Page 42 of Two Hearts Reunited

“He thinks that I should have some kind of security,” she answered.

“I do too,” Eric agreed, grimly. “But let’s put everything aside for the rest of the night, Anya.”

“Alright.” She sighed. “Would you like another beer?”

“I would. And I think you should have another one of those wine coolers too.”

She cocked her head. “Why?”

Eric rolled his eyes. “Besides the fact that it’s still pretty early?” He smiled wryly. “I’m nervous as hell, and I’m sure you are too. You know damn well that I mean to make love to you tonight.”

She snorted. “It’s about time. I mean we’re practically engaged.”

His eyes went wide. And then he crossed them when he started laughing.

Chapter Twenty-One

Eric was definitely shaken up. Although Shanna had supposedly left a message for their mother a few years earlier, he’d still never asked her to play the message for him, not wanting Anya to get her hopes up about her sister.

But there had to be something else going on here. Had Shanna really been kidnapped? He was sure it was her voice on the phone. He’d talked to her enough as a teenager that he recognized the inflections and tone of her voice. And she’d obviously been aware that Anya was back in town.

Then again, he’d heard some crazy kidnapping stories where women had been found years later after having been allowed a certain amount of freedom, so much under the control of their abductor, they’d appeared to be brainwashed.

He sighed. It was time to put those issues aside for the night because yes, he was nervous. Despite having to make love with Anya on a pull-out sleeper, Eric was determined to make this night special for the two of them. In fact, he’d been trying to figure out how he was going to make this happen ever since he’d seen her again. But tonight, the opportunity had conveniently arisen because of another puzzling blast from the past.

“You’re doing an awful lot of thinking,” she said, sipping on her third wine cooler.

She’d begun playing Christmas music on her iPod as soon as she’d finished texting Jake, and they’d been sitting and relaxing ever since.

“I wasn’t going to say anything about it again, but that phone call really threw me for a loop,” he admitted.

“Yes. Even I was beginning to question the legitimacy of that other message. I’m glad that Jake Loughlin is taking matters into his own hands. It kind of makes me relieved.”

Well, here it goes, he thought to himself, reaching out for her wine cooler and resting it on the end table beside her.

Staring into her eyes first, he covered her mouth with his. If there was a more satisfying mouth to kiss than Anya’s, he couldn’t imagine whose it would be. He wound his arms around her while she collapsed against him, her hands lightly clinging onto his shoulders. They kissed warmly, lazily for a while, their tongues exploring, their teeth gently nipping.

Until they finally broke for air.

“Maybe we should pull out the bed?” she asked.

Eric loved the dreamy look she had in her eyes. It was as if they were going back to the past, both remembering the first time they’d made love. As a matter of fact, it had been here at the cabin.

They both stood. Eric slid the coffee table away from the couch, while Anya pulled off the cushions, stacking them on the tall table behind the sofa.

While Eric made sure the front door was locked, she tugged on a handle and unfolded the bed, already made up with sheets and a warm blanket, two pillows stuffed beneath the blanket.

Wearing jeans and a t-shirt, Eric pulled his shirt over his head and dropped it on top of his duffel bag. When he turned to look at Anya, her eyes were wide.

He started laughing. “What’s wrong?”

She cleared her throat, suddenly smiling coyly. “Nothing. Nothing at all.”

Eric laughed harder, until he stopped abruptly when Anya began unbuttoning the gauzy blouse she’d been wearing to celebrate Christmas, which she’d paired with a short leather skirt.

Eric swallowed hard when she unzipped her skirt letting it drop to the floor, exposing the lacy black camisole she’d been wearing beneath the blouse and skirt.

“Geez, Anya,” he growled. “You look way too sexy for your own good. Have you always been dressed like that beneath your clothes?”

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