A Million Kisses or More Page 5

  “Being a cop or an author?” she asked softly as she slowly raised her lashes and pinned him in place with her eyes.

  “Um, both?” he answered, no longer sure where he was going with the conversation because his brain had just short circuited. Her eyes just sucked him in, making him believe in the impossible. Without a doubt, she was dangerous. “Um, you should go.”

  She blinked her eyes at his words. “Pardon?”

  “I need to sleep while Jolie is at school,” he explained, hoping she couldn’t hear the desperation in his voice. She needed to leave before he forgot himself and pressed his lips against hers. He recognized the desire that burned in her eyes because he felt it in his blood. Despite being rusty, he knew it wouldn’t take too much effort to ease her out of her clothes and into his bed and that would be incredibly stupid. Clearing his throat, he stood up and pulled her to her feet, warring desires making him clumsy. Grabbing her coat, he wrapped it around her as he hauled her to the door, “If I don’t get enough sleep, I’m a bear.”

  “Okay,” she managed, awkwardly putting her arms into her sleeves as she stumbled after him. At the door, she forced him to a stop, refusing to take another step until he looked at her. “Did I say something wrong?”

  “No,” he said quickly. Unable to help himself, he cupped her cheek, reveling in the smoothness of her skin before he forced himself to step away from her. “Look. You’re eighteen years old. I’m too old for you.”

  She did that blinking thing again before she slowly said, “Um, okay. And how old are you?”

  “I’ll be twenty-nine on my next birthday,” he admitted, feeling every inch a dirty, old man.

  “Okay,” she murmured and he could see her thoughts whirling in her head. Slowly, she asked, “And when’s that?”

  “September.”

  “So you just turned twenty-eight,” she said, almost to herself. As if ten years wasn’t so insurmountable. At his nod, she gave him a brilliant smile before planting a quick kiss on his lips. Before he could grab her and give her a proper kiss, she was out the door, calling over her shoulder, “Bye, Harrison! Get some rest and I’ll see you later.”

  He groaned at the unwanted optimism of her words but he still watched her until she made it safely into her house. She was going to be the death of him.

  Chapter 3

  After taking a quick nap… okay, Ana had slept for six hours, she had thrown Harrison’s clothes into the washer and then took a shower. Despite the heater being set at 78, she still put on a heavy sweatshirt since she was planning on heading out and braving the cold. Thinking about her temporary neighbor, she wondered if her aunt was perhaps playing matchmaker. She wouldn’t put it past her aunt, especially if the older woman liked Harrison, which was all too easy to imagine. Harrison was very likeable, as was his daughter. While she had to drive out to L.A. after Christmas, she saw no reason why she couldn’t spend some time with the small family across the street. If it led to something more…. Well, she’d only be gone for a year and with technology, she’d be able to video chat any time.

  Ana still couldn’t believe he thought she was eighteen. How in the world did he arrive at such an insane assumption? As she thought about it, she felt the blush heat her cheeks. Her behavior since meeting him had been rather juvenile, from locking herself out of the house to throwing a book at him. Plus, she had practically thrown herself at him from the moment they met, just like an uncouth teenager suffering from puppy love. Hell, he was probably used to sophisticated beauties who knew how to play the game, who knew how to act coy and knew how to flirt like a grown up and not a silly school girl with a crush.

  They probably didn’t look out the window every five minutes to see if the guy they liked was awake yet. Also, they probably were quick to correct the mistaken assumption that they were too young. At first it had caught her off guard and she hadn’t known what to say. But then, when she thought about it, she realized it was a good thing, giving her some time to deal with her reaction towards him. It was powerful and a little overwhelming and as long as he thought she was too young, she had a buffer against such intoxicating temptation. It scared her how much she liked him. When she had a few days to internalize this attraction, she’d tell him the truth.

  “Do you think I’m evil?” she asked the demon cat. He just looked at her and then went back to licking himself, his leg sticking straight up in the air. “You know, I’m never leaving the house again without a key so you can quit shadowing me. You’re never going to get another chance to lock me out again.”

  He completely ignored this, preferring the joy of his tongue bath.

  Grabbing her keys, she decided it was time to head into town to see about getting that job. Maybe she’d run into a few of her old acquaintances and if she did, maybe they’d know more about the mysterious Harrison Miller. Or was asking about him too creepy?

  Opening the door, she gasped. That first breath of cold air always surprised her but she’d get used to it eventually. Probably. If not, it was only for a few months and then she’d be heading to someplace much warmer. Even though it was freezing, she still paused and looked across the street to see if Harrison was up and about. But then she realized how crazy that was because his curtains were all drawn to keep the cold out. The only way to know whether or not he was up was if she went over and knocked on his door and that would probably wake him up and piss him off. So why did that seem like the best idea ever? Especially if a partially naked Harrison opened the door, his hair all sleep-tousled and sexy?

  Shaking her head, she quickened her step until she reached her car and slid behind the wheel and froze her ass off on the seats. If she had lived in Minnesota all of her life, she might have opted to get heated seats in her car. Unfortunately, it had seemed like too much of a luxury back home so she had gone with the standard, non-heated seats. Luckily, her car heated up quick enough and within moments she was no longer able to see her breath.

