MIA
Tonya told me to take a few extra days off. Well they’re not days off really because ‘I’m working from home’. In reality, the only thing I’m working on is how to get Dan back. I’m sitting on my couch trying to decide what to do. Should I go visit him at home and talk to him? Should I message him even though he hasn’t replied to the last message I sent him, I’m thinking that’s supposed to be a hint but I don’t care. If I don’t try something, I’ll regret it for the rest of my life. I’m tapping my finger on the screen of my phone thinking, when I hear a knock on the door. I open it to find Max, Ally and Alex standing there and not one of them waits to be invited in! “Why don’t you come on in and take a seat guys. Don’t mind me or anything, I wasn’t busy.”
“Ohhh Honey, we knew you weren’t busy, that’s why we’re here. To get you out of the doldrums and in to working out a plan to get this fella of yours back.” says Max.
“Thanks for the thought guys but I think I can and should do this on my own. I don’t want you lot scaring him away, again!” I say while looking directly at my brother!
“I know what I did, Mia and I’ve told you both that I’m sorry. Now I just want to help you win him over. I won’t apologise again but I will help you try to get him back.”
“I know that Alex, too soon to joke about it huh?” I say with a wry smile.
“I spoke to Dan first thing this morning. I didn’t want any of you to know until I’d had a chat with him.” says Ally.
“What did he have to say Pixie?”
“Well, what I can say is that he's miserable. I caught him in his underwear, quite literally. He said he’d just gotten out of bed and put on a load of washing.”
“Hey, swing back there Pixie, you saw Dan in his underwear?
“He didn’t do it on purpose, Cupcake and he ran off to get dressed as soon as he realised.”
“Come on Ally, spill what did he have to say?” Max asks the one question I couldn’t bring myself to voice.
“Not much to be completely honest but he is broken. He loves you Mia.”
That much I know! I don’t need Ally or anyone else, to tell me that Dan loves me. What I need to know is, do I have a chance of winning him back. I miss him, all of him.
“Even I know that Ally and I’m a fucking idiot! What we all want to know is, does Mia have a chance of winning him back?” Alex asks. I’m grateful that he asked her because I seem to have lost my voice. On the one hand, I want to hear the answers, on the other if they’re not what I want to hear then I don’t want the questions asked, never mind answered.
“If I’m being honest, I really don’t know. He seems very determined to do the right thing, even if that means hurting himself in the process. That being said I think he could be persuaded to rethink his position. If you get what I mean?” Ally adds with a wink and my brother groans.
“I really don’t want to hear about my little sisters ‘womanly charms’, Pixie.”
“That’s one of the things that got them in to this mess in the first place Cupcake. He’s a man, not an island.”
“Alex, I need to know something.” I say. I’m not completely ignoring everything that Ally has said but I need this one question that’s burning its way through me, answered.
“Ask me anything Mia.”
“Do you want me to work this out with Dan because I love him and it’s hurting me being away from him?” Alex goes to speak but I hold up my hand. “Or do you want your brother and business partner back and peace to be brokered?”
“I’m not gonna lie Mia, I want my brother and business partner back but more than anything sunshine, I want you to be happy. I want you both to be as happy as I am with Pixie. If that means that you two are together, then so be it. He’s a good man Mia and you're right, I don’t want to lose him. He's my best friend but I can also see how much he means to you and I want you to be happy, Mia. I want you to both be happy. TOGETHER.”
“Awwwwwww Alex that is so sweet! I wish I had a brother like you!” says Max. “Now, if everyone is finished with all the sweet stuff, can we move on to what Mia is going to do to win back her man, please?”
“Thank you Alex.” I send him my biggest smile. “Ok Max, let’s get this show on the road, I’ve been trying to think of what I can do but everything I come up with just seems cheesy or cheap.”
“You know, dirty and cheap can work very well with a man Mia, but I think you’re going to need a bit more than just a visual for this to work. You’re going to have to put yourself out there for the world to see. You ready for that?”
