Mina's Heart (5 page)

It felt good to finally have him take her like this. She’d missed being close to him. She wanted him to release her wrists so she could touch him. “You can’t even see me.”

“Don’t need to see you. I dream about you here with me, like this.”

Probably to shut up anything she might say to ruin the moment, he plunged his tongue into her mouth, tangling it with hers in a duel she couldn’t hope to win. She didn’t even try, choosing surrender instead.

Then she got her wish. He released her wrists. He ended the kiss, but his lips hovered so close to hers that she felt like they were still touching. Tunneling one arm under her shoulders, he lifted her closer, sealing her chest to his. He pumped into her, faster and faster.

“Come with me.” It was an order, but it was a plea as well. This was something he’d always said to her, often coupling it with an affirmation of love.

Mina sensed the sentiment was still there, buried under the weight of the heart she’d broken. The unspoken declaration wrapped around her core, liquid heat combining with the fire he stoked between her legs. His breathing grew ragged, and she knew he was close. So was she.

She hung on to his shoulder with one hand and the back of his neck with her other, tangling her fingers in the soft hair at his nape. Taking the chance—because it was incredibly selfish to expect him to put himself out there first—she whispered the words. “I love you, Ever.”

He cried out as she spoke, so she wasn’t sure he heard. They came together. He thrust one last time, and then he rolled to the side so he wouldn’t crush her.

She looked over at him. The clouds moved away from the moon for a moment, and she saw that he’d fallen back asleep.

She berated herself for thinking it would be that easy, and she didn’t stop the silent tears that leaked from her eyes.

Chapter Two

6.5 years ago

Most of her friends had found jobs or internships right away. Mina delayed the job-application process to return home. Her mother, Jin Ae, had been alone for four years. In the divorce, she’d been awarded the small bungalow-style home in which Mina had been raised. It was her duty to see to her mother’s health and well-being, and she couldn’t do that from California, Texas, or Virginia, the places where she’d been scoping out jobs developing new tech.

Vermont didn’t offer much, so she aimed to persuade her mother to sell the house and move with her. It would take some time to do, but Mina was convinced it wasn’t an insurmountable task.

Her plan was to begin slowly. She’d integrate herself back into her mother’s routine and then show her mother that they had nothing in Vermont worth staying for. Because her father had been strict and controlling, neither Mina nor her mother had been allowed to truly become part of the small-town community. They’d been welcome. The people had always been friendly, but the Sungs had held all nonfamily members at arm’s length.

Mina wanted a new start in a new town where she and her mother could participate in community life. She was tired of watching from the periphery. Being away at college had taught her that there was more to life than staying at home and suffering in silence as her father beat his wife and bullied his daughter.

Leaving that house was a necessary part of the healing process. The first weekend, Mina ran to town to do some shopping. She liked running these kinds of errands because it got her out of the house, and she really needed to get out. It was June, and her mother hated to venture farther than her immaculate garden.

The stores in town hadn’t changed a bit. In the past, Mina and Jin Ae had rushed through their errands because the tyrant waiting in the car timed everything. If they took longer than he thought was necessary, then he became angry. When he became angry, things never turned out well.

One of the first things her mother had done after separating from her father was to get a driver’s license. Now that she could run errands on her own, she avoided it at all costs.

Breen’s small grocery store had fresh produce and hanging baskets that overflowed with pretty flowers. In the past, Mina would have hurried by, trying to avoid looking at what would be considered a frivolous purchase. But now she was finding that she couldn’t help but stop to look.

A particularly pretty basket of red-and-white pansies caught her attention. She drew her finger over one soft petal and smiled.

“Beautiful, aren’t they?”

The strong male voice startled her at first. She hadn’t been aware of anyone nearby. She glanced up to find a massive chest occupying all the available space next to her. His short-sleeved cotton shirt was blue, and it clung to his muscular torso and emphasized his impressive arms. Following a path up his shirt, she found herself drowning in a set of foamy green eyes.

