She poked around the bathroom as the tub filled, and found a new toothbrush still in its wrapper, a hair brush, shampoo and conditioner, and even some simple cosmetics. Wow. Talk about the hostess who thought of everything. Minerva must have brought this stuff in here while Jackson had showed her the rest of the house.
Ana lit the half dozen pillar candles clustered beside the tub, poured some of the bath salts she found into the steaming hot water and sighed in pleasure as she stepped into the tub. She sank up to her armpits in the hot embrace and luxuriated in melting bliss. It was wild to think about how, three hours ago, she had been praying for her life, and here she was now, surrounded by this sartorial splendor. The mental whiplash was a little much to take in.
She refreshed the bath with hot water several times and just couldnt seem to drag herself out of this perfect interlude. The rhythmic pounding of waves rolling ashore lulled her into the best semicoma ever. How long she sat there just soaking, she had no idea.
The bathroom door burst open.
She plunged to her neck in the water and it sloshed over the side of the tub. Jackson!
Crap! Sorry. Thought you already went downstairs. Clothes. Ive, um, got some. Theyre Grans, but she said they would fit you. Sorry. Ill just put them on your bed....
Get out, Jackson, she said firmly enough to cut across his babbling.
Right. Out. But his gaze had riveted on the damned tub. And as tall as he was, he no doubt had a great view of her naked body. Which abruptly felt on fire from pretty much her neck to her toes.
Go. Now, she ordered him.
Sorry. Gone. Finally, he tore his gaze away from her and spun. He all but ran out of the bathroom and looked so silly doing it she had to laugh. Guy acted like hed never seen a naked female before. Whod have thought a hunk like him would be so self-conscious around women? She wouldnt have guessed it in a million years.
The tranquility of her bath destroyed, she rinsed the last of the soap out of her hair with the detachable showerhead thingie. She stood up to dry off and it felt decadent to stand naked before that huge window with all of natures glory right outside.
She glanced down onto the broad stone veranda below and started. Jackson was staring up at her, transfixed. The glass was one-way, wasnt it? If hed lied about that, she was going to kill him!
Wrapping a towel around herself fast, she backed away from the window and dried off hastily. Using the blow-dryer she found in the big armoire where the towels and shampoo had been, she dried her hair into its usual shoulder-length frame of her face.
She actually dug into the makeup Minerva had put in the medicine cabinet and applied mascara, blush and lip gloss. Only time she usually wore the stuff was when she had a date, which happened exactly never. Tonight, though, it gave her the confidence boost she needed to go downstairs and face Jackson after hed accidentally invaded her bath. That had been an accident, hadnt it?
Naked, she moved out into the bedroom and smiled at the simple navy knit dress laid out on the bed. Its lines were high-end designer all the way. The lingerie lying beside it made her simultaneously blush and sigh with pleasure. Jacksons grandmother wore silk thongs and see-through lace bras? Go, granny!
Shed secretly wished to own stuff like that over the years, but a combination of no one to wear it for and scraping by so she could pay her college tuition meant shed never indulged the fantasy.
The sexy lingerie was a decent fit. She was more endowed up top than Minerva, which meant her bra cups ranneth over in a rather spectacular display of cleavage. But it was better than crawling back into her dirty, smelly camisole.
She pulled the casual knit dress over her head and the kitten-soft fabric caressed her body like a whisper. It was snug to the hips and then flared into swirls around her legs. The overall effect was to accentuate her curves until she looked like some kind of sexy vamp.
She stared at herself in the mirror. Who knew she could look so good in the right cut of clothing? Jacksons eyeballs were going to fall out his head when he got a load of this plunging neckline and bulging boobage. A sneaking suspicion that Minerva had laid out this dress for that exact reason crept into her mind. So. Granny was machinating to throw the two of them together, huh? Fascinating. Jackson wasnt lying when hed said his grandmother was pushing him to settle down and start a family.
She wished the woman luck but held out no real hope of Minerva succeeding. After all, Jackson had been a superstar for nearly five years and could have had pretty much any woman on the planet in that time. But hed never shown the slightest inclination to get married. There was no reason to think things would change at this late date.
