20. Chapter Twenty
MATT
Matt waited, wondering if Anna would answer. He didn’t know what had made him tell her all that, but she didn’t seem to mind the word vomit. She’d even seemed to relax there for a few moments.
That changed as soon as he’d turned the tables. Her shields were back up, though she tried to shrug it off.
She picked at the remains of her sub. “A job. But it didn’t work out.”
“What happened?” He knew, of course, but he wanted to hear her version of things.
She shrugged. “I had some trouble getting here, and I missed my start date. They gave the job to someone else.”
“That sucks.”
“That’s what I thought at first, too, but everything worked out. Working for Mrs. Campbell is a better job than I would have had there.”
“How did that happen? Getting the job with Mrs. C, I mean.”
“Serendipity, I guess,” she said with a small smile. “Right place, right time.”
“Destiny, huh?”
She gave a little laugh. “I suppose so.”
“What, even after me telling you about croies, you don’t believe in destiny?”
Something changed. It was subtle, but it was there. A shadow passing over her features. A sudden chill in the air.
“I prefer to think we have some control over what happens in our lives. If not, then what’s the point?”
For a moment, he had the sense that he was seeing the real Anna. The raw, uncut version beneath the carefully guarded exterior. Something, maybe several things, had happened to put that haunted look in her eyes. She shuttered it before he had a chance to grasp it.
“Where were you before this?”
“I moved around a lot,” she said vaguely. “I was in Florida for a while. Then Kansas. Ohio. South Carolina.”
So far, everything she’d said corroborated with what Ian had found, which he took as a good sign.
“No desire to stay in one place?”
She offered him a sad smile. “Being a personal caregiver to the elderly isn’t typically a long-term position. When they move on, so do I.”
“I think Mrs. C might challenge that.”
“I hope she does,” Anna said with no trace of insincerity.
“So, where are you from originally?”
Anna reached for her drink and knocked it over, effectively spilling soda onto herself. She immediately jumped down to the ground and pulled off her hoodie, briefly lifting the shirt underneath and exposing her midriff.
For a moment, Matt couldn’t look away. Her stomach was flat and smooth, her skin the same light-olive tone that made him think of sun-kissed flesh at the beach. A navel ring glinted in the sun, and a sudden and powerful flare of lust came out of nowhere, short-circuiting his brain.
“I am so sorry!” she said, using the hoodie to mop up the little bit that had dropped on the carpet, snapping him back to reality.
“It’s fine,” he assured her.
“It’s not fine. We can pick up some carpet cleaner on the way back, and I’ll fix it, I promise.”
“It’s fine. Most of it landed on you.” Matt reached into the back seat and pulled out a zippered hoodie of his own. “Here. Put this on.”
“No, that’s okay.”
His eyes dropped to her chest, where her nipples were making a bid for attention through the thin shirt she wore. “Please.”
She looked down at herself, the delicate skin of her neck turning a lovely shade of rose gold. “Right,” she said, and accepted the hoodie. She slipped her arms into the sleeves and zippered up the front. “Thanks.”
He couldn’t help it. He started laughing. The hoodie was so big on her; she looked like a little kid playing dress-up.
“What is so funny?”
“Come here.” He reached for the front and tugged her closer, then began to roll back her sleeves until her fingers were visible again. The hem fell down to mid-thigh, but there wasn’t much he could do about that.
“It’s not my fault you’re not a normal-sized human,” she muttered, attempting to tug her arm back. He let her reclaim it, then went for the other one. “I can do it.”
“I know. Let me help anyway.”
She wasn’t happy about it, but she stopped fighting him and watched his fingers make quick work of the cuffing. She did these little inhales every time the pads of his fingers accidently caressed her skin, and that did absolutely nothing to stem that rising tide of desire he was experiencing.
What the hell was wrong with him? He’d been infiltrating sex clubs for years, and yet a flash of skin and a few incidental touches had him wanting to toss her in the back seat.
He stepped back with reluctance and a whole lot of effort because every instinct demanded he decrease the distance between them, not add to it. More warning bells sounded in the back of his mind.
Snap out of it. You’re a grown man, for Chrissakes, not a horny kid, getting his first nip glimpse. And this is a friendly, get-to-know-you, information-gathering session, not a date.
Right.
Together, they gathered the remains of the meal and got back in the car.
“I should probably head back,” Anna said, pulling the seat belt across her torso.
Matt checked his phone. “There’s no hurry. My mom just texted. She and Mrs. Campbell are going to the farmers market.”
Anna bit her lower lip. “You can drop me off anyway. You’ve already gone above and beyond. Besides, I’m sure you have better things to do.”
“Anna,” he said quietly, “is spending the afternoon with me that unpleasant?”
