"Excuse me," a soft voice broke into our laughter.
We both turned and looked at this older woman who sat alone in the corner opposite us.
"I couldn't help but watch the two of you. You remind me of me and my husband. We used to come here once a year and do the same thing."
I looked to Bryce and smiled.
"That is wonderful. Is your husband getting your chocolate selection?" Bryce asked. "He really needs to get you the raspberry one." We both laughed and she gave a thoughtful smile.
"No, I'm afraid he isn't. I am here alone. He passed away five years ago. I make the trip here once a year, only on our anniversary. It fills my heart with the memories we shared, but I fear this may be my last year. My health hasn't been very good." She smiled at me, tears in her eyes.
"I'm sorry to hear that."
The lady nodded and looked down at her cup. "How long have the two of you been married?" she asked.
"Oh no, we're not married. We’re just old friends," I blurted out, looking over at Bryce.
"Could have fooled me. You two have a certain…something. I can see it. The way you look at one another, the way your body language speaks to one another, you are going to get married." We both looked at one another. "I can tell. You see, you look at one another like me and my Charlie looked at each other. Give it time."
I looked at Bryce and him at me, a soft smile coming to his lips.
"I'm sorry if I made you both uncomfortable. I didn't mean anything by it." She began gathering her things. "I must be going. Enjoy your afternoon."
We both sat in silence, looking at one another as we watched her stand up from the table and make her way to the front door, waving and calling out good-byes to some of the girls behind the counter.
"That was weird. What do you say we make our way over to the antique shop you wanted to check out?" Bryce said, clearing his throat.
"Yes, let’s."
We spent the afternoon, holding hands, wandering around town, and going in and out of all kinds of little shops. I made a couple of small purchases at the local bookstore. We were just about to call for the cab when we passed by the grocery store.
"We should probably grab something for dinner tonight," I said, grabbing Bryce by the hand and pulling him into the store.
Chapter 12
Bryce
When we arrived back at the house, Mia went to lie down after we put the groceries away, and I went to my office. I had been working away when I glanced at the clock on my desk. It was almost 6:00 p.m. I hadn't planned on working that long and hit send on one final email and shut my laptop down. While we had been out, Chase had called and needed a couple of documents I had stored on my computer so he could send them off to my clients. He had promised me he would take care of anything for me while he was at the office this weekend, so I could focus on relaxing.
I sat back in my office chair thinking about Mia, wondering if she was still sleeping. We had spent a wonderful afternoon together, and for some reason, after only a couple of hours apart, I was already aching to be back beside her.
I didn't want to bother her just yet, though. I wanted her to rest, so I figured that I could at least make us a good dinner before the movie we had agreed on watching tonight.
I wandered into the kitchen and pulled out the two sirloin steaks we had purchased in town and busied myself seasoning them to perfection. Then I began working on the accompanying side dishes: sautéed mushrooms and onions and garlic mashed potatoes. While everything was cooking, I set the table, pulled my favorite Cabernet Sauvignon from the wine rack, and grabbed the candles from the drawer.
As I set them on the table, I could hear my ex's words in the back of my mind from that night that felt like forever ago.
“You’re a selfish bastard. You make us dinner just to break it to me that you must go to work. You always expect me to keep everything up, and the one time in the last few months that you cook dinner for us, you can't even take the time to sit down and eat it with me.”
Those words still haunted me, but it was so far from the truth that I didn’t even know why they bothered me as much as they did. Regardless, I never wanted another person to think that way of me again, especially Mia. I don't know why I was worried about that or even thinking that way. Whatever this was, it was in no way the same thing. Mia and I had only just gotten reacquainted, and to be honest, after this weekend was over, who even knew if I would ever see her again.
Once the table was set and the side dishes were well on their way to being cooked, I turned the oven on and put the steaks in. I had planned to barbecue, but since we had been back, more snow had started to fall.
It wasn't long before the timer had gone off and dinner was ready. I shut the oven off and yelled down the hall to Mia to let her know dinner was ready while I plated the food. I placed the plates in our respective spots and sat waiting before realizing I had forgotten music and quickly set my phone to play a romantic mix of music.
I kept thinking I heard her coming toward the kitchen, but after waiting for ten minutes, I realized she wasn't coming and perhaps she was still asleep.
I got up from my chair and wandered down the hall. The bedroom door was still shut tight, and wild thoughts passed threw my mind of ways I could slowly wake her up. I pressed my ear to the door and could hear her muted voice, sounding frustrated.
Frowning, I reached for the doorknob and opened the bedroom door to find her buried under a mountain of paperwork, her hair a frazzled mess, and she looked exhausted and stressed. Her cell phone was pressed to her ear and she wore a very frustrated look on her face.
"No, you are not looking at it right. Column B, Mark, check column B," she mumbled under her breath.
She was just about to say something else when she noticed me standing there, watching her shove her hair away from her face in a panic. She placed her hand over the mouthpiece and whispered, "Bryce it’s not a good time. I need to get this done. I can't talk right now." She huffed and went back into her phone call, shoving more papers around on her desk and barking instructions into the phone.
