Invisible Anna, стр. 51

“Ugh, not again.” Anna was reluctant to move. Daniel loosened the knot at her waist, tugging until her breasts were about to see full light.

“Starting now!” He strode toward the stairwell. “I’ll meet you at your room. Ten minutes.”

“No fair.” she yelled to his departing back. She re-looped the belt of her robe, and Daniel launched himself up the stairs. The man wasn’t getting enough time off if this was how he acted after twenty-four hours off leash, away from New York, his clients, and his phone.

Anna fumbled for the slippers provided by the spa and shuffled to the elevator, a smile dancing at the corners of her mouth. She liked this version of Daniel Strauss post-swim and sexy times and a massage. What would it take to see more of his playful side?

She answered his knock at her door in her robe, still undecided about what to wear.

Daniel was dressed in yet another pair of linen trousers, this time in a dark navy color. He’d paired them with an open-collared white shirt and a deceptively simple cardigan, the kind that looked hand-knitted and cost a small fortune. It seemed his skin, now a delicious shade of brown, had soaked up the perfect amount of sun and was radiating its own special glow.

“Looks like I’m winning all the races today,” he said, smiling as he cupped her jaw and brushed a kiss across her lips before stepping into the room. “You need help getting dressed?”

“Give me another five minutes, and I’ll be ready.”

He strode to her balcony, leaned an elbow on the rail, and half turned to face into the room. Anna could see him from her stance in front of her closet, where her hands hovered between the velvet dress or choosing something more casual. She decided to leave the special dress for their last night together and opted for the pair of Gaia-inspired, silk-knit palazzo pants and a lightweight cashmere sweater with a deep V neckline. Her new bracelet graced one wrist, and she was about to thread silver hoops through her earlobes when Daniel stepped off the balcony and into the room.

“I have another gift for you.” He opened the drawstring on a small jewelry pouch and dropped its contents into her open palm. The earrings she’d tried on in the gift shop, tiny shards of soft-edged sea glass strung with silver beads and tiny pearls, dangled from her fingers. Perfect. She lifted her heels and kissed the side of his jaw.

“Thank you.” She turned her head side to side. She could get used to being on the receiving end of Daniel’s Gift-A-Day program. “They’re lovely.”

Daniel tented his fingers at her lower back while she grabbed a pashmina wrap and her key card. He kept the physical connection down the stairwell, across a candlelit seawall, and up a set of stairs carved from local rock.

“Would you like an aperitif?” he asked once they were seated.

“I wouldn’t mind if you ordered a bottle wine. I’d like to try one of the reds tonight.”

Daniel waved over the same sommelier who assisted them the night before.

“Did you have a chance to look at the menu?”

Anna nodded. “The beef tenderloin sounds divine.”

She placed the folded menu beside her plate. Her napkin fell to the floor, and when she reached to retrieve it, a slim pair of ankles on very high heels sauntered by the table. Daniel noticed and kept noticing longer than was polite. Anna opened her menu again and concentrated on rereading the hand-printed offerings.

She’d last about ten seconds on those heels. And it would take a lot of practice for her to be able to affect the casual elegance of the woman who continued to hold all the chains to Daniel’s attention. She and Anna shared the same hair color, but the resemblance stopped there.

Mystery woman’s perfectly straight hair swept the bony edges of her clavicles. Her body was sculpted of hard angles—cheekbones, wrist bones, hipbones… Was that her pubic bone pushing at the front of her spotless white dress?

It took the arrival of the wine steward and the bottle he’d suggested before Daniel pulled his attention off Ms. Bony Ass and hauled it back to their table. He approved the wine and held his glass up to Anna once the steward finished pouring.

“To you.”

Anna swallowed, curled the corners of her lips into a smile, and kept the rest of her face unreadable while she wrestled with an explosion of jealousy. She downed half her wine in one long sip and left the glass hovering above the table until Daniel obliged and gave it a refill.

“Thirsty?” His eyebrows quirked as she drank and careened into a concerned look when she gestured for a second refill.

“Very,” she snapped. “Feel like sharing a couple of appetizers?”

She lowered her glass to the table and her gaze to the menu. The wine was doing exactly what she hoped it would, ease the tightness in her throat and upper chest. Without the help of the alcohol, another choice was fake a headache and slink back to her room.

Her third and least favorite option was to confront Daniel on his behavior right there at the table and risk making a scene. Chalk it up to a long pair of legs to unmask another part of her former flame that hadn’t changed.

“Annalissa.” Daniel tapped her wine glass with his. “Earth to Annalissa. Where’d you go?”

Relax your jaw. Breathe in through your nose, exhale through your mouth.

“I don’t like it when my dinner date stares at other women.” There. She said it. The tide didn’t rise; the floor didn’t crack.

He held her gaze. One fingertip tapped at the base of his wineglass. A waiter approached their table and veered away.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

“I am, too, Daniel. I’m sorry I’m too old to even consider procreating with you, and I’m sorry I’m not enough for you just as I am.” Anna drained her glass and reached across the table.

He guessed her intentions and lowered the bottle