Redhead Blitz (24 page)

Annie’s eyes narrowed as she looked up at him.

“What?”
 
Her tone confirmed the word was more challenge than question.

“Your hair!” he blasted. Too bad his brain hadn’t reengaged when his mouth had.
 
When he realized he’d sounded less than complimentary, he added, “It looks great.”

Her narrowed eyes told him she wasn’t convinced.
 
She
humphed
and walked away, putting half the length of the room between them.
 
The sway of her hips—which seemed a bit lost in that pair of jeans—combined with hair that made him want to run his fingers through it, heated his blood.
 
Al still wasn’t fully convinced he wasn’t dreaming.

She spun back around, crossed her arms and took what appeared to be a fortifying breath.

“If you’ve come here to try and convince me to come back to work for you, you’ve wasted time and gasoline.”

Huh?
 
Wanting her back at work couldn't be further from his mind.
 
Wow, he had a lot of explaining to do if that’s why she thought he was here.
 
Besides,
Gigi
was doing a great job.
 
She may not be Annie, but those standards could never be met by anyone else.

No, he was here because of what Annie had said that day.

“I’ve hired someone who’s working out nicely.”
 
Was that disappointment that just flashed in her eyes?
 
“
Gigi’s
doing a bang-up job.”
 
Al watched Annie’s creased brow relax, and then her ramrod spine sagged.

“I’m glad it’s working out.”
 
Her hands gripped the top slat on a dining chair, and then her eyes widened.
 
“But if that’s not why you came . . .”

Al glanced away from the beautiful woman he had missed so desperately, needing a clear head for what he had to say.
 
Then he met her gaze.

“I came because I want to finish the discussion we were having before you took off.”

Annie’s knuckles were white.
 
His gut twisted for all the discomfort he had put her through.
 
He was also sorry it had taken him all this time to pull his head out of his ass.

“Al, I really don’t think there’s anything else to say.”
 
Annie straightened her spine and steeled her determination.
 
She would not cry.
 
“As a matter of fact, I very distinctly recall
your
silence.”

Al’s expression remained irritatingly controlled.
 
Damn the man
.
 
She was tempted to slap him just to see some kind of emotion back on his face.
 

“You’re right,” he admitted.
 
“But you’d caught me totally off guard.
 
Sometimes I think I still imagined what you said.”
 

Oh, no
.
 
If he thought she would admit her feelings for him again, he was in for a serious disappointment.
 
Embarrassment, along with vexation, sealed her lips together better than Super Glue.

Al sighed, then slumped into her dad’s chair.
 
It was a big man’s chair and he filled it in a familiar way that no one had for decades.
 
He leaned forward with his hands clasped and his elbows propped on his knees.
 
With his unceremonious posture, she relaxed her defenses enough to study him.
 
His thick hair needed cut and his cheeks seemed thinner.
 
There were shadows under his eyes, making the clear blue irises appear almost haunted.

Annie breathed steadily through her nose, swallowing against the soreness at the back of her throat.
 
It wasn’t her job to make sure he was well-fed and well-rested, no matter how much she wanted it to be.

“Would you please sit down?
 
You don’t have to say anything.
 
Just please, sit.”
 
He gestured with his hand toward the sofa.
 
Curious, and resigned to getting this over with so he would leave, she slowly circled the sofa and sat at the far end.
 
His gaze followed her movements.
 
She felt like a doe in hunting season.
 
She folded her quivering hands in her lap.

“Here goes,” he mumbled to himself, but then he met her gaze.
 
“Annie, I was wrong about two things.”

Her fingers loosened in surprise.
 
She couldn’t believe her ears.
 
Al was the most alpha man she’d ever met.
 
He was strong-willed.
 
Self-confident.
 
He never,
ever
admitted to being wrong.
 
At least not about anything important.
 
Oh, he knew he wasn’t perfect, and Annie had been a genius at spotting, and ignoring, his cover-ups.
 
But this admission was unprecedented.
 
Now it was her turn to be rendered speechless.

 
“No. I’d better back up a little.
 
A lot actually.”
 
He straightened in the chair and rested his hands on his knees.
 
“I want you to understand my reasons for telling Sean that he shouldn’t become involved with anyone at the school.”

Annie felt her muscles tense.
 
That stupid speech was what had pushed her over the edge.
 
Oh, she knew last year’s scandal with the football coach and cheerleading advisor hadn’t sat well with many community members, but if Al thought he could persuade her into thinking his brow-beating Sean was okay, he was very, very wrong.

“Now just hold up.”
 
His hands shot up, palms forward in a placating gesture.
 
“I can tell by the look on your face you’re getting worked up again.
 
But just hear me out.
 