Still, she gave the neckline one last downward tug before heading downstairs. Next to the library was a music room with a grand piano dominating the space. On a shelf behind it, she spotted...
Oh, my God. Is that an Oscar? She moved into the room and stopped before the famous statue on the mantle over a huge fireplace.
I won that for being a coproducer on a documentary last year. Id like to win another one with the new production company, a male voice said from behind her.
She whipped around to face Jackson, the skirt swirling around her hips.
His eyes went wide as he stared at her. Ana, what happened to you?
Alarm slammed through her. She reached for her hair, her face. What? Whats wrong? She hadnt seen any major bruising when shed checked herself in the mirror before she came downstairs. Most of her scrapes and scratches were on her arms and hands. Amazing really, considering what shed been through.
Youve got He broke off. Youre
Her alarm escalated to panic. What the hells wrong, Jackson? Ive got what?
Uh. Breasts.
She stared back at him. I know. But whats wrong?
Nothing, he mumbled. You just look...
She strode over to him and stared up at him. Youre scaring me. Tell me whats going on, right now.
Jesus, Ana. Nothings wrong. You just look like...a...a woman. A hot one. With great...well...cleavage. That dress... You in it... Christ... he mumbled.
Oh. She stood down from threat mode, letting out the breath shed been holding. Hed scared the hell out her for a minute there. A little irked, she said, Ive been a woman all day, you know.
Well, yeah. But you werent wearing stuff like that when we were fighting.
The operative word being fighting, she retorted. Kinda hard to do that in heels and a French manicure.
He cleared his throat and finally managed to tear his gaze away from her chest. She owed Minerva a big thanks later. At least the guy had finally figured out she was not only a girl, but a marginally attractive one. For him, that was apparently a big breakthrough.
How about that tour of the rest of the house now? she asked.
Uh, yeah. Sure.
He guided her through the mansion. It was a fairly simple layout, actually. A series of spacious rooms opened off the original central hall that ran from front to back. She gathered a kitchen was beyond the dining room he showed her and servant quarters were off in another direction. The entire back of the house was new and boasted big picture windows looking out on the ocean. The blend of old and modern was seamless and comfortable.
Theres Gran on the veranda. Looks like Rosies got dinner ready.
Rosie?
Grans housekeeper, cook, companion and second-in-command around here. Be warned, she runs a tight ship. Dont cross her.
A tiny, gray-haired woman stepped into the family room just then. Jackson Prescott. What lies are you telling your lady friend about me?
Rosie, this is Ana. And this is the infamous Rosie McKay.
Wow. She was used to being the shortest person in a room, but Rosie barely reached her nose. The woman must not top four foot ten. But her eyes sparkled brighter than a sparrows and she looked ready to take on the world.
Dont listen to a thing that boy says about me, Rosie declared. Lies. All of it.
Ana grinned. I wont listen to what he says about you if you wont listen to what he says about me.
Agreed. Now head on outside. Suppers served, and dont you dare let my famous fried chicken get cold.
She shooed them out through the French doors. Ana sank into the wrought-iron chair Jackson held for her, acutely aware that from his vantage point he was getting a great look down the front of her dress. She hoped he liked what he saw.
The moon rose as they dug into the platter of chicken and fruit salad. The simple meal settled her stomach and made her feel better. There was just something comforting about home cooking. There hadnt been a lot of it in her house growing up. Shed mostly fended for herself by the time she was in school full days.
A chill crept into the air, and Ana was chagrined to feel her nipples puckering beneath the thin fabric of the dress and the thinner lace of the bra. God, did she have to go and starting nipping now?
Darned if Jackson hadnt noticed it, too. He took in the view unabashedly, and darned if Minerva didnt take in him taking it in, as well. Ana couldnt be sure, but she thought she caught a hint of a smirk in the older womans expression. Schemer.
So, dear. Do you feel like talking about today or would you rather not?
She shrugged at Minerva. Theres not much to tell. I walked out to my car to meet Jackson for dinner and some guy jumped me from behind. I didnt see his face. I fought and screamed, but he hit me in the side of the head and apparently knocked me out. Someone called the police and... I was lucky. Then Jackson came and rescued me from all those medical people and their needles in the emergency room.
