Chapter 7
The memory of how Mike had kissed her the night she’d met him at Nectars caused flutters in Anna’s belly. She found herself holding her breath as he held his hands behind his back and leaned forward. Apples bobbed in the water and she wondered if he’d be able to get one.
He looked at her and winked, and she thought she’d swoon like a historical romance book heroine. He lowered his face to the water and she bit her lower lip as she watched him. She didn’t have long to wait. His teeth sank into one of the red apples and he rose, holding the apple with his teeth.
She swallowed as he took the apple out of his mouth and with a grin, caught her by the waist and drew her close to him. His face was cool and wet against hers, but his mouth was warm and inviting as he kissed her, long and so very sweet.
When he drew away, applause burst around them. Anna blinked, trying to catch her breath as she looked to see a small crowd around them. Heat crept through her and she glanced at Mike to see him smiling. He dried his face off with a paper towel that was handed to him then tossed it. They shared the apple before he took the jackets from her. He grabbed her hand and they walked toward the corn maze.
Lips still tingling from Mike’s kiss, she looked up at him. “What if we get lost?”
He grinned at her. “I can think of worse things than getting lost with you.”
She loved the zings that shot through her belly when he smiled like that at her. “You lead the way.”
When they entered the maze, he gripped her hand tighter. The corn towered over them, and she would have felt lost immediately if it hadn’t been for his hold on her hand. Corn stalks swayed and leaves brushed her skin and the cool air smelled of earth and cornhusks.
As they walked through the maze, feeling more and more lost, they laughed and soon she was breathless from the laughter.
“I think we’re going in circles,” Mike said when they reached another junction. “What do you think? Right or left?”
She looked from left to right. It was already shaded in the cornfield but it seemed that the sun must be going down because the light was getting dimmer.
“Left.” She nodded in that direction.
“Left it is.” He smiled at her and led her behind him.
Moments later they finally made it out of the corn. He gave her a quick grin “I think that calls for another kiss.”
He met her mouth with his and she held back a soft moan that would have slipped from her. The day had been amazing and she couldn’t imagine how it could get any better than this.
When he raised his head she looked into his eyes. He had a way of making her feel special…wanted…needed.
The reason she was really with him hit her full force.
It wasn’t too hard to pretend that she was with Mike because she liked him, because she truly did. But the reason she was there now—it made her stomach twist into a knot. What was she doing?
Her mind turned to the ones she loved. She had to do it. She had no choice.
Damn.
She had to get herself together. She had to do this.
Damn Chad!
She needed to be her positive self and set all other thoughts aside. Somehow she would spend time with Mike without breaking either one of their hearts. She could do that, right?
She was going about it the wrong way if that was her plan.
He took both of her hands and gave her a long searching look. “Is something wrong, Anna?”
The seesaw of feelings made it hard to smile, but she managed it. “Nope. I’m having a fantastic time.”
He gave a slow nod and squeezed both her hands. “We’re not done yet.”
She made the decision to enjoy herself for the rest of the day. “I’m ready.”
He released one of her hands and led her away from the cornfield toward a tractor and a flatbed trailer where people were climbing onto the bed and sitting on hay bales. Mike helped her up and climbed onto the flatbed. They found a hay bale to share and he brought her close to him so that his arm was around her shoulders and her body touched his from her shoulder to her knee.
She closed her eyes, pretending for a moment that this could be real. She knew she would have to back off, but for now she could pretend, couldn’t she?
The tractor started moving, jostling them back and forth as the hayride took them through the apple orchard, around the barns and other buildings, as well as pens where cows grazed and horses swished their tails as they ate grain in their feeders.
As the hayride continued, the sky grew dark, the air chillier, and she shivered.
“Here.” He held her jacket up and helped her slide her arms into it. He put on his own jacket and then held her closer.
It was dark as they came close to approaching the point where the hayride had started. Fireworks exploded overhead, causing Anna to catch her breath in surprise. The fireworks glittered in the night sky, raining down in red, orange, green, and blue sparkles. Everyone on the hayride oohed and ahhed.
