Annie’s hands still shook an hour later when she walked into the two-story row house that housed the Glasson Property Group offices on G Street. From the outside, it looked like a well-kept residence on a tree-lined street in the Capitol Hill area. Inside, walls had been knocked down to create an open area with two glassed-in conference rooms, a few offices, and desks for the agents.
After a quick hello to the receptionist, Annie headed for Manda’s office near the rear of the building, just before the double doors to the outside brick patio. Amanda Ryan was only two years older but was a seasoned real estate professional. She was Annie’s mentor when she switched careers and started at Glasson.
As usual, Manda was on the phone and working a lead. Stacks of other files covered her desk. The woman was a property-selling machine. Curvy and beautiful and all business.
The second Annie stepped into the office, Manda spun around in her chair and flashed a warm smile. A second later she hung up the phone.
“How did the meeting…” The smile faded along with her voice. “What happened?”
Annie didn’t bother pretending that meeting Dave hadn’t thrown her off balance. They talked. He smiled. The conversation moved easily from real estate to a shared love of Chinese food and hatred of running. Once they got over his whole cryptic old-romance comment they’d settled into a comfortable back and forth, which was part of why she didn’t feel all that comfortable right now.
She fell into the chair in front of Manda’s desk. “My client, Dave Hunter.”
“Yeah?”
“I swear I’ve seen him before.”
Manda frowned. “Where?”
“No idea.”
“Huh.” Manda appeared to turn a response over in her head for a moment before she said, “Like, saw him in a movie once or more like he was my tenth-grade stalker?”
“It was a weird déjà vu sensation.” Annie didn’t even know how to explain it. But she did want to talk about the other part. The weird mix of being comfortable with him while acting and sounding a bit like a seventh-grade girl. “Then there was this thing where I would talk and in my head I’d hear myself stammering.”
Manda shook her head. “You lost me.”
Of course, because she wasn’t making any sense.
Annie crossed and uncrossed her legs. Did the full routine a second time before she stopped fidgeting. “I don’t normally say this, and I wouldn’t, but…see, there’s this—”
“Lord, woman. Spill it.”
“He’s as hot as hell. Has that whole Tall, Dark, and Charming thing down.” She’d barely let herself think it before the words were out there.
Manda snorted. “Oh, you poor thing.”
“No, I’m serious.”
“So am I. You’ve got hottie Jasper at home, catering to your every need and wanting to spend a lifetime with you. Then you come to work and get to stare at some good-looking guy.” Her eyes narrowed as she leaned forward in her black leather chair. “Wait, how good looking are we talking?”
“He’s so…”
God, what? From the short talks on the phone Annie had expected a guy in a hurry to get back to work. Instead he listened to her without taking over the whole conversation. And the whole lost-love thing was kind of adorable. Being surrounded by men who wanted a commitment had her brain misfiring.
Manda held up both hands. “You’re not actually using any words.”
“Never mind.”
“That’s not likely to happen.” Manda leaned back in her chair, almost in slow motion. “Oh, my God.”
Don’t ask. “What?”
“You’re into him.” Manda sounded stunned and a little amused by the idea.
Annie meant to say that’s ridiculous but the words wouldn’t come out. She went with a safe alternative. “Jasper? Of course.”
“Don’t be obtuse. I’m talking about this…” Manda waved a hand around in the air. “Dave Hunter. Any chance you have a photo?”
“It would have been a little weird to snap his photo during lunch.” Tempting, but still weird.
Manda shrugged. “If you say so.”
Silence swept through the room, so Annie quickly switched topics. This one always got an interesting response. “How’s the boss today?”
Aaron McDaniels, the co-founder of the agency. The guy had a reputation—ladies’ man, playboy…a bit dangerous in his likes and dislikes in the bedroom. All rumors, of course, and the guy was nothing but professional in the office.
