Free A Million Kisses or More by A.C. Warneke

wasn’t sure why Dan followed. “If it’s not too much trouble.”
    “Of course not, sweetie, you know you’re always welcome here. Now, what would be an issue?” Maris asked, repeating the question from earlier as the three of them sat down at the table.
    “Working here but not dating him,” Ana answered, sending a wink towards Dan whose face had turned faintly pink. Now that she was thinking about it, she realized that he was only teasing about asking her out and not actually asking her out. “Actually the real issue is that I’m only in town for a few months.”
    “That’s not a problem,” Maris assured her. With a slight frown, she asked, “But how many hours are you looking for?”
    “Just a few, to fill in here and there,” Ana said. “I don’t want to take anyone’s hours.”
    “Yeah, we’ll work something out.” Maris grinned as she grabbed a beer from the employee fridge and popped it open. Sliding it over the table, she grabbed another one for herself. Taking a sip, she said, “Asher is going to be so disappointed he missed you.”
    Ana’s stomach tightened in dismay at the thought of facing Asher and her words came out strangled as she said, “I’m here for two and a half months.”
    “He’s in Tokyo for the next four months wrapping up a huge merger,” Maris explained. An inexplicable sense of relief flooded Ana at the news and she couldn’t stop the smile from taking over her face. Maris arched a perfectly blond eyebrow, “I take it you’re okay with that?”
    “Very,” Ana admitted, even though Maris was Asher’s sister.
    “He’d be so happy to see you, though.”
    “I can’t imagine why since he was so happy to see me go,” Ana said with a significant look.
    “You were nineteen and a virgin,” Maris said bluntly, causing Ana’s face to go up in flames. Glancing at Dan, she saw that his face was beet red, too.
    “So?” she managed to choke out, taking a large swig of the beer and cringing at the taste.
    “He was twenty-six,” Maris reminded her. “He wanted you to have some… experience before he asked you to spend the rest of your life with him.”
    Ana snorted, anger replacing the embarrassment. “He had a hell of a way to ensure I move on. Which I have, by the way. Moved on.”
    “Yeah,” Dan interjected. “She’s interested in my brother now.”
    “Tanner?” Maris asked, confused. “He’s married and even older than Ash….”
    “No, the other one,” Dan grunted, rolling his eyes.
    “Dan, go check the beer stock,” Maris said. At the sound of protest, she raised an eyebrow and he stormed off. Turning back to Ana, Maris leaned her arms on the table and lowered her voice, “Ana, Harrison isn’t… he doesn’t…. He’s focused on his daughter right now.”
    “I know,” Ana said softly. Running her tongue over her lower lip, not meeting Maris’s eyes, she added, “He, uh, thinks I’m eighteen.”
    “And you haven’t bothered to correct him?” Maris asked, a smile on her lips even though her eyes were still troubled.
    “Nooo,” Ana answered, drawing out the word, wondering if Maris would think she was evil for not correcting him when she realized he was mistaken. After all, the cat never answered her. “But I will. It’s not like I’m keeping it from him but I accidentally threw a book at his head from across the street and, well, I don’t want to admit that I’m actually an adult just yet. ”
    “You threw a book?” Maris asked, her lips parted in surprise. “At his head? Why?”
    “I was angry,” Ana said softly, a slight smile curving her lips. Lifting her head, she looked at Maris and admitted, “I like him, Maris. I haven’t told him my age because I really, really like him and it scares me a little.”
    “Asher isn’t going to be happy to hear that.”
    “Asher and I aren’t together,” Ana reminded her. “He doesn’t get a say in the matter.”
    Swearing under her breath, Maris said, “I told him he was an idiot