“Yeah, right.” Linnette snickered and her brother elbowed her in the ribs.
“You don’t live in Cedar Cove?” Gloria asked.
“Too close to family,” he muttered. “They cramp my style.” He laughed at his own weak joke and sat down.
“Could you join us for a few minutes?” Linnette asked. “I apologize—I can’t offer you anything to drink. I haven’t been to the grocery store yet.”
“I have to go, but thanks, anyway.” Gloria checked her watch. “I thought this would be a good time to welcome you to the complex. If you have any questions about the town, I’ll be happy to try and answer them.”
“That would be great,” Linnette told her. “I’ll definitely take you up on that.”
“I hope you do.” After a few parting words, Gloria was gone.
Linnette waited until the door closed before she turned on her brother. “Have I seen you somewhere before?” Linnette mimicked. “Honestly, Mack, that’s the oldest pickup line in the world.”
“I wasn’t trying to pick her up.”
“Mack, you couldn’t have been more obvious.”
“Well, she is cute.”
“Oh, please. You’re so lame.”
“Me? This is the thanks I get for giving up an entire Saturday to help my sister?”
“Okay, you’re right. Sorry. If you’re interested in Gloria, let me know and I’ll see what I can do to set you up—since you’re currently footloose and fancy-free.”
Mack raised his shoulders in a shrug. “Sure. But the truth is, she does look familiar.”
Twelve
Saturday night, Allison Cox was roused from a sound sleep by a tap on her bedroom window. Her clock told her it was almost three. She turned on the small light on her bed stand, tossed aside her down comforter and hurried to the window. Opening the blinds, she peered outside and gasped when Anson smiled at her.
“Let me in,” he mouthed.
She’d be in big trouble if her parents ever found out about this. Although the temptation was almost overpowering, she shook her head. “I can’t.”
He nodded vigorously and rubbed his bare hands together. Then he hunched his shoulders, as if to ward off the wind. His eyes pleaded with her.
“Anson, no.” She shook her head again, trying to convince herself.
He paused, waited a moment and then turned around, not hiding his disappointment.
His willingness to walk away was her undoing. He’d been so good to her, so gentle and sweet. The first time they’d kissed, his goatee had bothered her and the next time she saw him, he’d shaved it off. Allison had been moved by his thoughtfulness. He cared about her more than any other guy ever had. In fact, she liked him a lot—more than she should. Her parents had no idea how often they saw each other because she hid their relationship as much as she could. Even Cecilia had voiced her concern about Anson, and she hadn’t even met him. But Allison knew he wasn’t what he appeared to be. The clothes and attitude were all for show.
Twice now he’d come over in the evenings, and he’d been respectful to her mother and father. That had earned him brownie points with her dad.
“Oh, all right,” she acquiesced and grabbed her housecoat. She threw it over her pajamas, then slid open the window. Leaving him out in the cold was more than she could bear.
Anson crawled into her bedroom, landing on his feet with a solid thump. Thank goodness for her plush carpet, which absorbed much of the sound. His face was red from the cold, and his lips were chapped. He wore his signature black coat, a knit cap pulled low over his ears. His hands were bare. Smiling at her in the dim room, he let his eyes soften and leaned toward her, his mouth shaping hers in a long, hungry kiss. His face felt chilled and his lips, too.
Allison broke off the kiss and clutched her housecoat tighter around her. “What are you doing here?” she asked in an urgent whisper. “Do you know what time it is?”
Anson sat on the carpet, his back against the side of the bed. Allison knelt beside him. “I shouldn’t have come,” he whispered. “It was wrong, I know, but…” He looked down, unable to meet her gaze.
“No, it’s all right,” she said and reached for his hands, warming them between her own. His coat had a peculiar smell. It was as if he’d been standing next to a bonfire and the smoke had clung to him. “What are you doing out at this time of night?”
He kept his head lowered. “I can’t involve you in this.”
“In what, Anson? You can’t involve me in what?” She touched his face, pressing her warm palm to his cheek and was shocked again at how cold his skin was.
Anson covered her hand with his own, then slowly raised his eyes to meet hers. He slid his hand to the nape of her neck and brought her mouth back to his. His kiss was demanding, desperate.
“We can’t do this here…now,” she said, as quietly as she could. It would be easy to let him keep touching her, kissing her, but her father was a light sleeper and the risk was too great. Besides, something was terribly wrong. She felt it, saw it in Anson’s eyes, a wildness that frightened her—and yet she didn’t feel she could desert him.
Once more Anson looked down, avoiding her gaze.
“Tell me what happened,” she insisted. “Where have you been?”
His voice was barely audible. “The park.”
“I thought it was closed. How’d you get in?”
His mouth twisted in a half smile. “All they have is a gate. It’s easy enough to jump over that.”
“Who were you with?” She should’ve realized a gate across the entrance wasn’t going to lock anyone out, least of all Anson and his friends.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said.