Chapter 2

again see book description

Jackson Myers gripped the wheel of his rental car tight enough to make his knuckles go white. He didn’t know what was wrong with him and why he was even sitting in this car with the one woman he despised. Annabella Carmichael was the most stubborn, pigheaded woman he had ever met and damn but he couldn't help thinking how beautiful she was. He glanced at her for a moment. She was staring out of the window as the snow fell outside. Before he knew what he was doing he reached out and took her hand with his. She glanced at him startled but didn’t pull away. He wondered if she just needed the support and it didn’t matter who it was. He sighed as he stopped at the light. She turned to face him.

“Jackson” Even though Jackson knew her accent wasn’t natural it still sent shivers down his back whenever she spoke.

“Yes” He hadn’t been sure if he was going to be able to find his voice but he did. It sounded strange to him, lower then normal, his accent thicker.

“I just wanted to say thank you and I’m sorry in advance” Ana was watching his face, he could tell by the way her eyes moved from his eyes to his mouth. She never let go of his hand though. “My grandfather can be a cruel man, I don’t know how he’s going to be around you or about what’s going on.”

“I understand” Jackson took his hand back so he could shift into gear as the light turned green. He told her he under stood, but he felt like he would never understand a parent who could abandon their own child. His parents weren’t exactly the love their children to death type, but his mother had always been supportive of Jackson’s antics as his father called it. He pulled his hand out of hers so he could put the car in to gear when the light turned green.

Jackson followed her directions to the letter and even found a close parking spot, which was highly unusually for this time of year. It was only a month before Christmas and Boston was packed with parents, children, grandchildren, all visiting their families for the holidays. He turned off the engine and sighed. She took his hand in hers and smiled, it was a sad, haunting kind of smile that he had never seen from her. Over the years that he had been going to see her, he had learned that a smile from her was always rare.  He felt his heart pound in his chest, a reaction he’s gotten many times from her before, but he always pushed it aside. 

“Are you ready?” Jackson asked softly putting his hand to her face as he gently brushed a piece of loose red hair out of her face and behind her ear. He felt her shiver under his touch and he pulled away.

“As ready as I’ll ever be” Jackson followed Annabella to the door. The door man told them to wait while he contacted her grandfather to see if they can come up. 

Jackson watched Annabella’s face and heard her take a deep breath. He had never seen her so nervous. In fact for as long as he could remember knowing her, he had never known her to be nervous about anything. As he looked closer he could see fear in her eyes, fear of this man who she never even knew very well. He wasn’t sure what to make of it. When he first met her ten years ago, she had been cornered by a large black temperamental Arabian horse named Thunderstrike. He was a tough horse that any wise trainer would have had put down, but not Annabella. With determination in what should should have been fear, she trained the horse and tamed him. Jackson had watched for more then fifteen minutes before he came over. In that amount of time, the horse had knocked her off a total of eight times and each time she rolled out of the way and pulled herself back to her feet and out of the way of the angry horse.

The door man returned interrupting his thoughts and told them they could go up. Annabella and Jackson got onto the elevator and she pressed the button for the thirty-fourth floor. Jackson leaned back against the elevator crossing his arms over his chest and crossed one leg over the other. He rested his head against the wall in the elevator, letting out a slow deep breath which caused Annabella look up at him. He shrugged it off and closed his eyes. Elevators had never agreed with him. He was five when he had been stuck in an. It had stopped and he had been stuck in there for two hours by himself. He was just going from downstairs to up stairs, from his grandparents back to his parents, and the power had gone out. The elevator jerked slightly to a stop, Jackson’s eyes flew open. He visibly relaxed as he saw that the doors were opening to a private penthouse. 

A tall man with silver hair was standing a few feet from the entrance of the elevator. He had the same green eyes that Annabella had, but this man’s eyes were much colder, one might say they looked cruel. He stood tall and proud and on his face there was no expression what so ever. He made no motion to hug or to kiss Annabella as they excited the elevator. He stared at them both with a hard, cold stare. His mouth set in a thin line. The Elevator door closing was the only sound that was made for five minutes while the three of them stood in an awkward silence. 

“Colonel” Annabella said softly from next to Jackson, finally breaking the silence. Jackson raised a brow every so slightly at the fact that she didn’t call him grandfather. “Colonel Carmichael this is a business associate of mine, Jackson Meyers, Jackson Myers this is Colonel Nickolai Carmichael, my grandfather.” 

“Sir” Jackson held out his hand. Her grandfather took it and with a firm grip they shook hands. 

“Colonel, I’m sure you know why we have come here” Annabella was watching her grandfather’s face. Jackson knew because he was doing the same thing. The colonel’s face never changed. 

