Young Annabelle Series: Young Annabelle, the Truth About James, What My Heart Wants (2 page)

That was not going to happen.

“James,” I replied, emotionless.

The smile quickly evaporated into a scowl. He grabbed his backpack and gracefully pushed himself off the ledge on to the patio.

“Where’s my morning kiss, Fireball?” James demanded, taking long strides and coming to a stop right in front of me.

I stood still. This guy was going to get nothing from me.

How about NO!

Before I had a chance to say anything, his arms wrapped around my waist and I was lifted off the patio. His warm, plump lips crashed down onto mine, kissing me passionately with an open mouth. His strong fingers dug into my waist, pulling me tighter into his heated embrace.

I couldn’t breathe.

I couldn’t think.

How the hell was I going to get myself out of it this?

CHAPTER 2

August 1
st
, 2012 – 6 weeks earlier

“ANNABELLE!” Mom screamed from the kitchen as I opened the front door to leave.

“What?” I yelled, facing
the kitchen.

Mom came runni
ng out with a purple lunch box I remembered using when I was eight.

UGH! Great…

“You forgot your lunch, sweetie,” She told me breathlessly.

Sweetie?

“Yeah okay, thanks Mom,” I muttered, glancing at the floor to hide my disappointment. I didn’t forget my lunch, but I’d hoped Mom would have. I wanted to buy food from work today.

“Don’t forget to eat the snacks I packed during each of your fifteen-minute breaks, okay? We have to follow the plan properly, just like the nutritionist said, or else we’re not going
to get those amazing results,” She pressed annoyingly after pushing the lunchbox into my bag.

I took a moment to suppress my volatile emotions.
Mom and her ‘amazing results’ could shove it.

“No worries, snacks during mi
ni breaks got it,” I assured, stepping outside.

“And the meal,” S
he continued, “you have to eat all of it, or else your body will go into shock from being so hungry_”

“Mom, I got it.
” I interrupted.

God she was annoying. I quickly slammed the door shut before she
had a chance to snap back at me for being rude.

“Annabelle!” I heard her yell through the door as I dashed to the woode
n gate that led to our backyard, grabbing my green and black bike from behind it.

I always rode my bike to work.
The feeling I’d get while riding down to work was exhilarating. It felt as if I was flying. If only that feeling could become a reality and I could be like E.T. and fly away on my bike to a place where I felt safe and at home. I wanted to go to a place where I wouldn’t be reminded every second of every day that I needed to lose weight.

“Yo, Anna!”
A familiar voice called out.

I pushed down on my brakes and dropped my feet from the pedals, stopping the bike completely.

I gazed at the bottom of the hill I was about to soar down and saw Jenna waving her arm next to the bike docks at Royal Heights Country Club. We both worked there. I spent my days outside in the blazing heat, manning the lemonade stand next to the golf course, and she worked in air-conditioned bliss doing administration work at the reception desk. When we applied for positions here we’d hoped to get placed together, working at one of the stands they had outside.

That didn’t happen.

We were split up immediately. Not surprisingly, they put her on front desk reception. Jenna was beautiful and had a great body from swimming competitively all her life. I, on the other hand, was decent looking (totally cute according to Jenna) but my body was not slim, so they stuck me outside at the lemonade stand where I squeezed lemons all day, making thirst-quenching lemonade for rich people.

Speaking of rich people,
I’d better move it before I became late.

I pedaled forward and, as I hit the curve where I’d fly down, a shiny black SUV rolled beside me. I stalled for a few seconds to let it go down the hill first.

I liked space when I was on my hill.

When I flew, I did it alone and that meant no cars trailing beside me, ruining the one moment I looked forward to each time I went to work. The SUV took its chance and went rolling down the hill, cautious and slow. As soon as it rounded the corner, stopping in front of the valet stand, I glanced quickly behind me for any incoming cars.

No cars.

Check.

