Mia Found (Starting Fires Book 3) (10 page)

I rushed him, wrapping my arms around his neck. Before he could even say anything, I firmly planted my lips on his. I kissed him with passion, with love, and with thanks.

He was dazed when I pulled away.

“
Thank you so much,” I said. “It’s the best surprise anyone has ever given me.”

“
It was nothing,” he said, biting his lip and shrugging.

He knew though. This had meant everything to me.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

LATER THAT NIGHT PAUL and I went to Marlowe and Lucas’s home. It was a surreal, exciting feeling. Marlowe had known how I felt about Paul for months, always with her hinting and prodding. Now, we were walking up their driveway.

When she’d texted and asked if I wanted to stop by, I hadn’t told her Paul was with me, hoping to give her a surprise. Hearing the car doors slam, she opened the front door and eyed us with curiosity. Her stare ventured from our smiles to our joined hands. Realization hit her and she beamed.

“
Finally!” she said, stepping outside.

Paul chuckled. “Calm down,” he said when she rushed him.

Marlowe shoved him lightly in the chest. “I will
not
calm down. I’ve been telling you to call her for months.” Done with her scolding, she hugged him and then me. “Finally,” she repeated.

When Lucas joined us on the sidewalk, Paul released my hand, and I tried to hide my smile.
Paul is afraid of Lucas,
I thought. My brother was chewing gum and the annoying rotation of his jaw made him look snarky and rude. He narrowed his eyes at Paul and took a deep breath.

I knew Lucas was protective of me, and perhaps with good reason. After Fontenot, he’d put up with a lot on my behalf, but that didn’t mean I wanted him to puff up his chest and throw intimidating glares at every man I expressed interest in.

I made a disgusted, put off snort. “Can you chew gum like a regular person? You look like a cow.” I mocked him, throwing my jaw out in big, exaggerated chews.

He spit the gum into their tiny garden and Marlowe huffed. “Gross,” she said under her breath.

“
So…” Lucas said, ignoring her. “You two are together now or some shit?”

“
Uh…” Paul said, looking to me.

“
Lay off,” I said. “We’re here together and we want to enjoy your company. Stop acting like a bully.”

Lucas eyed Paul suspiciously, but let us come inside. It wasn’t two minutes later Lucas pulled Paul into the spare bedroom and shut the door.

“
Are you kidding me?” I said to Marlowe. “He knows I’m a grown woman right? I can date whoever I want.”

She sighed. “I know. Let him get this out of the way. Paul’s a good guy, though. So I can’t imagine he’ll have reason to protest.”

When the door finally opened, I was pouting, my arms crossed over my chest. Laughter echoed down the hallway and they came into view, both smiling.

“
All right Mia,” Lucas said. “I won’t kill this one.”

I rolled my eyes.

Later we walked across the street to Charles and Wally’s home. We played cards and everyone there but Nicole, Marlowe’s friend, had brought someone. We were paired off in couples. Lucas with Marlowe. Charles with Priscilla. Wally with a girl I’d never met named Kristen.

And me and Paul.

Butterflies danced in my stomach as Paul and I held hands or tentatively touched one another. I was being bashful, but loved this feeling. Each time he gave me a shy smile, or sweet kiss on the cheek I felt my whole being come alive. We were in our own little world, oblivious to those around us. It was only he and I. Our eyes. Our smiles. I wanted to be alone with him again—to cuddle on a couch or snuggle in a bed. There was so much about him I didn’t know. There was so much about him I wanted to.

The card game ended and Paul and I stood in the foyer. He was looking down at me, and I loved the way his eyes spoke. Without using words, he was able to tell me just how much I fascinated him. They took me in, dancing around my features. Tentatively, he brought a hand to my hair and pushed it behind my ear.

Lucas made a loud cough as he walked by and stepped into the kitchen. Still frightened of my older brother’s wrath, Paul pulled away with an awkward laugh.

“
I’m gonna go upstairs,” he said.

The only reason for him to venture up there would be to use the restroom. Smiling, I walked into the kitchen and watched his back as he climbed the steps. I propped against the counter next to Nicole, my cheeks burning with an enthusiastic grin.

“
So,” Nicole said, getting my attention. “You two are dating?”

She and I weren’t what I’d call close, but through Marlowe we’d at least become acquainted. “I guess. I mean, I think so.” My brow furrowed and my lip pursed in thought. “Yes. We definitely are.”

She chuckled. “You sound so confident.”

I smiled over at her. “It’s new. Very new. As in, it just happened today new.”

She sighed, eyeing Kristen with a scowl. “Everyone is either dating or married now. And Wally and what’s her face seem to be getting along great. Isn’t that just awesome?”

“
Do you...have you and Wally…?” I didn’t want to pry, but now I was curious. Wally and I had a tiny fling a few years ago. No one even knew about it, and I planned to keep it that way. Lucas would kill him. In the end, it was pretty obvious we had absolutely no chemistry. The only time we’d kissed had been awkward and weird. I might as well have been kissing my brother. We agreed it was better to pretend it had never happened, but we still talked and he had never mentioned Nicole.

“
No,” she scoffed, as if she was offended. “Please. We just fuck.”

I grimaced, not expecting the vulgar admission. “Oh.”

“
Now the only man even remotely interested in me is Fontenot. You know Fontenot, don’t you?”

I nodded. Boy, did I know Fontenot.

“
Well,” she continued, “he’s the only single guy hanging around and trust me, he ain’t coming anywhere near this.”

“
That’s probably a good idea,” I said quietly.

