In Love by Design (The Adventures of Anabel Axelrod) (44 page)

I watch
ed, captivated, as they whaled on each other.

‘
My God, this is what Kava Maga combat is all about
!’ I was weak at the knees facing the reality of how unskilled and unprepared I really was. If I ever got attacked by men like this, I’d be lucky to cheetah, much less ever win a real fight.

John land
ed a particularly vicious blow to Luke’s bicep. The impacting thud of his fist against Luke’s unyielding flesh made me wince, as he snarled, “I’m getting sick of this shit, Drake. We were supposed to be done by now.”

Luke d
idn’t even flinch at the blow, but twisted so deftly fast that John’s next strike missed him entirely and John stumbled a little before correcting. Taking immediate advantage of that misstep, Luke did something that looked extremely painful to John’s shoulder with the meaty heel of his hand.

“
Yeah, it’s been real tough on you.” Luke’s response was cool in comparison to John’s heat, but cuttingly sarcastic.

John step
ped back out of striking range, lowered his fists, and spoke so quietly that I had to strain to hear. “It has been tough and I want to be done.”

Luke stop
ped, too, and wiped his dripping forehead with the back of his forearm.

Lowering his arm, he nod
ded curtly at John. “One more thing, and then we’re done here. I need you to guard my back.”

“Well, goddamn, buddy,
why didn’t you say so?” John asked, relaxing and grinning broadly while holding up a fist.

Luke bump
ed John’s fist. “I just did, asshole.”

Laughing together, the
friends resumed kicking the crap out of each other and I decided there was nothing more I needed to talk to Luke about. Leaving the barn, I returned to the house.

Back in
Luke’s bedroom, I checked in at Bel’s and talked with Billy, read for a while, and then got ready for tonight’s dinner party--all while thinking over the past couple of days.

Despite Sparky flaring
on my finger in brilliant protest, I was forced to face the reality that whatever Luke’s intentions towards me were, I was not his top priority this weekend and he does have a secret agenda.

‘Ouch!’
Drinking with Pam at the bar was sounding better every second.

Ready to go with thirty minutes to spare
, I felt very sexy in the black strapless dress because it was fitted to perfection. Underneath the dress, I was wearing the front runner favorite of all my new pretties. In fact, this could be my most favorite lingerie of all time because it’s incredibly cute and amazingly comfortable.

I d
idn’t often choose a strapless dress style because my breasts were proportionally larger than my frame. I prefer not to announce my presence by my chest preceding me like the prow of an ocean liner ship, which was what most strapless dresses do for our figures. But not this beauty of a dress—everything about it was just right.

For me,
there was a fine line when displaying my breasts for public consumption. No matter the size, too obvious a display of skin takes away the subtler, but powerfully sexier factor of leaving more to a man’s imagination. Sex happened in the big head before the little head.

Anna disagree
d, but for the same reason. She thinks men prefer to not use their imaginations and the more of your breasts they can see, the sooner the sex in the big head transferred to the little head downstairs.

We agreed to disagree on this
one; since it really all ultimately depended on the type of man you want headhunting you.

I s
at down to read in a big wing chair in the living room. My legs were demurely crossed because my dress was short, but a black toeless pump was dangling precariously off my slowly swaying foot. As it always happened when I was reading a good book, soon I was engrossed in the story and only vaguely aware of my surroundings.

Luke clearing his throat jerk
ed my eyes up from the Kindle screen.

Standing in the front hallway, h
is grin was boyishly sheepish, his hair was plastered to his skull, and his T-shirt had circles of sweat ringing the armpits, but my boyfriend’s skin was glowing with vitality. His eyes had lost their tired smudges and were gleaming, as they traveled over me from top to bottom.

“I’m sorry, Anabel
, but I lost track of time. John showed up and we’ve been in the barn. I thought you’d come out there when you woke up.” His grin slowly faded, as his voice lowered to a silken timbre. “What a picture you make; a woman in a short dress, black stockings, and reading.” Without taking his eyes off me, he motioned at his sweat soaked person. “I would demonstrate how beautiful you look, but until I shower, I had better tell you from a distance.”

If I had the
damn dimples that were wasted on the rest of my family, this was where I’d use them. “Thank you, but yes, that’s probably best.” I brought the Kindle up again to resume reading, as I absently continued, “Oh, I did come to the barn, but you guys were having such fun beating the hell out of each other, I thought I’d leave you men to it and get ready. I promised Pam we’d be there at seven, so…”

Luke ran a hand through his hair, leaving it standing up in spikes on one side. “Yeah, I need to get it in gear.” He began to turn away, and out of my peripheral vision I saw him hesitate before giving a soft, little laugh.

I looked up politely in inquiry.

“Er…I noticed a gift bag on the bed…?”
He asked, and I saw the fleeting anticipation that passed across his face before he masked his emotions, as usual.

I nodded, while looking back at my book
. “Oh yeah, go ahead and open it. I’ve been meaning to give it to you since yesterday. It’s for tonight.”

I
felt Luke’s disappointment radiating from across the room. “Don’t you need to be there when I open it?”

Laughing a little, I
glanced at him. “No, I don’t need to be, but if you want me to be, give a yell when you’re done in the shower and I’ll come in.”

Crossing his arms, I sigh
ed at Luke’s biceps while he regarded me a moment in silence. “Anabel, are you mad at me for staying in the barn so long?”

“No!” I rush
ed to assure him, meeting his hooded eyes. “I love your athleticism! I’m sorry if I’m giving that impression. I’m not mad; I’ve just been doing some thinking. I’ve reached some conclusions and decision, and I guess it’s put me in a quiet mood.”