Instead of leaving, I leaned up against the doorframe and continued to watch her. She was so stressed there was no way I was leaving. There wasn’t a job or career in the world that should get a person into a state like she was in right now.
She balled her fists and inhaled deeply, gritting her teeth at whoever or whatever was being said on the other end of the phone. Without another word, she hung up and threw her cell phone down on the desk. Gripping the back of the chair, she hung her head. There would be no more of this for her tonight. This vacation was not about this or whatever was going on back home at work for her.
I stepped into the room and placed both of my hands on her shoulders, gently massaging the tension she held there. I pressed my body against hers, inhaling the scent of her lotion, and closed my eyes while I continued to massage her shoulders. I wanted to bawl her out for not resting like she was supposed to have been. It looked like she had been working this entire time. Instead of saying what was on my mind I continued to massage her shoulders, until the tension in her body finally loosened.
"You know, I have this wonderful steak dinner ready in the kitchen for the two of us, a couple bottles of wine, and a rich chocolate cake from that bakery for dessert. I say you close everything down, shut off that cell phone, and come with me," I said, sucking her earlobe between my lips. "I promise to distract you from all of this."
I was more than prepared for an argument than I ever had been when she surprised me by doing exactly what I had suggested.
"You’re right." That was all she murmured before she leaned back into me and took my hand in hers.
I reached and shut the light off and together we walked to the kitchen.
Two hours later, with full bellies, we were wrapped together in a blanket on the couch, with two empty wineglasses sitting on the table in front of us. We had shut the TV off long ago, and she lay beside me, wrapped in my arms
, her leg over mine and her head on my chest while she traced tiny circles on my bare chest and watched the fire dance, the only sound in the room the crackle of the fire. I absolutely loved the feel of her fingers dancing over my skin.
"Feeling better?" I asked.
"Much. Thank you."
I kissed the top of her head and wrapped my arms around her tighter.
"Can I ask you a question?"
"Of course."
She went quiet, and I felt her swallow hard. She didn't lift her head to look at me. I just heard her tiny voice ask the question I had been praying she wouldn't ask.
"Earlier you said something about waiting for me. Why did you never..."
I closed my eyes. Those words had slipped out. She was never supposed to hear them. Me and my fucking alcohol.
"I mean, if you liked me, that is, then why did you never take a chance?"
I could feel the nerves creeping into my stomach as if I were still that sixteen-year-old boy standing in front of her, instead of the thirty-five-year-old man I now was. I let out a breath. "I wanted you from the first day I laid eyes on you. I remember it like it was yesterday. You came walking down the stairs in the hallway of your parents’ house, you had on ripped jean shorts and a yellow tank top. You wore your hair up in this cute messy ponytail, pieces of hair falling in your face. Your brother introduced us, and I remember you walking into the kitchen and my eyes instantly flew to your ass, your shorts low enough that I could see the black thong you were wearing. I remember thinking how bad I wanted to sink my teeth into your ass in that moment. I went into your mom's bathroom five minutes later and snapped one off."
She let out a giggle. "No you did not."
"I did too. I couldn't contain it. My dick was harder than that coffee table. I think your brother new it, too, because before I left that night, he made it extremely clear to me that you were off-limits."
She grew quiet again. "So, basically, you didn't ever ask me out or anything because of him."
I scooted down on the couch, so we were eye level. I wanted to look into those beautiful brown eyes that had always so innocently stared up at me. As soon as our eyes met, I took her mouth, my hand resting on her cheek, and kissed her deep and slow. A wave of excitement ran through me as our tongues met. I gripped her ass and pulled her against me. She needed to feel me, feel what she was doing to me. As I pulled her close again, she let out a sexy groan that almost shook me to the core.
"Come with me."
"Where?" Mia asked, looking up at me as I stood up, bent down, and picked her up fireman style and headed toward the bedroom. "Bryce, put me down." She laughed all the way down the hall. I stepped into the bedroom and laid her on the bed.
"You stay there," I whispered, kissing her lips before I went and closed the bedroom door. I turned to see her sprawled across the mattress, looking sexy as hell. She was like a dream come true to me. My eyes swept over her body as I walked back to the bed and placed both of my hands on either side of her head and leaned down to meet her lips.
"Remember where we left off earlier?" I said quietly into her ear.
"Hmmm, yes."
I lay beside her, shutting off the bedside light so we were bathed in darkness. I pulled the covers over us and pulled her into me, kissing her. I felt her hand pull at the string on my house pants, loosening them enough so that she could slip her hand inside. She grabbed hold of my aching cock, and I felt her tiny hand start to jerk me, her thumb running through the bead of precum that sat so patiently waiting for her.
I closed my eyes and lay back against the pillow, and then I felt tiny kisses on my chest. I looked down and met her eyes as she continued trailing kisses down my abs. My hand ran through her hair as she continued her descent. She pulled on the waist of my pants, and I lifted just enough for her to pull them down, and then I felt her wet, warm mouth take my cock. She swirled her tongue around me and sucked with just enough pressure that I could already feel my keyed-up body threatening to explode.
"Baby, stop."
