AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Thanks for the advice,” Duncan said, standing up to leave.
“But you’re not going to take it.”
“I did what the board asked. That’s all you’re getting from me.”
Lawrence stared at him for a long time. “Not everyone leaves.”
Duncan didn’t react to the statement, even though he knew the old man was wrong. Nearly everyone who mattered left. He’d learned that a long time ago. It was better not to care. Safer.
“Annie doesn’t leave,” his uncle added softly. “Look at her life.”
“What do you know about it?”
“What you told me. She has her cousins and their friend living with her. She’s helping to pay for their college educations. She agreed to date you to help her brother, after he tried to throw her under the bus. She’s not a person who gives up easily.”
True, Duncan thought uneasily. Annie took responsibility, hanging on with both hands. “That’s different,” he said.
“It’s not and you know it. Annie scares the hell out of you because with her, everything is possible. Don’t let what happened before ruin this for you. Don’t live with regrets about letting her go. They’ll eat you alive.”
“I’ll be fine.”
“You can keep telling yourself that, but it won’t be true. You’ve never been afraid of anything but risking your heart. Annie’s the closest to a sure thing you’re ever going to find.”
Duncan found himself wanting to listen, which would only lead to trouble. “Annie got into this to save her brother. It has nothing to do with caring about me.”
“Maybe it didn’t, but it does now. Just pay attention. All the signs are there. She’s falling for you. Maybe she’s already in love with you. Chances like this don’t come along very often. Trust me, you don’t want to blow this one.”
Lawrence walked out of the conference room. Duncan stood there, alone, wondering if the old man was telling the truth. Would he regret letting Annie go? In time he would find out. His uncle was also right about Annie scaring the crap out of him. There were possibilities with her. Great ones.
But he’d already given his heart to someone. He’d already believed in forever, and he’d learned a hard lesson. Love was an illusion, a word women used to sucker punch men. Maybe Annie was different, but he didn’t know if he was willing to take the chance.
Despite three late nights at the office, getting by on minimal sleep and a workout schedule that would exhaust an elephant, Duncan still couldn’t get his uncle’s words out of his mind. He couldn’t stop thinking about Annie.
Taking a chance violated everything he knew to be true and yet…he was tempted. It was the only possible explanation for his being in a mall less than a week before Christmas, fighting the crowds and looking for presents for her cousins and Kami.
He should have had his assistant buy something online, he told himself, as yet another shopper stepped in front of him without looking. What did he know about the wants and needs of college-age girls? He was about to leave the department store when he saw a sign that proclaimed every woman loved cashmere.
There was a display of sweaters in an array of colors. A well-dressed salesperson came up and smiled. “Are you buying something for your wife or girlfriend?”
“Her cousins,” he said. “And a friend. They’re in college. Does cashmere work?”
“Always. You don’t happen to know sizes, do you?”
He shrugged, then pointed to a young mother walking by. “About like that?”
“Got it. Do you want to pick the colors?”
“No.”
“Should I gift wrap?”
“That would be great.”
“Give me fifteen minutes and it will all be done. There’s a coffee bar over by shoes, if you want to get away from the crowd.”
He nodded and wandered in the direction of coffee, only to be stopped by a display of Christmas trees. They were small, maybe two feet, covered with twinkling white lights and miniature ornaments. The one that caught his eye was done in white and gold and decorated with dozens of angels.
They were all blonde and innocent, with big eyes. For some reason, they reminded him of Annie. He picked up the tree and carried it to the register.
