"Oh, that didn't work out," Garret dismissed it easily.
"Damn it, Garret-"
"I didn't call for a lecture," his brother interrupted. "I'm heading to Aspen for a few days. Just wanted you to know, is all."
"Great," he muttered. "Thanks."
Garret sighed, clearly as irritated as Sam felt. "I don't want to fight with you, Sam. I just need some time, okay? That job you got me at the advertising firm was making me nuts."
Sam thought about the favor he'd called in with a friend in San Jose and realized he'd have to make another call to his old friend. To apologize for his brother. "Garret, you said you wanted that job."
"It just wasn't me."
"What is?" Sam asked, unable to understand his younger brother's inability to find something he had a passion for. So far, all the younger Hale had been really good at was women and snowboarding. "What're you going to do for a living, Garret?"
His brother laughed shortly. "Don't worry," he said. "I'll think of something."
That was what worried him, Sam told himself silently.
"Look, I'll be back for Christmas. Promise."
"All right," Sam said, lifting his gaze toward the office where Anna's singing had quieted. "I'll see you when you get back."
Anna stepped out of the office. When he hung up, she asked, "Problem?"
"No," he said flatly. He wasn't going to discuss his brother with the very woman he'd forced Garret to stop dating. "How's it coming?"
She watched him for a second or two, then said, "Great. Want a look?"
He walked to the office, brushed past her and stared at the wall where blue painter's tape was applied in a series of arches and straight lines. Sam couldn't see where she was going with this, but she seemed happy enough with it. "That's good?"
"It is," she said, coming up beside him. "I'm almost ready to start laying down some background color along with the outside detail lines."
"What is it?" he asked, watching her face rather than trying to make sense of the taped wall.
She looked up at him. "A surprise."
She was too close and smelled too good. Her dark red hair pulled back in a ponytail at the base of her neck, her bright green eyes glittered with excitement. Her blue denim jeans and oversize blue work shirt over a paint-stained black T-shirt somehow looked … perfect.
Sam had never seen a more beautiful woman. He was in deep trouble here and he knew it.
He just didn't care.
Before he could think better of it, he reached out, took her arm and dragged her close.
"Sam … " Her voice was a whisper.
"Don't talk, Anna," he told her and slowly bent his head to hers. He had to see if everything he'd felt when he first kissed her was still there.
She lifted one hand to his chest and he could have sworn he felt the heat of her palm slide down inside him, easing away the chill. "This isn't a good idea," she told him.
"You're still talking," he said.
"Right," she agreed, lifting her face to his. "Shutting up now."
Then he took her mouth with his, felt the hard punch of desire and knew that Anna Cameron was going to be way more trouble than he'd first believed.
Six
The next few days settled into a routine. Anna worked in the office, Sam worked on his cars and they met in the middle for lunch provided by his housekeeper. By silent agreement, neither of them referred to the blisteringly hot kiss they'd shared in his office.
But the memory was there. Haunting them. Keeping each of them so tightly wound that just being close to each other sent up sparks.
Anna didn't know what to do. She hadn't wanted or expected to like Sam, but he was getting to her. Slipping beneath her radar, worming his way into her thoughts. Heaven knew he had already breached her body's defenses. Anytime he came near, her heartbeat sped up and every square inch of her jolted into electric life.
But it wasn't just the desire, the passion; it was more. Over the last few days, they'd talked and even laughed. He'd told her about some of his more "eccentric" customers and she'd shared a few of the truly hideous murals some of her clients had asked for. She actually liked working in the office, listening to the sound of power tools as he refurbished one of his cars.
At the bottom of it, though, she had to keep in mind that he didn't trust her. He thought she'd been willing to seduce his brother to save her father's company and what did that say about him? But he'd also given her free rein to paint whatever she wanted in his office. That was trust of a sort, wasn't it?
Yet, she remembered all the things Garret had told her the night he broke things off with her. Along with the whole out-to-get-my-money speech, Sam had also told Garret that he considered artists to be flaky and emotionally unstable. So what was she supposed to make of that?
"None of this makes sense," she told herself, glad that the day was almost over. Sam had gone up to the main house half an hour ago and she'd heard Mrs. Soren leave shortly after. As soon as Anna finished this one section of the mural, she'd be leaving, too. Christmas was getting closer and she still had shopping to do. Besides, one of her own traditions was to wander through Crystal Bay at night to enjoy all of the Christmas decorations. She hadn't had a chance to do that yet and she figured tonight was as good a time as any.
She reached up and with her fingertips, quickly brushed the line of paint she'd just laid down, softening the edge and blending the paint into the other background colors so that it became a pale wash of blue and gray that would, eventually, be the sky in her mural. Stepping back, she nodded to herself, and wiped her fingers on the rag stuffed into her pocket. Then she stretched her aching shoulder muscles and swiveled her neck, trying to ease the tension there as well.
Satisfied she'd done all she could, she quickly cleaned her brushes and closed up her paints. The sudden roar of a powerful engine splintered the quiet and Anna stepped outside to follow the sound.
A cold wind slapped at her as she spotted Sam, astride a huge, gleaming black motorcycle. He grinned at her approach and revved the engine again, making the bike sound like a hungry lion.
He wore a battered, brown leather jacket and balanced two helmets and another leather jacket across his lap. He looked way too good, Anna thought, feeling that rush of heat swamp her again. There might as well have been a Danger sign flashing over his head. But she still couldn't seem to stop herself from walking toward him, like a moth headed directly for the tantalizing flame.
She shouted over the rumble of the engine, "What's going on?"
"We need a break," he said, his voice deep and loud enough to carry. "Put this on."
He held out the leather jacket and Anna knew she should say no and head back inside. Sunset was already staining the sky and she should be headed home. Back, she thought, to her empty apartment, a hot shower and a cold glass of wine. Then she looked into his blue eyes and knew that she wasn't going anywhere but with him.
She slipped the jacket on and zipped it up. Then she accepted the helmet he offered her and tugged it on as well. He grinned at her and her stomach did a slow bump and roll. He pulled on his helmet, flipped the visor down and indicated that she do the same. Then he shouted, "Hop on!"
Knowing it was most definitely a mistake, Anna did just that. She climbed aboard the motorcycle, her thighs spread wide, aligning along his. She leaned into him and he turned his head to say, "Wrap your arms around me and hold on, Anna."
"Where are we going?"
"It's a surprise," he called back.
He'd already surprised her, she thought, feeling the rumble of the engine rippling throughout her body. She'd never been on a motorcycle before and she had a feeling that this trip, wherever he was taking her, was going to be memorable. She wrapped her arms tightly around his middle and inhaled sharply as he roared down the length of the driveway and out onto the road.
Sam drove along the coast road for miles, and Anna watched as night claimed the sky. Trees lined one side of the wildly twisted road and the ocean, dazzled by moonlight, lay on the other.
She'd never experienced such a thrilling sense of freedom before. Fear rode just below the surface of her excitement, but she refused to acknowledge it. Instead, she focused solely on the incredible sense of being as one with Sam and the machine carrying them both through the darkness.