Somebody Like You: A Small Town Single Mom Romance (The Heartbreak Brothers Book 4)

by Carrie Elks

  “Ice cream sounds good,” she told him, standing up and collecting the plates, as the boys cleared away the rest of the dinner. “I think we all deserve a double scoop.”

  How’s your shoulder? – C xx

  A little better, thank you. – M

  How much better? Give me a percentage? Has the doctor cleared you to play on Saturday? – C xx

  Mia stared at the screen, the sound of her pulse loud in her ears. These snatched messages with Cam, his little gestures of caring, and the way he was chasing her – they were tiny pinpricks of light through the dark of the night. She wanted to see him again. Not just across a football field while they were both playing their roles, the way they would on Friday. But the real him. The Cam who knew how to make her body sing.

  Who knew how to chase all the melancholy away and make her feel good.

  A smile curled at her lips as she tapped out a reply.

  Okay, but I’m bringing breakfast. – M She stared at it, then added two xxs. He’d been sending kisses in all his messages, but it was the first time she’d returned them.

  Would he notice? Pressing send, she watched as the two blue ticks appeared.

  And she didn’t feel afraid or guilty or anything she thought she would. She just felt alive.

  Yes you are. And I can’t wait to eat you. I’m starving. C xxx

  He’d added an extra kiss. It was stupid how much that made her smile.

  Chapter Eighteen

  “Are you close?” His breath was hot and heavy in her ear. She could feel a sheen of perspiration clinging to her skin, mixing with his as their bodies moved in unison. Mia swallowed a gasp as he moved his lips to her throat, scraping his teeth along her skin as he rocked his hips against her.

  “I can’t… not again.” Her words were breathless. She felt like a ragdoll, limp beneath him. As he’d promised, they’d started in the hall, the breakfast she’d brought discarded on the polished wooden floor, where he’d dropped to his knees and pressed his face against her thighs, leaving her in no doubt how hungry he was.

  That’s where her first orgasm had happened. Hot and fast, like a firework rushing through her body. The second was on the stairs, as he’d pulled her onto his lap and made her ride him, his circling hips squeezing every last ounce of pleasure from her as she’d clamped her body around him.

  He’d tried to press his mouth against her center again, even though he hadn’t come. She’d squealed, feeling so sensitive, and had managed to run away from him, laughing loudly as she scrambled up the stairs, his loud stomps behind her.

  Then he’d captured her, lifting her easily into his arms and throwing her onto his bed. This time, when he’d tried to pull her legs apart, she crawled across the mattress and taken him into her mouth, swirling her tongue around him as he knotted his fingers into her hair.

  “Touch yourself,” he’d rasped. “As you suck me.”

  She’d done as she was told, letting out a cry as she’d reached another peak. And though he’d swelled inside her, he still hadn’t come.

  But now he was close. She could tell from the shortness of his breath against her throat, from the arrhythmic thrust of his hips as he tried to stop the inevitable pleasure. Sliding his hand between them, his fingers sought her out, circling against the intense part of her that made her gasp.

  “I can’t…” she told him again.

  “Yeah, you can,” he rasped out. “Feel it. Let it wash over you. I’m not coming until you do.”

  This time, when it came, the intensity of her orgasm left her breathless as Cam stilled his body, spilling inside of her. He let out a low groan, his lips capturing hers, kissing and scraping against her mouth as though he couldn’t get enough.

  He dug his fingers into her behind, pulling her closer as his climax heightened. “Look at me,” he said, his fingers biting harder.

  She tipped her head back, her green eyes meeting his hazel, as he slid his hands up her spine and raised her to him, his chest hot against hers. Her back was arched away from the bed, her breasts and stomach flat against his chest, their skin sticky and sweaty as he throbbed and emptied inside of her.

  Letting out a mouthful of air, he slowly lowered her back to the mattress, pressing his brow against hers as his eyes captured her gaze again.

  “Jesus.” He blew out again. “I think you broke me.”

  She grinned up at him. “You broke me first.”

  Laying back on the mattress, he hooked his arm around her, pulling her body against his. “Send me the massage bill.”

  She smiled softly against his chest. “Maybe you should be the one doing the massaging. You’re pretty talented with your fingers.”

  “You’d like that, wouldn’t you? Me showing up at your work and giving you all my massage skills?”

  “Um, no.” She shook her head. Her whole body felt light, like somebody had pumped her full of helium. “It’d be better if you hid under my desk and came out when I need you.”

  He pressed his lips against her hair. “When do I start?”

  She nestled closer to him. Another hour and she’d have to leave. But she was too tired and way too comfortable to think about that now. “You’d be too distracting. I’d get fired within a day.”

  “Yeah, but what a way to go. With me stashed between your knees.”

  She burst out laughing. “Can you imagine the scandal? No, I think I like you right here. In bed, waiting for me whenever I need some more rehab.”

  “Speaking of rehab. I see some definite improvement, but a full recovery is going to take longer than I thought. I’m not sure if you gave it your all today.”

  Her eyebrows lifted. “I gave it everything.”

  “You ran away from me.”

  “That’s because you were going to kill me with orgasms.”

