“I don’t want you to owe me anything,” she said tensely. “I want you to stop being an asshole and try being my friend…and take your stupid pills!”
The next moment, she turned and walked across the parking lot to her car.
Lucas took a deep breath as he watched her leave. His gaze wandered down her back and over her knee-length skirt, following her every move, just as he had done almost a year ago at the hotel bar. Relief and anxiety coursed through his veins in equal measure. How could he fulfill the first part of her request…without taking her right there in the back seat of his SUV?
Chapter Eight
Eighth encounter
Can you bring some milk when you come over? I don’t have any for my coffee tomorrow.
No.
Why not?
That wasn’t our deal. No favors.
Ah, of course.
No secrets, no talking, no favors.
And no milk.
Anna had known two things since childhood: Her strongest weapons were her mind and her powers of compassion.
Both were double-edged swords.
Her brain told her she didn’t owe Lucas anything. It was his problem if he couldn’t find a babysitter! Her compassion, however, whispered that Melody couldn’t help it that her uncle was an idiot, and…Lucas had never asked her for anything before. Well, except to get whipped cream from the fridge. But that somehow didn’t count.
He’d used the worddesperate –admittedly, he hadlookeddesperate – then the wordplease. And her stupid compassion had won out, which was why she was parked in front of Lucas’ home half an hour later. She was about to babysit for him, and that jerk hadn’t even brought her a carton of milk!
But theno favorsrule apparently became irrelevant once you stopped sleeping together. God, that man irritated her. They’d talked more in the last week than they had in the last year. And she didn’t like it. She much preferred the quiet Moreau who only used his mouth to drive her crazy because the talking Moreau was an asshole.
Ithadbeen rather sweet when he franticly explained to her what Melody didn’t eat and what her favorite stuffed animal was. She may not have been his biological daughter, but Moreau was definitely her father.
She really didn’t know him at all, did she?
Sighing, she rang the doorbell, which burst open a second later.
“Just in time,” a breathless voice called out. A smiling woman appeared in the doorway.
Oh God, she was beautiful.
The woman Lucas had referred to only as anagent, but whom he obviously trusted enough to leave his daughter with, looked like the product of a passionate affair between Tyra Banks and Beyoncé.
She was afriend. Well, was she also a friend he’d slept with? Because holy crap, Anna wouldn’t be able to saynoif Hazel made advances toward her, regardless of whether she was into women or not. She had huge, dark eyes, a long afro, and the type of lips that singers had surely written songs about. She wore a black business suit and a light blue blouse, and she was so terribly wrinkle-free and flawless that Anna felt like she’d walked straight out of a hamper, compared to her.
“Hey,” she said lamely, raising her hand. “I was in a hurry. Lucas said you had a flight to catch?”
“Lucas,” Hazel drawled, her eyebrows shooting up. “I see.” She narrowed her eyes. “Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but…who exactly are you?”
Her cheeks heated. “Anna.”
“Yeah, I got that. So, Anna who? I’ve never heard your name. Moreau never mentioned it.”
Her mind lit another fire. “I’m not surprised. He’s not known formentioningthings, is he?”
Hazel laughed. “No, you’re right… All right. Melody, will you come over for a moment?” she called over her shoulder. “I’d like you to meet Anna, she’s…”
