Once Upon A Kiss.... Оливия Гейтс

in there?” Katherine fanned herself with a slim hand.

      “Not sure yet. I’ll let you know if I find anything good.”

      “Let’s go down, Annie.” Annie cast a backward glance at Vicki. It went against all her instincts to leave her here among the family treasures. “If you’ll just give me a hand down the stairs.”

      With no choice but to help Katherine, Annie headed back into the house and spent the next hour making scones and spreading cream and jam on them, while listening for every slight hint that Sinclair’s car might be pulling back into the driveway.

      Katherine was nodding off in a shaded armchair, and Vicki engrossed in texting on her phone, when she heard the purr of that familiar engine. Her heart immediately kicked into overdrive. She hurried into the kitchen so she didn’t have to watch him kiss Vicki warmly on the cheek. If he wanted to see her, he knew where to find her. She cursed herself for checking her reflection in the polished side of a stainless-steel pot and smoothing her hair back into its bun.

      Heavy footfalls on the wood stairs sounded his ascent to his bedroom. She heaved a sigh of relief mingled with disappointment. Obviously he wasn’t burning with a desire to see her. She could easily go up there on the pretext of bringing fresh towels or collecting his laundry. In fact, on a normal weekend, she’d probably do just that.

      But nothing would ever be normal again.

      Softer footfalls on the stairs suggested Vicki heading up, too. Maybe she was going to throw her arms around Sinclair and beg him to tell her all about his sailing adventures.

      Annie cursed herself for caring. Sinclair was never hers to be possessive about, not for a single instant. If she didn’t want to feel this way, she should never have let him kiss her. If only she could turn the clock back to that moment of madness when his lips hovered just in front of hers.

      “He is one of the most insightful portraitists working today, but if you’re sure …” Vicki’s voice carried along the upstairs hallway later that afternoon. “Katherine, Sin doesn’t want to come with us. We’re on our own.”

      “I keep telling him he should pay more attention to art, for its investment potential as well as its beauty, but he won’t listen. What time does it open?”

      Annie listened to them plan their stroll through the village to the art opening and mentally calculated how long she’d be alone with Sinclair. Certainly long enough to talk. Probably long enough to get into a lot of trouble, too, but she had no intention of doing that again.

      She prepped for dinner while the women primped themselves. Katherine was immaculate as usual, her golden hair cupping her cheekbones, dressed in a sleek pantsuit with a bold jade necklace. Vicki looked like she’d just climbed out of bed looking like a goddess, an effect that must take considerable effort. A diaphanous dress clung to her slender form, revealing long, graceful legs that ended in pointy ankle boots.

      Annie resisted the urge to look down at herself. She was not in competition with these women. She was not even on the same playing field as them, and no one expected her to be. But then, why did her usual “uniform” of preppy classics feel dowdy and frumpier than ever?

      She hid in the kitchen after the door closed behind them. If Sinclair wanted to talk to her he could come find her. And he did.

      “I didn’t hear you,” she stammered, when she saw him standing, tall and serious, in the narrow doorway. The old colonial kitchen had been remodeled with the most extravagant chefs’ appliances, but that didn’t change the low ceiling and old-fashioned proportions that made Sinclair look like a giant, standing next to the hand-carved spice racks.

      His hair was wet, slicked back but with a long tendril falling over his forehead. He wore a pale gray polo shirt and well-worn khakis, and she noticed with a start that his feet were bare. How could he manage to look so elegant and breathtakingly handsome in such casual clothing?

      “Listen, Annie …”

      Like she had any choice?

      “About the other day.” He frowned. “I don’t know how to explain—”

      “Me either,” she cut in. “It was very unexpected.”

      He looked relieved. Somehow that hurt. Still, at least he wasn’t trying to act as if nothing happened.

      “I think we should both forget that it ever happened.”

      His mocking echo of her thoughts cut her to the quick. “Of course.” The words flew from her mouth, a desperate attempt to save face.

      He could have left right then, the pact between them safely sealed, but he didn’t. He stood in the doorway, blocking her view of the hallway and—now that she thought of it—her only escape route. “You’re a nice girl, Annie.”

      Oh no, here it came. The “don’t be too hurt that I’m not at all interested in you, some other schlub will be” speech. If only she could run from the room and spare herself his pity.

      “You’re nice, too.” She cringed. It sounded like something a preschooler would come up with. No wonder he had no enduring interest in her—she sounded like someone who had the intellect of a turnip.

      “Not really.” He rubbed at his chest with a tense hand, and she could remember the thick, taut muscle hidden beneath his gray shirt. She’d rested her cheek on his chest and sighed with sheer pleasure. Now his dark eyes looked pained.

      He was probably thinking of his ex-wives. The last one had said all kinds of nasty things about him in the press after she realized she hadn’t been married long enough to get alimony. “I know you didn’t want to … do that.” She couldn’t even say it. What had they done? It wasn’t “making love” or “sleeping together.” Having sex. Pretty simple, really, but she still couldn’t voice the words. “I know you didn’t plan it and that you regret it.” She swallowed. What had possibly been the most perfectly blissful hour of her life was an embarrassing footnote in his.

      “Exactly.”

      His words sank through her like a stone. Why could she not shake the pathetic hope that all those kisses and so much passion had meant something to him? It seemed so strange that his breathless moans could be nothing more than a gut physical reaction.

      “I don’t know what came over me, either.” Except for the fact that I’ve adored you from afar for far too long. “But I’ll make sure not to try one of those dresses on again.” She managed a shaky smile.

      One side of Sinclair’s mouth lifted, revealing a devastating dimple. “You looked breathtaking in that dress, Annie.”

      The sound of her name coming from his mouth, right after the compliment, made her heart jump.

      “Oh, I think it was the dress that looked breathtaking. They’re all so beautifully made. I haven’t looked at them since I hung them in the closet but they don’t seem to have ever been worn.”

      “Except that one, now.”

      “And that wasn’t worn for long.” She let out a breath. Being in such close quarters with Sinclair played havoc with her sanity. She could smell the familiar scent of that old-fashioned soap he used. She had a close-up view of the lines at the corners of his eyes, which showed how often he smiled, despite all rumors to the contrary. “Maybe there’s a reason those clothes ended up in a trunk in the attic and were never worn.”

      “A curse?” He lifted a dark brow. Humor danced in his eyes. She could tell he didn’t believe a word of the superstitions that so excited his mom.

      “A spell, perhaps.” She played along. “To turn even a sensible woman into a wanton.”

      “That was a very effective spell.” His eyes darkened and held her gaze for a moment until her breath was coming in tiny gasps. “Not that you were a wanton, of course, but …”

      “I think we both know what you meant.” She shoved a lock off her forehead.