“My daughter is dead” It was a simple statement and yet Jackson could see the slightly pained look in his eyes. Jackson glanced at Annabella who was fighting back tears. So this is where she got her strong stubbornness. He noted the somewhere between getting on the elevator and him looking at her now she had taken off her hat and she held it tightly in her hands. 

“She wished to be buried in the family plot” She stood perfectly still, where as Jackson had an urge to squirm under this man’s gaze. “I told her it was probably not going to happen”

“Gwen can be buried anywhere she wants to be, come in the kitchen” Nickolai turned away from them and walked toward the kitchen. With the way Annabella followed him, Jackson could tell it was meant as a command, not a request. He had never known her to follow anyone’s command but her own. 

“Mother wanted you’re approval, she wanted to know if you would allow it” Annabella spoke up and her grandfather turned to look at her. 

“Why? She’s dead” Nickolai said talked about her mother’s death as if he was talking about the weather. It completely shocked Jackson that someone could be so cold towards his own family.

“Colonel, despite her life in Nevada, Mother loved you, she didn’t tell you she was dying because she knew it would show weakness on her part.” She looked down at the hat in her hands. Nikolai walked over to her. 

“I don’t care what kind of s**t she got herself into, she was a Carmichael and she disgraced the family name” his tone even, cold, unfeeling. Annabella looked up startled and Jackson couldn’t help but feel a twinge of pain for her. She wanted so much for her grandfather to love her. He could tell by the look in her eyes. 

“I’m sorry for bothering you then” Annabella turned to go. Nickolai grabbed her by the wrist in a tight grip. She whimpered slightly and looked back at him. He let go. 

“Never apologize, we do not do that in this family” Nikolai was so proper, so cold, so unfeeling, everything the perfect soldier was. Jackson had no doubt that Nickolai had felt nothing when he killed in war. 

“I…” Annabella didn’t get to finish as her grandfather raised his hand. Jackson saw it coming and grabbed Nickolai around the wrist placing himself firmly between him and Annabella. 

“Let go of me, boy” Nickolai was getting angry. Jackson saw it in his eyes and could hear it lacing the edge of his voice. Jackson stared back with just as much rage in his eyes. He could feel his own anger boiling over the top. He had never seen such disaffection among family members. 

“It’s no wonder you’re daughter left when she told you she was pregnant” Jackson released his wrist pushing him back as he spoke again. “Did you hit her too?”

“Jackson” Annabella hissed, but Jackson wasn’t going to listen. He was pissed off. “That’s none of your concern.” Nickolai snarled as he stumbled back. A surprised look crossed his face. Jackson turned away and pulled Annabella under the protection of his shoulder. 

“We’re leaving, we can either contact you with the information about the funeral or you can choose not to come, either way, Gweniviere Carmichael will be buried where she requested” Jackson turned long enough to give a hard stare at Nickolai before he pulled Annabella out of the kitchen and to the elevator. 

“I don’t need to know” Nickolai spoke still in shock that someone stood up to him.

“Very well” Jackson got on the elevator pulling Annabella along with him. “We won’t be bothering you again Colonel” as the elevator doors closed Jackson gave him a sarcastic salute. 

“Jackson, why did you do that?” Annabella pulled away from him and immediately he could feel the warm where her body was leave just as quickly as she did.  

“The man’s a jackass” Jackson shrugged. “I can’t stand to see men hit women. You didn’t do anything wrong” 

Jackson didn’t speak for the rest of the ride down the elevator and neither did Annabella. Jackson had never felt such rage. Normally he would have stayed out of her family business, but something urged him to intervene. Maybe it was the fact that Annabella stood in front of her grandfather with everything she had, or the fact that Annabella was trying so hard to make in on her own and her grandfather couldn’t care less. Jackson couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but when he saw Nickolai raise his hand to her, he had to step in. He couldn’t let her get hurt. He had never wanted her to get hurt. With that in his head he came to the realization that when they got back to Nevada he was going to withdraw from taking her ranch. He would rather take the tongue lashing from his father, then hurt Annabella anymore then he already had. 

“Let me take you back to you’re hotel room, and I’ll check myself in and we’ll start with the arrangement tomorrow” Jackson looked to her as they got off the elevator. She simple nodded as she put her hat back on and pulled on her gloves. She hadn’t taken off her jacket, she hadn’t even unzipped it. 

They got back to the hotel room with no incident but the storm was predicted to get worse and both were unsure that a funeral would be held anytime soon. Jackson knew that Annabella, as her mother’s care taker, it was going to be her choice to either stay for a burial or have her mother cremated. Jackson signed and managed to get a room right across the hall from Annabella and he walked her to her door. With promises to meet for dinner in the hotel’s bar in an hour they parted ways.

