Once back in the SUV, Annie was busy buckling her seatbelt. “I don’t know about you, but I’m starving. Feel like a steak?” Stone asked.
At the thought of food, her stomach grumbled loudly. “Does that answer your question?”
He chuckled. “Wow, that’s impressive.”
“Stick around. I have a plethora of talents.”
He leaned over and gave her a quick peck on the lips. “I intend to.”
Before long they were parked in front of a place called Simon and Seafort’s Pub and Grill. They didn’t engage in much chitchat before they’d put their orders in. Annie ordered the seafood etouffee with reindeer sausage and he chose the grilled smoked sirloin.
“Obviously the post office isn’t open now. What do you say we stay here tonight and hit the post office in the morning?”
“I don’t have a go bag.”
His brows knit. “A go bag?”
She placed her napkin on her lap. “Yes, it’s imperative as an agent to have a bag packed at all times because you never know where you’ll be by the end of the day. It never occurred to me when I left the cabin yesterday that I’d need one.”
“We can grab a couple of toothbrushes at a gas station.”
She stared at him to see if he was serious, unfortunately he was. “I’ve been wearing the same clothes for two days.”
“Okay, how about I take you to the mall first thing? They’ve got Penney’s, Sears, and some of those fancy stores. Would that work?”
Annie thought about all she needed: a change of clothes, underwear, Lancome moisturizers and cleanser. She could also replace the lipstick she’d lost. Surely the mall would have a Macy’s or Nordstrom’s. “That would be perfect.”
Stone smiled, obviously pleased with himself for solving the problem. For the rest of the meal, they ignored work and talked about themselves. She learned he was a reader, and presently was going through the classics.
That like many Alaskans, he’d hunt and fish to stock his freezers for the winter months with moose, venison and salmon. He enjoyed movies, but wouldn’t go to the theater alone. He preferred watching them on TV when he had the time.
Action movies were his favorites, no surprise there. The real shocker was that he liked her favorite movie, Last of the Mohicans, with Daniel Day Lewis. He claimed he watched it whenever it came on.
The more she learned about Stone, the more she came to care about him. He was not just some hot guy who was great in bed, although both were true. Another important point was the fact that he wasn’t just ‘all about the job’. She couldn’t count how many dates she’d been on where the man had no outside interests. Boring.
After dinner they hit Target minutes before it closed. She ran around with a basket grabbing up travel sizes of the toiletries she needed for the night as well as a pair of panties.
“What do you think?”
She glanced toward his voice and found Stone standing at the end of the aisle holding up a giant economy sized box of condoms.
“I think you’re making promises you can’t keep.” She smirked.
“Huh?” He glanced at the box, then back at her.
“Do you really think we’ll use all those in one night?” she asked.
He wiggled his brows as he slinked down the aisle toward her in an over-exaggerated move of seduction. He looked so ridiculous that she got an uncontrollable bout of the giggles.
He tossed them into the cart. “We can try.”
“God save me,” she eked out. “I wouldn’t be able to walk for a month.”
“It would kill me, but what a way to go.” He slapped her butt and walked off.
They pulled into a sleepy little motel where he asked; half-joking she was sure, if she wanted her own room. She’d thought about it for all of a half a second before she replied, no. So here she was in the bathroom, just out of the shower and getting more nervous as the minutes ticked by.
She actually had stage fright. Sure, last night was fantastic, but that was a spur of the moment thing. Not that she didn’t want to make love with Stone, she did. But as she brushed out her wet hair, she thought about all the ‘what ifs’.
What if he didn’t want to make love to her, but felt pressured? A man like Stone had surely had sex with countless women. What if she didn’t measure up? Finding her courage, she set the brush down and opened the bathroom door.
The only light in the room came from the TV. Stone lay on his back with his arms behind his head and his eyes closed. His breathing slow and steady. She’d taken so long, he’d gone to sleep. Maybe that was a good thing. She dropped her towel and snuggled up next to him.
Annie awoke the following morning to Stone nuzzling her neck. “You are so beautiful,” he whispered.
She opened her eyes and found his face above hers, his hair thrown over one shoulder pooled on her breast. In that moment, she knew he’d meant those words. To him she was beautiful and in truth, that’s all she needed.
