So what was she going to do about it?
Just then Abra came sauntering into the room. His loud purr had her mind reeling back to reality. With trembling fingers, she pressed the sketchpad into Daniel’s stomach and pushed past him, desperate for a reprieve. It was time to get to her head on straight and start concentrating on the job at hand. “We have a schedule to follow so it’s time to get to work. Pamina wants to open the inn as soon as possible and I’m falling behind. I’ll leave you to look over the plans and if you have any questions, I’ll be downstairs.”
Or in a cold shower trying to take the edge off.
With that Anna left the room. Once outside she sagged against the wall and clutched her stomach as she drew a rejuvenating breath. Goodness, the man still got to her in a way no other man could, stirring things deep inside her and leaving her warm and wanting. Spending a week in the same room with him was going to play havoc with her libido. If she didn’t soon pull herself together she just might do something she’d regret later—like go back in there, rip his clothes off, and answer the demands of her body once and for all. But since she wasn’t into casual sex, and “wham bam thank you, ma’am” wasn’t her style, she had to find another way to tamp down her desires—heartbreak wasn’t an option.
But if he kept using sexual undertones when he spoke to her, how the hell was she going to resist? Clearly he wanted her physically as much as she wanted him. Was she simply fighting the inevitable?
Daniel worked to rein in his lust as he watched her sashay out the door. Her firm, lush ass dragged his focus and made breathing damn near impossible. His plan was to seduce her, but truth be told, just being around her reduced him to a hormonal teenager again. Hadn’t he left that shy young boy behind when he went off to college? Honestly the heat between them had instantly leveled him to that high school bumbling idiot again and rattled him to his very core.
Still, regardless of the sparks between him, she ignored it. Since time was of the essence and the job wouldn’t take much more than a week, he had to amp up the seduction and melt her resolve. Once she handed herself over to him, he’d show her how good it could be between them. Then there’d be no turning back. Now, only one question remained. What was the best way to go about seducing the sweet and romantic Anna?
As he watched her go, he replayed their conversation in his mind, desperate to understand everything about her, from what drove her professionally to what made her tick personally. Sure he’d known Anna as a teen, but now he wanted to know Anna as a woman. Her needs, desires, likes and dislikes.
A noise outside the door gained his attention, and he hoped it was Anna returning, ready to pick up where they’d left off only moments ago. He turned to see Pamina enter the room, a look of reproach on her face.
“Abra, what are you up to now?” She clicked her tongue at the fat cat circling Daniel’s leg. He looked down at the ball of black weaving in and out of his legs. When the heck had Abra entered the room? He was pretty damn stealthy for an overweight tomcat.
Abra made a weird sound and jumped into Pamina’s arms. Once nestled in the crook of her elbow he purred loudly and dragged his paw over one breast. Pamina tapped him on the nose and gave him an admonishing glare. “I don’t think so.”
Half-amused and half-disturbed at the bizarre encounter, Daniel wondered what kind of silent exchange was taking place between them. Then again, perhaps he was better off not knowing. Abra made another loud purring sound, and amusement danced in Pamina’s eyes as she laughed and gently tossed him out the door. Miffed, Abra offered her his backside and sauntered into another room.
Pamina turned her attention to him and presented a professional face. “Did Anna lay out the details to you and go over her designs?”
He laid the sketchpad down and drove his hands into his pockets. “Yes, I’m all set.”
Padding softly, Pamina circled the room and ran her hand along the down bedding. Her mystical green eyes glistened. “Odd, isn’t it?”
“Odd?”
“Yes, that a woman who no longer believes in romance and happily-ever-after is designing a room for just such a thing. Almost as if deep down in some secret compartment, she still holds a modicum of hope that she’s wrong.”
Apprehension surged inside him. Daniel’s mind raced, recalling her statement about romance and Prince Charming, and how she no longer believed it was in the cards for her. Why would she think such a thing?
A well-used paperback seemed to materialize on the nightstand. He hadn’t noticed it when he’d first catalogued the room. Pamina picked it up and thumbed through the pages. Daniel recognized the book as Anna’s. He’d seen her with dozens of similar novels over the years, all well loved and dog-eared. What was in those passages that had her wanting to reread them?
“But since she’s sworn off men and relationships, I guess she’ll never find out if true love really does exist.”
Unease moved through him and cooled his blood. “Why would she swear off men?” Had someone hurt her? So help him, if anyone had dared hurt the woman he was crazy about, they’d have hell to pay.
His brothers had kept tabs on her over the years. They’d seen many men come in and out of her life, the same way women had come in and out of his. It appeared that neither one of them was able to commit to anything for any length of time, as if she was holding out for him the way he was holding
