Take Me Read Free

Todd --said something, and Anna threw her head back and laughed.

    Jaxon’s heart caught in his throat. Anna looked so free, so beautiful. It had taken every ounce of his self-control for him to walk away from her in the kitchen, to stop from stripping her and devouring every inch of her naked body. But now he was tapping into reserves he didn’t know he had to prevent himself from marching over there and punching that guy Todd square in the mouth.

    He watched as Anna unbuttoned the button on her shorts and slid them down over her hips, revealing scarlet bikini bottoms. Her body had filled out, turning the gangly limbs of a teenager into the soft and voluptuous curves of a woman.

    “Hello?” the brunette in front of him said, holding her paper plate out. Her mouth was arranged in a pout. “Are you going to give me a burger or what?”

    “Yeah,” he said, suddenly annoyed. He plopped the burger onto her plate, still watching as Anna laughed again at something the guy next to her said.

    A real Steve Carell, that Todd. What an asshole.

    “Thanks,” the brunette said.

    “You’re welcome.”
    Anna looked up from the pool and met his gaze across the yard. Damn. She’d caught him looking. She narrowed her eyes at him, giving him a look that could have made a terrorist shudder.

    Well. Two could play this game.

    “You want to have lunch together, sweetheart?” he asked the brunette. “I was just about to take a break from grill duty.” He handed the spatula off to an unsuspecting Adam who was standing nearby.

    Then Jaxon fixed himself a plate of hamburgers and potato salad and guided the brunette right on over to the pool.

    ***

    The girl Jaxon had brought over to the pool was a complete and total bimbo. That was apparent just from looking at her. Everything about her was fake – fake nails, fake hair extensions, even fake acrylic nails. Jaxon was so predictable.

    Anna turned her back on him while he led the bimbo over to some wicker lounge chairs near the deep end of the oval-shaped pool. She focused on the man in front of her.
    He lived across the street from Katie and his name was Todd. He was nice enough looking, with close cropped brown hair and a sparkling smile.

    “So are we going to go for a swim?” Anna asked him cheerfully.

    “I don’t think so,” Todd said, shaking his head. “I don’t want to get all wet.”

    He didn’t want to get all wet? Anna’s heart sank. How was she supposed to show that she didn’t care about Jaxon by splashing around with this new man when he didn’t even want to go in the pool?

    “Come on,” she said. She pulled on his hand and put a fake little pout on her face, hating herself for having to resort to such feminine trickery. “Let’s go in the water.”

    “No thanks,” Todd said. And now he was looking at her warily, like maybe she was slightly insane. Which, come to think of it, made a lot of sense. She was pulling on his hand, after all. And he was a total stranger.

    “Are you sure?” Anna asked, cocking her head and giving him her sweetest smile.

    “That’s okay,” he said, glancing at his watch. “I really have to leave soon anyway. Have you seen Katie? I want to make sure to say goodbye.”

    “Yeah,” Anna said, sighing and gesturing toward the gift table. “She’s over there.”

    She pulled her clothes back on over her bathing suit, left Jaxon to his bimbo, and walked back into the yard to join the party.

    ***

    The rest of the shower passed without incident. The guests oohed and ahhed over all the cute baby gifts, Katie’s mom tried to get them to play a game of baby shower bingo, and a strawberry cake with chocolate ganache frosting put everyone in a sugar coma.

    When it was time to leave, Anna pulled Katie close and gave her a kiss on the cheek. “I’m so happy for you,” she said. “Call me later, okay? We’ll get together tomorrow?”

    “Absolutely,” Katie said, her eyes shining.

    As Anna drove back to her