Protecting You - Complete

Chapter 8 - Christian

My sides were hurting from laughing so hard! Either Anastasia's pedal boating experience was exaggerated, or she wasn't particularly good to begin with. In either case, it had been a matter of the blind leading the blind! Half an hour in, with repeated, shouted instructions from an increasingly frustrated Taylor, we finally got the hang of things.

"I thought you said you knew how to pedal boat?" I said to Anastasia as she giggled.

"Well, looking back, I guess Ray did most of the pedaling... And the steering."

Now across the basics, Anastasia and I were pedaling parallel to the shore some hundred yards out, trailed by Taylor in his kayak. The weather warm, and the lake relatively placid, I was confident we could make it back to shore without capsizing.

"Tell me more about growing up in Montesano," I asked, loving the way Ana's eyes sparkled when she spoke about her stepfather, Ray, and the modest town where she was raised. Knowing her mother was a sensitive topic, I did not mention her, and neither did Anastasia. Talk of her childhood morphed into me sharing tales of my own. Anastasia seemed enraptured by stories of Elliot, Mia, and me as kids, but she particularly loved hearing about our adventures at our grandparents' ranch in Montana.

"It must have been blissful spending summers like that," she said after I'd told her about Grandpa Theo's apple orchard and the creek where we swam almost every day.

"It was," I replied. "My parents, grandparents, and siblings still go for a week every summer—but I haven't been in years."

Anastasia turned to look at me. Anyone else would ask me why, but she smiled. "Maybe you will this summer. From what Mia said at lunch, you work too hard."

She was right. In the early days of GEH, I needed to invest every waking moment in my fledgling venture. Back then, time was literally money. But now the business was well and truly established. I had Ros and a huge team I could rely on to keep things ticking while I went away. A week at the Montana ranch could be fun. It had been a while since I'd seen Grandpa Theo and Grandma Adele—and heaven knows my mother would be delighted if I joined the rest of the family for the annual visit. I could already imagine picking apples with Anastasia and making smores in the firepit.

"Maybe I will," I said, lifting my aviators and giving her a panty-dropping smile. Surprised by the intensity of my gaze, Ms. Steele dropped her eyes. Usually, this would please me, yet I reached across and grasped her chin, lifting it slightly until she raised her eyes to meet mine. I brushed the pad of my thumb across the seam of her lips, wondering whether she'd meet me halfway if I leaned across to kiss her. "If I do go, I will tell you all about it," I continued, not letting on that if I went, I'd love her to go with me.

"Who was that woman at your office today? Mrs. Lincoln, I think Taylor called her?"

Caught off-guard, my first instinct was to lie. I wanted Elena and her influence as far away from Anastasia as possible. However, if I hoped to have any future with Ms. Steele, I couldn't start by being untruthful.

"She's a friend of my mother's and a business associate. I am a silent investor in her chain of beauty salons. I used to consider her a friend, but I've recently been trying to distance myself."

"She seems rather... domineering?" Anastasia commented, causing my lips to twitch.

Oh baby, you have no idea.

"You could say that. Now, Ms. Steele, I think it's time we turned around and headed back to the boathouse. While I wouldn't mind spending all day on the lake, our legs might get sore."