Summer Kisses (270 page)

Max
loved
her? Since when? While the audience and Max waited in hushed silence, her mind twisted the words inside and out looking for hidden meanings.

“Stay tuned,” Tess broke in as Annabel continued to sit in stunned silence. “We’ll find out what Annabel thinks after this commercial break.”

Max rushed over and dropped to his knees beside her, his face creased into lines of concern. “Annabel? Honey? You all right? Get her some water or something,” he said to a shadow off-stage. He brushed her cheek with his fingertips. “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot. I just wanted to surprise you. Annabel? Say something, darlin’. I’m about to have a heart attack here.”

“But—But—What about your job?” she managed to say. “I thought you were moving to New York.”

“If it comes to a choice, I’d rather have you than the job. I’ll stay here or I’ll move to New York or LA or I’ll commute if I have to. We can live anywhere that works for you.” He dug around in his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet jeweler’s box. “I’ve even got a ring.”

She stared from the ring box to him and back again. “You’re saying you want to get married?”

“Whatever it takes, Anna-honey. Whatever you want.”

Finally, finally, she dared to believe. She thought about the proposal for about five seconds and made her decision. “Spell it out, Max.  I want to hear you say it.”

“I love you.” He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing. “I want to get married.” He held onto her hands like he was an astronaut floating in space and she was his lifeline to the mother ship. “Will you marry me?”

She could have left him dangling, but he looked so anxious, so serious, and so un-Max like, she didn’t have the heart. “Yes.”

He let out a whoop before the word was out of her mouth. He jumped up and pulled her into his arms, then he swung her around in an embrace that left them both breathless as the audience cheered. With the cameras rolling again, Carly and Tess joined them in a ferocious hug that included laughter and tears and rounds of “I told you so.”

“I love you,” Max said in her ear. “But I haven’t heard those words from you yet.”

She smiled, putting all her feelings into the look before she spoke the words. “I love you, too.”

“Then hang on with everything you’ve got, honey. We’re in for a wild ride.”

With that promise, he pulled her into a scorching kiss that became the finale of
Let’s Talk
’s promotional loop for the next decade. 

Four years later…

Two o’clock in the afternoon, and all Annabel wanted was a nap. But, no. Shifting in the sleek ergonomic marvel Max had insisted on buying for her, she tried to focus on Derek, her laid-back assistant. He sprawled, stretched out, full-length on her office sofa.

“I’ll work up the changes we’ve talked about.” Derek’s multiple piercings, tattoos, and striped blue and black faux-hawk might lead the uninformed to doubt the talent and dedication he applied to their work, but Annabel knew better. “I have some ideas about punching up that first section with DeSean in the music studio. And that scene at the end, when the sunrise is coming through the windows? Backlighting DeSean? The shading should be more golden. I want the sound mixer to play with the music there some more, too.”

“Right, we have the sound fading away, but let’s see if there’s more impact with it coming up instead, kind of bold and hopeful.” The documentary on the independent music scene they’d been working on for the past year had all the earmarks of success. But the element Annabel liked most about the project was that it had been inspired by, and prominently featured, DeSean Daniels, one of her boys from
Challenging Destiny
. Absently, she typed in a couple more notes and saved them to their edit folder. “Can you have the changes completed by Monday?”

He nodded. “No problem, boss. I’m knocking off early today to get to out to Riverbend, but I’ll make up the hours tomorrow or Sunday.”

With an edgy style like a long music video with documentary content interspersed,
Making New Music
was the first film she’d produced solely for LuckyLady, the production company she’d started after leaving her apprenticeship with Lance Foreman. She felt a lot of pressure to get it right, not all of it self-imposed. Expectations ran high in film circles due to the Independent Filmmakers award hanging on her wall for
Rolling Thunder
, the documentary she’d made on motorcycle clubs while working under Lance’s supervision. He’d taught her a lot, but she didn’t want the film community thinking she couldn’t produce the same kind of quality product on her own.

“I’m taking off for now, too.” Too tired to do anything more for the day, Annabel started shutting down her computer and straightening things on her desk. “Enjoy the concert tonight.”