I did not
She threw him a withering look. Weve already been over this. You rescued me. Im grateful, and you can just get over it.
Minerva chuckled in delight. Oh, I like her, Jackson.
He rolled his eyes.
Stay here as long as youd like, dear. Its entirely too much house for one person to rattle around in.
What about me? Jackson complained.
Youre always haring off to who knows where, and when youre home you practically live over at that studio of yours. Youre gone more than youre here.
Ana grinned. Salty, the woman was. She officially liked Minerva back. They finished the meal with Jackson glaring at his grandmother, Minerva smiling smugly and Ana privately enjoying his discomfort. He struck her as the type who was used to always being in control, always in charge, always self-contained. It was refreshing to know he was a real man with real feelings and not some kind of robot under all that movie-star perfection.
Rosie came out to clear the dishes and Jackson jumped up to help her. He hauled in the heavy stuff while Minerva topped off Anas water and refilled her own wineglass.
As Jackson disappeared inside the house, Minerva asked, How long have you and Jackson been together?
Uh, were not together. We just met today at an audition.
Minerva looked visibly startled. Not his style to bring home his casual conquests, huh? Ana added by way of explanation, and in defense of her own morals, I dont think he even noticed that Im a girl until he saw me in this awesome dress.
Oh, I noticed, Jackson groused from the doorway. Just because I was too professional to make a pass at you when I was lying on top of you in your audition doesnt mean I didnt notice.
Ana gulped as Minerva smiled archly. She does wear that dress rather well, doesnt she?
Yes. She does. Jacksons voice was low and deep. Sexy. Slid across her skin like velvet. Would you like to see the beach, Ana?
Theres a beach around here?
I blasted one out of the rocks a while back. He moved over beside her chair and held a hand down to her. Let me show you.
He held out his hand to help her to her feet. She laid her palm in his and started at the heat of him. It permeated her flesh and drew her to him like a moth to a flame.
Have fun, you two, Minerva said behind them, her words floating away on the muted roar of the ocean.
Interfering busybody, Jackson muttered as he led her to a wooden staircase.
She means well.
She just loves to meddle.
She loves you.
Jackson snorted, but Ana would bet he knew she was right. Narrow steps wound down the cliff steeply. To a normal person, the descent would probably be a little alarming. But after her stunt classes, it was kind of fun to navigate.
They got to the bottom and stepped onto a tiny, secluded beach surrounded on three sides by towering cliffs and on the fourth by the ocean. White sand the consistency of sugar buried her toes. The whole beach probably wasnt more than fifty feet wide and maybe half that deep.
Its perfect, she breathed.
Jackson looked over at her in the moonlight. Yup. Perfect.
She got the feeling he wasnt talking about the beach. She spoke over the ocean soundtrack. Your grandmother seemed to think we were a couple. Do you need me to pretend that we are for a while to get her off your back?
Youd do that for me? he blurted.
Why not? Shes a lovely woman and it would make her happy. Id love to repay her in some way for her hospitality.
Jackson frowned doubtfully. You dont know her. This could backfire on both of us.
How?
No idea. But I know my grandmother. If theres a way to make a fake girlfriend bite me in the butt, shell find it.
Ana grinned. Its a good thing Im not going to take that remark out of context, Mr. Prescott.
Jackson laughed and snagged her around the waist, pulling her up against his delicious body laughingly. She tensed against him, and he turned her loose instantaneously.
He spun away, shoving a hand through his hair. God, Im sorry, he mumbled over his shoulder. You were just attacked. Of course you wouldnt want some guy to grab you....
Its not that, she responded quickly. It was just that he was so darned gorgeous. So out of her league. So...perfect. And she was so...not. How to put that into words that wouldnt make her sound like a total dork? She opened her mouth, mumbled incoherently and shut it again.
What can I do to help? he asked, steamrolling right over her attempt at an explanation. Anything. Just tell me what to do. I want to help.
Im fine, she insisted.
No, youre not. You freaked out when I touched you.
It wasnt quite that dramatic, but he didnt seem interested in listening to her protests. If she were more of a shark, she would play on his sympathy and get him to woo her romantically. But lies werent her style. I swear, Jackson, Im okay. Go ahead. Put your arms around me again and let me prove it to you.