Driving back from Rodeo Drive- Nearly 4:00pm midday.

Annie was a block away from home when her mother questioned Cici about Anthony.

She came up to a stop sign and looked both ways before proceeding. Ahead, to the left, a large moving truck with movers were coming and going in and out of a large mansion.

That was recently up for sale, looks like we're going to have new neighbors, she thought.

"Well? You didn't answer my question Cici." Their mother continued.

Annie glanced at the rear view mirror and locked eyes with Cici, it's four o'clock, almost home, pointing to her watch. Cici painfully glanced away looking down at her own watch and started to say something when all of a sudden their mother shouted, "Annie look out in front of you!"

Annie quickly switched her gaze back on the road and came to a screeching halt immediately in the middle of the street, just a few hundred yards from their home. She didn't realize a car was behind her as she made the sudden stop.

The car rear ended her and a loud sound of metal clashed together, like lightning. All three of them felt the impact as their bodies tried moving forward but the seat belts held them back in place.

Something big and black darted across the road. 

Annie stared in shock and disbelief and couldn't believe what she was seeing before her. She blinked, and then blinked again, and saw a big black Panther walking slowly towards them, as if assessing it's prey and hunting.

Charlotte and Cici screamed in shock and surprise. "Girls are you alright!?!" Charlotte asked worriedly. She looked back at Cici who said she was fine and then at Annie.

Cici quickly glanced towards Annie whole hadn't said anything beginning to think she was hurt. She raked her eyes up and down Annie's body and saw nothing wrong but she was quiet, starring straight ahead, numb in shock, her knuckles turning white from the hard grip on the steering wheel.

Cici followed her pointed stare and couldn't believe what she saw. A big black cat, no, cats can't be that big, she thought. It looked like a panther and it was huge.

Charlotte's gaze slid back to the scene before them with wide eyes. She saw it running in the middle of the street seconds before Annie noticed and alarmed her before she hit it. Now, it was slowly coming their way.

Voices were heard from the car behind them. At the same time they glanced over their shoulders and watched as three men emerged from the vehicle shouting and pointing at the Panther.

Annie shook away her initial shock and quickly turned back, shifting her car in park and lifting her foot off the break.

"What the hell is a Panther doing in the middle of the street?" Cici shrieked, pointing to the Panther.

One of the men came into view, with his back turned.  He kept striding forward and passed her car. The Panther seemed to understand what the man was saying and slowly made it's way towards him. The dark haired man didn't seem too fazed or fearful as he approached the Panther.

Annie, Charlotte and Cici's eyes were glued on the man with mouths hanging open.

"Oh my God."  Cici breathed.  "He's a dead man."

"Cici!"  Charlotte admonished, her gaze still riveted on the panther and the man. 

As Annie squinted her eyes to get a better look at the brave man, a sudden knock to the driver's side window startled her in surprise, diverting her attention to the left. Another gentleman with black hair, black eyes and a polite smile waved, obviously waiting for her to roll down the window.

She pressed the automatic button. 

"Hello, I'm sorry if I startled you lass, but I need to ask if you and your passengers are alright? We are the car that hit you in the back, you braked suddenly and our driver didn't react fast enough in able to prevent the collision."

His Scottish accent was faint yet evident. He looked at her without judging eyes. He smiled at her once again waiting for her to reply.

Finding her voice Annie replied, "Yes, we are all fine, thanks for asking." She went further in explaining why she had to break suddenly without warning.

"Oh yes, we wholeheartedly apologize. My best friend has owned the Panther as a pet since it was a baby.  Raja in some way or another must have sneaked out of the room we placed him in and ended up outside. We just moved into the house to your left, and the movers mustn't have noticed they let him out."

"Oh wow! I didn't realize he had a owner. I just assumed it was wild or it escaped from some facility, I'm glad I stopped in time!"

"Yes, trust me we are too." He held out his hand. "I haven't properly introduced myself, hello my name is Duncan McClain."