I pedaled forward and gravity did the rest. I sped down the hill at speeds that would have made even a fearless person scream. I didn’t scream. I hollered in ecstasy as I released my handlebars and held my arms out to dance against the wind as I soared.

Fly!

If I could have, I’d have closed my eyes too.

“Hold your brakes!” Jenna screamed as I came charging
towards her. I shook my head, laughing ‘menacingly’ at her.

“Damn it! Anna, brakes!” she pleaded as she dove out of the way.

I depressed my brakes a fraction and the bike slowed down a little. “Relax!” I teased Jenna as I came to a complete stop in front of an empty spot at the dock.

Jenna walked around
the dock as I got off my bike. “You almost crushed me!” She ‘cried’ as I bent down to lock up my bike.

“Almost,” I grinned. “But you’re still here, safe and sound.”

I straightened and shoved the key into my backpack’s front pocket. She scowled angrily at me, but it only lasted for two seconds before a wide grin broke out of her steel frown.

“Bitch,” she muttered
, linking her arm through mine, pulling me towards the employee entrance of the club.

“Scaredy cat,” I retorted.

Her shoulder bumped against mine, making me stumble.

“Hey!” I laughed as she continued to drag me. “I see you’re res
orting to physical violence now.”

“Just keeping you in line, buddy.” She gave me a knowing grin and laughed.

We rounded the corner, passing the valet stand. The employee entrance was tucked around the corner to the member entrance but, surprisingly, the bike dock was out front. Who else besides employees would ride a bike to a country club?

My eyes widened when I noticed the black SUV idling by the employee entrance. Usually that kind of car either utilized the valet or they were dropping off someone at the front entrance.

“What do you think that’s all about?” Jenna asked quietly. She, too, was perplexed at the sight of the expensive car back here.

“Don’t know,” I told her as we approached the door. I craned my neck to take one last look before going inside. The windows were tinted so I couldn’t see anything. I heard the car lock click and I quickly twisted back around. Jenna and I unlinked arms and went into the change room.

*~*~*

An hour and a half later
, I was back in the employee change room, opening the purple lunch box from my childhood.

My first break was only fifteen minutes. In this time I could use the bathroom, eat, socialize, rest or chill in the locker room. What I couldn’t do was buy food in the club’s restaurant because employees weren’t allowed in there. The stands that offered food outside had yet to open
. Mine was the only stand that opened early. Apparently it was never too early for freshly squeezed lemonade.

My stomach was growling and I knew that whatever mom had packed me wouldn’t even come close to satisfying the hunger pains.

“Just great!” I muttered quietly as I peered in at what I would unfortunately be faced with consuming.

Mom had given me a banana
. She was trying to be nutritious yet playful at the same time. I hadn’t been called ‘Anna Banana’ in a while and the feeling of Mom and Dad attempting the whole ‘we just want our baby girl to be healthy’ thing was rubbing me the wrong way. My parents, especially my mom didn’t do sweet and cuddly. They were in your face, rash, and to the point despite your feelings. At least that’s how it’d been for the last few years. But recently, I’d been getting a few ‘Sweetie’s’ and ‘Sweethearts’. It freaked me out if I was being honest.

Banana.
First break snack. Check.

For my second break, I pulled out a strawberry yogurt and turned it around so I could check the calories. Right under the nutritional information there was a red circle around total calories.

My mother’s antics were driving me mad. Why would she feel the need to circle the information? The only thing calming me down was the fact that the entire yogurt was only 80 calories. Perhaps that was why it was circled; Mom thought it was an indulgence and a healthy choice at
only
80 calories
.

Pssttt……LOOK….LOOK…LOOOOOK…..
at all the great diet choices I had….like this yogurt, which was only
80 calories
. Gee, if I just continued to make great choices like this, well, I bet I’d be losing MORE weight in no time!

THANKS MOM! YOU’RE THE BEST!

