B00Z637D2Y (R) (20 page)

From outside the closet, voices and footsteps jolted her back to reality. “Well, this could be awkward,” she said.

“Not nearly as much as had they arrived a bit earlier.” He flipped the light switch and they both squinted. “Nothing awkward about it. We just stopped in to pick up clothes for tomorrow.” He studied her from head to toe, and a slow, seductive grin emerged. “Now that is how you should look all the time.”

She glanced down expecting to see her skirt caught in the waistband or something, but everything seemed to be in order. “How?”

He smoothed her hair and then lightly ran his fingertips over her still sensitive nipples through the silk of the dress, then put his lips against her ear. “Well fucked.”

And she was just that. In every sense of the word. As she looked into his eyes, she knew that she’d passed the point of no return. She was in love with Michael Anderson, and with that came the potential for the mother of all heartbreaks.

After straightening his tie, he removed her suitcase from the shelf. “What do you need to pull out to wear to breakfast? I assume Sue has your bridesmaid dress somewhere.”

She rolled the case on its side and unzipped it while he pulled some items out of his own suitcase. “Yes. I’m changing in her room tomorrow. She has an actual
closet
. Not a room the size of one.” She shot him a grin before pulling out a green sweater and a pair of black slacks and flats. She remembered the underwear this time. Purple. She threw her warm-ups and a T-shirt on top of the pile.

He set a pair of pants, socks, and black boxer briefs, of course, on the shelf, closed his suitcase, and then pulled a white dress shirt out of a zipper bag hanging on a hook. “And the warm-ups are for…?”

“Sleeping.”

He tossed her T-shirt and paint-splattered warm-ups back in her suitcase, zipped it, and slid it back on the shelf. Then took her hand and pulled her close enough for her to smell the familiar scent of starch and cologne, but this time, there was an overlay of sweat and sex.
Delicious.

“Mia.” His voice was so quiet, she had to hold her breath to hear it. “There will be no clothes…or sleep. From here, we will go to the room and switch from French fries to steak and lobster.” He brushed his thumb over her bottom lip. “I want to give you the attention you deserve—all night long. No more fast food this evening. I want a long, leisurely five course meal.”

And with that bit of news, he opened the door and greeted Sue and Kelli, who were watching Mark try to get Jason up the stairs.

Michael passed his stack of clothes off to Mia and wrapped Jason’s other arm around his shoulder, and with Mark on the other side, they half-dragged/half-carried him up the stairs to the second floor.

“Thanks, man,” Mark said, once they deposited Jason unceremoniously on the bed face down. “Hopefully he won’t puke and cost us the deposit.”

Kelli slipped into the room and threw some things from the bathroom into a pink suitcase on the window seat, then closed it up. “I’m going to sleep in Sue’s room tonight.”

Jason rolled to his side and started snoring immediately. Michael loosened Jason’s tie and slipped it off. “I doubt he’ll be in shape for the wedding tomorrow.”

“My dad is standing in,” Mark said. “Even if he’s sober enough by then, I’d rather he not be my best man.”

“It’s for his own safety, really,” Sue said with a wink. “I’d hate to be arrested for murder on my wedding day.” She gave Kelli a squeeze. “Come on, Kel. Let’s get some sleep.”

Kelli gave one last parting glance at Jason. “I really thought he liked me.” Then she stiffened. “I hope he likes being unemployed.”

“Thanks again,” Mark said once they’d turned off the light and closed Jason’s door. “I’m glad you’re here and didn’t listen to Jason, Mia.” He shook Michael’s hand. “You guys have a good night.”

The look Michael gave Mia after Mark disappeared down the stairs took her breath away. Holy crap. And here she’d thought the time in the closet with him had taken the edge off. Instead, it had made her want more. And his look promised a whole lot more. Maybe more than she could handle. Still clutching their clothes for the morning to her chest, she waited to see what he’d do.

All he did was raise an eyebrow. Just one, but it did the trick. Warm heat flushed through her and the air left her lungs in a whoosh.

