Single, Available, and Completely Attached (22 page)

“Thanks for inviting me up there.
 
I had a really good time.”
 
He told her.

“She worked you pretty good, didn’t she?”

“Eh, it was worth the trade.
 
If nothing else, I learned about the wiles and charms of one Mr. Chandler Duvet.”
 

“Stop it.”
 
She rolled her eyes at him before pulling the door open.
 
He grinned at her before stepping off the porch.
 
As he made his way back toward his SUV, he remembered something else.

“Hey, Annabelle?”
 

“What now?”

He stopped, sticking his hands in his pockets.
 
“Are you busy next Friday?”

“It looks like I’m about to be—what’s going on?”

“There’s this thing at work—it’s nothing big, just a little gathering thing to celebrate the station’s accomplishments this year.”
 
He shrugged.
 
“I might hate it a little less if you came with me.”

“Well, I suppose I could do you that favor.
 
You did, after all, nearly kill yourself for the sake of my Nana’s gutters.”
 
She told him, the smile on her face contagious.

“See you later, Annabelle.”
 

He drove home feeling lighter than he had in quite some time, thinking that maybe, things might change a little.

As he neared his apartment, his phone vibrated in his pocket and he pulled it out, figuring Anna had forgotten something.
 
“If you’re going to ask me to turn around, I’m going to demand gas money.”

“I’m not sure where you’re coming from, but I’m probably good for it.”

And then the other shoe dropped.

“Where’ve you been, Whitman?
 
I’ve been trying to get a hold of you all weekend.”

“Oh, I—I was out of town.
 
Terrible reception.”
 
Drew rubbed his face with his hand, grateful to be stopped at a light.
 
“What’s up, Jeff?”

“Nothing—I just haven’t heard from you in awhile.
 
Wanted to check in.”

Probably because Drew had been working very hard at avoiding his friend’s calls.

“I’ve just been busy.”
 
It wasn’t exactly a lie.

“With Anna?”
 
Drew looked around before taking a left, his building coming up.
 

“I mean, we’ve hung out a few times.”
 

Yeah, that was an understatement.
 

“Is she doing okay?”
 
Drew pulled into his parking lot and put the car in park, immediately hanging his head and massaging his temple.
 

“She seems good, Jeff.
 
She seems happy.”

“Oh.”
 
Jeff fell silent.

“Wasn’t that what you wanted?”
 

“Of course.”
 
Jeff sighed.
 
“Is she seeing anyone?”

“I don’t know, man.
 
Maybe, probably.”
 
He hated the tone of his voice.
 
He sounded like such a jerk.

Oh right, because he was.

“I thought you said you were hanging out with her.”

“We don’t talk about that stuff.”
 

For all he knew, she really was dating someone.
 
He’d made a point of not finding out.

“Then what do you talk about?”

“We play video games and watch the true crime network.
 
It’s like having you here, only in a much smaller package.”
 
He rubbed his face again, taking a deep breath.
 
“Look—I hate to cut this short, but I’ve been stuck behind the wheel for like five hours now.
 
I just want to go stretch out, watch some ESPN, and go to sleep.”

“Sorry.
 
Just text me later on or something.”

“Will do.”
 

As soon as he hung up the phone, he felt that familiar weight settling within his chest again.

Well, it was nice while it lasted.

Anna was driving to work the morning of Drew’s “gathering”, his voice filtering through the vehicle.
 
She listened as he and Dave debated the odds of the underdog team taking the final four
championship—
a topic which Drew had attempted to discuss with Anna two nights before.

She had quickly distracted him.

A smile touched her lips as she remembered
laying
breathlessly beside him on the couch.

Drew, she mused, was very easily distracted.
 

“Just a quick reminder to all of you kind hearted listeners—or for those of you who are just looking for a good excuse to get drunk—make sure you check out the charity auction over at Canon’s next weekend.
 
All of the proceeds will go to the
Innman
Community Center, and yours truly will be there.”

“Don’t forget to mention that
you
will be up for auction yourself, Mr. Whitman.”
 
Dave added.

“Of course—bring your checkbooks, ladies, because I expect things to get heated.”
 
Anna rolled her eyes.
 
That was Drew, cocky as ever.
 

Anna pulled into her usual parking spot and turned the car off, heading toward the door.
 
Today was the last day of spring break, so as she stepped through the doors, she was greeted by laughter and high-pitched voices.
 
They usually opened the center earlier during breaks from school to give parents a break from trying to find childcare.

“Hey Miss Anna!”
 
Eddie, the little boy who had drawn the spaceship, waved to her as she walked in, running through the entry way toward the gym.
 
Today, they had planned to spend the afternoon of planting flowers and trees in the yard around the center.
 
