An Accidental Affair

By Fenella Ashworth

Ever been cheated on?
Then this is how to exact your revenge.

Ordinary life? Check.
Neurotic mother? Check
Loving boyfriend? Not sure...
White hot spark of attraction with a gorgeous American? Indisputable.

The first time they meet, Anna finds the strength to resist Mike because she’s in a relationship, albeit a dysfunctional one. But when that situation changes and they meet once again, there is literally nothing to stop them. And nothing does.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fenella Ashworth
• Release date: Apr 9, 2024
• ISBN: 9798224423057

Fenella Ashworth

Fenella Ashworth is a British author of over 40 contemporary steamy romance books for 18+. Her most popular books are ‘One Hot Wynter’s Night’, ‘To Love, Honour and...Oh Pay’, 'Fictional Fantasies' and the Daniel Lawson Series.Find Fenella online at www.fenellaashworth.com where you can subscribe to her newsletter for ongoing freebies.

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

Anna glanced past her white knuckles, tightly clenched around the leather steering wheel, to check the time on the dashboard clock. In a reckless overtaking manoeuvre, she raced past a painfully slow motorist on the brow of a hill and pushed her foot more firmly to the floor, grateful for her car’s superior acceleration. She was making good time but every second wasted was another second her mother lay in hospital, alone, afraid and without her family by her side.

Aware of a peripheral noise which sounded too much like a siren to be ignored, Anna glanced out of a side window, attentive to the fact that her outlandish driving could well attract the attention of those enforcing the law. For all sorts of reasons, including her own and others’ safety, she needed to cool it. Taking a deep breath, she purposefully eased her foot away from the pedal and tried to still the buzzing in her brain, grateful that no police had witnessed her erratic actions on this occasion.

It probably shouldn’t have been a shock to receive a telephone call, informing her that her mother had been rushed into hospital. Anna had spent the last thirty-seven years of her life more than aware that her mother was a loose cannon, in so many respects. Never one to act her age, just the past few years alone had witnessed her doing a parachute jump for charity, abseiling down a building and swimming with sharks on holiday in Western Australia. Most women of nearly seventy would have slowed down, but not Daphne Burrows. Anna could only imagine her mother’s horrified disappointment to be injured in a road traffic accident, given her high octane hobbies.

As she approached the hospital complex, the traffic lights in front of her suddenly changed from green to red. For a wild moment, Anna toyed with the idea of speeding straight through them, before thinking better of it and coming to an abrupt, screeching halt. With a glance in the rear view mirror, a stressed woman glared back at her. With scared blue eyes, wild long brown hair and a flushed neck, Anna looked far from sane. She tapped her fingers on the steering wheel in frustration, realising that she should have stuck to her guns and jumped the lights after all. They were taking forever. When Anna had received a call from the hospital, she’d been in the middle of a focussed flurry of excited baking. Her boyfriend, Lee, had been away with work for the past few nights and she wanted everything to be perfect for his return home. That would explain, she thought wryly, as she did a double-take at her own reflection, why she seemed to have a significant quantity of self-raising flour smeared across her forehead.

At last, the lights changed to green and Anna accelerated quickly through the box junction and sped into the car park. Somewhat miraculously, there were several parking spaces available. Quickly dumping her car, she was already halfway towards the main building when the necessity of having to pay for parking flitted across her mind. Delving into her handbag for some spare change, she rushed towards the nearest payment machine. Unfortunately, in her haste, she wasn’t cognisant of the potential dangers, of which there were several. Out of nowhere, a strong pair of arms wrapped around her, lifting her purposefully off the ground. Anna opened her mouth to scream at her attacker, but was swiftly silenced by the sound of a horn. It was accompanied by the terrifying sound of a car skidding for a short distance across the tarmac, right beside her.

‘Look where you’re going, you fucking idiot!’ yelled a man’s voice, before he sped off, engine roaring, loose stones flicking out from the tyres in his wake. Allowing her focus to momentarily drop towards the ground with relief, she observed a large, powerful pair of unfamiliar hands cradling her body. Inhaling deeply, Anna was almost overwhelmed by the incredibly sexy scent of him; if a near-death experience wasn’t enough to make her legs shake, being in the vicinity of this man certainly was.

Without any obvious rush, the stranger carefully lowered her trembling frame back down to terra firma, taking some time to ensure she was standing securely on the ground before finally releasing her. So not an attacker then? Quite the opposite, in fact. The definitive gentle giant.

‘Are you okay?’ the man asked in an insanely deep voice which sent the hairs on the back of Anna’s neck into complete disarray. If she wasn’t mistaken, his accent was a unique combination of English and American. Its sexy timbre instantly tested the faithfulness she felt towards her boyfriend.

‘Yes,’ she croaked. ‘Thanks to you.’ Upright once more, Anna stepped out of his embrace, temporarily bereft of the warmth and safety he had unexpectedly provided. It was probably for the best though. Her skin felt cold and clammy from the stressful drive in; no doubt, she smelt of an attractive combination of stress and sweat. Plus, she mustn’t forget the flour still smeared across her face. Subtly brushing her forehead, she turned around to face the man who had saved her, realising that her eyeline needed to ascend much further up than usual. At five foot eight, Anna wasn’t short, but this man towered over her. He had to be six foot four, at an absolute minimum.

