Saved by the Bride (11 page)

No
,
because
I
don’t
have
any
cell
credit
. She went for noncommittal as she collected
the documents she’d brought to the meeting. “Hmm, why?”

Ellery hesitated, looked at Finn and then back at Annika before
speaking softly. “So you know tomorrow night won’t work out at the cottage.”

She had no clue why that would be so she played along. “Sure,
so how about the night after?”

“Where?”

She smiled. “Same place, my place.”

Ellery turned to Finn. “Mr. Callahan, would you excuse us for
just a moment?”

Two deep lines appeared on Finn’s forehead as if he wasn’t used
to being asked a question like this. “If it involves the warehouses I’d prefer
to be present.”

Annika recognized his business tone and she didn’t want to risk
Finn pulling out of the deal. “Ellery, it’s fine. Just say what you need to
say.”

“I’ve been waiting for you to call me back since yesterday,
Anni.” His tone was both accusatory and apologetic. “The Hoffmans have decided
to come up from Milwaukee and use the cottage this summer.”

Her mouth dried. “My cottage?”

Ellery nodded slowly but firmly. “I’m sorry, Anni, but because
you’re two months behind in your rent I couldn’t argue against it. They’re
moving in for the entire summer.”

Her legs turned to jelly and she sat down hard on the chair.
The Hoffmans hadn’t used their cottage in two years and she’d come to think of
it as hers. “When?”

Ellery put his hand on her shoulder and spoke softly.
“Tomorrow. I’ve been trying to contact you since yesterday to tell you.”

You’re
homeless
.

The familiar ring tone of Finn’s cell both pierced her shock
and backhanded her with an extra dose of indignity. In her stunned state she’d
forgotten he was in the room. Her head fell into her hands. Oh, God, now Finn
Callahan knew she was virtually destitute. Life just got better and better.

She raised her head. “Ellery, I’ll have money on Friday which
will go toward my back rent and I have a job for the summer so I’m good for the
rest. I don’t mind where I go. I’ll even take the unleasable cottage near
mosquito flat.”

“I’m sorry, Anni, but we’ve had a rush on vacation rentals this
year because Illinois folk who used to travel overseas are tightening their
belts and staying closer to home. I don’t have a single cottage available.”

She pressed the heel of her hand against her forehead as if the
pressure would make her think more clearly, and she tried to run through her
choices. She no longer had family in town. Her parents had sold up and moved to
Arizona when she’d left for college and had started a business in retirement
travel. They spent more time out of the country than in it, and currently they
were in Australia, loving every minute of their “third age.” Like the emails
from her brother, Axel, the content of most of her parents’ messages usually
urged her to leave town and reiterated the same theme of “restart your life.”
But her life
was
here now and she wasn’t going
anywhere. Any number of townsfolk could help her out for a night or two but
moving every few days held no appeal, and she couldn’t impose on anyone for an
entire summer. Everyone was hurting financially as much as she was.

A wave of weariness rolled through her as a lump formed in her
throat. Fighting the good fight when she had no reserves herself was wearing her
down. She wanted to be totally self-indulgent and sit and sob but she had no
time for that—she had a cottage to vacate. She rose slowly to her feet, tucked
her hair behind her ears and faced Finn.

“It appears I need the rest of the afternoon off to move
house.”

* * *

“What about this?” Finn picked up a dusty and battered
wooden box with a brass handle unsure if it was part of the cottage’s
furnishings or Annika’s private property.

He’d fully intended to drop Annika off at her cottage and drive
straight back to Kylemore, leaving her to sort out the mess that appeared to be
her life. But there’d been something about the slump of her shoulders that was
so unlike her usual take-charge attitude that he’d felt compelled to stay.

Still, he couldn’t believe that he was here helping her pack.
He never got involved in his staff’s personal lives.
You
never
get
involved
in
anyone’s
life
period
. He shut down the unwanted voice. Thinking of
Annika in terms of “staff” was supposed to be helping him
not
to think about her in any other way, but watching her walk past
him holding an armful of clean laundry with a white sports bra dangling from the
load, wasn’t helping. His thoughts strayed to the memory of plain white panties
and long smooth legs.

