Love For Hire: The Helena's Grove Series Book 2 Read online

  “I don’t know,” she said honestly. She looked up the stone pathway to the beautiful little house that she loved so much. “What am I doing?” she asked aloud to more herself than him.

  Marcus set the suitcases down and put an arm around her shoulders. “The holidays make us all do things we wouldn’t normally do.”

  “I suppose it’s too late to back out now.”

  “Do you really want to?”

  She looked up at him. “No, yes, maybe.”

  He laughed and took her hand in his. “Come on babe, let’s go meet the fam.”

  They picked up their suitcases and walked into the house without ringing the doorbell.

  “Hello?” Annie called as she hung up her coat and scarf. “Aunt Gabby?” she called again. The house was spotless and smelled of Christmas, with decorations to match. They walked into the kitchen where a cinnamon apple candle burned softly on the counter.

  “This place is like a real life Christmas card,” Marcus commented.

  “Yeah, it really is.”

  “Annie! Is that you?” Aunt Gabby called from upstairs.

  “Yes it’s me!” They made their way to the staircase just as Aunt Gabby was coming down. Annie hugged her tightly. “I missed you so much!”

  “Oh I missed you darling. And I see you’ve brought a guest… a very strong and good looking guest.” She hugged Marcus and winked at Annie who blushed slightly.

  “Aunt Gab this is my boyfriend Marcus. Marcus this is my Aunt Gabby.”

  “I’ve heard so much about you Ms. Berkley,” Marcus said politely.

  “Oh my good heavens,” Aunt Gabby said waving her hand, “I’ll hear none of that Ms. Berkley stuff. That makes me feel old. Call me Aunt Gabby like everyone else.”

  “Of course,” Marcus smiled.

  “What’s your last name honey?” Aunt Gabby asked.

  “Everett ma’am,” Marcus told her smiling brightly, and then added, “Annie didn’t tell me what a beautiful woman you are.”

  “Oh my, well thank you Marcus. And Annie didn’t tell me she landed such a handsome catch!” She winked at him and he laughed.

  Annie blushed with embarrassment. “Aunt Gabby,” she whispered.

  “What? I may be old but that doesn’t mean I can’t appreciate.”

  “Age is just a number,” Marcus agreed.

  “Exactly.” Aunt Gabby passed Annie and whispered, “I like him very much.” She headed into the kitchen. “Well you guys look starved. Come in and get yourselves something to eat.”

  They followed her back into the kitchen and sat down, chatting about their flight and how crazy travel was during the holidays.

  “Where are Jen and Zack?” Annie asked when there was a lull in the conversation.

  “They’ll be here sometime tomorrow morning. Roger is coming with them and he couldn’t leave until then.” Aunt Gabby looked at Marcus. “Roger is Jennifer’s dad, my little brother.”

  “Oh I see,” Marcus nodded.

  As Aunt Gabby pulled some food out, she filled Annie in on what was going on in the town. She turned to Marcus from time to time to let him know who was who and how they were connected to them. Annie was glad she refrained from asking him any personal questions.

  “Well,” Aunt Gabby said finally. “It’s time for this old gal to get in bed. Tomorrow’s a big day.” She stood and Marcus and Annie followed suit. “Marcus I’m so glad to have you here. I am waiting until everyone else gets here tomorrow to ask you about yourself so you don’t have to keep repeating the same things over and over.”

  “That’s very thoughtful of you. And thank you so much for opening your home to a perfect stranger.”

  “Oh well, if Annie trusts you, so do I.” She smiled and Annie tried to wipe the look of guilt from her face.

  “You can go ahead and put your bags up the stairs in the last room on the right,” Aunt Gabby instructed.

  Annie froze and Aunt Gabby caught her look. “What’s wrong dear?” she asked.

  “We… um…” Annie looked at Marcus for help who sat back casually waiting for her to spit out whatever it was she was trying to say. “We hadn’t planned on staying together.” She watched Aunt Gabby’s face, waiting for it to dawn on her. She finally caught on and nodding knowingly. “Well honey, you’ve been dating for a couple months now, haven’t you…?” She let the question hang in the air and Annie could feel her face turning cherry red. “You know, if you haven’t, then honey, you should get on that. He is a fine, fine young man,” Aunt Gabby whispered to her.