  The drive to town only took about fifteen minutes, just enough time for her car to get toasty and make her question whether she really wanted to get out and look for a job. Pulling into the parking lot of the popular local restaurant Jesters, she debated if it was worth it. But she needed the cash and she had previously spent a summer working at Jesters and it was the best place to make decent tips for a few hours of work. With a whimper, she turned off her car and got out. And promptly regretted it when the first wave of cold assaulted her.

  With fierce determination, she made her way across the parking lot and pulled the door open, sighing in pleasure at the warmth that greeted her. The restaurant was just the same as it had always been, with exposed wood rafters and plenty of tables for sitting around. In the summer, they had outdoor seating with live concerts every Friday and Saturday night and it was just a great place to hang out. The mouthwatering aroma hit and she hoped she could talk the new owners into hiring her for a few months. It was almost tempting enough to work there for free. After all, they served some of the best greasy hamburgers and fries this side of the Mason Dixon line.

  At the moment, there weren’t a lot of people because it was just after the lunch hour rush and a few hours before the dinner hour. Waving off the waitress who offered to seat her, she went straight up to the bar and smiled at the bartender when he looked at her. There was something almost familiar about him but she couldn’t think of any reason other than the fact that he had brown eyes which reminded her of Harrison. Cocking his head to the side, he looked even closer and asked, “Don’t I know you?”

  “Ana Smithfield,” she said, holding out her hand. “I’m Helen and James Petersen’s niece.”

  “Ana. It’s good to see you again,” he said with a warm, friendly smile. Crossing his arms over the bar, he leaned in and asked, “What can I do for you?”

  “You can give me a job,” she said with a smile, glancing around the dining area in search of who might be in charge of the place. “Or at least point me in the direction of who I’d ask for an applica
tion.”

  “I can help you with that last part,” he told her, reaching beneath the bar and pulling out some papers. “Here’s the application and if you want I can put in a good word for you with the boss. She’s my cousin.”

  Glancing over the form, seeing the usual questions, she nodded, “That would be great. But I have to warn you that it’s only through Christmas.”

  “That shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Maris always hires a few extras during the holidays,” he assured her as if he was the one who was going to hire her.

  “I thought Maris sold Jesters?” Ana murmured absently.

  He chuckled though she didn’t understand what was so funny. “She did but she came back and married the new owner.”

  “Huh,” she huffed, interested in hearing the story behind that turn of events.

  As she continued to read over the questions, the boy pulled a pen out from somewhere and handed it to her. At her blank look, he explained, “So you don’t have to take it home, fill it out, and then bring it back.”

  “Thanks,” she murmured. After a few minutes of filling it out, she felt his eyes on her and she glanced up again. “Yeah?”

  “Don’t you remember me? We met the last summer you were here,” he told her. “When was it? Three years ago?”

  Now that he brought it up, she forced herself to take a closer look, to see whether or not she actually knew him or if she was just seeing Harrison everywhere. He looked like he could be in his early twenties, about her age, with medium brown hair and beautiful brown eyes that were similar to but not quite as gorgeous as Harrison’s eyes. The guy was attractive but she wasn’t attracted to him. It took her another moment to place him because he must have grown six inches and packed on several pounds of muscle.

  There was something else that was awfully familiar about him and she was almost certain it had nothing to do with knowing him from before. He was still looking at her as if he expected her to know who he was. Regrettably, it took her a moment to recall his name and when she did, her stomach flipped over because he had the same last name as Harrison. But Miller was a common enough name, wasn’t it? It didn’t necessarily mean anything, even if they had the same beautiful brown eyes. Swallowing, she asked, “Holy crap. Dan? Dan Miller?”

  His smile widened as he nodded, “You do remember. I wasn’t sure since we didn’t really hang out back then.”

  “Of course I remember you,” she said, wondering why it took her so long. Now that she remembered him, she realized he had to be only nineteen since he had been a gangly sixteen-year-old the last time she saw him. He had been working at Jesters, too, but as a busboy. While he had gotten along with everyone, he had been only sixteen and not old enough to go out with the group after work or on the weekends. Of course, Ana had been dating Asher Kingston at the time, well sort of dating him, and they mostly hung out with his friends, who were all older than Ana.

  In fact, Asher was the one who had introduced her to Jesters but it had been back when she was sixteen. They had met rather unconventionally at an Independence Day celebration when she accidentally hit his car. She hadn’t had her license for very long and his car had appeared out of nowhere when she was backing out of a parking spot. Of course, Asher had been pissed as all hell but the moment she climbed out of her car ready to beg for forgiveness, he had become all that was charming. It wasn’t until after her aunt thoroughly embarrassed her that she learned he was twenty-three and way, way too old for her. That hadn’t stopped him from spending the entire summer flirting with her every time he saw her or her flirting back. By the time she was nineteen, the age difference didn’t seem to matter as much. While they had flirted and kissed, she had never seriously considered sleeping with him, even though she knew he wanted to be her first.