All I’m asking is for you to listen.
 
If, when I’m finished, you still want me to leave, then I will.
 
I swear.”
 
He looked at her expectantly and after a few moments, took her silence as acceptance.

He continued with a single nod.
 
“Thank you.”
 
He looked at the fire and his brow creased.

“I guess it really started about fifty-six years ago.
 
When my mother was a first year teacher.”
 
Something in his voice at the mention of his mother softened Annie’s heart.
 
Al had lost his mother seven years ago; the year after Annie had lost Jack.

“Mom started teaching fourth grade in a small town in Illinois.
 
She was right out of school and on her own for the first time.”
 
He shifted his hands to the armrests.
 
“The principal at the school was highly educated, the son of a wealthy, state senator.”

Sickening suspicion immediately snaked through her middle and soured her stomach.

“He took a special interest in Mom.
 
Too much interest.”
 
Al met her gaze, his blue eyes filled with sadness.
 
“By May
she
was pregnant and
he’d
denied any connection with her outside of their working relationship.”

Annie’s heart cracked.
 
Back then, in that day and age, his mother would have been ostracized.

“I’m so sorry.”

“
Yeah, well, me too.”
 
He got to his feet, obviously needing movement.
 
“That summer she moved to Chicago to live with my great aunt until I came along.
 
My grandparents had been killed in an automobile accident during Mom’s senior year of college and being a single mother was difficult.
 
Eventually she got another teaching job, but Aunt Joyce was too old to watch an active toddler.
 
Much of mom’s salary went to pay for childcare.”

Annie wanted to go to him, to offer him comfort, but she knew he wouldn’t welcome her touch.
 
Besides, his pacing confirmed he needed a physical outlet, so she remained seated, her eyes tracking him.

“Did your father ever establish a relationship with you?”

A bitter chuckle escaped him.
 
“No.
 
The son-of-a-bitch never acknowledged me.”
 
He halted and met her gaze.
 
“No big loss as far as I’m concerned.
 
He died in 1975, but in all those years he’d never made any contact with Mother or me.”
 
Al shoved his hands into his trouser pockets and moved to the stand before the hearth, staring at the flames.
 
She’d seen this gesture thousands of times.
 
Him gathering his thoughts before speaking.
 
Touched by his story and willing to give him the time he needed, she said nothing.
 
After a minute, he turned.

“The scandal last spring was a nightmare, but I was wrong to tell Sean that entering into a personal relationship with a coworker was unprofessional.”
 
He crossed the room and sat back down in the time-worn leather chair.

“I told you all this because I wanted you to understand what my opinion was based on.”

Fighting the urge to touch him, to caress his chiseled cheek and take him into her arms, she stood and walked to one of the windows.
 
She toyed with the shutter, speaking without looking his direction.

“I wish I’d known all this that day, Al.
 
I probably wouldn’t have reacted the way I did, had I known, but it’s all water under the bridge now.”
 
She took a deep breath.
 
If his history had been the sole reason for the visit, then surely he would understand this was his cue to leave.
 
Annie didn’t know how much longer she could hold it all together.

The floor vibrated with his footsteps as he moved, halting a few feet behind.
 
Was he deliberately keeping his distance so she wouldn’t get the wrong idea about his trip here?

“I want you to know that I spoke with Sean, and
Gigi
.”

His closeness was instantly forgotten, as curiosity snagged Annie’s attention.
 
What had he said?
 
She turned and he continued.

“The two of them seem to have become pretty close right under my nose.”
 
A chagrined smile played across his lips.
 
“I must admit, my mind has been so occupied, I didn’t catch on until I saw them together yesterday outside your apartment.”

“What exactly did you say?” she asked.

“I told
Gigi
that I didn’t care.
 
As long as she keeps doing the good job she’s doing, her personal relationships are her business.”

Again, Annie’s amazement paired with her relief.
 
This was so unlike Al, to change his feelings on a topic.
 
Perhaps he decided to simply tolerate the situation.
 
But for
Gigi
and Sean’s sake, whatever had caused him to loosen his stiff standards was a blessing.

“I’m glad you feel that way.
 
They’re both lovely people and there’s no reason why they shouldn’t find their happiness together.”

“You’re right, and the fact that one isn’t the superior of the other has me thinking the relationship could work.”

Unlike the two of us
.
 
That’s what he was alluding to.

It was also the reason that overhearing him lecture Sean had set her off.
 
Although she’d known Al considered a romantic liaison with anyone at the school—say
her
—outside the boundaries of his moral compass, hearing him force his beliefs on Sean in such plain speaking had been like having a knife pierce her heart.
 
Not wanting to relive their disagreement on the matter, she tamped down her feelings and crossed to the door.