  Annie tried desperately to compose herself. “Well, yes of course we have, it’s just… I didn’t think you’d be ok with us… you know, staying together, so we just planned on not,” she stammered.

  “Oh don’t be silly. I’m old but I’m not that old fashioned. I know what goes on nowadays.” Aunt Gabby waved her hand at them and made her way toward her room. Annie was close on her heels whispering loudly enough for her to hear.

  “But I knew you only had a twin bed in each guestroom, so I thought it would be more comfortable if we stayed separately. I’m a girl who needs her space, you remember?” She laughed nervously.

  “Oh I already thought of that,” Aunt Gabby told her. “I ordered a new bedroom set for the back room and I must say it looks marvelous.”

  Annie stopped, turned and quickly walked up the stairs to the end of the hall and peeked in the room. The new cherry wood furniture was indeed beautiful. The set was complete with a dresser, nightstand and a brand new queen sized bed. She suddenly felt weak, and was sure she’d have a heart attack.

  “Well, I’ll see you kids in the morning. Let me know if you need anything,” Aunt Gabby called up to Annie.

  “It’s great, thank you,” Marcus said as he climbed the stairs and Aunt Gabby headed toward her own room.

  Marcus brought the luggage in and began getting ready for bed. Annie was still standing by the door, not knowing what to do.

  When he finally looked up at her he stopped. “Is this going to be a problem?”

  “What? No. I mean, not really. It’s um… It’s just that I wasn’t expecting to spend the night with a man I barely know. But it’s okay. It’ll be fine… whatever works.” She knew she was rambling so she just shut her mouth.

  “I can sleep on the floor if you’re more comfortable with that.” Marcus looked at her with those beautiful blue eyes.

  “Um…” Annie said, seriously considering this for a few seconds. Finally, she exhaled loudly. “No, no it’s fine. We’re adults and it’s not a big deal. Besides, this is business. We can do this…” Annie suddenly felt slightly shy and she smiled at him teasingly. “As long as you keep your hands to yourself.”

  He laughed and held his hands up. “Oh I promise, no hanky panky from me! And I don’t snore so I won’t disturb you that way.” He winked at her and continued unpacking.

  Annie smiled and tried to relax, but the butterflies in her stomach wouldn’t let her. She quickly showered and put on the pajamas she’d brought, thankful she’d packed her modest ones since she knew it would be cold. She peeked out the bathroom door and saw Marcus in bed. The lamp was on and he was reading. As quickly as she could without seeming weird she got into bed and pulled the covers over her.

  “Goodnight,” she said quietly.

  “Goodnight,” Marcus said. “Is the light bothering you? I just have a couple more chapters.”

  “No, it’s fine.”

  Annie pretended to be asleep when Marcus finally finished his book. He turned off the lamp and fluffed the pillows before settling in to sleep. She breathed a sigh of relief when she heard his breath slow and she knew he was asleep. She finally relaxed and soon felt sleep begin to overtake her when suddenly, she heard a noise! Her eyes shot open as she listened. The sound came again, a little louder this time. Annie followed her ears to Marcus who lay sleeping beside her. She watched him in the moonlight as he breathed in and out. And then it happened again… a snore! As another one came
Annie couldn’t help but smile. She watched him a few more seconds as he began to snore at a steady pace. She shook her head and lay back down, happy beyond measure that he was not as perfect as he seemed.

  Chapter 6

  Christmas Day Annie awoke to see a fresh thick layer of snow on the ground outside her window. She turned over to find Marcus absent from the room. Thank goodness, she thought. I couldn’t pay him enough to have to see me first thing in the morning. She got up and made her way to the bathroom to look in the mirror. Her reflection looked back at her with slight smudges of eye liner around her large brown eyes and her medium length hair poking up at random places in the back. She shook her head and proceeded to make herself look presentable.