The tractor stopped and they watched the show. She had never experienced anything so romantic as sitting beside Mike on a hayride near a pumpkin patch and a cornfield on a cool early October night. It was easy to pretend they were alone as they sat close, her head on his shoulder.
When the fireworks display ended, she looked at Mike and she smiled. He lowered his head and kissed her as the hayride started again.
He moved his hand to her face and brushed her cheek with his knuckles. “There’s no one I would have rather shared today with than you, Anna.”
She didn’t know what to say so she kissed him.
The tractor came to a halt and she drew away. It was easy to forget she was being blackmailed as she spent time with Mike. It was so comfortable being with him.
After everyone else who had been on the hayride climbed off, Mike jumped from the flatbed then helped Anna down. When she was on the ground, she brushed hay from the seat of her pants with both hands.
He took her hand again. “Know how to dance to country music?” he asked.
She shook her head. “I never learned how.”
“I’ll bet you’re a quick learner,” he said.
“I’m willing to give it a shot sometime,” she said.
“You’re in luck.” He put his arm around her shoulders. “A barn dance is supposed to start after the fireworks.”
Anna couldn’t believe how happy it made her to know that the evening wasn’t over yet. “Well, let’s go, then.”
They wandered toward the barn that was lit up, a live band playing, music pouring through the open double doors.
Anna caught the delicious smell of barbeque just as Mike said, “Damn, that smells good. Hungry?”
She nodded. “Most definitely.”
“Why don’t you reserve us a place to sit and I’ll be right back,” he said.
While she waited for him, she sat at a picnic table and looked around. Couples crowded the area, laughing and chatting. She felt a part of something like she’d never felt before. She wondered at that. Maybe it was because she didn’t have much of a life beyond family and work. It was good to get out and have a good time with someone she wanted to spend time with.
When Mike returned, he set a plate of pulled pork in front of her before sitting next to her on the bench and placing his own plate on the table. The plate was filled not only with BBQ meat but cornbread, pinto beans, and coleslaw.
From his jacket pockets he produced napkins, plastic utensils, and two cans of Coke. He popped the tab on one Coke and set it in front of her before opening his own.
The BBQ was delicious and she loved the buttered cornbread. She watched people around them in between eating and talking with Mike.
Like it had been throughout the day, people would stop and tell Mike hello and good luck with the election. He was always friendly with a genuine smile. A couple of times people had attempted to get started on a political topic, but Mike had gracefully managed to get out of the conversation.
“So do you kiss babies, too?” she asked in a teasing tone after Mike shook a man’s hand before the man continued on with a woman toward the barn.
Mike grinned. “Only beautiful women named Anna.”
Her whole body tingled. “Is that right?”
He gave a solemn nod before giving her a quick kiss. “Absolutely,” he said when he drew away.
When they finished eating their meal, Mike took their plates, napkins, plastic utensils, and Coke cans to a garbage can. He brought back a plate of goodies for them to share from a table filled with cakes, cookies, brownies, pies, apple bars, and other treats. By the time Anna had eaten a piece of apple pie, she was stuffed.
She held up her hand when he offered her a brownie. “Nooo. I’m so full,” she said with a shake of her head.
After Mike had tossed the dessert plate, he placed his fingers at the base of her spine and guided her into the barn. The band was good, the music loud. It wasn’t long until Mike had her on the dance floor, teaching her how to two-step and country waltz as well as swing dance. She and Mike chose not to participate in a couple of line dances but she enjoyed watching them.
It wasn’t long before she was breathless from laughing and dancing, and a light sheen of perspiration was on her skin. Just as she was going to beg off another dance, a slow song started.
He swept her into his arms and held her close as they moved around the dance floor. He was so much taller than her that she had to tilt her head to look up at him. Their eyes met and held, and he lowered his face to hers and gave her a soft kiss that made her even more breathless than she already was.
She was so close to him that she felt his phone vibrate against her and she drew away from the kiss.