“What? No, of course not. I’m just … I’m not good at this, okay?”
“Good at what? Hanging out?”
She stared at the hands in her lap for long seconds before she said softly, “Yes. Hanging out.”
“You’re doing just fine. Just relax, okay? There are a few more places I’d like to show you today, if you’ll let me.”
Matt held his breath, then discreetly let it out when she nodded. “Okay.”
As they drove back toward town, Matt pointed out things he thought she might find interesting. Anna didn’t say much, but at least she didn’t look like she wanted to chew her own arm off. And she looked damn cute in his hoodie.
“BodyWorks? What is this place?” she asked as they pulled into the fitness center lot.
“This is where I’ll be working for the next couple of months. Come on. I’ll give you a tour.”
“That’s not?—”
He was out of the Rover before she could tack a “necessary” on the end of her protest.
He opened the passenger door and held out his hand. “Come on. It’s cool, I promise.”
She took it, sending that sensation of a warm current through him again. It wasn’t as shocking as it had been the first time.
Once her feet were on the ground, she didn’t immediately let go. He considered that tremendous progress. And extremely dangerous.
He took her inside and showed her around. The café that featured healthy drinks and snacks. The weight room. The cardio deck. The indoor pool. The multitude of classrooms.
“I spent the majority of my teenage years here,” he told her.
“Really?” she said, looking him over with a sardonic smile. “I never would have guessed.”
He fought the urge to preen.
“What will you be doing here?” she asked.
“Teaching martial arts classes.”
“What kind?”
“Probably Muay Thai, some MMA.”
“Impressive.”
He shrugged. “Kieran got me into it. It was a good outlet for all that teenage angst and hormone-fueled rage.”
She laughed, and for a moment, he caught a glimpse of the woman underneath all those layers of self-constructed protection.
“Have you ever taken a self-defense class?” he asked.
Just that quickly, her expression darkened. “No, but I’ve thought about it. I don’t think I’d be very good at it though.”
“Let’s find out.”
He reached for her hand and gently but firmly tugged her to an open classroom. “Take off that jacket.”
“What? Right now?”
He moved to the other side of the classroom, and he removed his phone and wallet from his pockets. “Yes, right now. Let’s see if you’ve got what it takes.”
“I don’t think?—”
He didn’t give her a chance to finish before he was behind her, pressing his front against her back, covering her mouth with one hand, wrapping the other arm around her waist.
“Give me your wallet,” he said in a low, threatening tone.
She froze, her heart hammering so hard that he could feel the vibrations in his own chest. Her breathing grew so rapid that she was in danger of hyperventilating. He’d wanted to catch her off guard, see what kind of self-preservation instincts she had, not throw her into a straight-up panic attack.
Then her panic began to recede. She began to soften.
He realized his mistake. Having her body pressed tight against him. Feeling the warmth of her body, her delicate curves conforming so perfectly to his.
He began to harden. Now his panic began to rise, along with the urge to roll his hips against her. To lift his hands just a little and cup those lovely breasts.
“Use your elbow,” he commanded roughly against her ear. “Punch it into my ribs in a quick backward strike.”
She tensed again, as if she’d almost been lost in the moment too.
He repeated the command. “You’ve got this, Anna. Do it.”
Her elbow jabbed back in a forceful thrust. He allowed the contact and jerked his hips back.
“Now, stomp on my foot as hard as you can. Put some power into it.”
She obeyed without hesitation this time, raising her leg and bringing her foot down on his.
“Good girl.” He loosened his grip. “Now, run.”
She broke free, ran to the other side of the room, and leaned over, breathing heavily, placing her hands on her thighs. “What the fuck was that?” she snapped.
He had no fucking clue. His reaction was … unexpected. “Your first lesson in self-defense,” was what he said, because yeah, that sounded reasonable.
“You couldn’t have warned me?”
“Do you think an attacker is going to give you a warning?”
“You’re an asshole,” she muttered.
They were in one hundred percent agreement on that.
“I’ll gladly be an asshole if it helps keep you safe someday,” he told her. “But that’s enough for now. Come on. There’s one more place I’d like to show you today.”
“Does it involve giving me another heart attack?”
How about multiple orgasms? “No.”
Anna was quiet on the way out to the Rover and for the ride across the river.
“Are you all right?”
She nodded, but he didn’t think she was. He wondered if that had been as much of a mindfuck for her as it had been for him.
“I promise you’re going to like this next stop more. We’re here.”
She looked out the window. “A diner?”
“Not just any diner. This is O’Leary’s.”
Her eyes brightened. “The place with the amazing cinnamon rolls?”
“One and the same.”
Matt selected an open booth in the back. He ordered coffee. She ordered tea. They both got cinnamon rolls.