“Hit me with your ideas Max.” I nod my agreement.
“Ok beautiful Mia let’s get this show on the road! Are you guys in?” he looks over to where Ally and Alex are standing and Ally looks keen, Alex, not so much. “Yes or no?”
“I’m good for the heavy lifting or stuff like that but if you don’t mind, I’m going to look around and do a few maintenance things for Mia while you guys chat. Ok?” He looks kind of pained, like he’d rather be anywhere but here right now.
“It’s fine Alex, we’ll call out if we need you for anything.” I don’t think I’ve ever seen my big brother look more relieved. Ok, so maybe when he took it upon himself to explain periods and other ‘girl stuff’ to me, he was pretty damned awkward then! I can't help chuckling at the memory!
When I look back to Ally and Max though, they’ve both got their game faces on. This meeting is now in session!
Chapter Nineteen
DAN
After many, many, meetings and phone calls with Jack, I think he’s all sorted to take over the current jobs. We parted ways earlier today with the understanding that he could call me any time.
After many interviews for jobs, I’ve realised that everyone knows everyone around here and they’re only offering me meetings to work out what happened with Alex. I guess I’m going to have to survive on my woodworking for a while. Atleast until everyone else gets over the ‘break-up of the dream team’, as one guy called it this morning!
That’s what I’m concentrating on in my workshop when the buzzer I’ve got on the door sounds. I assume it’s a client, so I finish what I’m doing and turn around with a huge smile to greet them. Only, it’s not a client. Definitely not a client.
“Hi Dan. I hope you don’t mind me dropping in without letting you know first but I figured if I let you know I was coming, you wouldn’t be here when I got here.”
She's right. If she’d let me know she was coming, I would have hightailed it out of here until late tonight or even early morning. I’ve managed to not run into her and I never envisioned her showing up here. I'm not sure why but I didn’t think she would.
“Hello Mia. Is there something I can do for you today? I told Alex to come and get those shelves and install them for you. Are they not what you wanted?” I'm trying to be all business but holy fuck she looks good. Good enough to eat! My mouth is watering just from the memories of how she tastes. I shake my head and tune in to her voice, because I've not heard a word.
“Nope. Nothing wrong with the shelves you made for me Dan. Although it was fun listening to Alex put them up all by himself but his stubborn arse wouldn’t let me help.” Mia lets out a small laugh at the memory and I wish I didn’t enjoy hearing her laugh so much.
“Good. I'm glad he got them installed for you, eventually.” I look back to my current project. “If everything is fine, what is it I can do for you, Mia?”
“Well, you could look at me Dan!” She yells! I can hear the frustration in her voice but if I look at her, I'm going to want to kiss those lips of hers and I can't make that move. I won’t be able to stop if I start and I need for this to be a clean and clear break. Just like Ally said it’s the only way. “I guess that’s not happening today!” She grumbles. “Dan, I want to talk to you, please.”
She speaks so quietly that I almost have to lean closer to her just to hear her words. I don’t but only because I won't be able to move away.
MIA
I take in a sharp breathe, he called me sweet cheeks! It may have been automatic but it shows that he still has affection for me. It gives me a glimmer of hope, and that’s more than I saw when he realised it was me walking in to his workshop.
“Dan, can we go up to the house and chat. Maybe have a coffee or something, please?”
“I'm pretty busy working on this for” I cough because I'm not telling her who this project is for, “busy here. Yeah.” It’s actually not a commissioned job.
“Please, Dan. I'm just asking for a chance to talk to you and have a coffee. You can do that for a friend, can't you?” I see him flinch at the word. “That is if we’re still friends, of course.” I decide to dig in a little deeper, see how far I can push him but the only reaction I get is a long sighing breath and a small nod.
“Sure. You know where to go, I’ll meet you there once I've cleaned up a bit.” He replies without looking at me.
