His Unbearable Desire 1 (10 page)

Chapter 12

The drive to Newtown was a reasonable length but as she grew nearer to the city the nerves grew within her. The promise of spending a whole weekend with someone was daunting, even if they had spent some time together. That had been a product of a magical weekend but they would be away from the romance and excitement of the wedding, so she wasn’t at all sure how it was going to turn out.

She clenched the steering wheel and kept her eyes focused on the road. She drove past the turning that led to the wedding lodge and wondered how the happy couple were doing. After that the highway went straight to Newtown. There wasn’t much scenery along the way and it was an uneventful drive, but the city loomed large in the distance. Skyscrapers rose high in the sky and the landscape was made up of glassy jagged peaks. Sunlight glinted off the skyscrapers and gave the city a shimmering, golden look.

A stream of cars snaked up through the road, and as she entered the city limits the traffic slowed to a crawl. As there was a break in the movement she checked the message that Glenn had sent her and made sure that she was still heading in the right direction. It was so unlike Trinity Falls that she was daunted. People massed on the sidewalks and moved across the roads in big swarms, like armies going to war.

The journey time increased as the traffic slowed her down, and she was left thinking about the prospects of the weekend. She didn’t know what it would entail so she had brought a number of different outfits, even some sexy lace lingerie, although she wasn’t sure if that would actually be used given how reluctant Glenn seemed to be about going that far. She could imagine him wanting to take things slow, and Ana wasn’t by any means easy but when she knew she wanted something she wanted it there and then. Being impatient was one of her lesser qualities and although she wasn’t proud of it she couldn’t very well help how she was.

Eventually she found her way to the hotel. The breath caught in her throat as she saw the pure, white building. Statues stood outside, accompanied by tall green trees. A large fountain also stood in the middle of the grounds, and a steady stream of crystal water flowed over. She pulled into the drive and was promptly stopped by the valet, who offered to take her car. She got out and a few bellboys in red suits came up to bring her bags out of the trunk of her car. They loaded them up and took her into the lobby.

A chandelier hung elegantly from the ceiling, and she gazed up with awe at the golden interior. Everywhere she looked shone with a radiant splendor that was unparalleled, and that she had never experienced before. She walked absently up to the reception desk and was greeted by a slender man. He had black hair tinged with greying temples and a pencil moustache that gave him the look of a classic film noir villain.

Ana rooted through her bag and gave him the details, and he smiled. He gave her a golden key and she clasped it in her hand. The bell boys led her to the elevator and it whirred up. When the doors slid open she stepped into a wide corridor and they walked to her room. Bright lights illuminated the corridor but when she opened the door she almost fainted. The room was like a small apartment, and it was comparable to her own. Everything was stocked fully and there was a bucket of champagne waiting for her, accompanied by a note that made it clear it was a gift from Glenn.

The bellboys unloaded her bags and then bade their farewell. They looked expectantly at her and she took a moment to realize that she owed them a tip. She blushed a little, unsure of what was an appropriate tip for a five star hotel, but she glanced at the champagne and noticed that he had left some cash for her as well, marked for a tip. She handed it to them and the bellboys looked satisfied, and promptly left.

Ana took a few moments to get used to her surroundings and to unpack before she messaged Glenn. Almost instantly her phone beeped and he told her to walk down the road until she came to his house. She asked him how she was supposed to know which house was his but he merely told her that she would know which one it was. She also asked him what she should wear, but he just told her that whatever she wore she would look beautiful.

It was sweet but it didn’t really help her so she settled for a summery blue and white checked dress that flowed along her hips and swayed along as she walked. She also wore flats, although she liked wearing heels she didn’t know whether they would need to walk a lot. She took a while to do her hair, brushing her long dark locks until they curled at the end. She then applied a little bit of make-up to her heart-shaped face, just enough to accentuate her natural beauty. She ran scarlet lipstick over her lips then applied lip gloss to make them shine, and once she was satisfied she went out.

She walked along the path and looked out for a house that she was supposed to know, although she was unsure how she was supposed to recognize it when she didn’t know anything about it. She looked at some of them on the way and had an inkling that it may have been one or two, but none of them jumped out at her so she continued, and as she walked on a little further she almost thought she had been pranked, and hated the idea of walking aimlessly in the city, although judging by what Angelica had said that was apparently the only way to live.

Then, she saw what she was looking for. It was a large house that had a completely different look from the surrounding area. The rest of them were ornate and looked stately, but his was grounded and earthy, with the look of a log cabin. It was still big but not nearly as big as the surrounding houses, so it nestled into the side of the road and was almost hidden from view. Ana thought it was impossible for a man of Glenn’s stature to hide but this was certainly one way to manage it.

She walked up and knocked on the door. She half-expected a maid or butler to answer but Glenn was there, wearing a V-neck t-shirt. His thick chest hair sprouted out the top of the shirt and Ana’s heart rumbled. He was clean shaven and his neat hair looked sleek. His strong arms were on view and Ana took great delight in gazing at them. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek, placing one strong hand on her back. She felt his fingers tense slightly and she almost wished that he would fling her inside and tear off her clothes.

Instead, he told her that she looked lovely and she accepted the compliment graciously.

