughed, but the sound held no humor.
Mike was well aware of the fact that most of his single male
buddies would think he was out of his mind. After all, he had a
beautiful, giving, sensual woman who wanted a hot affair with no
strings attached. Most men would get down on their knees and give
thanks.

But Annabelle wasn’t just any woman. She was
special, and he was greedy. He wanted it all.

Mike prided himself on his patience, but he
freely admitted he was quickly reaching the end of his rope with
Annabelle. He had no idea why she insisted on keeping their
relationship a secret.

It had occurred to him that she might be
ashamed to be seen with him. After all, he was a rough-looking,
hardworking man. He could wear a suit when need be, but he was more
at home on a construction site. Annabelle Lee Murphy, on the other
hand, was every inch a lady. But he’d quickly dismissed that
thought after spending time with her. She was such a down-to-earth,
caring person, and she held nothing of herself back from him when
they were alone together.

He knew she was a private person. He could
understand not wanting people in your business, but she took it to
a whole other level.

Yes, he knew she lacked confidence in
herself as a woman, but he’d hoped that everything he’d said and
done would have reassured her he was serious about her, about
them.

Whatever her reason, he hoped that her
reservations and her need for secrecy would be gone soon. It had
only been a week, but already he was tired of skulking around. He
wanted everyone to know that this lady was his. Mike admitted that
the situation left him feeling insecure. He didn’t like it and,
damn it, he was going to change it.

Filled with a new determination, Mike
collected the items perched on the other seat and climbed out of
the truck. Using his hip, he slammed the door shut. He was suddenly
in a hurry to get inside.

Before he could put his key in the lock the
door opened in front of him, as if by magic. Annabelle stood there
looking so beautiful it made his heart ache. She had a warm,
welcoming smile on her face. For the first time since he’d moved
into his house, it really felt like he was coming home.

He kept moving forward until Annabelle was
forced to back up into the house. The smile fell from her face and
she bit her bottom lip. Mike dropped his parcels on the hall table
and shoved the door shut. It closed with a solid bang and he turned
the lock. He didn’t want the outside world to intrude upon
them.

“Is everything all right?” Annabelle’s voice
held concern and her beautiful blue eyes were filled with
worry.

Mike moved forward, wrapped her in his arms
and simply held her. Her body melted against his. The tension of
the week slipped away now that they were alone together and she was
in his arms.

Spending their nights apart during the
workweek had been hell. He often found himself rolling over in the
middle of the night looking for her, missing her lying next to him.
He would never admit it out loud, but he loved the way she cuddled
into him when they slept. It made him feel as if he belonged.

“It is now,” Mike murmured in her ear. He
relaxed even more when she slipped her arms around his waist and
hugged him. Contentment filled him. This is what Annabelle did to
him, what she gave him.

“I made supper.” Annabelle slowly tugged
away from his embrace, and reluctantly he let her go. “I hope
you’ll like it.”

Mike placed a single finger on her lips.
“I’m not picky, I like just about anything.” Leaning down, he
kissed her, just a brief taste. “Besides, I’ll never say no to a
meal cooked by you.”

Keeping one hand on her waist, he snagged
the parcels with the other and herded her toward the kitchen. She
walked easily beside him, fitting perfectly next to him. He
deposited the bags on the kitchen counter and began emptying the
contents for her inspection.

“I didn’t know what you were making for
supper, but I figured this bottle of white wine would go with just
about anything.” Mike handed her the bottle and reached back into
the bag.

“It’ll go great with the chicken and
potatoes I’ve got baking in the oven.” Annabelle rummaged around in
the kitchen drawers until she found a corkscrew. She pulled down a
couple of wineglasses from the cabinet and carried all of it to the
table. “You can open the wine when you’re ready.”

“This is for you. For dessert.” Mike
produced the container with a flourish.

“Chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream.
Mmm.” The look Annabelle gave him was almost sensual. “It’s my
favorite.”

“I know.” He’d also had to make two stops on
the way home to find the kind she liked. It was worth the effort
when she gifted him with a soft smile and kissed him on the
cheek.

“Thank you.” Her voice was a whisper against
his skin. He wanted to drag her into his arms and up to bed, but he
held himself back. That would come later.

“Have I got time for a shower?” He really
needed a cold shower to get a grip on himself. And besides that, he
definitely smelled as if he’d been working on a construction site
in the sun all day long. He smelled ripe.

She gave him another of her seductive
smiles. “You’ve got plenty of time.”

Taking her at her word, he went upstairs,
pulling off his dirty clothes as he went. A sense of satisfaction
washed over him when he noticed a flowered tote bag sitting on the
chair in his bedroom. Annabelle was his for the weekend. It didn’t
escape him that his tension headache was almost totally gone now
that he was home and Annabelle was with him.

He hurried into the bathroom and took the
quickest, coldest shower he could stand. He soaped, scrubbed and
rinsed in record time. He turned off the water and sluiced the
water out of his face before snagging a towel off the shelf.

As he wrapped it around his waist, he
inspected his face in the mirror. He was definitely sporting a
shadow. He could use a shave but decided against it. He could
always do it later. Annabelle was waiting supper on him.