While they waited, the owner of the diner came over to see them. Matt rose and accepted an embrace from the old man.
“Matthew, ’tis good to see you, lad. I heard you were back in town. And who is this fine lass you’ve brought with you today?”
“Daideo, this is Anna Black. Anna, this is Conlan O’Leary.”
“’Tis a pleasure to meet you, Anna Black. Is he treating you to my Keely’s cinnamon rolls?”
“As a matter of fact, yes.”
“Then, he must be wanting to impress you,” the old man said with a wink. “I’ll leave you to it.”
“You know,” Anna said softly after he walked away, “I think he might be older than Mrs. Campbell.”
Matt laughed. “Oh, he definitely is. We’re not sure how old exactly, but he’s been around a long time.”
“You called him Daideo. What does that mean?”
“It’s an old Irish word for grandfather.”
“He’s your grandfather?”
“He’s Kieran’s grandfather, but he insists we all call him that.”
The rolls arrived, hot and fresh and every bit as good as he remembered them.
She took her first bite, and her eyes closed in bliss. “Oh God.”
Images of seeing that look on her face and her moaning like that while naked slammed into his mind with incredible clarity. He could still feel her body pressed against his and cursed himself for his lack of focus. What the hell was wrong with him?
“You weren’t kidding about these, were you?” Her tongue peeked out, licking the icing coating her pretty pink lips.
“I never kid about cinnamon rolls.”
“I’m enjoying these more than the mock mugging.”
Matt didn’t know whether he was pleased or insulted by that. Then, he saw the flush in her cheeks and the flicker in her eyes before he looked away and realized she was lying. She had enjoyed it—at least some part of it—and wasn’t any happier about that than he was. At least they were on the same page.
“I’m sorry I scared you.”
She waved her hand. “It’s okay. You made your point. I’m a flee-er, not a fighter.”
“We can do something about that, you know. Give you a better shot at getting away.”
“Self-defense classes.”
“Yep.”
“Let me think about it, okay?”
He nodded, but he could already tell by the way her eyes shuttered that there would be no more lessons. Then she licked another drop of icing from her lower lip, and just like that, he forgot about everything else.
After dropping Anna off at Mrs. Campbell’s, Matt turned the Rover around and headed back into town. He wasn’t in the proper headspace to go home and hang out. His mind was too scrambled. The urge to kiss Anna before she got out of the Rover had been nearly overpowering, but he couldn’t break that seal. He feared he wouldn’t be able to stop if he did. Something about that woman tested his control like no other.
He didn’t like it.
“Someone’s been busy,” Ian said when Matt sidled into the pub. “Heard you spent the afternoon with the lovely Anna. I guess she couldn’t resist your charm after all.”
News traveled fast. Matt took a seat at the bar and accepted the beer Ian placed in front of him. Using his charm on Anna didn’t feel right, especially when it was backfiring so spectacularly.
“Uh-oh. Is someone feeling a pang of conscience?”
“Maybe,” Matt said.
It had been so long since he’d had one that he wasn’t sure what it felt like anymore. But Anna Black was no cold-blooded con woman. The panic he’d felt run through her was real. So was the passion. Either that or she was one hell of an actress.
He didn’t think she was a fabulous actress. The chemistry between them was insane, and it wasn’t because of shared interests or great conversation. This—whatever the hell this thing was between them—was almost primal in nature. And it wasn’t just lust. It was like he had this deep-seated need to protect her or something.
“Look at it this way,” Ian said. “Clearing her of wrongdoing would actually benefit her, yeah?”
He supposed that was true, but it didn’t feel that way. And she was still hiding something.
“Did you learn anything useful? Besides how to slip in under her defenses, I mean.”
Matt frowned, shifting his thoughts to a mental review of their conversations. He hadn’t slipped under anything, had he?
“Nothing we hadn’t already known. Every time I brought up her past, she bobbed and dodged like a pro.” Which was yet another reason he needed to stay objective. She couldn’t be both guileless and cunning. “How about you? Any news?”
“Eddie was in here earlier. He didn’t look happy.”
“I guess the investigation isn’t going well.”
“The cop is refusing to continue until Eddie pays him what he already owes.”
That was interesting. “So, Eddie is having money troubles?”
“More like a liquidity problem, at least according to him. He claims everything’s tied up in investments.”
“Easy enough to verify.”
“Yep. Next on my list.”
“What about Chicago?”
Ian leaned forward and lowered his voice. “Those rumors about the gubernatorial candidate having ties to the mob? They’re not rumors.”
That niggling feeling that things weren’t adding up grew stronger. “Did you find any connection to Anna?”
“None whatsoever. But we have a meeting at Sanctuary tomorrow afternoon.”