  She had known from the beginning that he was trouble but that didn’t mean she wasn’t hurt when he called her an infant for refusing to sleep with him and then tongue-fucked some girl right in front of her. That summer just solidified her position on bad boys, which came in handy during her college years where boys were even bigger douches with infinitely less charm.

  Now it no longer mattered because Harrison left everyone else in the dust.

  Dragging her thoughts back to the present, Ana remembered that Dan also had an older brother and a little sister whom she met when they had come into Jesters. But Harrison hadn’t been with them; she would have remembered him. Why hadn’t she met Harrison? She had been in town for a couple of months that summer and she had had no idea that Harrison even existed. It seemed wrong somehow. Well, she didn’t meet him because he probably wasn’t Dan’s brother, despite the same last name. Offering Dan a smile, she managed, “Wow, you’ve grown up.”

  He snorted as color burnished his cheeks. “Yeah, well, that happens, I guess.”

  “And you’re still working here,” she said. She looked at him and frowned because he was too young to be serving alcohol, wasn’t he? “Aren’t you a little young to be tending the bar?”

  “I don’t actually work behind the bar, I’m just cleaning it while the bartender takes a quick break,” he explained. “Though I’m sure I could get you a beer or something if you want.”

  “I’m good.” Tilting her head to the side, she asked, “Why are you still working here?”

  He laughed at that, wiping at a non-existent spot on the counter. “It pays well. Besides, I think all of my siblings have worked here at some point in our lives, except Harry who left just as soon as he graduated high school. Of course, now Harry’s a cop so he doesn’t have to put in any time here to help out like Ellen and I do.”

  Ana sucked in a breath and promptly started coughing when it went down the wrong pipe. Pounding a fist against her chest, knowing her face was beet red, she tried to get the cough under control but the harder she tried to stop the more she coughed. With panicked concern, Dan asked, “Man, are you okay?”

  She nodded her head even as tears streamed down her cheeks. So, Dan having the same last name as Harrison wasn’t a coincidence. A glass was placed in her hand and Dan encouraged her to drink. Taking a tentative sip, she found it helped and a few moments later, the sudden coughing attack was under control. Wiping her eyes, she smiled at Dan, “Thanks.”

  “What happened?”

  “Swallowed wrong,” she hedged, her heart still galloping like a racing demon. Catching her lower lip between her teeth, she looked up at Dan and wondered if it was Providence that placed her on that bar stool at that moment. Even though she already suspected the truth, she had to ask just in case there were two Harry Millers. Oh, Lord, what had his parents been thinking when they named him Harrison? No wonder he preferred Harrison… No, she preferred Harrison. She’d have to ask him what he preferred. Casually, she asked, “So, Harrison is your brother?”

  Dan stopped wiping the counter and gave her a suspicious look. “Yeah. What of it?”

  “He’s my, er, neighbor for the next couple of months,” she said, trying to sound as bland as possible, grateful that her cheeks were already bright red from her coughing fit. God, how could she have missed him? Even if she was dating Asher, she would have noticed Harrison. That kind of reaction was too powerful to just come into existence. Not knowing him before was going to plague her for the rest of the night. Casually, fishing for information while trying not to seem too obvious, she murmured, “I don’t remember seeing him around.”

  “He wasn’t really around a lot back then,” Dan explained, leaning on the counter. “Besides, you were with Asher.”

  “Not officially,” she muttered, not quite meeting Dan’s eyes. While she hadn’t had sex with the man, she had spent plenty of time kissing him in dark corners and locked rooms. “So, where had Harrison been hiding?”

  Dan arched an eyebrow, “He wasn’t hiding. He was simply being a father to his daughter and didn’t like hanging out with Asher, especially after his divorce.”

  “When did he get divorced?” she asked, knowing she wasn’t being subt
le, also knowing she should be asking Harrison.

  “Six or seven years ago,” he answered with a shrug. “He moved back a few months afterwards.”

  Mentally, she was doing the math in her head, from the age he was when her aunt and uncle moved up there to when he got divorced. He would have been nineteen that first summer but she was certain she would have noticed him. She definitely would have noticed him at sixteen but she would have been too young to get involved with a man who had a small child. Still, she couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if they had met all of those years ago. If her reaction was as strong as it was currently, she probably would have followed him around and spent too much time obsessing over him. And anything that might have developed between them would have been destroyed before it even had a chance because she wouldn’t have had the maturity to back off. Also, five years was too much when one was sixteen and the other was twenty-one. It hardly mattered because his marriage was falling apart by that time and he probably wouldn’t have been interested in a sixteen-year old girl.

  Right, that would explain why she hadn’t met him when she was too young for him. Tilting her head to the side, starving for every little tidbit, she asked, “He moved away?”

  “Yep,” Dan confirmed. “As soon as he graduated, he joined the military.”

  Oh, jeeze, the thought of him in a military uniform would have brought her to her knees if she wasn’t already sitting down. It didn’t even matter if he was married at the time. She was definitely twisted. “But it’s a small town and I’ve never seen him until yesterday morning.”

  The suspicion in Dan’s eyes grew as he narrowed his gaze at her. “It’s not like a grown man with his responsibilities is going to hang out with a bunch of kids.”