“No need to clean up on my behalf Dan, I kind of like it when you’re dirty and smelling of wood.” I walk towards the house smiling because I heard that quiet groan that he let out.
When he gets up to the house shortly after me, I've already made both of us a coffee and put out some cake that I bought with me. They say the way to a man’s heart is through his stomach, well that saying has never been truer than with this man. He toes off his boots at the door and a shiver runs through me, memories of better times when those boots annoyed the shit out of both of us!
“You didn’t have to do all of this Mia. I would have made coffee for us.”
“So, I knew where to go and I could come up ahead of you but I’m not supposed to make myself comfortable in your home anymore? Got it.” I say with a nod. “Glad I didn’t use my key to let myself in and lay myself out all naked and willing on your bed. THAT could have been embarrassing!” I watch his Adams apple bob up and down as he tries to swallow the mouthful of coffee he just took.
“You thought about doing that?” I nod. “Wow!”
“Max’s suggestion and I must admit, it sounded like a mighty fine idea for a while but I didn’t want you to swallow your tongue!” I grin widely at him.
“Of course that was Max’s suggestion, he knows the way to a man’s heart, well pants anyway.” Dan replies with a smirk.
“Would it have worked Dan?”
“Don’t Mia. Just don’t go there. You wanted to talk, so talk. Get it all off your chest and then we can have some kind of peace between us.”
“Why did you leave Dan?” he bounces up from his chair at the table and leans over the bench at the sink, he looks like he might be sick! “Why did you leave Alex? You guys work well together and you’ve both built that business and clientele.” He wants to just jump in to this, then that’s what I'm going to do and I'm not going to pull any punches. If this is the only time I get to say my piece, then I'm going to spit it all out. “Can’t you see that is what I didn’t want to happen if things changed between us, if we became more than friends? I can’t stand the fact that I caused you to walk away from Alex, your brother.”
“You didn’t cause anything, Mia. This is all on me and I've made my own decisions.”
“Ok, you’ve made your decision but what about me? You can't even look at me Dan! I came here because I need to say some things and I need you to know how I feel and my decisions Dan!” He goes to speak but I hold up my hand and he nods. “You don’t get say anything just yet Robson! It’s my turn.” He nods at me again and I get up and walk to the window. I take a deep breath and start;
“You know that night we went out for dinner, I was going to tell you that we needed to talk to Alex and explain ourselves. That I didn’t want to do it anymore. I wanted a real relationship with you. Only you. Then well, we both know what happened then. My outburst wasn’t meant to push you away Dan, it was meant to make Alex see me as an adult. I know I let him take on the role of my parents and he did a mighty fine job of it too, but he needs to begin his life with Ally and I need my life to start and end, with you.” I wipe away a stray tear that’s rolling down my cheek and I sense that he's moved closer to me. “I've been in love with you for so long, I don’t even know when it began. I tried Dan, I tried to be in love with others and not you, but it never worked. Then when we finally gave in to our feelings all those weeks ago, I couldn’t believe it and I didn’t want anything, especially my fucking brother, to ruin it. In the end it wasn’t him but me who ruined everything.”
“You didn’t ruin anything Mia, that’s all on me. I knew what I was getting in to and I still went into it, full steam ahead. I didn’t want to think about the consequences because you were here, with me. That’s ALL I wanted. YOU. Here with me in my space. In my bed, I didn’t think about the consequences of those needs. I get them now though. I fully understand why you didn’t want to tell Alex.”
“If you think that the reason I didn’t want to tell my brother about us is because of the fallout, you don’t know me at all. That had nothing to do with it Dan.”
“Of course it did Mia, I can see that now.” I'm gonna smack this man right up side his head in a minute! He's walked back towards the kitchen sink, keeping that distance between us.