  Ten minutes later, she went downstairs to find Marcus having coffee with Aunt Gabby in the kitchen. They were laughing and talking like they’d known each other for years. As Annie watched the scene, she couldn’t decide if she liked the fact that he was making such an effort, or if it was going to make it all the harder when she ‘broke up’ with him.

  Just then, Marcus laughed at something and looked her way. “There she is!” he said cheerfully as he got up and walked to her. He kissed her cheek and lingered for a moment. “Good morning beautiful,” he said sweetly in her ear. “Would you like some coffee?” He walked to the cupboard and pulled out a mug.

  “Oh… yes please,” Annie said as she found a seat at the table. He certainly was a charmer.

  “Marcus was just telling me about how you guys met,” Aunt Gabby told her.

  Annie looked at her, then at Marcus who set a cup of coffee in front of her. “Marcus tells it better than I do, that’s for sure.”

  “I am the better story teller, it’s true.” Marcus shrugged.

  “What do we need to help you with Aunt Gabby?” Annie asked, changing the subject.

  “Well, we’ll have dinner at six o’ clock. I’m heading downtown around noon for a couple hours to help with the soup kitchen.” She turned to Annie. “You should take Marcus through town and show him around.”

  Annie opened her mouth to object just as the front door opened. “Knock knock, anyone home?” Zack’s voice rang through the house.

  “We’re in here,” Aunt Gabby called. She stood just as Zack, Jen and Roger entered the kitchen. There were hugs and introductions all around.

  Zack shook Marcus’ hand when Annie introduced them. “So,” Zack looked at him suspiciously, “you’re the boyfriend?”

  “I’m the boyfriend,” Marcus stated confidently.

  “What do you do for a living boyfriend?”

  “I’m finishing up my masters in mechanical engineering.”

  Zack feigned surprise, even though Annie had already told him as much. “That’s pretty fancy stuff. Have to be smart to be in that field, am I right?”

  “No smarter than you’d have to be to be a doctor,” Marcus hinted.

  “Yeah well, it’s the specialists that are the real brains. I’m just going into general medicine. But you guys that build buildings and space rockets and that kind of stuff, you have to be on your game twenty-four-seven.”

  “It’s true that everything has to fit perfectly in order to have something function the way it should. I would say that the human body is much the same. And while I enjoy what I do, I don’t have near the affect on the human heart that I hear you do. Perhaps you should consider going into cardiology.”

  Zack looked at him for a moment and there was silence. Annie looked from one man to the other, not sure what was going on. Then Zack smiled and Marcus did too. “Hey, you’re funny. He’s funny! I like this guy!” He slapped Marcus on the shoulder and they all laughed.

  Annie breathed a sigh of relief. She had no idea what had just happened but she assumed that in ‘man language’ they liked each other.

  The six of them talked and got acquainted before Aunt Gabby announced she had to go to the soup kitchen, promising she’d be back by three o’ clock to help with dinner. Roger headed to the local hotel to get settled in and make some calls. That left Zack, Jen, Annie and Marcus to get dinner started. Jen pulled Annie aside while Zack and Marcus discussed the best way to prepare the ham. Apparently, cooking was something they had in common.

  “Oh my goodness Annie!” Jen whispered as she peeked into the kitchen from the living room. “He is gorgeous! I mean, you are adorable and I really don’t think there’s a man on earth that truly deserves you but, wow.” She looked into the kitchen again.

  “Jen!” Annie smacked her arm playfully. “You’re in a committed relationship!”

  “What makes you think I’m looking at your boyfriend and not mine?” She winked and Annie laughed.

  “He is very good looking,” Annie agreed. “And nice too. People aren’t normally good looking and nice! I guess I did find myself a catch.”

  “Except for Zack of course,” Jen said, still peering into the kitchen. She looked back at Annie. “Your brother is pretty hot.”

  “And, closing my ears...” Annie said dramatically. “Whatever you have to say about him I don’t want to hear it.”

  Jen chuckled and sat with Annie on the couch. “So tell me how you two met.” She had eagerness in her eyes.

  “Uh, well, it’s not that great a story,” Annie fumbled.

