“You don’t need anything but you.”
“But Joe?”
“I’ve got Joe covered, sweetheart. Just go and have some girl time. You deserve it.”
I give her a little push out the door and in the direction of the car.
“I need my bag,” she argues.
“No you don’t. This is on me. All of it.”
“Luke you can’t—”
I grin at her as she tries to turn back and argue with me. “I already did,” I interrupt her protests. “All I need you to do is make sure my sister doesn’t ding up my car or get any speeding tickets. Alright?”
I steer her towards the vehicle by her shoulders.
I open the door and all but put her inside.
“Are you sure?” she asks as she does up her belt.
I chuckle. She’s so sweet. I know she hates taking handouts from anyone, but I can see how excited she is about this afternoon. Mia never treats herself or takes time out for her, but all that is about to change. I’m here to take care of her now.
“Look after my girl, Em.”
My sister salutes me and gives the engine an impatient rev.
“Jesus,” I mutter under my breath. My sister isn’t exactly known for being the most level-headed of drivers.
I give Mia a quick kiss on the lips before I shut the door and then they’re gone.
I grab the bag I left on the step and head off to find my favourite little man.
***
“We’re baaack,” I hear with a giggle from the entry of Mia’s house.
I smile – just hearing her is enough to make me happy. “Mumma’s back,” I tell Joe.
His little face breaks out into a grin and he gets to his feet and rushes from the room, following the sound of Mia’s voice.
I glance around at the huge race car track we’ve set up on the living room floor and chuckle. I’m not sure which one of us was having more fun with this project.
Mia appears in the doorway with Joe on her hip, and I can physically feel my eyes bulging out of my head as I look her up and down.
She looks unbelievably gorgeous.
She’s had her hair, makeup and nails done today, plus a massage and whatever else my sister managed to milk out of my credit card. There’s a twinkle in Mia’s eye that I haven’t seen for a while.
She looks like she’s finally living again. She looks happy.
“Jesus, Mia,” I breathe. “You look beautiful.”
She might be wearing makeup, but it’s not heavy enough to hide the blush on her cheeks as I admire her.
“You spoilt me,” she scolds in a voice that makes it obvious she’s not actually mad in the slightest.
Emily appears in the doorway, looking as relaxed as I’ve ever seen her. “We got the works,” she announces triumphantly.
“I’m sure you did,” I muse.
Unlike Mia, Em is more than happy to spend my money.
I ignore my sister and approach Mia. “Seriously, sweetheart, you look incredible.”
“Thank you.” She bites down on her bottom lip nervously.
“Look how pretty your mumma is, Joe.”
“Mumma pwetty,” he parrots.
Mia’s smile widens.
I cup her face gently in my hands and really look at her beautiful eyes. They look so much brighter and alive framed with thick, dark lashes.
“Did you have fun?” I ask her quietly, doing my best to have a private moment with her even though my sister is still lingering like a bad smell.
“It was the best, thank you, Luke, you always know what I need.”
“Aww you two are so cute,” Emily gushes.
She reaches for Joe and tugs him out of Mia’s arms. “C’mon, Joe Joe, let’s give these love birds some private time.”
“Where da bwirds?” Joe looks around animatedly at the prospect of doing some bird spotting.
I chuckle at Em having to explain that there aren’t actually any birds.
“We trashed the living room.”
Mia doesn’t even glance around to inspect the mess, instead she steps in closer to me, and fists my shirt in her hands. “Good,” she whispers.
I’m still holding her face and I’m not sure I’ll ever be able to let go.
I lean in slowly and brush my lips against hers. “I missed you.”
“I missed you too.” She giggles quietly. “It seems silly, but I spent half the time I was away thinking about what you and Joe were doing back here.”
“Well if it makes you feel any better, he didn’t ask about you once,” I reply with a grin.
“Luke!” She lightly smacks my chest. “That’s mean.”
I shrug. “The kid loves me, what am I meant to do about it?”
She giggles. “I can’t argue with that.”
“Go get dressed,” I whisper as I kiss her again, deeper this time.
“I haven’t been on a date since high school,” she replies quietly.
Since Troy, I think to myself. But I don’t say it. I know Troy will always be a part of our lives, and I wouldn’t have it any other way, but tonight, just for this one night – I want it to only be about Mia and I.
“Well, put on something nice, because I’m taking you out.”
“Where are we going?” she asks, excitement dancing in her eyes.
I laugh. “You know I’m not going to tell you that.”
She pouts.
I turn her around and point her in the direction of the staircase. “And pack a bag. If it’s okay with you, I’m going to keep you until tomorrow.”
She turns back around and gapes at me.
I know she’s going to ask about Joe, so I get in before she can.
“Em and Caleb have agreed to stay over tonight and look after Joe together – he’s in good hands.”
I expect some kind of argument, but what I get is the opposite.
She claps her hands together excitedly and rushes off up the stairs.