“I like what you’re thinking, Mia,” he said, relieving her of the clothes and gesturing for her to lead the way up the last flight of stairs to their room. As she took the first step, he looped his arm around her middle and pulled her back hard against him. “And the way you feel.” She gasped as he pushed against her from behind, moving his hand to cup her breast, then put his lips to her ear. “I particularly like it that you screamed when you came.”

She glanced around to find the staircase behind them empty, thank goodness.

“Just me,” he said, stroking his thumb over her taught nipple and pulling her back even tighter against him. “You and me for hours.”

“Yes.” The response came unbidden from deep inside somewhere.
Yes
was all she had for this man.

He released her and she straightened, reluctant to look at him for fear he’d see just how lost in him she was. How much she wanted this…him. So instead of looking back, she climbed the stairs and opened their bedroom door, only to almost be knocked backwards the minute the door bumped into the bed.

“Clancy!” she said, catching the doorframe for balance. “Glad to see you, too.”

…

It was hard to be irritated by something so obviously pleased to see him. The dog circled Michael’s legs, wagging its tail like crazy.

“I’ll take him out,” Mia said, pulling the leash off the back of the doorknob. As he studied her face, he noticed she’d lost the fire she’d had moments before. It was as if seeing the dog had reminded her of their “business only” arrangement and her commitment to not getting hurt again. He had no clue what to do. He’d thought they were past this. She took a deep, resigned breath and snapped the leash on the collar. “That was our agreement from the start. The deal was you’d give me a place to stay and would come to the wedding with me if I took care of the dog at night.”

Oh, no fucking way. She was not going back to this business only routine after they’d come this far. He dropped the clothes on the floor and spun her to face him directly. “Here’s the deal, Mia. There is no deal. That all changed when I…” He stopped himself before he actually said it.

An odd look crossed her face. “All of that changed when you what?”

When I fell in love with you.
But he couldn’t say the words—not when she looked so hurt and honestly, horrified. He’d thought she felt the same way, but apparently he’d read it wrong.

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m pretty sure where this conversation is going, but I’m also sure this is not the time or place to have it. If you are backing out of the deal now because of what happened in that closet, then I really underestimated you. And me, I guess.” She handed him the leash. “You walk the dog. I’m going to shower.”

Clancy tugged at the leash and whined.
Wait.
She thought he was calling off their deal because of sex? “You misunderstood.”

“Clearly,” she said, picking up the clothes from the floor, then turning sideways to squeeze into the room. The door closed with a click and Clancy whined again.

Sonofabitch.
He looked down at Clancy at his feet, still pulling on the leash. What the fuck was he supposed to do now? She’d jumped to the absolute wrong conclusion.

The dog pulled harder and barked.
First things first.

Clancy took care of business right away, but Michael figured he should come up with a strategy for dealing with the confusion before he returned to the room.

Think on the why, not only the what
. It was his usual mantra when coming up with pitch strategies. The
what
in this case was obvious: Mia thought that now they’d had sex, he was done with their agreement. Though, in his mind, that was a pretty big leap for her considering how the weekend had been going so far.

“Why, Clancy?” he asked the dog sitting next to him on the bench on the bed and breakfast porch. “Why did she make that leap when it wasn’t logical?”

She was impulsive—and while he loved that about her, it was also a pain in the ass. Clancy stared back at him as if he understood every word he was saying. “Human relationships are not logical,” he continued. “You’re lucky you’re a dog.” Clancy’s tail tapped on the bench as he gave a commiserative wag.

“Why?” he asked again. Because she was returning to past habits. Self-doubt. And it had happened to her multiple times. No sex-first relationships was her non-negotiable rule, and something in what he’d said, or not said, or maybe nothing but her own fear, had led her to believe that was exactly what had happened.

It probably wasn’t his fault she’d misread the conversation, but it would be his fault if he didn’t straighten it out. This was a deal he planned to land, even if it meant losing a little control. He couldn’t let her go.

“Okay, Clancy. Here’s the strategy: I’ll try to reason with her and straighten this out. I’ll even beg if necessary. If that doesn’t work, you turn on the charm, okay?”

