Chapter Five

Anna’s POV

“You can speak, you know?” His voice pierced through the silence that had been our only accompaniment for the past five minutes.

“The last time I tried that, I ended up playing a game that I think is going to backfire on me.”

He regarded me for a second before pulling his gaze back to the road. “You seem certain that you won’t enjoy the game,” he murmured. “You should remember, Anna, that sometimes certainty doesn’t always mean the truth.”

“Like in the report?” It was hard to hide the sarcasm in my tone. “Yeah, right. I figured.”

“That is no way to talk to your boss, Miss Lane.”

“I forgot we were back to being CEO and intern.” I shot back. But I regretted it a second later. I needed to watch my words around Carson. By doing almost nothing, he managed to make me feel the most intense emotions.

Predominantly anger.

We pulled up in front of my apartment complex, and Carson got out of the car before I did. “Is this where you leave?”

“Yes, Sir,” I replied, biting down my need to say that not all of us had trust funds tossed on our laps. “Thank you for the ride.”

“Where is your apartment?”

“Carson…”

“It’s freezing out here,” he said, angling his head. “I’d like a cup of coffee.” And as an afterthought, he added “Please.”

I turned around without saying a word. I didn’t need to turn around to check if he was following, because even if I had only just met the Archer second son, I knew that he was the kind of person to fill up every space he found himself.

There was a certain awareness, even when I wasn’t trying. I could smell him. That unique scent of the earth just before it rained. It made me think of the beach.

I lived on the fourth floor, and without an elevator in the building, we had to take the stairs. Half of me thought Carson would complain. Maybe I even wished he would just give up and turn around. But I heard him behind me every flight.

That subtle intake of breath, his silence, said a lot.

At my door, I fished for my keys in my purse, then paused when I remembered the state my apartment was in.

“Em….” I pressed my lips against each other as I turned around to face him. That was a big mistake, as I had no idea he had gotten so close. Carson easily towered over me, his long frame looking down at me with something I couldn’t place my finger on.

I swallowed instinctively, and his eyes strayed to my exposed neck. In that moment, I could hear my own heartbeat, and I was scared he could hear it too.

“What is it, Anna?” He whispered, bringing his gaze up to mine.

I swallowed again, the sound embarrassingly loud in the silence. “Em…” I pulled away from him at once, turning around just before he could see the flush on my cheeks.

What the hell is wrong with you, Anna? You are acting like an attention-starved woman.

“I … can I get you the coffee out here? You see, my erm…”

“Is there something you don’t want me to see?”

“Yes!” I said at once, my voice a little too high. “I have a secret that I keep away from the office, and I don’t want my boss coming in contact with it.”

He chuckled, the sound dark and traveling through every inch of my body. It filled me with so much warmth that I had to close my eyes to rein it in.

“Nice try, Anna,” he muttered.

It happened so fast. One minute, I was looking away from him, thinking of a way to send him away, and at the same time, control my damn self. And the next, the keys were out of my hands, sliding into the lock.

“Mr. Archer!”

The door pushed open, and he made himself welcome like he had every right to be in there. I rushed in after him, my eyes going wide in panic when I saw a bra peeking out from the arm of my chair.

Racing there, I picked it off once, hiding it behind me. “Haven’t you heard that it is ill-mannered to come into a lady’s house without an invitation?”

“You invited me,” he said casually, like we were talking about the weather. “How else would I have gotten the keys?”

Carson narrowed his eyes when he looked at my hands, still hidden behind me. But he seemed to leave it alone, turning to the console where I had pictures arranged. I waited for him to pick one up before moving into my room, tossing the bra in no particular direction.

When I reappeared, he was in the kitchen, preparing his own damn coffee.

“Interested?” he asked, picking up a second mug from the drawer. “Where’s your coffee maker?”

“What are you doing, Mr. Archer?”

He looked at me like I was the one running insane. “Making coffee.”

“You know what I mean.”

“No coffee maker then,” he said to himself, finding the sachets of instant coffee. Tearing them open easily with his teeth, he poured the powder into the mugs and grabbed the kettle, which I had no idea was even boiling.

“Cream? Sugar?”

Sighing, I moved to the other end of the island, opening a drawer and grabbing the sugar and cream. I didn’t have a refrigerator, and I knew that must have occurred to him. But as usual, he reserved his comments.

When he slid one of the mugs to me, I realized that I still had no idea what was going on. My boss was in my kitchen. How did that even make sense?

“Mr. Archer, I…”

“Carson.”

I took a deep breath. “Carson, I have no idea what is happening. Why did you offer me a ride after chewing me out? Why are you in my kitchen making coffee for me?”

“I’m still trying to figure that out, Anna,” he sighed, sliding his mug on the island. “What am I doing here?”

“Carson….”

His gaze dropped for the second time tonight. But this time around, his eyes lingered, slowly, deliberately, like he was drinking me in, piece by piece.

Without permission.

But the worst part was that I liked it.

I should have told him to leave. Instead, I stood in front of him, like I was waiting for something.

“Maybe I’m here because it has been a while since someone provoked me,” he continued, stopping on my lips. For some damn reason, I flicked my tongue across them, and I saw his eyes darken even further.

I let out a shaky breath, a tremor running through me. His hands were still by his side, yet…

But suddenly, there was loud banging at the door. And in another second, Luke’s voice.

“Anna, are you in?”