It’s only then that I realise this will be the first night that Mia has had away from Joe in the two years he’s been here.
She’s well overdue for a break. Even though he’s the coolest kid in town, he’s still a lot of work, and Mia is here doing it on her own most of the time.
But she won’t be on her own much longer – not if I have my way.
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Mia
I smooth down my dress over my thighs as I glance nervously back at Luke.
He looks so handsome. He’s had a shave, and what was fast becoming an unruly beard is now trimmed, sexy stubble.
His hair has been cut and styled.
I’m not the only one who got cleaned up for tonight.
He looks seriously gorgeous.
I almost feel guilty – not for betraying Troy this time – but because I’ve somehow managed the good fortune of having two handsome men love me, where others have none.
“Are you hungry?” He smiles at me as he notices my ogling.
I’m starved, both for food and for him. The thought makes me blush and he grins wider, almost as though he can read my thoughts.
“Sure am,” I reply with a nervous giggle.
“You’re nervous,” he states.
I nod. “I’m freaking out.”
He shakes his head in amusement. “You know me, Mia, I come over more than twice a week… well, when I’m not injured… I bring you flowers every Tuesday. We’ve basically been dating for a long time now.” He chuckles. “There’s nothing to be nervous about.”
“But this is different.” I wince. “This is a real date.”
He takes one hand off the wheel and reaches over to squeeze my leg.
“I think it’s cute.”
“I think you’re cute.”
He chuckles and puts his hand back on the wheel. “You’re damn right I am.” He grins, looking thoroughly pleased with himself.
It makes my heart feel happy to see him like this. I know I’ve had struggles over the years
, but Luke has too. He’s worn a lot of the responsibility of the life Troy left behind, but with very little of the rewards that go with that life.
I don’t think of myself as a prize of any sort, but it’s clear that Luke does, and if being with me makes him feel like this – happy and content – then it’s a win-win situation as far as I’m concerned.
He doesn’t seem to see Joe and I as an obligation or a chore, he sees us as a trophy he can’t wait to collect.
It shocks me, how much love I feel when I look at him, but there’s no denying it now.
It’d be like trying to live without breathing.
Impossible.
I’ve never been blind to the connection between us, but I guess I wasn’t looking at it from the right angle… or maybe I had my eyes shut.
I don’t know what the reasoning was… but I see it now. And now that I’ve seen it, I can’t look away.
“We’re here,” he announces, and I realise I’ve slipped into a Luke-filled day dream yet again. It’s becoming a frequent occurrence for me.
I really am like a teenager all over again, all I need now is a notebook to doodle his name in with a bunch of love hearts scrawled around and the whole package will be complete.
He stops the car and gets out to open my door for me. He’s only got a slight limp as he walks now, his bruises have faded and gone and his cuts are nothing more than shiny scars now.
I just about drool at the sight of him in his navy blue suit and crisp white shirt as he rounds the hood.
He looks incredible.
I might feel like I’m sixteen all over again, but this is certainly no teenager holding his hand out for mine.
Nope, Luke is all man.
He’s looking at me with that expression I can’t place as I step out of the car.
It’s intense, too intense to look right at, and it’s focused solely on me, like the rest of the world doesn’t even exist anymore when he’s looking at me the way he is now.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
His mouth curves up into a smile, but his eyes don’t soften – they’re still smouldering.
I feel like a zebra, waiting for the lion to close in and devour me.
“I just can’t get over how mouth-watering you look.” He almost growls the words at me. “You’ve got no idea what you’re doing to me, do you, Mia?”
To be fair, I could probably make a pretty educated guess, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable making the assumption. It still shocks me to the core that I’m here… he’s here… that we’re here together because he was able to see the woman underneath the broken pile of rubble.
Not only did he see me, but he’s spent so much time putting me back together piece by piece. What once seemed like a mountain of destruction is only a small pile now – and that’s mostly in thanks to him.
“You are so god damn sexy in that dress.”
I tug on the hem nervously. I haven’t worn a dress this short since before I had Joe, and my body isn’t exactly the same as it used to be.
“Leave it,” he murmurs as he leads me towards the door. “You look incredible.”
“Are you sure it’s not too short?” I murmur nervously.
He pulls on the handle and gestures for me to go in ahead of him – always a gentleman.
“As far as I’m concerned, it’s not short enough,” he replies with a cheeky grin.
It’s incredible how his smile can relax me.
I’ve barely stepped inside and he’s right there next to me again, his big warm hand making my skin tingle even through the fabric on the back of my dress.
“Table for Luke Kingsford,” he tells the woman behind the small counter with a charming smile.
“Mr. and Mrs. Kingsford,” she says, “right this way.”
I know I’m not Luke’s wife, but I don’t bother correcting her, and much to my surprise, neither does he.
***
“Do you ever miss it?” I ask as I sip my glass of wine. “Or think of going back?”
