Love For Hire: The Helena's Grove Series Book 2 (5 page)

“Well, I’ll see you kids in the morning. Let me know if you need anything,” Aunt Gabby called up to Annie.

“It’s great, thank you,” Marcus said as he climbed the stairs and Aunt Gabby headed toward her own room.

Marcus brought the luggage in and began getting ready for bed. Annie was still standing by the door, not knowing what to do.

When he finally looked up at her he stopped. “Is this going to be a problem?”

“What? No. I mean, not really. It’s um… It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to spend the night with a man I barely know. But it’s okay. It’ll be fine… whatever works.” She knew she was rambling so she just shut her mouth.

“I can sleep on the floor if you’re more comfortable with that.” Marcus looked at her with those beautiful blue eyes.

“Um…” Annie said, seriously considering this for a few seconds. Finally, she exhaled loudly. “No, no it’s fine. We’re adults and it’s not a big deal. Besides, this is business. We can do this…” Annie suddenly felt slightly shy and she smiled at him teasingly. “As long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

He laughed and held his hands up. “Oh I promise, no hanky panky from me! And I don’t snore so I won’t disturb you that way.” He winked at her and continued unpacking.

Annie smiled and tried to relax, but the butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t let her. She quickly showered and put on the pajamas she’d brought, thankful she’d packed her modest ones since she knew it would be cold. She peeked out the bathroom door and saw Marcus in bed. The lamp was on and he was reading. As quickly as she could without seeming weird she got into bed and pulled the covers over her.

“Goodnight,” she said quietly.

“Goodnight,” Marcus said. “Is the light bothering you? I just have a couple more chapters.”

“No, it’s fine.”

Annie pretended to be asleep when Marcus finally finished his book. He turned off the lamp and fluffed the pillows before settling in to sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his breath slow and she knew he was asleep. She finally relaxed and soon felt sleep begin to overtake her when suddenly, she heard a noise! Her eyes shot open as she listened. The sound came again, a little louder this time. Annie followed her ears to Marcus who lay sleeping beside her. She watched him in the moonlight as he breathed in and out. And then it happened again… a snore! As another one came Annie couldn’t help but smile. She watched him a few more seconds as he began to snore at a steady pace. She shook her head and lay back down, happy beyond measure that he was not as perfect as he seemed.

Christmas Day Annie awoke to see a fresh thick layer of snow on the ground outside her window. She turned over to find Marcus absent from the room.
Thank goodness,
she thought.
I couldn’t pay him enough to have to see me first thing in the morning.
She got up and made her way to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Her reflection looked back at her with slight smudges of eye liner around her large brown eyes and her medium length hair poking up at random places in the back. She shook her head and proceeded to make herself look presentable.

Ten minutes later, she went downstairs to find Marcus having coffee with Aunt Gabby in the kitchen. They were laughing and talking like they’d known each other for years. As Annie watched the scene, she couldn’t decide if she liked the fact that he was making such an effort, or if it was going to make it all the harder when she ‘broke up’ with him.

Just then, Marcus laughed at something and looked her way. “There she is!” he said cheerfully as he got up and walked to her. He kissed her cheek and lingered for a moment. “Good morning beautiful,” he said sweetly in her ear. “Would you like some coffee?” He walked to the cupboard and pulled out a mug.

“Oh… yes please,” Annie said as she found a seat at the table.
He certainly was a charmer.

“Marcus was just telling me about how you guys met,” Aunt Gabby told her.

Annie looked at her, then at Marcus who set a cup of coffee in front of her. “Marcus tells it better than I do, that’s for sure.”

“I am the better story teller, it’s true.” Marcus shrugged.

“What do we need to help you with Aunt Gabby?” Annie asked, changing the subject.

“Well, we’ll have dinner at six o’ clock. I’m heading downtown around noon for a couple hours to help with the soup kitchen.” She turned to Annie. “You should take Marcus through town and show him around.”

Annie opened her mouth to object just as the front door opened. “Knock knock, anyone home?” Zack’s voice rang through the house.

“We’re in here,” Aunt Gabby called. She stood just as Zack, Jen and Roger entered the kitchen. There were hugs and introductions all around.

Zack shook Marcus’ hand when Annie introduced them. “So,” Zack looked at him suspiciously, “you’re the boyfriend?”

“I’m the boyfriend,” Marcus stated confidently.