The corners of his lips were lifted in a smile that dripped sensuality. Immediately she imagined what they’d feel like against her own, and then she recognized him. The high school she’d attended hadn’t been very large. Though Everett Burke had been three years ahead of her, they had been in a couple of classes together. And she had been friendly with his younger sister. She couldn’t say they’d been friends because her father hadn’t allowed her to have friends. School and family came first. His parents had raised him that way, and now it was her turn. Mina vowed that when she had kids, they would be allowed to have friends, attend parties and sleepovers, play sports. Anything they wanted.

She hadn’t known Everett well. Their conversations had been few and far between, and they’d always been academic. While he’d frequently acknowledged her with a smile and a nod outside the classroom, they’d only ever spoken when a teacher had put them together for group work. Even then, she’d refrained from saying much. She’d found him both attractive and intimidating. He was far larger than her father, which meant he could cause far more damage, and he had been a senior when she was a freshman.

His size hadn’t changed with time, though he had filled out a little more.

She lowered her gaze. “Yes. I was thinking they would look nice on the back patio, but I’m afraid of getting dirt all over my car.”

“I have some newspaper in my truck. I meant to get to the recycle center yesterday, but I didn’t get out of work in time.” He flashed that sinful smile. “I guess the universe had a reason.”

He lifted two hanging baskets, both full of the red-and-white flowers she had admired.

“Wait.” She put her hand on his arm, the first time she’d voluntarily touched a man, much less one she found attractive. His warm skin heated her palm, and his muscles felt firm under her hand. What would it feel like to have his skin brush against hers? She froze, staring at the place where she touched him, and hoped he wouldn’t get angry.

“You don’t like these? Tell me which ones you like best.”

This would be her first frivolous purchase. She didn’t want to go overboard. “I was just going to get one.”

Everett considered each basket, and then he shook his head. “You need at least two, possibly three or four, in order for them to look good. One isn’t enough.”

Mina shook her head. “I didn’t bring that much money.”

He just grinned. “That’s okay. They’re on me.” Lifting his gaze and his volume, he shouted over her head. “Wild, add two of these.”

Mina knew Wilder Burke as well. These handsome twins greatly resembled each other, but they weren’t identical. Though they were the same height and they shared a build, Everett was just a little broader in the shoulders, and he had green eyes to Wilder’s blue ones. Plus he was better looking.

Too late, she realized he meant to pay for them. “I can’t let you do that.”

“You don’t have a choice. Where is your car? I’ll load them up for you.”

His high-handed manner gave her pause. He’d always been confident and commanding. Every girl in school had a crush on him or Wilder or their best friend Micah. Micah’s younger brother, Jude, was good-looking as well, but he was younger, and that automatically counted him out until the older boys had graduated. Then every girl spent the next two years trying to make Jude O’Connor notice them. She didn’t know which heartthrob had come next, but she was sure there was somebody now over whom the girls drooled.

Her arms were full with two bags of groceries, so she couldn’t take the baskets from him. His affable, firm expression let her know there was no point in arguing. She inclined her head toward the sedan she’d rented. She didn’t want to buy a car until she convinced her mother to move.

He followed her over, grabbed some newspapers from the bed of the truck parked in the next spot, and lined her trunk. “When did you get back in town?”

Mina set her bags down on the ground and helped him spread the paper. “Wednesday. I’m staying with my mom for a little while.”

He nodded as if she’d confirmed something he already knew. “A bunch of us are going to Elmhurst tonight. Can I pick you up at six? We could get dinner first.”

Elmhurst was a popular hangout, mostly because it was the only hangout. By day, it was a bar and restaurant. After eight on the weekends, it turned into a low-key karaoke and dance club. It took Mina several moments to process Everett’s question. She’d been asked out before, but not like this. She wasn’t sure if he was asking her if she’d go out with him or if he was assuming she’d go and he was just confirming the time.

“Are you asking me on a date?”

EVER RAN HIS hand through his hair, a nervous gesture he wished he hadn’t made because he hadn’t checked his hand for dirt yet. A smooth move to compound his mistake. He heard the incredulity in her question, and he didn’t blame her one bit.