I know it’s a bit of a loaded question, given that Luke’s exit from the Army was made earlier than anticipated and far more dramatically than what it should have been.
He and Troy had both enlisted at the same time, at nineteen years old and worked their way through the ranks. Troy was a corporal and Luke was a specialist and medic.
They started together, progressed together and should have left together – I guess technically they did, but Luke came back on his own two feet, while Troy came back in a box.
He sits down the bottle of beer he’s been drinking from and cocks a brow at me.
“The Army?” he asks.
I nod.
“God no.” He shakes his head as though the very idea of going back makes him shudder. “I have no desire to be a soldier ever again, Mia.”
“It can’t have been all bad…”
“It wasn’t,” he replies quickly. “It’s nothing against the Army at all, sweetheart, it’s just… it’s not for me anymore. I made some great buddies over the years and I learnt some irreplaceable skills… I got to help a lot of people and serve our country, but I’ll never go back.”
“Why?” I cock my head to the side and watch him with intrigue. I can see he’s not particularly comfortable talking about this, but I want to know everything about him, the good, the bad and the ugly. I want to see it all.
“Other than losing Troy… I learnt it wasn’t for me – that life. I like some space to breathe and there’s always someone right next to you in the Army. I learnt a lot about myself in those years… I didn’t want the military to become me. I wanted to explore the world and one day find someone to share my life with. I saw how hard it was for Troy and the other guys with wives and kids to leave on each deployment. I didn’t want to be that kind of dad or husband.”
“You had plans to pursue something in the field of medicine when you got out,” I prompt.
I know he had plans. Big plans… to travel and study. Plans that didn’t include babysitting his best friend’s widow and child.
“Plans can change in the blink of an eye,” he says with a shrug, as though giving up everything he ever wanted doesn’t faze him in the slightest.
“I don’t want to be the reason that you didn’t do all the things you wanted to do, Luke.”
Someone walks past the table and his eyes dart out to look at them before finding me again.
I’d forgotten where we were, that we weren’t alone here.
I’ve learnt that Luke has the ability to do that to me. He makes everything else slip away until it’s just him and I.
It’s a dangerous concept that I feel myself craving.
He reaches across the table and takes my hand in his – his thumb gently stroking up and down my skin.
“But you are the reason.” There’s so much intensity swimming in his eyes that I can’t even find it within me to argue with him about his response. “You’re not holding me back from anything, Mia…” he says quietly. “But you have changed my mind about what it is I want. Believe me when I say I’m not missing out on anything… everything I want lives under your roof.”
“What about seeing the world?” I whisper. I’m so overwhelmed by his confessions that my voice has decided to abandon me.
“It’s not going anywhere.” He shrugs. “Maybe one day we’ll go and see it together.”
“I’d like that.”
He grins at me and it makes my heart falter. “Don’t you worry about me, Mia, I’m perfectly content.”
“What about your dreams of being a medic?”
Luke would have been smart and dedicated enough to be a doctor if he wanted to be, but he’s told me on more than one occasion that that’s not what his dream was.
He liked being the first point of contact in a crisis. He wanted to be able to do something for someone that needed it urgently.
He’s always been a bearer of hope.
“I’m not saying never, but not right
now. It’s just not something I could do at this point in my life.”
I nod and give his hand a gentle squeeze.
I don’t push him any further on it. I know the reason behind that already. Watching your best friend die and not being able to do a thing to stop it is bound to change your perspective on everything.
He wouldn’t be human if it hadn’t made him revaluate his priorities. It certainly made me take another look at mine.
“Enough about me, what about you, Mia? You always wanted to be a vet nurse, when are you going to follow your own dreams?”
I knew it was only a matter of time before he turned this interrogation session around on me, and it would seem that time has come.
He’s right – although I’m certain I haven’t spoken to him about my career aspirations for years – I always wanted to be a vet nurse.
In fact, I even did two years of study before Troy and I moved out here and bought the house.
I put my study on hold to work so that we could afford the place, and the intention was always that I’d go back and finish my qualification once Troy retired from the Army.
Obviously that part never happened.
It’s been over two years now, and I know I can’t stay at home with Joe forever, but I wish I could. He’s only got one parent, and I don’t want him to feel like he’s been pushed aside by me.
“I still need to finish my study… Maybe when Joe goes to school I’ll find the time.”
We’ve been living off the payout we got from the military when Troy died. His life insurance took care of the mortgage and our credit card debt, so Joe and I get by okay, but it’s not a permanent solution by any means.
“You could study part time, from home.” He picks up his beer and takes a long drink as I watch him carefully.
He’s making the suggestion so casually, but something tells me he knows more about this than he’s letting on.
I raise my brows at him and he grins sheepishly as he drops the bottle from his lips.
“I might have asked Em to look into it for you.”
I shouldn’t be surprised – his consideration knows no bounds – but somehow, I still am.
Mr. March: A Friends to Lovers Romance (Calendar Boys Book 3) Page 11