  His smile was crooked. “Is that a thing? Is it even possible?”

  “I don’t know, but I’ve got no desire to find out.” She traced her finger over his chest, her lips curling when his pectorals flexed. “What if I’m busy next Saturday?”

  “Cancel it.”

  “I’m supposed to be having coffee with your sister,” she told him.

  “Meet her on Sunday,” he murmured, trailing his fingers down her spine. “Saturday mornings are mine.”

  “Until you leave town,” she said, because she was a masochist.

  “Yeah, until then.” He was quiet for a moment, as though deep in thought. “Can I ask you something?” He tipped his head to catch her gaze.

  Her brows dipped. “Okay, but I won’t promise to answer.”

  “If I was staying, would you come out on a date with me?”

  “Are we talking hypothetically?”

  “Of course.” His hand reached the dip of her back, his palm pressing against it.

  “Possibly. Though not right away. I’d need to prepare Michael and Josh for me dating anybody.”

  “Their dad is dating, right?” Cam asked. “Michael said something about that.”

  “Did he tell you Niall is going to visit? To watch him play.”

  “He might have said something.”

  “Yeah, well I’m not holding my breath. Niall says a lot of stuff that he doesn’t follow through on. But for Michael’s sake, I hope he does. He misses his dad.”

  “How about you?”

  She tipped her head to the side. “What about me?”

  “Do you miss him?” His voice was low.

  She had to press her lips together to stop herself from laughing. “Oh god, no. I really don’t. Sometimes I’m wistful about the boys when they were babies, and the life we had in Kansas City, but I don’t miss Niall at all.” She looked down at her hands, inspecting her fingers. “Can I tell you something?” she whispered. “Something I’ve never told anybody else.”

  His eyes flashed. “Yeah, you can tell me anything.”

  She took a deep breath. “Do you know how I knew it was over?”

  Cam blinked. “How?”

 
; “I took the boys away one weekend. Niall couldn’t join us because he was working. We stayed at an amusement park. Had so much fun without him, and the boys seemed to bloom. But it was that Sunday night, when we got back and the boys were in bed that I found out.”

  “What did you find out?”

  “Niall told me he’d met somebody else. That he was leaving me. I was getting into bed when he’d told me. And I realized that the photo I have of the boys on my bedside table had moved, so I asked him if he’d brought her to our house.”

  “Had he?”

  She nodded. “Yeah. And do you know what the first thing I thought was?”

  “That you wanted to pull his balls off?”

  Mia laughed. “No, though that would have been good, too. It was that I hadn’t cleaned the bedroom that week, and she’d slept on dirty sheets. Can you believe that? That’s how I knew we were over. I was more embarrassed about the state of my house than the fact my husband was leaving me?”

  “Yeah, I can believe it. The mind does strange things. So why isn’t he around more? Doesn’t he want to see the boys?”

  “I think he was going through a midlife crisis. I told you before, we got together young. Too young. When he left, I think he was pretending he was eighteen again and there was no place in his life for a teenager and an eight year old.”

  “You think he got over his crisis? Is that why he wants to see Michael?”

  She shrugged. “I don’t know, and honestly, I don’t care. As long as he doesn’t hurt them, he’s entitled to see them. He’s their dad.”

  “And if he wants to see you?” Cam murmured, two tiny lines appearing on his brow.

  She lifted her gaze to his. “Are you asking if I want him back?”

  The corner of his lip curled. “I guess I am.”

  “No. I definitely don’t want him back. I think we were over long before he cheated, and I was just fighting against it. I don’t like the way he left, and I’m furious about what he did to our business, but I wouldn’t go back to him for any reason.”

  Cam’s muscles relaxed as he breathed her in, her hair tickling his nose.

  “How about you?” she asked him, inclining her head to capture his gaze.

  “What about me?”

  She pulled her lip between her teeth. Damn, she was sexy. Even sexier when she looked uncertain about something.

  He loved the way she always kept him guessing.

  “What ended your last relationship?”

  “I haven’t had one in a while.” He shrugged.

  “You dated that supermodel. Soraya.” Mia swallowed. “She’s very beautiful.”

  “We saw each other a few times. I wouldn’t exactly call it a relationship. I think the press was more invested than we were.”

  Mia rolled onto her front, resting her hands on his chest and propping her chin on them. “Why didn’t it go any further?”

  He screwed his nose up. “You really want to talk about this? It’s old history.”

  “I guess I just want to know more about you. You know all about my marriage breakdown. You’ve spent time with my family. You’re an enigma compared to me.”

  “You could just Google me,” he suggested. “I’m not exactly a closed book. What you see is what you get.”

  “I don’t believe that for a moment.” She smiled at him. “Your online presence is probably managed to death. And anyway, there’s nothing on the internet that tells me why you aren’t still dating Soraya.”

  “So you have been Googling me,” he murmured, tracing his finger down her spine. “That’s kind of hot.”

  “I notice you keep avoiding my question,” she said, tipping her head to the side.

  “Okay. We met when I was doing a cologne commercial. I was the big brawny football player, she was the woman who stopped me in my tracks. You might have seen it. All dark with stupid music playing.” He’d never lived that one down with his brothers. And of course, he got at least one bottle of cologne from them every Christmas. It was like a thing now.