Jackson stripped off his jacket, boots and socks and walked across the room to where the bathroom was. He turned on the shower and after stripping out of his clothes he stepped under the hot water. He had turned it up to as hot as it would go. His rage ran through him like wildfire. He was still seething from the pain that Nickolai Carmichael had caused his granddaughter. He looked down at his chest and ran his hand over the scar across his chest. He had seen that kind of cruelty once. His father had come home in a drunken rage one night and went after his sister. Jackson had intervened and the knife cut across his chest causing him to need about a hundred stitches. After that his father never touched alcohol again and Jackson refused to even think about taking a drink. 

As he was coming out of the bathroom there was a knock on his door. He pulled the towel around his waist and opened it. Annabella was standing outside his door, her face wet as if she had been crying. She was wearing a tank top and a pair of red pajama pants and she had wrapped her wrist in an ace bandage. Jackson stepped aside to let her in before closing the door. He told her to wait a minute. He went into the bathroom and pulled on a pair of boxers and jeans. He came out of the bathroom pulling on a black and white polo shirt. She was standing right where he had left her.

“Bella,” Jackson said softly, the affectionate name slipping out before he even realized it. “Are you alright?” 

“No” She came over to Jackson and rested her head against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. He could feel her body trembling and could feel the sobs leaving her body, her tears staining the front of his shirt. “I’m sorry”

“Don’t be” Jackson smiled at her as she pulled back from him. She looked so beautiful.  “Why don’t we opt out of going down the hotel bar and I’ll order us some room service."

Annabella agreed and they spent a better part of the evening into the night chatter over some chinese food that Jackson ended up going out for. She told him about her life in Las Vegas and he told her about his life growing up in a family business. They laughed, and Annabella cried some more over her mother. Jackson held her as she did. They watched a movie and as eleven crept closer Jackson watched Annabella stretch and hid a yawn. Jackson smiled at her wishing they could spend more time together but she was tired and he needed to get back to Las Vegas before his father called. As if on cue his cell phone rang startling them both.

"Oh excuse me" Jackson went to the table next to the bed and picked up his phone. "Jackson Myers speaking" Jackson listened to his father on the other end of the phone. "yes dad, i'll be home tomorrow sometime. No i just ran into an old friend... yes i'm sure," there was a pause and Jackson glanced at Annabella who was looking at him. "Right, when i get back i'll get back on it, yes dad, i know, see you later"

"What was that about?" Jackson turned away from her sighing softly. "Nothing that can't wait until tomorrow"

"If you say so" Annabella sat down wrapping the blanket from his bed around her shoulders. "Jackson, i thought you were a complete a*****e when we first met," Jackson flinched when she called him an a*****e. "Even up until this morning. Then you offered your help and i was suspicious." He turned to watch her run a hand through her hair, which had fallen out of its braid into long red curls around her face. "I just.. I want to thank you for helping me and for stepping in when the Colonel tried to .. hit me"

"It was no trouble, Bella"  Jackson swallowed hard. He was just telling his father on the phone that when he got back to Las Vegas he would do anything it took to get the ranch from Annabella by any means necessary even though a few hours earlier he was telling himself he wouldn't. 

Annabella came over to him and put her arms around him, and rested her head against his chest. He flinched slightly unsure of what to do now. The women in his life had wanted two things from him. Sex and Money, there was nothing else. No woman had wanted a just a hug. None of the women had just wanted to hug him or to just be with him. They wanted the sex and then they were gone. He had a few good relationships, but they hadn't lasted long and it had left him bitter in the romance department. Still, though, it didn't stop him from wrapping his arms around her. Annabella looked up at him and he couldn't help it. He lowered his eyes to her lips as his heart kicked into overdrive. He moved one of his hands to cup the side of her face, he gently he runs his thumb across her bottom lip.

He can feel her tremble under his touch, but she didn't pull away. In fact he watched her bite at her bottom lip and god help him but it was the sexist thing he had ever seen. He looked back to her bright green eyes and she was starting right back at him. He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers, just the slightest touch and he wanted more. She accommodated him parting her lips for his tongue to enter her mouth. She tasted so good, like honey. He pulled her as close to him as he could. Her hands were already working to the bottom of his shirt and started to pull it over his head as the kiss becomes heated. 

They stopped kissing long enough to pull each other's shirts off. Jackson knew he shouldn't be doing this, but he couldn't stop himself. Soon enough her pants, his pants, their underwear were all in a pile on the floor and he had pushed her down onto the bed.