“Right, you have fun in Columbus this weekend.” Derek stood up from his couch-slouch and headed out of her office. “And tell Max thanks again for the concert tickets.”

Still sitting at her desk, trying to summon the energy to move, she heard footsteps stop outside her door. She looked up, expecting Derek to have returned with one final thought. But the body filling her doorway with his trademark swagger and broad shoulders belonged to her handsome husband.

“Hey, pretty lady, want to go for a ride?” For the past twenty-four hours, he’d been traveling home from a grueling two-week detail in Afghanistan. He had to be bone weary, but right now he was looking at her like he was a starving man, she was a steak dinner, and he was ready to eat her up.

“You’re home!” Even after three years of marriage, she couldn’t help throwing herself at him the moment he walked through the door. So far, he’d always been happy to catch her. This afternoon was no exception. “I was afraid you’d be late.”

“Told you I’d be here on time.” He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close, ducking his head to kiss her hello. “God, you feel good.”

The fact that their two careers had them splitting their time between Cincinnati and New York, and Max was frequently away on assignment, meant they weren’t always in the same place at the same time. Whenever possible, they traveled together. Sometimes she free-lanced for his team, sometimes he free-lanced for hers.

After she had completed her internship with Lance Foreman, she and Max had gotten married at a small ceremony at The Conservatory, with just family and close friends. Annabel had sold the house she and Carly had lived in, buying a three-story warehouse near downtown with Max.

They’d renovated the entire first floor into an office, studio and editing rooms for LuckyLady Productions. Their living quarters took up the second floor, making it easy for her to work whenever she needed to.

A darling efficiency apartment made up the third floor for Carly. Her hectic college schedule didn’t allow her much time to visit, but when she did, she knew she always had a place to call home.

So far, the arrangement had worked out well, but Annabel could see more changes in their future. They’d have to find a way to add a nursery to the second level sometime soon, and maybe, look for a bigger apartment in New York

“But sometimes you run late.” Gripping his shoulders, she jumped up and wrapped her legs around his waist.

“Not when I can help it.” He linked his arms around her hips to hold her in place and kiss her again. Longer this time. With more tongue. “And not when we’ve got something this important to attend. It’s not every day Carly graduates from OU at the top of her class.”

“Pre-med, no less. She’s one smart girl.” She kissed him back and pointed up the stairs. “To the bedroom.”

“Good idea.” He smiled, turning to let her kill the lights on the studio level. “That’s where I was headed.”

“Because my suitcase is there?”

“Because I haven’t seen you for ten days, and I want you so much even my eyeballs hurt.” He nuzzled her neck, and she melted a little. “We don’t have to leave this minute, do we?”

She laid her head on his shoulder and reveled in the pleasure of having him carry her up the stairs. “We do if we want to get there in time for the reception and dinner with Carly and her friends.”

“Are you sure you aren’t too tired to drive to Columbus tonight?”

“You’ll be driving.” She stifled a yawn. “I’ll be sleeping most of the way.”

He grazed his fingertips across her tummy. “Wouldn’t you and the Peanut rather go to Columbus in the morning?”

She sniffed. “The Peanut and I don’t want to get up that early.”

By now, he’d reached the landing to their upstairs residence. Before opening the door, he nibbled his favorite spot in the crook of her neck, sending little goose bumps spiraling. “How have you been feeling?”

“Super, most of the time. Morning sickness only strikes occasionally, when it’s least convenient for me.” She pulled back to look at him. “Don’t let the word morning fool you into thinking it can’t occur any time. I’m hoping it won’t hit during Carly’s graduation ceremony tomorrow.”

Just then, Carly’s ringtone, “Matchmaker, Matchmaker,” erupted from the phone in Max’s back pocket. “Speaking of our graduate, can you reach around and get that?”

“Would you rather let it go to voicemail and call her back when we get on the road?”

“She’s texted me twice already, worried I’d get stuck in New York due to all the storms on the coast. We should let her know I’m here.”

As always, Annabel was touched at how sweet he was about Carly’s place in their lives. Annabel knew it was partly because he genuinely liked her stepdaughter, but he’d admitted more than once that the girl would always have a special place in his heart for getting the two of them together.