Her gaze flicked over the case he held up and her usually clear
eyes clouded for a moment. “Yes, that’s mine.”

He saw her look beyond the case and noticed a folded-up easel.
“Do you paint?”

“Passing phase.” She dumped her clothes into the open suitcase
on the couch before picking up some rolled-up canvases and putting them quickly
on top and snapping the lid closed. “That’s it.”

Bridey had more gear in her vacation bedroom at Kylemore. “Your
possessions are two suitcases and five boxes?”

She tilted her chin. “Some of us have a smaller carbon
footprint than others. Even so, it’s not all going to fit in that car of yours
with its pocket-handkerchief trunk.”

“So sue me. Had I known you were moving I would have got you a
pickup.” The moment he spoke, he caught the spark of an idea light up those
glorious eyes like the white light of a sparkler. He silently groaned.

She tilted her head and strands of hair brushed her cheek.
“Great idea, thank you.”

“You don’t have a car?”

She shook her head and put out her hand. He caught the flicker
of embarrassment that she immediately squashed with the reality of survival. “I
can organize a truck though. I just need your phone to do it because mine isn’t
working.”

He knew that was code for, “I haven’t paid the bill.” Annika
having her own set of wheels and being independent of him made perfect sense but
for some reason he found himself saying, “You don’t have any money for gas.”

“It will come with a full tank.” She hooked his gaze with a
straight-up and honest stare. “Look at it this way. It frees you up to get back
to Kylemore and back to work.”

Work which wasn’t messy and disorganized like this. She was
giving him an out and one he should probably take.

She suddenly spun around to face a large clock and her hand
flew to her mouth. “Oh, no, I promised Logan I’d watch him dive tonight. Can you
please tell him how sorry I am and tell him I’ll go swimming with him later in
the week.”

She seemed more distressed by letting Logan down than by being
destitute, which he didn’t understand at all. He thought of all the times when
he was a kid and his father had promised he’d come to school concerts and
basketball games. On hearing the promise his young self would get a rush of
excitement edged with anxious anticipation, which was invariably followed by
resigned disappointment when Sean failed to arrive.

“Logan will cope.” He had to or he wouldn’t survive being a
Callahan.

She wrinkled her nose. “I’m sure he will but I gave my word and
I want him to know that I haven’t just blown him off. Or your parents. Will you
pass on the message?”

That would involve having a personal conversation with Logan,
Dana or his father—something he never put his hand up for. He tossed her his
phone. “Call them from the car on our way to the car rental company.”

An hour later, Finn was behind the wheel of a brand-new truck
and Annika was at a loss to work out exactly how this had happened when
her
plan had been that he was the one renting the
vehicle and
she
was the one driving it.

“So where am I taking you, ma’am?”

She imagined him in overalls with a tool belt slung low on his
hips—an image she instantly regretted as her breath hitched in her throat.
“You’re enjoying this aren’t you?”

He grinned. “Who knew driving a pickup would be this much
fun.”

She rolled her eyes and muttered, “Rich boys and their toys,”
before taking a deep breath and trying a different tact. She didn’t want to tell
him where she planned to live and she sure as hell didn’t want to have him
deliver her there.

She shifted in her seat. “This is really taking you out of your
way and I’ll just have to drive you back to the lot to collect your car. So now
you’ve had a turn at being a regular Joe, take a right here and we can double
back.”

“It’s no problem. What sort of boss would I be if I didn’t make
sure you were settled?”

“A normal one.”

“Hey, AKP values their staff.”

He looked slightly offended and she built on it, hoping he’d
get pissed and leave her alone with the pickup. “You just want to avoid your
family.”

A muscle jerked against the dark stubble on his cheek. “I want
to make sure you’re settled so you can concentrate on being my P.A. instead of
taking afternoons off to sort out your life.”