“NO!! Dan, that’s NOT why I didn’t want to tell him, I was more than prepared for the fight, for his initial dislike of the situation and to stand up and tell him that this was MY decision. OUR DECISION. The only and I truly mean the ONLY, reason I held back from telling him was because I wanted time for us to be just that. US. Not Alex’s little sister. Not Alex’s best friend, brother and partner. Not Mia and Dan who’ve known each other forever. I wanted us to be Mia and Dan, getting to know each other in a different, more intimate way.” God! I can't even explain just how mad and frustrated I am with this man! “Fuck it! Dan, I've been in love with you for so long I don’t know how not to be in love with you. Having you return those feelings, even just with lust and desire, knocked me on my arse.”
I turn from the window and walk towards him. I need to be closer to him, touch him if he’ll let me. I watch as his body tenses the closer I get to him. I don’t know whether he doesn’t want me to touch him or whether it’s him steeling himself for the touch he thinks he shouldn’t want! When I get a couple of inches away from him I raise my hands and rest them on his chest. Oh boy do I miss touching this chest! This man, his body, I just want him, all of him. FUCK!
His breathing is rough and he won't look at my face. His eyes are focused on my hands and his knuckles are going white, he's gripping the bench so tightly. He's trying to not touch me! My heart does a little happy dance but I calm its fucking farm, I have to! We’re not there yet!
“Dan. I'm in love with you. I don’t care what my brother thinks, or Ally or Max or anyone else for that fucking matter. The only person other than me, who gets to have an opinion on that is you. I want you need, I need you, I've missed you, fucking hell Dan I love you. Everything about you and I will not walk away from us. Do you hear me, Robson?”
“What if I say no. If I don’t want this, that I won't let you do this? What then sweet cheeks?” He still hasn’t touched me but I can see in his eyes that he wants to.
“You have that choice sugar, but I think you do want this and I don’t just mean the mind blowing, fantastic sex either. BUT if what you want is for me to walk away, then I will. It will hurt like hell but I will. Don’t get me wrong though, Mr Robson, I'm not giving up without a fight and I'm willing to play dirty too. You won't get rid of me as easily as you want, not so clean and cut.” I take my hands off his chest and it pains me, I need to feel him to ground me but this is part of the plan and I'm sticking to it like shit to a blanket. I turn away from him, grab my bag and walk towards the door. He hasn’t moved a fucking muscle! “Give me a week. 7 days. If you’re still willing to giv
e up on us, then and only then, will I walk away.”
I don’t let him give me an answer. I just walk out the door, quietly closing it behind me. Hopefully, it’s just enough drama without it being over the top. With any luck, he's thinking about all the ways he’s going to punish me once this week is over!
With that thought, I get in my car and drive away … with a HUGE grin on my face!
Chapter Twenty
DAN
WELL HOLY FUCKING SHIT!
If I hadn’t witnessed it myself, I wouldn’t have believed it! I don’t know if I can give her 7 days. I get the feeling it’s going to be torture and not just for me! Neither of us touched the coffee or the cake she bought with her and when I start to clear it all away, I realise what cake she bought with her. That fucking chocolate cake from Ally’s bakery! I slouch down in to a chair and grab a spoonful of cake and bring it to my mouth. I moan as I eat it and all I can see when I close my eyes are the plans I had for Mia’s body and this cake. OH. MY. GOD! That dream! It truly is the definition of sex in a cake!
If I give her 7 days like she’s asked me to, well demanded me to, I know I won't be able to say no to her! I have no fucking clue what she has planned, but if Max really is involved, I'm in deep fucking trouble. The thought of that man giving Mia advice on how to ‘catch a man’ is terrifying. She told me one of his suggestions earlier and I almost swallowed my tongue just thinking about coming home and finding her naked and wet with need in my bed!
I'm only human for fucks sake! I can only hold back from so much temptation. Mia is the biggest temptation of my LIFE! Now that I've had a taste of her, of what we can have together, it’s taking every part of me to resist her. I don’t know if I have the strength to face her for 7 days straight without giving in to my desires.
Sneaking Around (Sneaky Love Book 2) Page 11