Annie shook his hand, "I'm Annie, and this is my mother Charlotte, and my sister Cici." Charlotte reached over and shook his hand through the open window and Cici waved from the back seat. 

Duncan waved back with a gentle smile.

"It's a pleasure to be in the company of such lovely ladies under the unusual circumstances, again I apologize on behalf of all of us in the car... and Raja." He said, making all three women laugh.

"As long as everyone made it out without a scratch, that's all that matters." Charlotte added.

Speaking of a scratch, Annie took off her seat belt and gently eased open her car door as Duncan moved to the side allowing her accessibility. She hopped out and went to the rear to access the damage–Duncan, Charlotte and Cici following suit. The car behind her probably backed up after the run-in, a whole foot long gap was between her car and the Porsche sedan.

As Annie bent down upon closer inspection, it looked like the bumper held strong with only two slight dents, no chipped paint with no other visible damage.

However, their Porsche did not get so lucky.  With a cracked head light, dented license plate and unhinged bumper their vehicle did not escape from the ordeal unscathed. 

"Yeah, sorry about that, I didn't react fast enough..." A voice trailed off, Annie looked toward the voice.

Standing in the drivers open doorway, a light haired gentleman stood rubbing his neck uncomfortably, looking embarrassed.  He had dark blonde spiked hair, a slight build, sporting a goatee, dressed in a black leather jacket and black jeans.

"I know, I panicked and stopped suddenly. It's not your fault." Annie didn't bother explaining, they all knew why it happened. He looked down red faced and nodded his head.

"Annie, Charlotte, Cici, this is Kash, our friend, personal bodyguard, and driver." Pointing to the man.

"Hello." All three said at the same time.

Duncan smiled in amusement and Kash waved at them with a smile. The awkward silence was interrupted with a sound of a phone going off.

Everybody heard the loud sounding classical music coming from Annie's car. It was her cellular phone. Recognizing the tone, she excused herself. She opened her driver's door grabbing her phone off the seat, checking for the message she was expecting.

It was from Joe her assistant, sending the reviews for the specs from the project they were working on. He had called her to inform her of what he was sending while she was placing the shopping bags in her car earlier.  Annie shook her head, they didn't load properly deciding to call and have him resend them.

As she was dialing him, she felt a presence stop behind her and stiffened in surprise as a rush of warmth suffused her.  It made the hair on her head tingle and her toes curl in suspense.  Her body shut down like a block of ice and wouldn't allow her to turn back.  It was like her body knew something was happening, a change was coming and as bizarre as it felt, Annie knew something was different. 

As she was talking to Joe, shrugging off the uneasiness crawling up her spine, she overheard introductions being made again.  She took a quick peek in their direction and saw Cici blushing while shaking a man's hand.

His back was turned but from what she could gather he looked to be 6'2, broad shouldered with slick jet black hair. He had a aura about him that vibrated strength and power. He must be the owner of the Panther, she thought, and he must have been the one that passed behind her while she was talking on the phone. 

She shivered involuntarily. 

Ending her brief conversation with her assistant, she checked her emails–procrastinating. She had this sudden urge to leave, not wanting to go back to the small group and meet the man.

"Annie..." Her mother called out to her.

Damn, she thought, looking up at the sky in desperation.

Annie turned to the group and slowly made her way back reluctantly. Her mother quickly grabbed her arm to stand by her.

The man shifted and they both instantly locked gazes. Her breath caught in her throat at the hypnotic gray eyes she saw.

He was beautiful she thought. 

A strong determined jaw which held a shadows day worth of growth surrounded strong full lips, perfectly shaped thick eyebrows and matching thick black hair, slicked back and perfectly combed. Dressed in a black suit that perfectly complimented the slight tan on his flawless skin added to the effect of the ultimate mob boss businessman portrayed in movies.

"This is Julien, he was in the car behind us and the owner of the Panther we saw." Her mother informed her, confirming her earlier thoughts. "Julien may I introduce my daughter, Angelica."

