DearAnnie by Wynter Daniels Page A

handed the cashier at the office supply store his
credit card despite Suzanne’s protests.
    “We agreed we’d split the cost,” she said. Her lovely
pale-blue eyes sparked with determination.
    “ You agreed. I overrode you.” He had to stifle a
laugh when her jaw dropped.
    Her eyes grew huge. “Over…overrode? Did you really say
that?”
    Grinning, he signed the electronic signature pad and the
cashier handed him a receipt. He promptly gave it to Suzanne then grabbed the
computer box from the counter. “I did. Let’s go.”
    She huffed, a gesture he found completely adorable.
    Without waiting for her rebuttal, he headed toward the door.
    Her heels clicked on the polished floor as she marched
behind him. “You seem to think you’re somehow in charge of this…this
transaction. I’m not one of those women who allows a man to control her. No
sir. I watched my father walk all over my mother until she finally threw the
bastard out. So don’t think just because you paid for my new computer, you own
me. You don’t. I’ll bet you’re used to making all the decisions just because
you’re big and obviously strong with all those…muscles and that deep voice. I’m
just speechless at your gall.”
    He chuckled. “Obviously you’re not.”
    She bristled as he let her in the truck. There was something
so feisty and fun about her. She was going to be a challenge. He didn’t want
their time together to end. “My computer geek buddy lives in Falls Church. Mind
if we stop for lunch on the way?” He shut the passenger door before she had a
chance to answer. He got behind the wheel. “What do you say?”
    “Do I have a choice or are you going to make another executive
decision?” A hint of a smile played on her rosebud lips.
    He turned toward her and slung his arm over the back of the
seat. “I’d never force a lady to have lunch with me.” He couldn’t keep his eyes
from roaming over her body—full, high breasts and small waist. And those legs,
Christ. Long, shapely, tan and made for sin. His pants grew decidedly tighter
in front. “But I might beg.”
    Her slender neck bulged with a swallow. She parted her lips
and dropped her gaze to his mouth.
    He slid a few inches closer. “Say I did beg. What would your
answer be?” He toyed with a strand of her blonde hair, wound the silky lock
around his finger.
    She licked her lips. “W-what are you begging for?”
    “I think it might have been lunch a few minutes ago. Now? A
taste.”
    The softest moan slipped out of her. She moved toward him,
so close he could smell her vanilla scent, feel the heat of her breath on his
skin. He’d never experienced such a quick connection with a woman. Something
about her—or maybe everything about her—drew him like an oasis did a thirsty
desert nomad.
    Need quickened his pulse as he covered her lips with his.
Then her hands were on his chest, his head, her fingers tangled frantically in
his hair. She opened to him and he seized the opportunity to plunder her mouth.
    She tasted sweet, like coffee and chocolate and desire. God,
he couldn’t stop kissing her. Yet he didn’t want it to be just a kiss. Need
flared to life. His cock strained against his pants and he had to shift to
accommodate its growing size.
    He broke from her lips and trailed his tongue down the
column of her neck, tasting the sweet, soft skin, nibbling when he yearned to
devour. But he didn’t want to rush through the moment. She deserved more and so
did he.
    Forcing himself to back away, he broke free and grasped her
shoulders. “I live less than twenty minutes away.”
    She shook her head and his hopes crashed to the ground.
    Suzanne straightened her blouse, smoothed down her hair. She
cleared the dust from her dry throat. “My apartment is closer, just a few miles
from here.”
    Alan nodded and the relief was evident in his smile. She
didn’t normally take home a guy she’d just met, but her hormones were screaming
for relief. It had been months since