She pulled her mouth from me and looked up at me with lust-filled eyes. I reached over and ripped a condom from the drawer and laid back down on the bed. Within seconds, I had the condom on, and she sat there looking at me, a hint of mischief in her eyes.
I reached for her hands and pulled her over me. She straddled my lap as I lined my cock up with her entrance and she slid down onto it with ease. I could see the pleasure all over her face as I filled every inch of her. Her head fell back, and she bit her full bottom lip as she ground down on me.
"Bryce, I'm going to come."
It had only been a matter of seconds that her tight pussy had been wrapped around my cock, but I didn't wait. I reached down and started stroking her clit with my thumb, while I matched her rhythm.
"Stop, Bryce." She placed her hand on top of mine, trying to get me to stop rubbing her clit, but I kept going.
"No, Mia, come for me. Just let go," I bit out, fighting to hold back my own orgasm until she came.
She was so responsive, and for a little longer, I could tell she was trying to fight off her orgasm, but I could feel her tightening around me. I gripped her waist with my one hand while continuing to stroke her clit. She was soaked, and when she tightened around me this time, I was powerless to hold back and felt myself start to let go.
Her moans filled the room as the warm rush of heat escaped her. I pulsed inside of her, emptying myself, and she collapsed on top of me while those last few pulsing blows of my orgasm left my body. I held her in my arms, while we both caught our breath. I couldn't remember the last time that sex had felt like that for me.
My fingers stroked her back as she came down, and she finally eased off me and laid down on her side. I quickly got up and expelled the condom in the garbage and went and crawled back in beside her. Slipping my arm under her head, I pulled her body into mine and tugged the covers over us, and before I knew it, we both fell asleep.
Chapter 13
Mia
I opened my eyes, the bright green numbers of the alarm clock staring at me. 10:45 a.m. I blinked hard and tried to remember what day it was. I sat up looking around the room, finding that Bryce was already up and gone. I grabbed my phone from the table. It was Monday. I had slept until almost 11:00 on a Monday morning, which was unheard of.
I slipped into my discarded clothing that was piled on the floor and left the room. The house was quiet, and I finally found Bryce in the kitchen. He had just poured himself a cup a coffee and grabbed another mug from the cupboard when I entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, sleepyhead," he said, bringing over the mug of hot coffee to me and kissing me on the cheek. "Sleep well?"
"Too well." I grinned.
"Great, that means you’re starting to unwind. I’m going to help once again with that process. I'm taking you over to the spa. You have a mud wrap and massage in exactly one hour." He popped a piece of fruit into his mouth.
"That sounds amazing. What are you going to do while I am doing that?"
"No need to worry about me, but if you must know, I am going to enjoy the sauna while you are getting pampered. So, go get dressed,” he said, handing me a bowl of fruit before leaving the kitchen." He slapped my ass as he walked by and winked at me.
I carried my mug, along with the fruit, with me down the hall, and just before I entered the room, I could already hear my cell phone ringing away. I set the mug and bowl on the table and grabbed my phone.
"It's 11:00! Where the hell are you? You were supposed to be here at 7:30."
"Who is this?"
"It's Mark, and it's Monday. Where are you?"
"I told you, I went on vacation."
"Mia stop joking around. This merger is everything, and you are supposed to be here now. I need you here," Mark barked into the phone.
Bryce walked into the bedroom and glanced at me, a worried expression on his face. He didn't say anything; he just walked over to the closet and began searching for some clothes.
>
"Listen, I told you already, I haven't had a vacation in fifteen years. I have thousands of vacation hours banked, not to mention all those unpaid overtime hours. You can't deny me."
As the words fell from my mouth, I noticed Bryce had stopped what he was doing and now sat down on the edge of the bed. I could feel him watching my every move and listening to every word I was saying.
"I do the work of probably five, if not six, people. My department shouldn't just be me, Mark. Remember what I told you before I left. I meant it."
I hung up the phone and threw it into my purse, my head pounding. I sat down on the edge of the bed beside Bryce and rested my head on his shoulder.
"Who was that?" Bryce asked, placing his arm around me.
"My boss." I rubbed my eyes. "He's in a tizzy because of the merger that is happening."
"He needs you to work?"
"Well, of course, but I have been doing this straight for fifteen years with no break, the work of probably six people. He didn't believe me when I said I was going on vacation."
"Wait a minute, you're serious? You really haven't had a vacation in fifteen years? You do realize that is against the law, right? You must have close to twenty-three, twenty-four hundred hours banked. That is like a year’s salary."
I laid back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. "Yep, and I have a pay stub to prove it too, along with about three years of overtime that hasn't been paid to me."
"What? He hasn't been paying you for your overtime either?"
I shook my head and sat back up, running my fingers through my hair. "He said to bank them and that I could have time off when needed, only they have just sat there accumulating because I never get time off." I blew out a breath. Just when I had begun to relax, as always, that luxury had been ripped away from me.
"Sounds to me like you need a lawyer. It just so happens that I know someone who would be more than happy to take on that case."
His to Hold (The Malone Brother Book 3) Page 8