  “And you fell for each other?”

  He laughed. “We didn’t exactly fall. We talked and she was fun. We went out on a few dates. And then she got busy with her work, I got busy with the season, and it felt too hard. Neither of us was invested enough to coordinate our schedules. That spoke pretty loud. So we stopped seeing each other.”

  “Did you have sex?”

  He blinked, surprised by the question. “Yeah.”

  “I guess you’ve had sex with a lot of people.” She smiled. “It’s alien to me, you know? You’re only my second.”

  There was a wobble in her voice that belied her calm expression. Just the merest hint of insecurity. Somehow it made her even more attractive, more real.

  He liked that she showed her flaws. He had enough of his own, after all.

  “I’m thirty years old, so I’ve had a few partners. But probably not as many as you think.” And never one he wanted to see as much as her. He loved the way she made him laugh. The way she challenged him, made him work for what he wanted.

  She shifted on his chest.

  “What’s wrong?” he asked. He knew they were walking a tight line in this conversation. The most confident of people felt exposed when talking about their sexual history, after all. And she’d taken one of the biggest knocks of all.

  “I’m being stupid.” Her eyes were warm, even though her voice was wary. “I just keep thinking about you being with supermodels, and then, me.”

  “You think I compare you to them?”

  “Honestly? I don’t think you do. But I compare me to them. And maybe that’s worse.”

  He hooked his arm around her waist, pulling her against his naked body, until she was laying over him. Running his hands down her back, he pressed his lips against her throat. “You’re the most beautiful woman I’ve ever met,” he told her, sliding his palms over her behind. “You may not think it, because you’ve been through a lot these past years, but somewhere inside you have to know it. Because I knew it from the moment I saw you standing at the front door, your eyes flashing fire at me because I was chasing your kids. Do you know how fierce you are when you’re in protection mode? It was hot and scary at the same time.”

  She laughed, running her hands over his short hair. “Come over any day at about six. You’ll see me really losing it then.”

  “I’d come over to your place any time.”

  “I know you would. And in a different life, that would work. But not this one.”

  No, not this one. And it made his stomach feel tight, because for the first time in forever he could see another kind of life for himself. One where he had a kick-ass woman always beside him. With two kids who weren’t his but who were funny and clever, and saw him as something more than a coach.

  A life that made him feel like he finally belonged somewhere off the field, the way he hadn’t in more than twenty years.

  But he didn’t want to think about what he couldn’t have. He wanted to enjoy the moment, having her in his arms. Because her soft, sweet body felt amazing against his.

  “We have an hour until you have to go,” Cam whispered, hitching her against him, as he kissed his way up her neck. “Let’s see if I can make you scream my name this time.”

  Chapter Nineteen

  It was almost six. How the hell had it gotten so late? Mia saved the document she’d been working on and searched through the papers on her desk for her phone. She was supposed to have left half an hour ago – to make dinner and finish working with Josh on his project. Like her, he had a big presentation tomorrow. And they were both as nervous as hell.

  As she grabbed her jacket, she typed up a quick message to Michael.

  Running late. Just leaving work now. Can you grab a pizza from the freezer and turn the oven on? Mom xx

  She was rushing down the hallway when his reply appeared.

  It’s okay, we’re going to order in. It’s all under control. You still like Hawaiian, right? – Michael
xx

  Okay, but check if there are any coupons before you order. – Mom xx

  Chill. It’s all under control. See you later. Michael xx

  Unlocking her car, Mia let her muscles relax. Michael was growing up. He wasn’t a man yet, but he was definitely more responsible than he’d been in Kansas City. Maybe the move had done him good after all. As promised, he’d helped Josh with his project this week. The three of them had sat at the table every evening, Mia working on her own presentation and her sons bent over Josh’s life size man ‘with his guts spilling out’.

  Josh’s words, of course.

  It had been sweet watching the two of them together. Not squabbling or ignoring each other, but actually having fun as they glued body parts and identified them with black sharpies. Now the body was complete, and tonight was all about working on Josh’s presentation.

  And hers. Because tomorrow was a big day for her, too.

  She was loving working on the new blend. Everybody at G. Scott Carter was excited about the potential of their new product, and she was determined to make the marketing plan shine. Eliana had even nodded her head when Mia had given them a run down at the last board meeting, looking impressed at the first draft Mia had made.

  She hoped her boss was as impressed tomorrow. The whole board would be there – including Eliana’s other son, Daniel, who was Skyping in from Scotland, and her two step-children. They wanted to start moving forward with their plans, ready for the big launch next year, and Mia’s project was an important part of that.

  She was excited and anxious as well as every emotion in between. Thank god for Cam and the way he made her smile. Thinking about Saturday was one of the things that was keeping her going. His body was an amazing stress reliever.

  The house was quiet when she opened the front door, dropping her briefcase on the floor as she kicked off her heels, feeling the warmth of the wooden slats against her stockinged feet.

  “Hello!” she called out. “Where are you guys?”

  “We’re in the living room,” Josh piped up. “We’ve been waiting for you. Hurry up, I want to show you something.”