“I wish I could ignore that,” he said with a frown.
“I understand.” She gave him a smile. “Go ahead.”
He pulled the phone out of the holster on his belt, checked the screen, then read a text message. “Damn,” he said. He looked at her. “I’ve got to get to a scene. I’ll drop you off on my way.” He squeezed her shoulders. “I’m sorry, sweetheart.”
“Don’t be.” She gave him a smile and added, “Let’s go.”
Chapter 8
The day had been amazing. Anna smiled as she sat in her seat in the SUV after Mike had helped her into the vehicle. She waited for him to go around it to the driver’s side. When he opened the door, she saw that he was taking his cell phone out of its holster. When he climbed in, he was already talking.
“Hey, John.” Mike started the SUV. “Just got notified that a group of ten to fifteen undocumented aliens have been located, along with over a hundred pounds of marijuana.”
Anna’s skin went cold as Mike continued, “On my way to the scene after I make a quick stop. Called to let you know that one of the illegals mentioned Jesus Perez.” Mike listened before he said, “I’ll keep you posted.”
Feeling stiff and frozen, Anna didn’t move, but her heart thundered against her breastbone.
Mike signed off with John before sliding the phone back into the belt holster. He put the SUV in reverse and gave Anna an apologetic look before looking in his mirrors and backing up the vehicle. “Not exactly the way I wanted to end the night,” he said.
She forced a smile. “It was a wonderful day.”
He glanced at her and smiled. “It was.”
The trip back was quieter than the drive from Prescott had been. Mike seemed lost in thought and Anna felt sick in her belly. The reason they were returning to Prescott hit too close to home.
When they reached her home and parked, he once again went to her side of the vehicle and helped her out of the SUV. After they gathered the alligator, her pumpkin, and a crate of apples, he walked her up the stairs to her door. She opened it and saw that no one was in the living room. She told him to set the apples and pumpkin just inside the door on the floor and she put down the alligator. She’d take care of it all later.
They stepped back onto the porch and he cupped her face in his hands and gave her a soft kiss. “Let’s continue where we left off later. I’ll call you Monday morning.”
She nodded. “Talk with you then.”
He gave her a quick kiss then waited for her to go into her house. She paused. “Thank you again for today,” she said.
“My pleasure.” He touched the brim of his hat and turned away to jog down the steps.
She closed the door and locked it behind her. Chilled through to the bone, she rested her forehead against the door and closed her eyes. What was she doing? It could have been her aunt and uncle who’d been discovered.
Was there any way to get out from under the dark cloud of Chad’s blackmail? It wasn’t right. How could he do this to her and her family?
Easy. He was a bastard who cared for nothing but himself and obviously had no scruples when it came to an ethical way to run a campaign.
A deep shuddering breath went through her and she picked up the alligator and hugged it tight. She had to talk to Chad, had to make him see that this was a bad idea.
Not only because of the danger to her family, but the danger to her heart and Mike’s as well.
* * * * *
Mike’s thoughts slid from the scene he was approaching to Anna. It had been clear she was enjoying herself but hadn’t minded when they had to leave early. But something had changed. It had been barely noticeable, but he was naturally perceptive as well as being trained to notice emotional changes. Anna’s emotions had definitely shifted.
When he arrived at the scene, red and blue lights flashed from sheriff’s department and Customs and Border Patrol vehicles. A group of men and women sat on the ground against a fence in front of a house with cracked and peeling white paint and a porch that barely looked safe enough to step on. Lights blazed from within the house as sheriff’s department deputies and U.S. Border Patrol agents went in and out through the front door.
Mike parked his SUV and climbed out. He approached Sam Davies, a senior agent with the Border Patrol.
When Mike reached Davies, the agent greeted him with a nod. “Sheriff.”
Mike returned the greeting and gestured to the undocumented aliens, UDAs. “How many?”
“Twelve UDAs total. Eight men and four women,” Davies said. “We also seized about 70 kilos of marijuana.”