“What do you do for a living boyfriend?”

“I’m finishing up my masters in mechanical engineering.”

Zack feigned surprise, even though Annie had already told him as much. “That’s pretty fancy stuff. Have to be smart to be in that field, am I right?”

“No smarter than you’d have to be to be a doctor,” Marcus hinted.

“Yeah well, it’s the specialists that are the real brains. I’m just going into general medicine. But you guys that build buildings and space rockets and that kind of stuff, you have to be on your game twenty-four-seven.”

“It’s true that everything has to fit perfectly in order to have something function the way it should. I would say that the human body is much the same. And while I enjoy what I do, I don’t have near the affect on the human heart that I hear you do. Perhaps you should consider going into cardiology.”

Zack looked at him for a moment and there was silence. Annie looked from one man to the other, not sure what was going on. Then Zack smiled and Marcus did too. “Hey, you’re funny. He’s funny! I like this guy!” He slapped Marcus on the shoulder and they all laughed.

Annie breathed a sigh of relief. She had no idea what had just happened but she assumed that in ‘man language’ they liked each other.

The six of them talked and got acquainted before Aunt Gabby announced she had to go to the soup kitchen, promising she’d be back by three o’ clock to help with dinner. Roger headed to the local hotel to get settled in and make some calls. That left Zack, Jen, Annie and Marcus to get dinner started. Jen pulled Annie aside while Zack and Marcus discussed the best way to prepare the ham. Apparently, cooking was something they had in common.

“Oh my goodness Annie!” Jen whispered as she peeked into the kitchen from the living room. “He is gorgeous! I mean, you are adorable and I really don’t think there’s a man on earth that truly deserves you but, wow.” She looked into the kitchen again.

“Jen!” Annie smacked her arm playfully. “You’re in a committed relationship!”

“What makes you think I’m looking at your boyfriend and not mine?” She winked and Annie laughed.

“He
is
very good looking,” Annie agreed. “And nice too. People aren’t normally good looking
and
nice! I guess I did find myself a catch.”

“Except for Zack of course,” Jen said, still peering into the kitchen. She looked back at Annie. “Your brother is pretty hot.”

“And, closing my ears...” Annie said dramatically. “Whatever you have to say about him I don’t want to hear it.”

Jen chuckled and sat with Annie on the couch. “So tell me how you two met.” She had eagerness in her eyes.

“Uh, well, it’s not that great a story,” Annie fumbled.

“Oh come on! The ‘how we met’ story is the best! Tell me every little detail.” Jen giggled like a school girl and Annie’s throat was getting dryer by the second. “You know what,” she said after a moment of hesitation, “I’m going to let Marcus tell you and Zack. He just does such a better job than I do. And he loves to tell it, so…”

Jen made a face but seemed to accept her offer. Annie blew out a breath of relief. Why hadn’t she and Marcus thought about the ‘how they met’ story before now? Annie mentally slapped herself for forgetting one of the key events of a relationship.
I guess that goes to show how long it’s been since I was actually in a relationship. I can’t even remember all the important events that are a part of it!

The rest of the afternoon went on with no major mishaps on Annie’s part. She and Jen worked on the side dishes while the guys prepared the meat main dish. Annie found herself watching Marcus. He was so cool and collected. Annie marveled at how easily he handled himself and wondered how it would be to feel that way. She knew she was beginning to enjoy having him around. A couple times he caught her looking at him and she looked away, embarrassed.

Just after three o’ clock, Aunt Gabby returned. She filled them in on the success of the soup kitchen and by five everything was ready. Zack and Jen went back to their hotel to get ready for the evening and Marcus and Annie made their way upstairs to do the same.

“You’re awesome in the kitchen,” Annie commented when she got out of the shower. Marcus looked up at her from his suitcase, his white t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking but I took a few classes a couple years ago and have gotten more into it since then.”

Annie nodded, drying her hair with a towel. “It seems your talents never end.”

Marcus laughed and went into the bathroom. “I find that there are so many things in this life to enjoy, I just wish I could be an expert on everything. But that takes more time than I have.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We all have to work.”

“I’m sure you’ve done a lot in your life,” Annie remarked pulling a dress out of the closet and laying it on the bed.

Marcus turned and leaned against the bathroom door frame to look at her. Annie glanced up to find him shirtless; she looked away quickly and then back, embarrassed that she was embarrassed.