“You
gonna
dig in the dirt with us?”

“Oh, I’m thinking about it.”
 
She knelt down.

“I can do the digging and you can plant the flowers!”
 

“Well, that sounds like an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
 
Anna reached out and ruffled his hair.
 
“Let me go get rid of this stuff and I’ll be right back, okay?”
 

“Okay!”
 
Eddie did a 180 and turned back, charging toward the activity room.
 
As she passed the doorway, she saw a few kids in front of the TV, the familiar sounds of Call of Duty coming to life as the game loaded on the screen.
 

“Hey, why don’t you guys do something a little less aggressive first thing in the morning?”
 
She called, poking her head into the room.
 
“At the very least, you guys should be reading something.”

“We’re reading the dialogue boxes, Miss Anna,
”
 
Michael
, Eddie’s older brother, told her.
 
She glared at him for a moment before giving in.
 
It
was
the last day of break—aside from the weekend—and they
had
spent the week doing all sorts of educational activities.
 
One morning of mindless entertainment couldn’t hurt
too
much, Anna decided.

She headed down to her office, glancing through her messages and the notes she’d left herself to go over today.
 
She had purposely scheduled a light day so that she could have some time to spend with the kids, having missed out on the last activity night because she’d spent the weekend in Michigan.

Everything was right on target, she knew.
 
Sales for the prom were going better than she’d expected—including those from city hall she had personally invited.
 
And the auction was coming together very well—quickly, yes, but well.
 

Nana had sent her home with a few records that had been signed by local musicians, along with a few of her personal pieces of art.
 
Alice had contributed a few beautiful photos of the city they had grown up in, and Drew had come through with two sets of tickets for a couple of approaching baseball games—not to mention agreeing to putting himself up on the auction block.
 
She couldn’t forget that.

She knew it wasn’t going to amount to quite enough, but she was hoping that, combined with the serious discount Crystal’s brother had offered her once Anna had mentioned Drew’s advertising, and the sales and projected donations from the prom—the studio might be just within reach.

With a smile on her face, she headed down the hall, ready to have a little fun with her day.
 

~*~

Several hours later, Anna couldn’t help but notice the similarities between her group of immature teens and one certain blue-eyed radio personality.
 
They were all talk and bravado, and she found she got as much a kick out of them as she did Drew.

She stood in front of the building, waving as parents came to pick up their kids.
 
Her hands and the knees of her jeans were covered in dirt, and she was certain it was smudged all over her face—but she didn’t care.
 
She’d had a ball today, and as she glanced around, she could see pops of color and brightness every where she looked.

It was worth it.

“Excuse me—are you Anna
Maloy
?”
 
Anna turned to find a man, probably a few years old than her, but absolutely no worse the wear for it.
 
He was tall, with sandy blonde hair and warm brown eyes, all accompanied by a dazzling smile on his face.

“I am; can I help you?”
 
The man extended his hand toward her and she tentatively held hers up, showing him the layers of grime.
 
He laughed and pulled his hand back.

“Hi—I’m Jonathan Young.
 
Karen’s dad?”
 

“Oh!
 
Mr. Young!”
 
Karen had only recently started coming to the center, but from what Anna knew of her, her parents had recently divorced.
 
“Hello, it’s so good to meet you.”

“Oh no, the pleasure is mine, really.
 
Karen just loves this place.
 
And it’s been a big help—you know, with work and all.”
 

“That’s right, you’re…”
 
He opened his light jacket to reveal a t-shirt with the letters ‘CFD’ on the side.
 
“A firefighter, of course.”
 
Anna smiled warmly at him—finding that it was almost impossible not to.
 
“Well, we just love having Karen here.
 
She gets along well with everyone, and she’s always helping out with the younger kids.”

“She’s a good girl.”
 
Jonathan nodded.
 
“Listen—so I’ve heard about this auction thing you guys have going next weekend, and I was wondering if you could use any help with it?”

“Oh, I think we’ve got everything covered—”

“Well, I was just—
”
 
He
broke off, and Anna could tell he was a little embarrassed about whatever it was he was about to say.
 
“I know this might be a little forward, but I just thought—maybe you could use…I don’t know how to say this.
 
But I know what a draw a firefighter can be for a lot of women—and I was just thinking
,
if you wanted, I wouldn’t mind putting myself up there.”

“You want to be auctioned off?”
 
His cheeks flushed and he quickly averted his eyes.
 
Anna had to admit, it was kind of endearing to see someone else blush for once.
 

“I don’t mean anything kinky by it or anything, but Karen was just talking about it, and I heard about it on the radio this morning, and I thought—why not?
 
I mean, it’s for a good cause, isn’t it?”

“Well, if you’re sure—then I would be more than happy to add you to the list.
 
