United States of Love

Tex gave her a look of mock reproach. ‘You hush your mouth there, little lady,’ he said, exaggerating his southern drawl.

Yvonne laughed. ‘I do love it when you go and get all cowboy on me, Tex.’

Jamie gave Tex a nudge. ‘That bloke over there, the one looking at your plans.’ He nodded towards the centre table where the architect’s drawings had been carefully laid out around a scale model and cross section of the new premises. ‘See him? I think I overheard him saying he was from the local Chamber of Commerce. Didn’t know if you needed to go and sweet-talk him.’

Tex followed his friend’s gaze, and sighed. ‘I suppose I’d better.’

Tiresome as it was having to suck up to the local hierarchy, he knew it was a necessary evil and so headed off towards the middle-aged, bearded man that Jamie had pointed out. It was then that he saw Anna coming in. He felt himself draw breath. She looked good – her hair styled a bit more choppy, fresh make-up, pretty soft blouse that showed off her tiny frame, skirt resting just above her knees, revealing a fine pair of legs.

She spotted him, broke into a smile and waved. He was aware that he waved back in some klutzy high school way. Damn it! Not only that, but she had noticed, judging by the giggle she made no attempt to hide. He walked over to greet her.

She was still smiling. ‘You made it then?’

‘Sure. Had no choice.’ He really should tell her, before it all got out of hand and she found out for herself.

‘Mr Garcia!’ Tex heard a voice behind him and groaned inwardly. Too late. Anna was peering about, no doubt trying to work out which one was Mr Garcia.

‘Mr Garcia!’There it was again, except closer this time. Then Tex felt a tap on his shoulder.

‘Argh, Mr Garcia, sorry to interrupt. I just wondered if we could have a quick word. I’m Richard Harrington, Arundel Chamber of Commerce.’ He was by the side of Tex now, holding out his hand.

Tex shook hands. ‘Pleased to meet you.’ He turned to Anna whose mouth was working but no sound coming out. ‘Could you just excuse me a moment, Anna? Maybe we can talk later?’ Her eyes hardened as she nodded. Computation complete. Oh yeah, she’d worked it out.

‘We certainly can talk later, Mr Garcia,’ Anna said, the smile now nowhere in sight.

So he thought he was clever did he? A proper smart-arse. Nico Garcia or Tex, or whatever his blasted name was. Anna glared at the American’s back as he chatted to the Chamber of Commerce guy. Despite her bad temper with Tex, she couldn’t fail to acknowledge the broadness of his shoulders underneath the crisp, dark suit. He looked even more attractive tonight, all spruced up, shirt and tie. He really did scrub up well. Stop! She must stop thinking like this about him.

‘Hello, Anna.’ It was Andy Bartholomew, the curator of the museum at Arundel Castle.

Great, just what she needed. Handy Andy, as he was unaffectionately known amongst the female tour guides, and it was certainly nothing to do with his DIY skills.

‘Hello, Andy,’ she replied politely as she shifted around him, looking for an escape route, someone else she could suddenly develop the urgent need to speak with.

Unfortunately, luck wasn’t on her side. Everyone’s attention now appeared to be focused towards the stage where Tex stood with a microphone in his hand. Feeling obliged to stand still and pay attention, Anna was dismayed to feel Handy Andy brush up alongside her.

‘Could I have your attention for one moment please?’ Tex began, flashing a killer smile around the room. Anna could almost hear the collective swoon of all the females there, his soft drawl was practically X-rated.

‘First, I would like to thank you all so much for turning up here this evening, it means a lot. Second, I must thank Forresters Outside Catering for the fabulous buffet they have provided. And my thanks also go to local architects Hanson & Williams for the excellent scale model in the centre there. Perhaps you could join me in a small round of applause.’

Everyone seemed more than happy to join in, Anna noted. Tex had obviously been working the room well leading up to this little speech.

‘You will see from the display,’ Tex continued, ‘that I intend to open a contemporary restaurant: high-class food for the working man’s pocket. Not a pizza delivery service with a horde of mopeds ‘whining up and down’ the road, as some of you might fear.’ A little ripple of laughter circulated.