I threw the yogurt in the trash. I was making a statement. And that was….DON’T MARK MY FOOD. The banana stayed though. It wasn’t marked and I was hungry.

Plain and simple.

I glanced up at the clock. My break was almost over. I took out the banana and threw the lunch box back inside my locker. Half a minute later, the banana peel hit the trash and I was out the door. 

*~*~*

“You’re late,” Shelby, the snack stand supervisor, said as I returned to my stand that still had the ‘Be back in 15 minutes’ sign up.

I glanced down at my watch. I was
only thirty seconds late.

Those poor club members!

They had to wait a whole extra thirty seconds on top of the fifteen minutes I had for break. I was truly the most insensitive employee ever.

Not!

I glanced around, the lot was empty. My eyes circled back, catching the burn of Shelby’s impatient glare. I was sick of people giving me glares. What the hell did she want? Maybe I had cramps. Maybe they were really bad. I wondered what she’d say if I divulged a detail like that as my reason for being late.

I’m not late, so suck it!

But I wasn’t in the mood to start anything with her so I didn’t fight it. It wasn’t worth the second scowl she/he would give me, or the lengthy lecture about punctuality. And I was on my own today. The other girl, Denise, quit yesterday and they hadn’t had time to find a replacement to work alongside me.

“Sorry,” I said, watching her play with the papers on her cl
ipboard. She grabbed the pencil from behind her ear and circled something on the sheets.

“You’re training today.”

“I’m training?” I repeated.

“Yep,
got a newbie today. Young like you. Great, huh?” She tilted her head to the side, eyeing a guy lifting up a crate of lemons.

How did I not notice him there all this time?

“Yeah, that’s great,” I replied with sarcastic enthusiasm, watching the new guy carry the crate into the stand and set it on the table.

Shelby took that as an okay and left to bother one of the other snack stand operators.

I took down the break sign from the front of the stand. The new guy’s back was still to me. He was tall.

Maybe 6’1”… 6’2”…

“Hey,” he called out, jolting me out of my daze.

“Hey!” I practically shouted back. I instantly looked away, feeling embarrassed.

Great, I probably looked mental now.

I glanced at him briefly from the corner of my eye. His green eyes had widened at my volume and his expression read ‘Whoa, what was that?’

THAT WAS ANNABELLE!

Did I mention I love green?

Nervous butterflies began awakening in my lower stomach. I had made a hideous first impression. I used his stunned moment of taken aback-ness to quickly check him out.

He was definitely 6’2” now that I could fully see him – a sight I knew I’d be daydreaming about for days to come. Besides being the perfect amount of tall, his body was well-proportioned. His lean, muscled physique was evidenced by the way the club’s black and green polo fit him.

Tight…..but not too tight.

The curves on his arms, chest, and back took on a life of their own. You’d need a map to guide you around those roadblocks. Only in my wildest dreams would I ever be given the chance to try navigating my way around so much man.

Geez! Like I’d ever get that map……damn.

Did I mention his hair? He had really nice hair. A dark brown mop flowed at an a
ngle around his beautiful eyes, along the lines of Justin Bieber in his earlier days, but messier and way sexier.   

My fingers needed a play-date with that hair.

Snap out of it, creep!

I shook my head subtly. I did not need him thinking I was a head-twitcher too.

I entered the stand, the crate of fresh lemons in between us. “Sorry, I was just shocked they got someone so quickly,” I explained, dunking my hands into the mass of lemons.

He leaned forward, grabbing a lemon from the crate, tossing
it in the air with a quick flick of the wrist and catching it again with ease. “What happened to the other girl?”

“How’d you know it was a girl?” My eyes narrowed. A cocky smile broke out from his bored expression.

That didn’t take long…

“Simple,”
He replied, “I’ve never seen a guy work in a place like this. Unless he was a fruit.”

“Then why are you here? You’re a guy and this is a lemonade stand. We make fresh lemonade here. It’s very girly, obviously,” I told him, locking my arms across my chest.