“So what’s the plan for today?” she asked, eager to get the day started. Her stomach was still swimming with nerves but seeing him again made the memories of their previous weekend come flooding back. She stepped inside after he invited her in and looked around. The house was neat and charming. It wasn’t as ostentatious as she had thought it may be.

“You have a lovely home,” she commented.

“Thank you I thought we could start off by giving you a tour and we can hang out here before I make you dinner.”

“Do you mean your maid will cook me dinner?” she teased. Glenn gasped and wore a look of mock offence.

“You wound me my dear,” he said, “I take great pride in my cooking. It’s a joy.”

“Really, you cook?”

“Oh yes. I wanted to know how to fend for myself. Of course having the upbringing I did meant that I had a great deal of privilege but I tried not to let it affect me too much. I saw a lot of people who were spoilt by their wealthy parents and I knew I wanted to cultivate some more life skills. Of course, some people I know just tried to turn their back on their responsibilities as well, and their wealth,” he scowled as he said this and she got a feeling that he was referring to his cousin, and she flushed a little as thoughts of Colton flashed through her mind. But they quickly disappeared as Glenn took her through the house.

The lounge was spacious with bookcases on one wall, filled with all manner of tomes. She started to inspect them but there were so many things she had never heard of that it would have taken so much time to go through them all and there was far too much else to see. There were pictures on the walls of various species of wildlife but she didn’t pay much attention to them. The only pictures that Glenn had of himself were of him fishing when he was younger.

“Who are they?” she asked, taking the picture and looking at it intently.

Even when they were young she could see that Glenn’s eyes burned with an intensity that was only matched by the child standing on the end, slightly apart from the rest of them. Even before Glenn mentioned that it was Colton Ana knew, and she found herself tracing a finger over the picture. Glenn took it from her and placed it back.

“That’s when we were very young, and we were all close. Over the years we’ve gone our separate ways a little bit. Some of us travelled. I was the eldest so I stayed with the business.”

“Do you regret that?” Glenn looked at the picture and then sighed as he turned to face Ana.

“Not especially, although I would have liked it if any of them had offered to help rather than simply assuming that I would take on the responsibility. But I’ve managed to have a good life, let’s continue,” he said, moving on through the house.

Ana gave a lingering glance to the photo and felt that there was a great deal of story that she was missing out on. She looked at Colton and wished that she could swim in those murky depths and come out, refreshing them both. They went in the kitchen and there was already food prepared.

“Probably shouldn’t bring you in here because it might spoil the surprise of dinner, but I did promise a tour,” he said, and she was amazed at the kitchen. Although the house looked rustic the kitchen was up to date and seemed to have everything that anyone could want, including something that looked like a big jug. Glenn caught her staring at it.

“Oh, that’s my soup maker.”

“You mean a blender?”

“No, a soup maker. You chuck all the ingredients in with water, turn it on and leave it for about twenty minutes and it makes wonderful soup.”

Ana seemed a little impressed, although she hoped there would be something a little more substantial for dinner. There was also a large amount of honey, and she thought it odd that someone would like honey so much. The kitchen looked out onto a deck, and that in turn overlooked a large park.

“I’m not going to take you out there just yet, it looks much better in the evening when the sun sets so I’m going to wait until then.” He led her away and they went upstairs.

They passed the bathroom and the bedroom. She caught a glimpse of his four poster bed and tried to step in but he pulled the door closed. As he leaned in front of her she caught a whiff of his aftershave and it sent her mind reeling. She inhaled deeply through her nose and then exhaled in satisfaction. There were another couple of rooms that were like lounges, one of them had some exercise equipment in it while the other was more of a home theatre. There were a lot of nice things in the house but she was a little surprised that he didn’t own more things.

“Is this the only house you own? I was expecting a mansion.”

“I technically do own a mansion but I arranged for it to be used as a museum, and sometimes production companies use it as a filming location. I own a few properties around the world as well, but most of those are small too and in secluded locations. I don’t really like it here in the city. I’ve always preferred places that are a little quieter, but it is the nature of my business that I have to spend a lot of time.

I made sure to have this park next to my house so I wasn’t completely surrounded by man-made things. I needed a bit of nature around, it’s good for the spirit.” As he spoke he said this with a sense of reverence that struck Ana as spiritual, and it gave her a sense that there was a lot more to Glenn than she first realized. They continued to speak of everything and nothing as they went back to the lounge and relaxed.

After they had been speaking for a while Ana took the opportunity to go and look at the bookcase. While she scanned the shelves Glenn relaxed and gazed at her curvaceous figure as she stretched out. The bottom of the skirt rode up, revealing more of her legs, and she couldn’t see but Glenn was looking at her with a lustful hunger, a hunger that she had been so ardent to see.

“What are these?” she said, after having looked at a few books with a strange language in them.

Glenn got up and stood beside her. One hand hovered around her back and as she looked up at him she noticed how handsome he was. His strong jawline clenched and his thick neck curved down into broad shoulders. She sidled into him, feeling the warmth of his body seep into her.

He held the book open in one large hand, and her eyes followed the length of his long arm up to the swollen bicep, and her heart quickened. He tilted his head down and an errant lock of hair drooped over his forehead as she looked up into his dark, hooded eyes. When he blinked his long eyelashes came down like bars of a cave.