Anna felt a flush race to her face as he fixed his eyes on her, a hint of amusement playing at the corners of his mouth. He so knew what he was doing. To her relief, he looked away and carried on speaking, telling the attentive listeners how he was looking forward to being part of the community, that there was enough room for everyone, and how pleased he was to be putting something back into the local economy, jobs for local people, and so on.

God, he was good. By the time he had finished, the whole audience was clapping and smiling broadly at him. Mission complete it would seem.

‘So thank you again for coming,’ he said as the applause died down. ‘I’m looking forward to getting to know you all much better.’ His eyes swept the room, coming to rest at Anna, as another flutter of clapping spread throughout the guests.

‘Smarmy Yank,’ muttered Andy, leaning into Anna and snaking his arm around her waist.

She resisted the urge to point out the irony of this statement, and attempted to wriggle free.

‘What say me and you slip away for a quiet drink at the Kings Head?’ Andy suggested, tightening his grip on her waist and running a finger down her arm.

Anna shuddered but tried to retain a degree of professionalism. ‘I don’t think that’s a good idea, Andy. Thanks all the same.’

‘You’re not knocking me back again, are you?’ A frown folded over his face. ‘I wouldn’t want to have to complain to Howard about the lack of service.’

‘Andy, can you stop this please?’ He had been trying for the past six months, on and off, to get her to go on a date with him. It just wasn’t happening. Ever. Purposefully, she took hold of his hand and prised it from her waist. ‘As I’ve said before, I don’t mix business with pleasure.’ Not that he would be a pleasure by any stretch of the imagination.

‘Oh, come on, Anna.’ He went to take hold of her again, but now that everyone was milling around once more, Anna seized her opportunity.

Spinning on her heel to avoid his groping hand, she propelled herself forward and found herself running straight into the chest of Tex.

Chapter Two (#u71ac035c-2898-536a-9871-7aebd3129a67)

Tex wrapped his arms round her as she bundled into him. He couldn’t have planned it better if he had tried. Hugging her tight to his chest, he appreciated the feel of her curves against him. He grinned down at her.

‘We seem to be making a habit of this,’ he said.

‘Maybe. Trouble is, this morning, I thought I had bumped into Tex. Now I seem to have bumped into Nico Garcia.’

‘And which one do you prefer?’ He noticed she hadn’t tried to wriggle free.

‘I’m not sure yet. Although I do know someone who isn’t a contender.’ She jerked her head backwards.

Tex had already spoken to the castle curator earlier in the evening and had also clocked him pestering Anna. In fact, he had just been on his way over to rescue her. Again.

Releasing her from his hold, but catching her hand in his, he smiled politely at the brooding curator. ‘Would you mind excusing us, I need to speak to Anna about the tour guides. Thank you.’

He didn’t wait for an answer, instead plucking a glass of wine from a passing waiter’s tray, he whisked her away through the guests to the back of the hall.

‘I had it all under control there, you know,’ she spoke, after a rather large gulp of her wine.

Tex nodded. ‘Of course you did.’

‘I did!’ She took another sip, trying to hide a small smile of embarrassment behind the glass.

Tex didn’t miss it. ‘Look, I wanted to speak to you anyway,’ he began. ‘About earlier. I didn’t say anything because I was curious to hear an unbiased and honest opinion of what folks were feeling around here. I was going to tell you. Honest!’

She eyed him sceptically. ‘Okay, so what if I tell you I’m not really Anna but my name’s Sheila and I’m the local planning officer? I was just preparing a report to uphold an objection against the development of this building.’

What the…! He felt himself draw back to look at her again through fresh eyes. ‘You serious?’ Jeez, she looked it.

Then she broke into a huge smile and laughed out loud. Tex felt the air expel from his lungs, and found himself laughing too.

‘Oh, your face,’ she said once she had calmed down. ‘Got you going there for a moment. Serves you right.’