Nicole’s phone vibrated and she casually looked at the screen. “The devil himself,” she said, and despite being adamant that she wanted nothing to do with him, I saw her soft smile as she read his words. Quickly, it was replaced by a put off sigh. “He wants to hang out tonight.”

She looked around the room. Marlowe and Lucas were cuddled up on the couch. Kristen sat close to Wally. Charles and Priscilla shared a recliner. When Paul came back down, I was sure we would leave. No matter which way she looked at it, she would be the odd man out.

“
I don’t have anything better to do,” she said and grabbed her purse. Without telling anyone goodbye, she left.

Paul found me leaning against the kitchen sink, staring out the window. He put his hands along my waist and gave me a squeeze.

“
Do you want to leave?” he asked, a deep whisper at my neck.

“
Yes,” I said and my body heated, desperate to be alone with him again.

I turned around and kissed him softly on the lips. Immediately, he responded, stepping closer. Our bodies pressed in, eager and willing to know each other.

What did Paul Macione look like naked? I was so accustomed to his dress shirts and slack, it was hard to picture him in anything else. But I had a feeling he was strong. My knees grew weak thinking of him moving above me. We’d agreed to wait but there were other things that we could do.

When my tongue touched his lips, he stifled a moan, and clinched his hands at my waist. “We should go,” he said.

“
Yes,” I replied, barely a whisper.

Our goodbyes were quick—not even bothering to give more than a wave from their foyer. Lucas eyed us with malice, but Marlowe elbowed him in the side.

During the entire drive, I was off in a daydream—imagining the warmth of his skin and the scent of his comforter as we tangled our limbs underneath it. So caught up in my dreamy trance, I didn’t realize we’d pulled into my apartment complex.

When the familiar landscape broke my daze, I looked over at him. Fiona was probably home. I didn’t want to share any time with him, and if she was there, we’d have to escape to my tiny room. Our walls were thin. The idea of being intimate while Fiona lingered around made me uncomfortable.

“
We can’t go to your house?” I asked.

“
Sorry,” he said, looking remorseful. “I have to be up early tomorrow and need to call it a night. But really, Mia, today was perfect. Amazing. I want to see you again soon.”

Disappointment settled in my belly and I frowned. I wasn’t ready for our day to be over.

“
I promise,” he said, grabbing my hand. “I’ll call you tomorrow.”

A small wave of self-conscious dread filled me. It had been so long since I’d wanted to date anyone and I hoped I was reading him correctly. With a strengthening breath, I pushed that aside.

“
Okay,” I said. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

When I moved to get out, he reached for my forearm and pulled me back.

“
I
will
call,” he said. “I’m not playing some mind game with you.”

Men were hard for me to read. Usually, I believed everything that fell from their lips and then within a month or week, sometimes even a day, I learned how gullible I’d been. With Paul, the truth of his intent was still cloudy. I didn’t want to believe he was like all the rest.

“
Okay,” I said again and went to him when he gently tugged on my wrist. Our mouths connected and my doubts melted away. He’d call. I knew he would. “Goodnight,” I said as he pulled away.

“
Night, Mia.” Paul smiled, rubbing a thumb along my bottom lip.

Over his shoulder, I saw Fiona’s car pull into the complex and I quickly opened the door, not wanting them to have another interaction.

He gave me a wave and drove away just as she was pulling in.

“
Was that Paul?” she asked, meeting me on the steps.

“
Yeah. You just missed him.”

She sighed. “That’s a shame. I could use some eye candy right now.”

I rolled my eyes and walked up the stairs. “Well, where’s Fontenot?” I asked, but then remembered he was out with Nicole.

“
Couldn’t tell you,” she said. “Haven’t talked to him all day.”

“
Trouble in paradise?” I chided.

“
Please. We don’t have to be up each other’s asses all day like some couples.”

Couples.
Is that what she thought they were? Maybe I should tell her where he was. “You know—”

“
Stop,” she said, pushing past me. “Fontenot and I are fine. Stop with the jealousy.”

Jealousy
. That was her favorite word, even when it didn’t make sense. Why would I be jealous of them? She just knew how much I hated the jibe and used it liberally.

“
Fine,” I said, throwing my hands out. “I’m
so
jealous of you and Fontenot.”

Inside, we went our separate ways. For the rest of the night, our apartment was quiet and I turned in early, thinking of the way Paul’s lips felt against mine.

It was 3 a.m. when Fontenot’s obnoxious laugh reverberated outside my bedroom door. I threw a pillow over my head and drowned out their energetic
coupling
.

CHAPTER TWELVE

OUR APARTMENT WAS QUIET the next morning, and I tiptoed around not wanting to wake the “lovebirds.” Half-full beer bottles and crushed cigarettes littered our table and I scowled at Fiona’s bedroom door. Smoking?

She and I had gone through a phase when I hung out with Candace, Lucas’ ex-girlfriend, but we’d agreed to leave it behind. Fontenot had apparently convinced her to pick up the habit again. I hadn’t planned to clean before leaving for class, and didn’t have time. The trash would have to wait until I got off work because I knew Fiona wasn’t going to pick it up.

With a huff, I grabbed my bag and slammed the front door as loud as I could, taking pleasure in the small annoyance I might have caused them.

During class, I tapped my pen against my notebook, but couldn’t concentrate. My eyes drifted to my phone every few minutes and each passing hour brought another pang in my gut.

Paul hadn’t called or texted.

It was only 11 a.m. when I finished with my classes, but I knew he was awake and doing
something.
He’d said he had to be up early. Why hadn’t he texted me?

As I pulled up to Faeries and Moonbeams,
I ran two frustrated hands down my face. When did I become so needy and insecure? I needed to relax. He said he’d call and he would. After a calming breath, I walked into the store.