Suddenly she felt like the most desirable woman in the world. She pulled him down until he was close enough to kiss. Then Annie rolled him onto his back and feathered kisses down his body. His head fell back against the pillow and his eyes closed.
The power she felt at pleasing him spurned her on. He sucked in a breath and held it. She watched his expression as she took control. A deep animalistic roar filled the room as they finished together.
Annie dropped down on his chest, spent. His heart thumped in her ear, matching the beat of her own.
He stroked her hair. “Woman, you are amazing.”
She sat up abruptly. “Really?”
His mouth dropped. “You doubt it?”
“Well…” She scooted off him and rooted under his arm before he read the uncertainty in her eyes. All the power she’d felt pleasing him had fled.
He rolled on his side and gazed at her, his index finger traced her face. “What’s going on?”
Annie didn’t want to ruin the mood by confessing how inferior she felt next to him. She’d never dated a man that actually turned the heads of every woman he passed. It was damned intimidating.
She’d never been a fashion plate. In fact, she wasn’t glamorous in any way. In high school when other girls were dating, she spent her Friday nights reading true crime novels and dreaming about apprehending killers.
Uncomfortable with his scrutiny, she tried to turn away, but he made it impossible. Stone tilted her head up until she had no choice but to meet his gaze. “What could possibly be going on in that pretty little head of yours?”
She remained mute.
“Is it possible that you have no idea the effect you have on men?”
She blinked.
“As Tiffany would say, you are DDG.”
She belted out the most un-lady like laugh, she couldn’t help it.
He grinned. “With your thick, wavy, brunette hair cascading over your shoulders and your bright blue eyes, you are a true exotic beauty. You’re a wonderful lover with a brilliant mind, and when you add to that your sense of humor, you, my lovely, are the perfect woman.”
“You think I’m a wonderful lover?”
Stone fell on his back and gales of laughter escaped. She poked him in the stomach. “Hey. Don’t you dare laugh at me.”
He grabbed her around the middle and started tickling her.
“No!” She thrashed and kicked, but she was no match for his strength. Sure, she could get the upper hand, but she’d have to hurt him to do it and that’s the last thing she wanted to do.
When he finally quit, she was underneath him gazing up, and they were both out of breath. “I can’t believe that’s all you got out of everything I just said.”
“All men think you’re pretty when they want sex.”
“It was not all about your outer beauty. You are the complete package.” Stone gazed at her, his face filled with sincerity.
All at once she could envision a future with this man and it scared the spit out of her. Annie pushed him aside, jumped off the bed and raced toward the bathroom. “Dibs on the shower!”
Annie left Nordstrom’s with her arms full, feeling like a new woman in a clean new suit. She’d abandoned Stone at Starbucks where she looked for him now. He sat in the back staring at his phone. The moment he noticed her, he jumped out of his seat. “My God woman, any more coffee and I’ll be on the ceiling.”
“I haven’t been gone that long.” She glanced at her watch. “Only an hour and a half.”
“Only?” He grabbed her free hand.
“Have you never been shopping with a woman before?”
He pulled her behind him as he navigated the tables. “No, I guess I’ve dodged that bullet until now.”
“Hey, I saved you from a fate worse than death. Most women would make you sit outside the changing room while they modeled everything they tried on, asking if it made their butt look fat.”
A horrified look crossed his face and she giggled.
“See, you should be grateful.”
“When you put it that way, I am.” Out in the mall, Stone hit his full stride.
“Would you slow down? Remember, your legs are a lot longer than mine.”
He stopped. “Sorry, but I’ve got to get out of this damn mall; too many people, the canned music, the heat blasting and the wailing kids. Ugh.”
“Lightweight.”
“If you say so.” He began walking again, but this time he matched her gait. When they finally exited the side doors and the frosty air hit them, Stone stopped, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath.
Annie simply watched. “Do you think you’ll live?”
“It was touch and go there for a while, but I think I managed to escape with my sanity still intact.” He opened his eyes. “Oh, I’m sorry; I didn’t notice all of your packages. Here let me take them.” He emptied her arms.
“That’s okay.”
“Sissy would have my head if she knew I hadn’t offered to help.”
“I promise not to tell.”
He appeared to be gauging whether or not she was kidding.
She let him wonder.