‘Wow, you’re tall,’ she gasped, in the absence of any other conversation topic coming to mind. Slowly she took in his expensively cut suit, the top button opened at the neck where he had previously removed a constricting tie. His dark brown hair suggested a just-out-of-bed look and Anna was shocked to find herself wanting to run her fingers through it, to mess it up a little more. If she had to guess, she would say the guy was in his mid-forties, and looking extremely good with it. In comparison, she knew she rated poorly, not least because she wasn’t entirely convinced she’d brushed all the cooking ingredients from her forehead.

‘I know,’ he said, his face breaking out into a warm smile which displayed a perfect set of teeth, along with slight laughter lines at the edges of his hazel eyes. ‘Name’s Mike,’ he added, holding out a hand.

‘Anna,’ she replied, allowing her fingers to be encompassed by his much larger hand. It was the work of a moment, but she was entirely unable to prevent a shiver from travelling directly up her spine and into the base of her skull, thanks to the perfect pressure of his touch. His body seemed to be speaking its own secret language to hers and she found herself readily wanting to converse. Suddenly, Anna remembered where she was…and why.

‘I’m so sorry, but I’ve got to get to my mum,’ she explained in panic, as a bolt of fear overwhelmed her. Inexplicably, as concern for her mother coupled with the realisation that she’d narrowly missed being involved in an accident came to the fore, tears started to spill from the corners of Anna’s eyes. ‘She’s been hurt.’ Taking a step towards the parking machine, she opened her purse and promptly dropped a handful of coins onto the floor.

‘Hey, hey,’ soothed Mike’s deep voice. As he placed one hand over hers, she froze to the spot. ‘Close your eyes,’ he instructed. Glancing trustingly towards him, Anna did as instructed.

‘Now take three deep, calming breaths,’ spoke his calm voice.

‘I really don’t have time…’

‘Just do it,’ he said firmly. As Anna obeyed, Mike removed his hand from hers, dug around for some coins in his trouser pocket and fed them into the car parking machine. By the time a slightly calmer Anna had opened her eyes again, it was to find Mike standing up slowly, having collected her money from the floor. With a gentle smile, he placed the coins of various denominations into her hand. Anna opened her mouth to say something, just as the machine next to them noisily spat out the parking ticket.

‘You okay?’ he asked gently.

‘Yeah,’ confirmed Anna with a weak smile. ‘Thanks.’

Daring to look directly into his eyes, it felt as though she’d been punched hard in the gut. This time her reaction had absolutely nothing to do with fear for a family member and everything to do with a long forgotten emotion; lust. A lust more powerful than she had ever known. Anna found herself hypnotised by the tiny flecks of gold shimmering in Mike’s hazel eyes. It was fascinating, as though looking through a window into another galaxy. Her peripheral vision noticed how his eyes had narrowed slightly while she’d been hungrily consuming him, probably in confusion at her continuous staring.

‘I must owe you,’ she croaked, realising that he had used his own money to pay for her ticket.

‘It’s nothing. A couple of quid,’ he soothed. ‘Now go to your mom. Go!’ he ordered, when she failed to move. ‘Right now!’

Unsure of how to deal with such a direct dismissal, Anna dropped her eyes slowly to the floor, nodded and raced back to her car with the ticket. Without daring to turn around, she continued towards the main doors of the Accident and Emergency department, ineffectually attempting to push a certain handsome American protector firmly to the back of her mind.

The hospital building looked like any other British institution built in the nineteen sixties; grey, utilitarian and almost pathologically designed to cause unease and apprehension. Even with the May blossom exploding from the nearby cherry trees, Anna’s heart sank one notch further as she walked through the double doors and was hit by the smell of antiseptic cleaning fluids, cheap coffee, and bodies secreting stale sweat and fear.

Following a brief exchange with a gentleman staffing reception, Anna raced down a characterless maze of never-ending, echoing corridors towards the ward she’d been directed to. She could physically feel her heart racing with trepidation at what she might find and despite her recent re-acquaintance with desire, all thoughts were now firmly focussed on her mother; a powerhouse of a woman, undoubtedly the biggest influence on her life, who Anna wasn’t ready to lose yet…or ever. With tears recommencing in earnest, she wiped them angrily away just as she entered the ward and willed herself not to cry. This was no time for self-pity.

‘Hello,’ she said breathlessly to a staff nurse. ‘Is Daphne Burrows here? She’s my mum,’ gulped Anna, biting her lip to resist the tightening sensation in her throat.

‘Of course,’ smiled the nurse kindly. ‘Let me take you to her. She’s quite a character, isn’t she?’ A flood of hope surged through Anna; maybe her mother wasn’t too badly hurt if her formidable character was already being appreciated.

‘How’s she doing?’ Anna asked, scarcely wanting to know the answer.

‘She’ll be fine,’ the nurse soothed. ‘A few broken bones but I’ve got a feeling it would take more than that to dent her spirit, right?’

‘I certainly hope so,’ snuffled Anna.

‘She’s just behind that curtain. I’ll leave you to it.’

‘Thank you so much.’ And not just for the directions thought Anna, without voicing as much. But for being such a wonderful guardian of my precious mother, in her family’s absence.

Taking a deep breath, highly apprehensive about what to expect, Anna drew the curtain back to observe her mother