“Okay,
this cannot be good,” Luke teased in a neutral voice. It sounded more like a command when he suggested, “Why don’t you share these conclusions and decisions.”

I checked the time on my phone. “We need to leave for our double date in
less than thirty minutes.”

The glint in Luke’s eyes
belayed his light tone, “Jesus, how many have you made?”

Smiling slightly, I
started to tell him only a few conclusions and one decision when John shouted from the back entry, “Where is everybody? Do we have time for a beer before we take off for this blow out?”

“Ah,
how ironic you speak of sharing. Guess who else is coming to dinner, huh?” I said, and didn’t bother to soften my sarcasm or apologize for my mangling.

“Undun
” by Guess Who

Saturday 12/08/12

6
:55 PM

I have practiced situational awareness since the minute we left Luke’s farm and there
were no vehicles following us. I should be safe tonight at the restaurant, since nobody knew we were attending outside of Pam and Anna.

The Porterhouse
was a straight shot north from Faribault up 35W. As we approached the exit, I glanced over at the silent man at my side and wondered how things got so strained so fast between Luke and me.

Actually, I d
idn’t have to wonder. It was because I was being played somehow. I didn’t know how or why, but I was definitely being played. Next to missing My Turn, being bald-faced lied to, and having a gun pulled on me, being played comes in fourth on the list of things I didn’t appreciate happening one bit this weekend.

Luke’s answer to my sarcastic
jibe about John joining us was to quietly reproach. “Anabel, do you expect me to tell John to sit home alone? He’s my friend.”

Perhaps if I was a kind person at heart, Luke
’s response would have made me feel petty and plucked at my feminine heartstrings, but since I was not kind, it only made me roll my eyes. As for heartstrings, the few I have are discordant and stretching to the breaking point.

Luke stood in the front hall
giving me a long look after my eye rolling response to his comment about his poor, pitiful friend, John. Well, frankly, I wasn’t positive how long his look lasted because I went back to reading my book before Luke left to go shower.

John
had stuck his head in the living room then and I was subjected to his patented ravishing glance that summed up a woman’s charms, defenses, and weaknesses to be exploited in less than a microsecond. An experienced used car salesman would look like a choir boy next to John Smith.

‘Hell, you could throw a television evangelist into that choir, too
,’ drawled the mean mommy voice, and we all smirked in agreement.

Those speaking golden eyes were wary in his narrow face when he greeted me
. “Hello, Anabel.”

“Hello, John
,” I returned with equal coolness.

“
What, no Snake Man slurs or strange, threatening gestures?” He asked, slender brows rising in mocking concern.

I sniffed and
went back to reading. “The night’s still young.”

Laughing, he went off to shower in the main bath.

As we prepared to leave the house, John stated he needed to drive separate to do an errand and I quickly volunteered to drive the jeep. I really did hate being trapped at an event with no wheels, especially considering my recent decision.

Preferring not to talk on the drive up from Faribault,
I had the music playing pretty loud. Luke must not have wanted to talk either, since he hadn’t turned it down. He also hadn’t asked me a second time about my conclusions or decisions. My guess it was because, upon further consideration, he wanted to avoid any conversations that might lead to me asking about his secrets.

Instead,
Luke has gazed distractedly out the passenger window for the majority of the last twenty minutes of our ride to the Porterhouse. The constant drumming of his fingers on the thigh of his black dress pants was my only way of knowing Luke wasn’t so quiet on the inside.

‘Mmm,
Luke’s black dress pants!’
purred the sex kitten voice.

‘For once, I agree with the
little slut!’
proclaimed the mean mommy voice.

It
was always nice when those two laugh together and get along.

Not wanting to taint the gift giving process, I had
entered Luke’s bedroom when he called my name. He was standing with a towel around his waist and an arrogant, challenging look on his face. Clearly Genghis’ disappointment in me had escalated during his time in the shower, but I ignored it.

I reached
for the bag with the frilly white bow covered in pink hearts and presented it to Luke with a little shrug and a nervous smile. “It’s nothing fancy, but I thought this would look phenomenal on you and I hope you like it.”

I
t should fit, since I’d checked the tags of another shirt he’d worn once. Hoping he’d like it enough to want to wear it tonight, I’d laundered this shirt last night when I was washing everyone’s clothes.

‘Holy Bejesus, no wonder this weekend’s been disappointing on so many levels. I sound like a slave—period. The sex part
was nowhere in sight unless I was semi-unconscious. Hallucinations can probably explain that part!’

As he
quietly expressed his pleased thanks for my gift, I looked everywhere around Luke’s bedroom, but at him. Hurriedly, I gave him a peck on the cheek, ducked out of his arms, and skedaddled out the door, despite seeing war-god’s lowered brows. My flustered, mumbled excuse that I had to see a man about a horse didn’t go over too well due to the bathroom located in his room and the minor fact that I do not have a penis. I was out of practice escaping men, but must stick to my decision.

Luke
was the Delilah to my Samson. My insatiable sexual appetite for him made me femininely weak. He didn’t even have to cut my hair, but just wrap it around his fist, and I was blinded while the walls came tumbling down.

Seeing
Luke walk into the kitchen ten minutes later, I almost fainted at how attractive he looked and how delicious he smelled.

My simple gift did look phenomenal. Unbuttoned at the
throat, the stark white shirt with a wide, pointed collar worn with the black blazer and narrow legged dress pants fit Luke’s broad shoulders, trim waist, and lean legs to perfection. The black hair and bronzed skin of his Greek heritage and his startling green eyes were electrifying contrasts to the classic white and black look.