  “Oh come on! The ‘how we met’ story is the best! Tell me every little detail.” Jen giggled like a school girl and Annie’s throat was getting dryer by the second. “You know what,” she said after a moment of hesitation, “I’m going to let Marcus tell you and Zack. He just does such a better job than I do. And he loves to tell it, so…”

  Jen made a face but seemed to accept her offer. Annie blew out a breath of relief. Why hadn’t she and Marcus thought about the ‘how they met’ story before now? Annie mentally slapped herself for forgetting one of the key events of a relationship. I guess that goes to show how long it’s been since I was actually in a relationship. I can’t even remember all the important events that are a part of it!

  The rest of the afternoon went on with no major mishaps on Annie’s part. She and Jen worked on the side dishes while the guys prepared the meat main dish. Annie found herself watching Marcus. He was so cool and collected. Annie marveled at how easily he handled himself and wondered how it would be to feel that way. She knew she was beginning to enjoy having him around. A couple times he caught her looking at him and she looked away, embarrassed.

  Just after three o’ clock, Aunt Gabby returned. She filled them in on the success of the soup kitchen and by five everything was ready. Zack and Jen went back to their hotel to get ready for the evening and Marcus and Annie made their way upstairs to do the same.

  “You’re awesome in the kitchen,” Annie commented when she got out of the shower. Marcus looked up at her from his suitcase, his white t-shirt stretched over his broad shoulders. “I’ve always enjoyed cooking but I took a few classes a couple years ago and have gotten more into it since then.”

  Annie nodded, drying her hair with a towel. “It seems your talents never end.”

  Marcus laughed and went into the bathroom. “I find that there are so many things in this life to enjoy, I just wish I could be an expert on everything. But that takes more time than I have.” He shrugged his shoulders. “We all have to work.”

  “I’m sure you’ve done a lot in your life,” Annie remarked pulling a dress out of the closet and laying it on the bed.

  Marcus turned and leaned against the bathroom door frame to look at her. Annie glanced up to find him shirtless; she looked away quickly and then back, embarrassed that she was embarrassed.

  “Does this make you uncomfortable?” he asked quickly.

  “Oh no, no you’re fine.” She waved a hand at him and self-consciously pulled her robe a little tighter around her. “You just caught me off guard that’s all.” She knew she was blushing so she continued on with the conversation. “Have you traveled much?”

  “Yeah, quite a bit when I was younger.” His arms were folded
across his tan muscled chest. “I don’t go as much now.”

  “Why not?”

  He shrugged. “There are some beautiful places in the world, but I’ve found that nowhere beats the good ol’ U.S.A.” He smiled at her and then went back into the bathroom but didn’t close the door. “Have you traveled?” he asked after a moment.

  “No, well yes. Not extensively. I went to Paris my senior year in high school with some friends, which was awesome. And I’ve been to some of the national parks across the nation but that’s about it.”

  “Well you’re young. You have plenty of time to go and see the world,” Marcus’ voice came from the bathroom.

  Annie smiled and decided to be bold. She went to the doorway and leaned against it just as he had a few moments earlier. He had a towel wrapped around his waist, his chest was bare, and his face was half covered in cream as he began to shave. “Are you going to tell me how old you are?” she asked.

  He glanced at her. “I’m thirty.”

  “Not how old Marcus is, how old YOU are.”

  Marcus exhaled loudly and put his hands on the sink counter. “Annie, we’ve been over this. You have to start thinking of me as Marcus, not some guy pretending to be Marcus. If you don’t, this won’t work. I know it’s strange for you to be here right now, sharing a room with a man you barely know but it’s all how you think about it. It’s true that you don’t know me, but you do know Marcus. So just pretend, for the next couple days that I am truly him. If I divulge any information about myself that is contrary to Marcus’ life, it will confuse you. It will be easier for you to go on with what we planned so you don’t have other facts floating around in your head. Does that make sense?”

  Annie stood there, arms folded, feeling like a scolded child. “Yes, it does,” she admitted. “I’ll stop asking.” She turned and went back to her suitcase. Marcus closed the bathroom door without another word and Annie heard the shower turn on. Well, at least he didn’t leave the door open for that! For a man who likes to keep things to himself he sure has no problem baring his muscle body to the world!