Page 9 of What's an Earl Gotta Do?
She was glad to see him. So glad.
It was such a relief to find that she felt that way.
Michael embraced her warmly. When Anne drew back, they were both smiling, even if she had tears in her eyes. He reached up and carefully removed her mask.
Standing mere inches from him as he unfastened the ties, Anne felt shy. Her first instinct had been correct: without the mask, Michael was everything that was tall, dark, and handsome.
Sometime in the past four years, the little boy she’d grown up with had turned into this magnificent specimen of the male species. It was going to take some... getting used to, that was all.
She took a hasty step back once he finished with her mask. “It’s so good to see you.”
“It’s wonderful to see you, too.” He gave her a look. “And I’m relieved to see you still remember who I am.”
Anne laughed. “I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you! In my defense, you were wearing a mask. And you must know, Michael, how much you’ve changed in the last four years. Why, you must be a full foot taller than you were when last I saw you.”
“Not quite. Only eight inches. I now stand six feet, five inches.”
“Well, you look marvelous.” Anne’s voice broke on the last word, and tears formed in her eyes anew. “I’m so sorry, I…” She looked away, unable to continue.
Suddenly she was in his arms again. She found herself flush against a warm, solid expanse of chest. Those tree trunk-thick arms enveloped her completely, and it felt wonderful. She could feel his breath in her hair and the slight scrape of his jaw when it brushed her forehead.
Her breath was shaky, and her heart was racing like a hummingbird’s wings. Which was ridiculous! This was… this was nothing. It wasn’t as though Michael meant anything by it. Why, this was just like all the times she’d hugged him right before he left for school, the exact same hug she had given her brothers.
This felt distinctly unlike hugging her brother.
“It’s all right,” he murmured into her hair.
“I just…” She swallowed, squeezing her eyes shut. “I missed you so much, Michael.”
His voice was rough when he replied, “I know, Anne. Believe me, I know.”
They remained there for a moment before it dawned on Anne that anyone might come out onto the balcony and discover them in what appeared to be a compromising position. Not that it was, of course! Michael wasn’t interested in her in that way.
Her face fell a trifle as she recalled the day she had learned that with absolute certainty.
Anne stepped back. “Look at me, crying when I’m happy.” She dabbed at her tears with the back of her glove. “Tell me all about Canada.”
“Canada is...” The corners of his lips turned up and his green eyes sparkled. “Do you remember how when we were younger, you and I could always dream up the best adventures?”
“Of course, I remember. Pirates and sea monsters. Knights and dragons and damsels in distress.”
“I don’t recall you ever having been in distress.”
She strove to make her voice light. “I was referring, of course, to Caro. And occasionally to Harrington.”
He laughed, a full-throated sound that made her heart squeeze, she hadn’t heard it in so long. “Indeed! And that’s what Canada is like. I had adventures there. Real adventures.” He paused, and when he looked at her again, his eyes were very... intense. “When I was there,” he said carefully, “I felt like I had almost everything I’ve ever wanted.”
Her cheeks flushed. This is Michael, you dolt, she reminded herself. He didn’t mean that the way it sounded.
And yet, the look in his eyes when he said it… Anne and Michael were so close growing up, they’d joked that they could read each other’s faces. Her siblings even had a rule that they weren’t allowed to be partners in whist, because he would take one look at her face and throw down a trump card, able to intuit when she couldn’t pick up the trick. Sometimes Anne felt like she could glean more from the quirk of Michael’s eyebrow than she could from an hour of someone else’s conversation.
And the way he was looking at her right now… Why, if Anne didn’t know better, she would have said his expression was… ardent.
She shook herself. That was the crux of it, she did know better. “I look forward to hearing about every one of those adventures.” She forced a bright smile.
But she found she couldn’t hold it.
“Michael,” she said, dropping the mask of false cheerfulness, “what happened?”
