Page 48 of Hang the Moon
“Hey, Darce?” he called out. “It’s Brendon. You told me to swing by after work?”
After a moment, a shadow appeared beneath the door before it opened. Arms crossed over her body, Annie stood blocking the threshold, her full bottom lip trapped between her teeth. “Hi.”
His breath caught in the back of his throat, his lungs constricting. Fuck. She was gorgeous, her long hair swept up in a messy bun on the top of her head. Several tendrils had fallen, framing her heart-shaped face, which was free of makeup, making it possible to see the tiny spray of freckles dotting the bridge of her nose. She didn’t have many—not like him; he was covered head to toe—which made the few she had all the more adorable. Precious in their scarcity.
“Hey.” He pasted on a smile he prayed didn’t give away the fact that just looking at her gave him palpitations. That his fingers itched with the urge to tuck one of those loose strands of hair behind her ear. That his mouth burned with the memory of how soft the skin beside her jaw had felt, how he’d been able to feel her pulse trip under his lips. He cracked his knuckles, not just because she made him nervous, but because the desire to reach out and touch her was too strong. “Is my sister home?”
When she tugged on the fabric, his eye was drawn to the expanse of golden skin left bare by Annie’s skimpy shorts. It was obvious she hadn’t been expecting company. “Darcy’s still atwork. She told me this morning she’d be late. She’s, uh, playing catch-up, apparently. Since she took Friday off.”
“She told you that this morning?”
Annie nodded.
That didn’t make any sense. Darcy had texted him this afternoon. “She asked me to come over. Apparently, her espresso machine’s busted.”
She made a soft, embarrassed hum, a distant cousin of the throaty moan she’d made the other night, the one he’d felt vibrate against his lips. The space between his shoulder blades tingled, the hair on his arms standing on end, when she lifted her eyes, meeting his. “Whoops?”
“I’m sure it’s not as bad as Darcy thinks,” he fibbed.
She leaned against the door frame, reminding him of how he’d had her pressed up against the same place two nights ago. How she’d whimpered when he’d kissed her. How she had tasted like pineapple and coconut.Fuck.He sucked a shaky breath in through his mouth and shoved his hands inside his pockets.
“You’re, um, welcome to come inside and wait,” she offered, gesturing behind her. “Or take a look at it.” She rolled her lips together, smile slightly wry. “I didn’t realize I totally screwed it up that badly. Me and fancy appliances do not get along.”
He laughed under his breath and followed her inside the kitchen, stopping in front of the espresso machine. It didn’tlookruined.
“You think it’s fixable?” she asked, leaning against Darcy’s fridge. “Or did I kill it?”
“I’m hopeful,” he said, reaching behind the machine to plug it into the outlet.
“Me too.” Annie traced a grout line with the tip of her bare toe. Her nails were painted an electric shade of aqua that made her skin look tanner by contrast. “Otherwise, I owe Darcy a new coffeemaker.”
He grabbed a mug and placed it beneath the spout before pressing the button for an eight-ounce Americano. The machine sputtered before dark coffee filled the cup.
That had been easy.Tooeasy. No fixing involved, just a press of a button and voilà, coffee. “Seems fine to me.”
“Whew.” Her lips turned up at the corners, her smile verging on shy as she pushed off the fridge and took a step toward him. “Brendon, about the other night. I don’t want you to think I’m not—”
“Brendon? I saw your car out front.”
The award for worst timing went to Darcy. Annie didn’t want him to think she wasn’twhat?
He stared at Annie for a moment longer, willing his eyes to communicate what his mouth couldn’t.This isn’t over.He smiled at Darcy even though a huge part of him wanted to shove her back through the front door. “Your coffeemaker’s fixed.”
“Oh, good.” Darcy set her purse down on the counter. “It wasn’t too complicated, was it?”
“Complicated?” He laughed. “Try turning it on.”
“How strange,” she said, not quite meeting his eyes.
Something strange was certainly afoot. He just couldn’t put his finger onwhat.
Darcy sighed and massaged the space between her brows, a quiet but not quite silent groan slipping out of her mouth.
Annie frowned. “Are you okay?”
“I’ll be fine.” Darcy waved her off with a strained smile. “Just exhausted. I opened up my email this morning and nearly had a heart attack. I take a few days off and I come back to the office in shambles. This week...” Her words trailed off, the lines forming around her lips filling in what she hadn’t said. She offered Annie a contrite smile. “I’m just worried we’re not going to have as much time together as I’d hoped. We’ll have the weekend, obviously, but I’ve got my boss breathing down my neck about finalizing these reports for some of our high-priority accounts and... I’ll probably be at the office late most days.”
Annie gave an awkward laugh. “I picked a really bad time to visit, didn’t I?”