Would you mind if I took a quick picture?”
 
She shook her head, realizing she should explain herself.
 
“I mean, for the site—so that we can put it up.
 
Where people can see what we’re auctioning off.”
 

“Oh, yeah, sure.
 
Now?”
 
Anna laughed, feeling her cheeks redden just the same as his.
 
“If you think—I mean—”

“Would you mind taking your jacket off?
 
So that I can get the CFD in there.”
 
He obliged, however modestly, and Anna wiped her hands aggressively on her jeans before she pulled her phone from her pocket and snapped a quick picture.
 
“There we go.
 
Perfect.”

“Should I give you my number too?
 
Just in case anything comes up.”

“Oh, right, that’s probably a good idea.”
 
He rattled off his cell phone number and Anna quickly added it into her contacts.
 
“Well, thank you, Jonathan.
 
It’s been a pleasure meeting you.”

“You’ll be at the auction, won’t you?”
 
Anna nodded.
 
“Well, I look forward to seeing you there.
 
Maybe, if you see someone shady bidding on me, you might do me the favor of throwing your hat into the ring?”

“I’ll keep my eye out,
”
 
she
told him with a soft smile.
 
“Karen’s inside cleaning up, which is where I’m about to head.
 
Again, thank you.”
 

As she turned to enter the building, the man waved.
 
She returned the gesture, still smiling, and hurried inside.
 

She heard Alice’s voice in her head, telling her that she should be dating other people in order to preserve the nature of her relationship with Drew—and, for just a moment, she considered turning around and asking Jonathan out.

But as soon as the idea was in her head, she’d talked herself out of it.
 
Getting involved with a parent was a bad idea.

No matter how cute he was.

She stopped at the bathroom and washed up as best she could before stopping back at her office and grabbing everything she’d brought with her this morning—including her dress, heels, and whatever makeup she’d need for the evening.
 
Drew had suggested she forgo preparing for the evening at her own house—mostly to avoid having to pick her up, because it “reminded him of eighth grade”.
 

“I’ll see you Monday, Crystal!”
 
The girl waved from the desk before returning to whatever book she was studying from today.
 
Finals were fast approaching, Anna knew.

Traffic was worse heading toward Drew’s apartment, so it took her longer than she’d have liked—especially considering the amount of time she was going to require
to get
the dirt from under her nails alone.

Drew was waiting for her at his door, and she didn’t miss the quizzical look that passed through his eyes as he looked her over.
 
“It appears that
you’ve
had an interesting day.”

“Oh, I have.”
 
He reached out and rubbed her cheek—probably trying to brush away a spot of dirt she’d missed.
 
“But I don’t have time to even begin telling you about it.
 
I’ve got
mountains
of preparation—”

“It’s just a work thing—”

“Oh, Drew.
 
I know you better than that.”
 
She reached up and patted him on the cheek a couple times.
 
“I’m taking over your bedroom, and your bathroom.
 
See you in an hour or so.”
 

Before he could stop her, she breezed through his bedroom door, closing it behind her.
 

~*~

It had taken her well over an hour, but mostly because she’d given up on trying to clean all of the dirt from her cuticles and had decided to paint her nails instead.
 
She wore a deep red dress that would have made Alice proud with a pair of matching heels, and her hair was held up by several strategically placed bobby pins.
 

Drew knocked on the door for the third time.
 
“Aren’t you ready
yet
?”
 

Anna sighed, glancing in the mirror one more time before heading out into the bedroom.
 
She grabbed her earrings from his nightstand and began putting them in, just as Drew pushed the door open.
  
“That’s it, I’m—”

He stopped mid-sentence, his eyes trailing over her very slowly.
 
She finished with her last earring and walked over to him, touching his chin with her finger.
 
“You’re staring, Drew.”

“Am I not supposed to?”
 
His eyes roamed over her again.
 
“Because if not, I think you’ve done something very, very wrong.”

“So it’s okay, then?”
 
She did a 360 for him, but as soon as she’d found his eyes
again,
she knew she had his approval.
 
“I figured you probably take pretty girls to these things all the time, so I should do my best to look the part.”

“Oh, you’ve succeeded.”
 
Drew took her hand and pulled her closer to him.
 
“Now I’m going to be even more anxious to get this thing done and over with.”

“So you can bring me back here and have your way with me?”
 
She asked him, a coy smile on her lips.
 

“And the more you say things like that, the harder it’s going to be.”
 
Anna couldn’t resist trailing her fingers up his thigh, and Drew groaned.
 
“Okay, if we don’t leave now, we’re never going to make it.”
 
Her laughter filled the room and he gave her a stern look before leading the way from the bedroom, stopping only to grab his blazer and her shawl.