A niggle of guilt burrowed in. She should feel grateful that he
was helping her. Plenty of people in town would have happily helped but they’d
have had pity and defeat in their eyes, because her failure to financially
survive in Whitetail would be yet another reminder that most people couldn’t do
it without an industry. It made her even more determined to get Whitetail up and
moving again so folk could rediscover their spirit and pride. The fact that Finn
knew she had nothing was somehow easier to bear, probably because of their
natural antipathy.

Antipathy
with
a
lust
chaser
.

Only she knew if she dared to be honest it wasn’t even close to
antipathy. Behind that sexy but brusque business facade lay a very likeable man
who needed to get out more.

She crossed her arms, refusing to admit to anything. She had to
stick to her game plan. “Geez, it was two hours and I’ll make it up tomorrow,
which by the way includes a brides’ meeting at the warehouse.” She poked the air
with her forefinger. “There’s another reason I need this vehicle. I’ll be in
late and you can’t dock me for being out of the office because you insisted I
oversee this wedding-caper idea.”

But his offended air seemed to have vanished and he just smiled
as he slowed at a four-way stop. “I have no plans to dock your pay.”

“Great. I’ve got an even better idea. You could pay me in
advance.”

He checked the rearview mirror, braked and threw the gear stick
into Park before leaning toward her with his palm flat on the bench seat next to
her hand. His expression was all business. “That would be unwise. First rule of
commerce is never pay before services have been rendered.”

Desperately trying to ignore the fact that the air between
their hands pulsed with electricity, she spoke without thinking. “Why? I’m good
for it.”

His jet-black eyes flared with something a long way removed
from business, and his voice dropped five tones as he seemed to move closer.
“Oh, I’m sure you’re better than good.”

The words caressed her skin with a delicious shiver and then
dove deep. Suddenly the roomy cabin of the truck felt as small and cramped as
his Ferrari California and she swallowed hard against a dry throat. Every breath
she took filled her with him—the spice of his cologne, the musk of his all-male
body and the undisputed scent of delicious danger. It called to her. It marched
all over her reason and her common sense with its entreaty and delectable
promise that a kiss right now would equal the one the night they met.

God, she wanted to feel like that again. She wanted—craved—to
have a moment where nothing existed except sheer wonder and amazement. His eyes
darkened to hypnotic ebony and every part of her wanted to fall forward into his
arms and onto his lips. With a sigh, her eyelids fluttered closed in delicious
anticipation.

The truck suddenly lurched forward and her eyes flew open as
her seat belt locked and jammed her against the back of the seat, slamming her
with a hefty dose of rational thought. Finn’s words boomed in her head.
It
was
out
of
line
and
it
won’t
happen
again
.

And it hadn’t. As much as she’d wanted him to kiss her and he’d
looked for all the world like he wanted to kiss her, Finn was a man of his word.
She should have known that especially after their argument at the police station
when he’d told her through rigid lips he was an honorable man. He’d rather walk
through fire than kiss her again.

She must shake off this insane attraction. She needed to use
his self-control to her advantage considering she had none of her own. She
needed an immunity booster shot against a dark-haired, dark-eyed Irishman with
dimples, and she had to re-find the grim determination to avoid relationships
that had successfully protected her for the last two years. The solution was
obvious. She just had to make sure she didn’t spend any more time alone with
Finn than was absolutely necessary.

“I need directions.”

She sighed at his hoarse request with defeat licking at her.
She’d almost panted while waiting for him to kiss her and now, to add salt to
the wound, she hadn’t even managed to deflect him from dropping her at her new
home. “Take a left just up here.”

“A left?” Finn checked because his brain was still refilling
with blood after he’d almost kissed those ready red lips. Hell, twice in two
days was two times too much, given he’d promised her he wouldn’t kiss her again.
She was working for him and kissing staff wasn’t P.C., especially when the
thought of stopping the kiss once he’d started was harder than not kissing her
at all. And damn it, why did he even want to kiss her when she irritated the
hell out of him?