He’d meant to ask. He’d rehearsed this scenario and ones like it in his head since the summer after his junior year in college. Four years ago he’d come home to watch his sister Danica graduate from high school, and all he’d been able to do was stare at Mina Sung, the most beautiful girl in the world.

Danica had brought Mina home from school twice in twelve years, and Danica had never once been invited to Mina’s, so the girls weren’t very close. Mina’s parents were strict and old-fashioned, and Mina hadn’t been allowed to go anywhere or do anything. Ever had toyed with the idea of asking her out, but he knew her parents wouldn't permit her to date.

Now that she was older and they had both returned from college, he figured this was the perfect opportunity to get that date he’d only dreamed about. But he’d fantasized about this moment so often he’d skipped huge parts of the conversation. Those parts included flirting and actually asking if she was interested.

Since he’d already stuck his foot in his mouth, he decided to brazen it out. He tried for his most charming smile. “Yes.”

Her brows drew together sharply. “That wasn’t a question. You just assumed I would go.” She closed her trunk.

He couldn’t let this chance pass. Luckily he had several tricks up his sleeve. He leaned against her car casually, as if she hadn’t made a move to end the conversation. “Are you busy?”

“I think you meant to ask if I was even interested.” She planted her fists on her hips, but she didn’t look angry, just a little nervous. He could deal with that.

Leaning down, he closed some of the distance her shortness put between them. “I know you’re interested. No woman who touches a man the way you did is uninterested.”

“The way I—” She put her hand to her chest and sputtered. Small spots of color darkened her cheeks. “I didn’t touch you.”

Now he was gaining control of the conversation. His goal wasn’t to humiliate or embarrass her, but he didn’t want her to think it was okay to hide her thoughts and reactions. He schooled his features into a neutral expression. “You grabbed my arm when you were trying to stop me from buying flowers for you. It’s okay. I felt it too.”

She dropped her gaze, and his jeans grew tighter at her unconscious display of submissiveness. “I didn’t mean to do that. I insist on paying you back for the flowers.”

Everett shook his head. “Not going to happen. I’ve been waiting to ask you out for four years.”

Now she looked directly at him, studying him with undisguised curiosity. “Why now?”

He took her hands in his. The fact she didn’t resist spoke volumes. “Why not now? The timing finally seems perfect. You’re twenty-two, an adult who can make her own decisions about where she goes and who she keeps company with.”

She thought about that for a minute, as if it was the first time she’d thought about her situation from that perspective. “All right, I will have dinner with you. I will meet you at Elmhurst at six thirty.”

It wasn’t the gallant setup he’d wanted, but it would do. He leaned down the rest of the way and kissed her cheek. “I’ll see you at six thirty, Mina Sung. Wear a pretty dress.”

MINA STARED IN shock at Everett’s retreating figure, and not because his ass looked so sexy in those jeans, though that view did take some of the edge off her chagrin. No man had ever kissed her before the first date. Sure, they tried afterward, and she usually refused. Everett hadn’t asked. He’d just taken what he wanted.

She couldn’t say why, but his action made her knees weak. She gathered her wits together and got into her car. Learning to drive had been a rebellious act she’d perpetrated her first year in college. Her roommate at the time had insisted that everybody should know how to drive, even if they never got a car. Once Mina had a taste of this life, she embraced it.

At six thirty exactly, she walked down the sidewalk on Main Street, heading toward Elmhurst. The building wasn’t large, and it was very, very old. Over the years, they’d remodeled to keep up with changing times. A timeline on the wall kept track of when they got indoor plumbing, electricity, an HVAC system, and wireless Internet. Lloyd, the owner with the ageless face, was very proud of his contributions.

She had chosen a colorful skirt that went down just past her knees. It said she was interested and happy to be there, but she wasn’t easy. The matching blouse had short sleeves in deference to the weather. As he’d directed, the outfit was pretty. It wasn’t sexy or revealing. She wasn’t comfortable wearing things like that.