Julien smiled slightly and held out his hand. She broke eye contact and looked down swallowing the lump forming in her throat and automatically placed her small hand in his undeniably large one.

Instead of shaking her hand as she expected, he brought it to his lips and kissed the back like a true gentleman. She felt the impact of that kiss run up her arm and spread throughout her entire body from head to toe. Annie unwillingly flushed from the contact and the swarm of emotions swirling inside of her.

"It's my pleasure to meet you Angelica," he said in a voice that had a slight, faint British accent.

Time stood still as they silently studied one another.

She looked at his mouth and back up into his eyes as he looked deep within hers, as if he was trying to read her. She held her inner emotions in check and placed a usual stone cold facade on her face, trying to hide how much he affected her.  It was the pride running inside her blood that refused to embarrass herself and look like a fool in front of a complete stranger.

He admired her beauty, it was unique like that of a diamond. Her eyes were powerful and determined and her figure was built like a Goddess just as he viewed earlier.  Being up close allowed him a better view of her generous mouthwatering bosom, narrow waist, and perfectly shaped hips and legs.  The view from the café did him no justice as his eyes captured and memorized every aspect of her. 

She replied confidently with a detached voice, "It's nice to meet you too, and please call me Annie."

He nodded with a charming smile, showing straight white teeth as his eyes twinkled with a knowing glint. 

He sensed how affected she was by him, the sudden realization left her lost and uncomfortable in her own skin. 

"Annie, as I was telling your mother, please forgive the mishap, Raja is quite harmless and is personally trained. I will gladly pay for the damage to your car, it's the least I can do for the inconvenience." He continued smoothly.

"It's nothing to worry about, as you can see," Pointing to the bumper of her car. Julien started to protest but Annie quickly continued, "I insist," she added firmly.

He reluctantly nodded his head in acceptance. Obviously disturbed by her refusal and disappointed.

"Annie, as Julien was informing me earlier while you were on the phone,  his parents, sister, Duncan and Kash lived in England and just moved to this side of the states. And as I didn't quite finish earlier, Julien you are our new neighbors, our home is right across from yours." Pointing to their home.

Julien, Duncan and Kash looked behind them towards their large house.

"It's a beautiful home," Julien replied kindly to Charlotte but his eyes were glued on Annie again.

The clear message was expressed in his eyes, catching on quickly, Annie shifted uncomfortably and slanted her gaze to Cici. Confirming she heard him quite clearly with her eyes and slight smirk, Cici came to stand on Annie's other side sliding her arm into the crook of hers.

"Thank you, and your home is quite lovely as well. I hope you get settled in and I'm sure we'll be seeing much of one another." Looking at Duncan, Julien and Kash as she spoke. "Today is a day we shall never forget, what an adventure!"

All three men laughed at her enthusiasm. They shook hands with her and thanked her for her kindness. They turned to the girls and smiled, Duncan breaking the silence saying, "Take care my pretty lassies and we'll be seein' ya' around." Sending them a wink.

Annie and Cici couldn't help but chuckle at his endearment, they liked hearing the Scottish accent, it was different.

"Welcome to the neighborhood," Cici responded with a smile.

They murmured, "Thank you."

"Goodbye Mrs. Taverron, ladies...we will leave you now, until we meet again..." Trailed off Julien.

Again his gaze landing on Annie.

As they got back into the Range Rover, Annie felt his eyes burning holes into her back. She felt rather than knew it was him and not the others. Annie took a quick peek at the rear view mirror as she pressed the button to start the ignition. He stood a second longer before turning and getting back into his car with the others.

The Porsche turned left into the round circular driveway of their new home. Four hundred feet to the right was the Taverron home, and as Annie got closer to the gates they opened automatically.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply, not realizing she was holding her breath...it dawned on her as the realization set in. 

For the first time ever, Annie's life went from black and white, to color....
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The first run-in...how was it? Please vote, share comment!
-Shaz.