Smiling, she pulled the phone from his pocket, slid her finger across the screen and punched an icon. “Hey, Carly. I answered Max’s phone. You’re on speaker, so you’ve got us both.”

“Great! Max made it home all right?”

“Right on time,” Annabel told her. “We’re packing up and getting ready to leave in a few minutes.”

He wasn’t even breathing hard by the time he shouldered his way into their bedroom. It was bright and sunny and the bed looked soft and inviting. He laid her down amid a stack of pillows in the center of the billowy duvet. Keeping his gaze firmly fixed on Annabel, he pulled his t-shirt over his head, revealing the sculpted expanse that still managed to take her breath away. “I know we’ve got the big bash Anna’s throwing you tomorrow, but what’s the schedule for tonight, kiddo?”

“Schmoozing over cocktails with the faculty at six. Dinner at seven.”

Max stretched out next to Annabel on the bed, lifted her shirttail, and rubbed his palm over her mostly non-existent baby bump. “Is cocktail hour mandatory?”

“No, but you should allow extra time for traffic. There are so many visitors in town for commencement weekend, it’s a zoo here.”

“I can manage the traffic, but I’m a little concerned about Annabel.”

“Concerned? Why? What’s the matter?”

“I’m fine,” Annabel interjected, punching Max’s arm for worrying Carly.

Max’s voice rode right over her. “She looks tired. I don’t think she got enough rest while I was gone.”

“My guess is she worked non-stop all week to get her editing finished before you got home and had to drive here for the weekend.”

“She probably did!” Max nibbled on Annabel’s ear.

“I did not!” Just to pay him back for distracting her, she tweaked his nipple. He liked it, so she tweaked the other one.

“Anna, it’s vitally important for you to get plenty of rest during your first trimester.” Carly didn’t start medical school until the fall, but anyone listening to her would think she was already a trained professional. “Didn’t you read the pregnancy materials I sent you?”

She bit her lip as Max unbuttoned her shirt and admired the new fullness of her breasts. He traced the soft flesh above her bra with his tongue. “Yes, Dr. Bossy, I did read them.”

“She should rest now, Max, before you hit the road.”

Max looked up at Annabel and winked. “You really think so?”

“I do,” Carly confirmed. “I’ll see you tonight whenever you get here.”

“We’ll be there in plenty of time for dinner,” he assured her. “But we might miss the cocktail hour.”

“That’s all right,” Carly said. “Annabel needs her rest more than she needs to stand around drinking tonic water with a bunch of stuffed shirts.”

Kissing his way down Annabel’s stomach he paused to say, “Thanks for understanding. We’ll see you later, kiddo.”

“Love you, guys. Bye!

“Love you, too, sweetie.” Annabel disconnected the call and tossed the phone toward the bedside table. “That was bad. You shouldn’t have done that.”

“Bought us some time, though, didn’t it?” He unzipped her jeans and slipped his hand inside her panties, finding her wet and ready for him. “You heard what Carly said. You have to rest.”

She returned the favor, unzipping him and cupping his hard heat. “Somehow, I don’t find this a bit restful.”

“You will,” he predicted, tossing her jeans aside. “You’ll be longing for a nap after I’ve loved every inch of you.”

“Will you stay with me while I rest?” she asked, thinking he needed sleep more than she did.

“You can count on it.” He settled between her thighs, kissing her long and hard. “Always.”

Jacie Floyd believes the Midwest is the best and most under-appreciated place to live, except for the uncertainty of the weather. Believing she was an island girl in a past life, she struggles with the bitter cold winters of Southwest Ohio and yearns for a view with crystal blue waters. From the time she read her first Nancy Drew mystery, she’s been an avid reader and writer. After many years as a wife and mother with a nine-to-five job, the desire to create her own stories took over. While learning her craft as an unpublished author, she was honored to be named a six-time Golden Heart™ Finalist, and two-time Golden Heart™ winner by the Romance Writers of America. Finally giving in to the inevitable, she ditched the day job in order to self-publish the kind of stories she likes to read and write. She likes fresh, flirty, and fun contemporaries about strong women who deal with relatable situations in familiar settings. She hopes you like them too.