One night, after a bit too much wine, Manda let it slip that she had a crush. Like, a want-to-screw-the-boss crush. She denied it afterward, insisted she was joking. Annie didn’t believe her. She’d also noticed that Aaron did a good bit of staring back at Manda when she wasn’t watching. In Annie’s mind, they were inevitable but they’d need to go through several rounds, and possibly years, of denials and other partners first.
“Annoying. Don’t change the subject,” Manda said.
“He asked me to marry him again.”
It should be a good thing. Find the right guy, love him, commit to him. It sounded good in books and in movies, but scared the crap out of her in real life.
“This Dave works quick.” Manda laughed but immediately stopped after glancing at Annie. “Sorry, bad joke.”
Annie didn’t have the strength to laugh. The whole topic confused and exhausted her. “Why can’t I just jump in and say yes? I do love him.”
She didn’t realize she’d grabbed on to the armrests of the chair and dug her nails in until her fingers cramped. She forced her hands to unclench.
“You came out of your marriage all repressed. Your ex thought missionary position was risqué if you did it more than once a month. So you left that mess and started experimenting, trying to pretend you didn’t feel guilty—”
“My marriage ended. Guilt is inevitable.”
“Of course, but I meant how you felt guilty because you needed more in the bedroom. Hell, you needed to have sex somewhere, even one time, outside of the bedroom. Gavin didn’t want that.”
“He was…” Annie wasn’t even sure how to end that sentence. Set in his ways? Bored with her? Threatened by the fact she enjoyed sex? All of those, probably. It was his insistence that there was something wrong with her and how easily she started to believe it that finally made her call an end to the marriage.
Truth was, they weren’t a match. But she couldn’t blame Gavin for all of it. She mistook the ceremony and the house for the marriage. She’d believed if the trappings looked right she could muddle through, but no.
“You got divorced and finally start dating again. Next thing you know you meet Jasper and he encourages you to be who you are and ask for what you want.” Manda shook her head. “The guy is kind of a walking, talking sex miracle.”
That all sounded right. Perfect, even. “So, I should marry him.”
“I’m not the one to answer that.” Manda sighed at her in that way that said get your shit together. “Look, there’s something that’s stopping you with Jasper. You have to figure out what it is, and if you can overcome it.”
Desperation clawed inside Annie. “I want to.”
There was a clipped knock, then Aaron stuck his head in. “Hello, ladies.”
“Sir.” Manda winced after she said the greeting. Not that Aaron would have seen her face since he was already gone.
The interruption eased some of the tension winding inside Annie. She glanced at her friend and smiled. “Still pretending you don’t want him to get you naked and tie you down?”
Manda glared back. “Let’s stay on you. You love Jasper.”
“Yes.” Absolutely. Annie didn’t waver on that. She hadn’t expected it, but she didn’t fight it, either.
“You see this new guy, Dave, and he lights your fire. So what? You’re not boring or dead.” Manda shrugged. “All seems pretty normal to me.”
“Interesting analysis, but okay.”
“Is it possible you’re taking the very human fact that you noticed this Dave guy is hot as a sign that maybe you need a little more experimenting?”
It made sense, but Annie didn’t want to analyze it. She blocked out any sexy thoughts of Dave. Instead, she focused on what she already had in her life and how lucky she was.
“There’s nothing Jasper won’t do if I ask.” Annie’s mind flashed from their role-playing to the toys in the drawer beside the bed. “Nothing.”
“I do love that about him.” Manda waved a hand in front of her face. “For you, I mean.”
The cell in Annie’s pocket buzzed. She’d turned off the ringer, but the vibration hummed against her. She saw the name on the screen…the name she’d just entered into her contacts. “It’s him.”
“Which him?”
Her stomach started flipping around. How annoying was that? “I only have one him. This is Dave and he’s just work.”
“Which is why you’re blushing.”
Annie mouthed shut up, then hit the button on the cell. “Hello?”
“Are you busy?”
Part of her toyed with the idea of saying yes. “No, what’s up?”
“A coworker told me about a place. I thought we could meet there tomorrow.”
That sounded like work, and that she could handle. “Sure.”
“It’s a date.”