Page 2 of Condemned By Secrets

He smiled at her, and a dimple appeared in his left cheek. Okay, that was just unfair. Not only was he tall and handsome, but he had dimples? If she’d been awestruck before, now she was nearly frozen. She’d never been good at talking to hot guys. And this cop was uber-hot, likeMagic Mikehot.

Anna couldn’t find her voice to answer him, so she nodded, hypnotized by the way the sun glinted off the natural highlights in his hair. They were like strings of gold, and with the silver eyes, he looked too good to be real.

He extended a hand to her as he said, “Luther. Are you just passing through? I haven’t seen you in town before, and you’re—”

He looked her up and down and her cheeks heated. Was that interest in his eyes?Impossible.

—“not someone I’d forget.”

She extended her hand in response but jerked it back at the last minute when she remembered her smudged fingers. Luther raised an eyebrow at her sharp movement, and she winced, holding up her hand for him to see. “Sorry! I’m Anna.”

He chuckled at her hand and pointed at her shirt. “It’s already spread.”

Confused, she glanced down and cringed. There was a definitive “X” across her chest where the grease had marked it when she’d clutched the lug wrench. No wonder his eyes had raked over her like that. “Fudgesicles,” she grumbled under her breath.

Anna was mortified. Her cheeks were on fire, and she wished she could melt into a puddle and slink away. Why did embarrassing stuff always happen to her? She was cursed. Had to be.

Anna started at his voice before she mustered the courage to look at him again. “Did you just say ‘fudgesicles’?” It sounded much closer than it had a moment before.

With a flaming face, she lifted her head to look at him. He’d moved and stood near enough to touch. Luther was grinning at her, and not only did the dimple in his left cheek reappear, but a matching one flashed at her from his right, making her catch her breath.

No one should be that handsome. There should be a law against it. At the thought, a nervous giggle bubbled up her throat. She tried to stop it, but it escaped, coming out in the most mortifying of snorts that had her clamping a hand over her mouth.

“Uh-oh.” Luther’s eyes laughed at her.

He reached for the hand covering her mouth, and Anna’s eyes bugged out. When his hand closed over hers, she sucked in a breath. His touch sent her overstimulated system into overdrive. The heat simmering inside her spread like wildfire from her inflamed face searing through the rest of her body.

When Luther pulled her hand away from her mouth, his lips twitched as though he were holding in a laugh. “You, um,”— he cleared his throat around a chuckle and waved a finger at her lips—“got it on your face now.”

Anna groaned and closed her eyes. She wished for the ability to disappear. Right now, she’d trade anything for that superpower or for a do-over. If she could just have one of those—Wait, why is he still holding my hand?

Anna opened her eyes at the same time Luther burst out laughing. Frowning at him, she jerked her hand out of his grip. This is why she preferred being invisible. When you flew under the radar, people didn’t notice you enough to laugh at you.

Hiding her hurt behind anger, she bit out, “Well, I’m glad one of us is amused.”

“Sorry,” Luther managed between chuckles as she stood staring at him, trying to disguise the pain his amusement inflicted. “I just”—more chuckles.

Murphy’s law had caught up with her, and now this cop was adding insult to injury by laughing about it.

He cleared his throat and finally stopped. His lips had stilled, but his eyes shone with mirth. “Why don’t you let me take that.” He gestured at the lug wrench she still held.

She wasn’t a violent person or even a hot-headed one, but she gripped the wrench tighter as she imagined hurling it at his perfect head. Blinking away the fantasy, she handed him the wrench, then crossed her arms over her chest.

“Let’s get this tire changed out for you.” He was smiling but his eyes had sobered.

“Thanks.”It’s the least you can do after laughing at me like that.

???

Luther was having trouble concentrating on the simple task in front of him. Anna stood a couple feet away as he worked on the tire, and he smelled her perfume. It was sweet and fruity, reminding him of Skittles. He loved Skittles. His fellow officers liked to tease him about it, but he always kept a bag of them in his glove box.

If he hadn’t already developed a craving for the tiny brunette, her scent would have done it.

Wait, what?

Luther shook his head as if the motion would shake away that thought. How could he already want the woman when he’d just met her? He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye.

She was leaning against the car, fanning herself with a hand as she stared off into the distance. Her mouth was pursed in thought and made the rosy color of her lips stand out. They looked as good as a ripe strawberry, and he wondered if they’d taste as sweet.

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