Courted by Karma (The Adventures of Anabel Axelrod) by Tracy Ellen Page B

were to continue playing, as long as I was having fun. Now that my eyes are opened, Mr. Secretive wasn’t getting away with pulling anything over on me that I didn’t want. Not that I haven’t welcomed everything he has pulled so far.
    ‘Except for the not telling you things for your own good,’ dryly added the accountant voice.
    ‘And the not using a condom,’ chided the mean mommy voice.
    ‘Don’t forget him getting your best friend roaring drunk to get info on your past!’ reminded the sex kitten voice indignantly.
    Throwing up an imaginary hand, I gave all my smart-ass voices the finger.
    Luke chose this opportune moment to hug me even closer to his chest. I settled myself down in his arms, amazingly comfortable for the ride. I have never been carried by a man anywhere before. Probably my dad did when I was a very little girl, but I couldn’t recall any clear memories. I could get used to it under the right circumstances. It would be great at malls.
    We approached a huge, hulking building and walked up a wide ramp to a door. He carried me in and closed the door behind us with a kick of his leg. The clunking sound when the latch clicked in place was very loud and final. It was immediately warmer out of the cold wind. The darkness was black and impenetrable. The building smelled of old straw, freshly cut lumber, and an earthy, pleasant smell reminding me of rich soil in a garden. Luke’s arm around my shoulders jiggled me for a second, and then a light came on.
    I glanced around with curiosity . We were in a large area paneled in slats of weathered barn wood with a spotlessly white, cement floor that appeared newly poured. In front of us were two closed metal gates anchored and suspended from a massive overhead beam. The gates were each easily the size of a single garage door. I couldn’t see anything through the gate’s diamond-patterned grillwork except more darkness.
    Luke had mentioned in one of our long phone calls that he was spending time on the farm outfitting some outbuildings to suit his needs, so this must be one of his projects. Adding to the growing list of questions, I was beginning to wonder what these “needs” were he spoke of so casually.
    He proceeded to carry me to a Dutch door off to the left. The top portion hung ajar while the bottom half of the door is closed. I guessed the door to be original to the structure. These types of doors were so cool and I was glad to see Luke hasn’t replaced it with something modern.
    Luke’s hooded eyes have been on me as I check out the surroundings. He’s still wearing that small smile flirting on his lips.
    “Anabel , Anabel, this is a surprise.”
    When h is eyes look at me the way they do and he speaks in his low voice, I have to tamp down the flare of heat his seductive way of saying my name twice ignites in my cha-cha region.
    I responded tartly, “Good, it’s supposed to be a surprise. But yours not mine.” I don’t care if my cha-cha was on fire; there was one question on the top of the list that was going to be clarified pronto or this girl wasn’t hanging around. I raised my brows. “So, who is the delightful creature answering your front door?”
    Luke’s single dimple flashed in his lean cheek. He said evasively, “I just got home an hour ago and thought it was too late to get together.” He sobered up and looked at me closely. “Hey, what happened to your face? Your cheek is really red on the one side. Did you fall down out there?”
    The Artful Dodger then reached in and switched on a light in the adjoining room. He unlatched the bottom half of the Dutch door and carried me inside.
    I brushed his question off with a careless wave. I’d take care of the communist myself, if I ever ran into her again.
    We stood in the center of a small, square office. I was thawing rapidly from the warmth of the heated building and the strong arms still holding me close. Awareness was mounting in me that we were truly alone for the first time