“Does this make you uncomfortable?” he asked quickly.

“Oh no, no you’re fine.” She waved a hand at him and self-consciously pulled her robe a little tighter around her. “You just caught me off guard that’s all.” She knew she was blushing so she continued on with the conversation. “Have you traveled much?”

“Yeah, quite a bit when I was younger.” His arms were folded across his tan muscled chest.  “I don’t go as much now.”

“Why not?”             

He shrugged. “There are some beautiful places in the world, but I’ve found that nowhere beats the good ol’ U.S.A.” He smiled at her and then went back into the bathroom but didn’t close the door. “Have you traveled?” he asked after a moment.

“No, well yes. Not extensively. I went to Paris my senior year in high school with some friends, which was awesome. And I’ve been to some of the national parks across the nation but that’s about it.”

“Well you’re young. You have plenty of time to go and see the world,” Marcus’ voice came from the bathroom.

Annie smiled and decided to be bold. She went to the doorway and leaned against it just as he had a few moments earlier. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, his chest was bare, and his face was half covered in cream as he began to shave. “Are you going to tell me how old you are?” she asked.

He glanced at her. “I’m thirty.”

“Not how old Marcus is, how old YOU are.”

Marcus exhaled loudly and put his hands on the sink counter. “Annie, we’ve been over this. You have to start thinking of me as Marcus, not some guy pretending to be Marcus. If you don’t, this won’t work. I know it’s strange for you to be here right now, sharing a room with a man you barely know but it’s all how you think about it. It’s true that you don’t know me, but you do know Marcus. So just pretend, for the next couple days that I am truly him. If I divulge any information about myself that is contrary to Marcus’ life, it will confuse you. It will be easier for you to go on with what we planned so you don’t have other facts floating around in your head. Does that make sense?”

Annie stood there, arms folded, feeling like a scolded child. “Yes, it does,” she admitted. “I’ll stop asking.” She turned and went back to her suitcase. Marcus closed the bathroom door without another word and Annie heard the shower turn on.
Well, at least he didn’t leave the door open for that! For a man who likes to keep things to himself he sure has no problem baring his muscle body to the world!

When he got out, Annie went in and began fixing her hair. She curled it slightly and put on her makeup. Her large brown eyes seemed larger with mascara on. She remembered in school the boys used to tease, calling her names like Bambi and doe eyes. It bothered her then and even now there were days when those insecurities rose up in her mind. But for the most part, she had become comfortable with herself and her features. After finishing her hair and makeup Annie slipped into her favorite red cocktail dress. It was fitted but comfortable and showed off her slim figure. Her favorite earrings were the perfect finishing touch. She stood in front of the mirror and took a deep breath as she stared at the face looking back at her.
Marcus wants me to pretend, I can pretend. I can do this. I can pull this off; I’m smokin’ hot in this little red dress!
She gave herself the best sexy look she could muster and then shook her head and exhaled in defeat.
Sweetheart, sexy just isn’t something you can pull off.
She shook her head and laughed as she went into the bedroom.

Marcus was ready and waiting for her. “Wow,” he said in a low voice.

Annie looked at him. “What?” she asked as she put her flat red shoes on. Heels were never in her comfort zone. She could never get used to them and after a couple nearly disastrous encounters; she decided to give up on them for the most part.

“You look amazing,” Marcus complimented. 

Annie smiled but didn’t fully believe his words. “Thank you,” she said politely and then stood to face him. “Ready?”

He nodded and Annie looked him over. He wore a nice blue button up shirt that matched his eyes. His dark slacks were immaculate and his hair perfect.

“I’m ready when you are,” he told her.

Annie started toward the door but stopped abruptly and turned to him. “I forgot to ask, how did we meet?”

Marcus looked at her for a moment and then smiled. “How did you and Marcus meet?”

“Well naturally I’m asking about Marcus since I know exactly how you and I met,” Annie said sarcastically.

“I like this spunky side of you, it’s cute,” Marcus said with a smile. Annie waited and he filled her in on the major details.

“Jen is going to ask tonight so I thought we should be clear on the basics.”

“Good thinking, but don’t worry. I’ll tell the story if you’d like. I’m really good at stories.”

“Hmmm, so I’ve noticed,” Annie remarked, and the two of them made their way downstairs to the party that awaited them.