Clancy affirmed with a shrill yip.

Chapter Seventeen

Mia stepped out of the shower much calmer than when she’d gotten in. One day, she’d learn to sit back and wait before she said something. One day, she’d be less impulsive.

Dammit.
He’d left her nothing to wear but her outfit for tomorrow or the red dress she’d just worn that was too much for pajamas and way less than clean. After brushing her teeth, she climbed into bed, still wrapped in a bath towel, and pulled the covers to her chin.

Michael had been gone a long time. Too long.

She stared at his suit for the wedding, which he’d hung on the bathroom door. Surely he hadn’t headed back home and left that behind.

She’d replayed their conversation over and over in her head and was now doubting she had it right. He’d really said nothing indicating it was a one-and-done. But, seeing Clancy had reminded her that from his side, this was carrying out a business agreement and that she needed to pull her heart out of the clouds or she’d be gluing the pieces of it back together all over again.

“You misunderstood.”

Maybe she had. He was different than the others—she just knew it. She was the master of impulsive behavior and had let her fear take over. She rolled to her side and tried to empty her mind.
Breath in four, out eight. In four, out eight
. To her relief, she heard the door open and thump into the bed. He hadn’t left.

Too big a chicken to face him, she pretended to be asleep.

The shower started and after a moment, she rolled over.

“I thought so,” he said with a sly smile from the bathroom doorway. “I found it unlikely you’d be asleep after being so angry.”

Clever man.
“I wasn’t angry. I was hurt. And probably rash.”

He reached into the shower and turned the water off. “Definitely rash.”

She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. “You didn’t finish your sentence in the hallway and I filled in the blank.”

“Yes, you did.” He sat on the edge of the bed and patted it. Clancy jumped up and joined them. She loved how comfortable he’d become with the dog. “And I can see how you jumped to the wrong conclusion. But it was a
very
wrong conclusion.”

She nodded.

“I’m not like Jason or anyone else that you’ve dated. You said no sex-first relationship—that you wanted a friend.” He took her hand. “Well, you’ve got that. I’m not going to toss you aside, and I hope you won’t toss me aside because you expect me to screw you over.”

“So how should I have filled in the blank if not ‘that was before I had sex with you?’”

“With, ‘that was before I earned your friendship.’”

Her eyes watered. “That makes a little more sense.”

“Yes, it does.” He squeezed her hand. “I want you to think about something while I shower. I don’t need an answer now or even this weekend, but I’d like an answer before you move to your next housesitting job.”

She held her breath, absolutely unsure of what he’d say next.

Dropping her hand, he looked away for a moment as if it were hard to find the words. “I’d like you to consider staying with me instead of house sitting. I think we get along well and I…” It seemed like he was having the hardest time finding words. Like his mask had completely fallen away and he was struggling to put it back in place. “This is much more difficult than anticipated. I’m trying to word this in such a way that you don’t feel trapped by your financial situation. That I’m not taking advantage of your disadvantage.” He stared at the wall ahead of him and it struck her that he was surprised by his own offer.

But not as surprised as she was. “Are you asking me to move in with you, Michael?”

He shifted on the bed to better see her and studied her face for a moment. “Yes. Yes, I’m asking you to move in and live with me. Not on the sofa, but in my bed. In my life.” He popped to his feet and ran his hands through his hair. “Don’t answer now. Think about it first. I’m going to shower.”

“Wait.”

He stopped in the bathroom doorway, but didn’t face her.

“What will happen if I say no?”

His shoulders rose and fell. “I will be terribly disappointed, but will find a work-around.” Then, he faced her. “I won’t just let you go, Mia. I want to keep spending time with you, however you will let that happen.”

Gone was the placid, cool poker face. Longing, and even fear, shone in his expression, and her heart stuttered in her chest.
Holy shit.
Michael Anderson had just made a relationship commitment…to
her.

And then, he closed the door.

She lay there a moment, hair still wet from her shower and head reeling, then stared at the closed door.

Oh, hell no.
She swung her feet off the bed and knocked on the door, clutching her towel to her.