“My office?” he suggested, nodding towards the stairs leading up to the secluded room. She followed, knowing that he wanted to talk without the kids interrupting. She smiled as she walked up the stairs. The stairway was full of framed photos of his friends and family—including many of her with Kaitlyn and Luke. So many wonderful memories with them.
Mia entered the office. If any room said Luke, his office would be it. It was modern and sleek. Combine it with the cushy leather chairs, it was comfortable too. The shelves and walls were loaded with memorabilia from his short time as a sports reporter and from all his years with the Flash. The room smelled so much like him, that signature cologne. That scent steadied her, calmed her. In her mind, the scent equaled safety.
Luke walked to the front of his desk and leaned back against the edge, looking down at her. A lecture of some sort was coming her way. She opened her bottle, took a nice, long drink, and let her tired body revel in the comfort of the chair for a few moments, sinking further into the cushions.
“So?” he asked curiously, crossing one foot over the other, settling into his BFF interrogation mode.
“Yes?” she bantered, loving to tease him and see him get exasperated, his head shaking and his eyes growing wide.
“Did you come with Ethan?” he asked, his hand extending out like he wanted her to expand.
“Yes.”
“When did you make that decision?”
“Today.”
“At his place or yours?”
“Mine.”
“Did you guys talk?” With each additional question, Luke grew more and more frustrated with her one-word answers. Mia, on the other hand, was enjoying herself.
“Obviously . . . I mean, how do you think we decided to come together?”
“Mia!” he said, his hand raking through his well-groomed, dark brown hair. She liked the shorter hair on him, especially after he ran his fingers through it and messed it up like he just had.
She decided to be nice and stop messing with him. “I told him that I loved him but we haven’t really spoken about everything yet . . .”
“But you slept together is the information you’re leaving out,” he supplied.
The smile she had on her face grew and her cheeks reddened.
He laughed. “You are way too easy.”
“You try abstaining after not having sex with him for three years!” she exclaimed, sinking further into the chair. After he said nothing, she looked over at his stone face. She knew he didn’t have to say a word. “I know, I know. We’ll talk more tonight before I leave.”
“You’re leaving?” he asked, his face falling in disappointment.
“Yeah, I’m flying out later tonight,” she said. Mia placed her drink on the table and rose, closing the space between them. “I have a few meetings in Los Angeles that I can’t miss.”
“Are you coming back to Indy?”
She stood before him, a sparkle in her eye. “You miss me?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.
“That’s a stupid question. Of course I do,” he replied, looking into her eyes. “Nice glasses by the way. I would have said something before but you bolted. Are they real?” he asked, taking them from her and putting them on. He quickly removed the eyewear and placed them back on her face. “Damn! You are blind!”
“Thanks,” she said, smirking at him. But then she kissed him quickly on the lips. It felt good to know that he missed her. Of course, she knew, but it was always nice to hear the words aloud.
Mia let herself be wrapped in Luke’s comforting arms. She could not imagine her life without him, but it had been that way for the past year. She needed to see him a hell of a lot more often. She spoke softly against his chest. “I miss you too. I wish we could see each other more. And that’s one thing that I’m currently working on . . . hopefully, things will go my way in Los Angeles.”
“What’s in Los Angeles?” he questioned, undisguised curiosity in his voice.
“I’ll tell you when it’s complete,” she said, looking up at him. He started to speak but she placed her index finger against his lips. “Please? It’s got to be this way, Luke.”
“Okay,” he said, returning her head to his chest. She snuggled closer. He rested his chin upon her head and sighed. It about broke her down. He truly did miss her. This life plan of hers needed an addition. Spending more time with her BFF.
“When I get back, how ‘bout you, Kaitlyn, and I go out for dinner? A fun place. Let her pick, okay?”
“Sounds fun. She’ll love it. She misses you a lot.”
She hugged him tighter, fighting to keep the tears at bay. She needed to get the rest of her priorities straight. Like yesterday! Los Angeles was the first of many steps. Getting things right with Ethan was another. God forbid if that didn’t work out. She had no idea what to do if it didn’t. She had no plan B or C. She had nothing! This was it.
Ethan
Ethan thankfully escaped into the kitchen. The kids were antsy for sugar and they were taking it out on him. He couldn’t handle it anymore. Making a quick appraisal of the room, he wondered where the hell Luke and Mia were. He thought he’d seen Luke head toward the back of the house.
Entering the kitchen, Ethan searched around and noticed the stairs leading up to the second floor. For a moment, he considered not going up, but then he looked back to the kids, hearing their loud, rambunctious voices, and his decision was made almost instantly. He raced up the stairs two at a time but stopped at the landing when he heard the muffled voices of Mia and Luke.
He crept a little further and spotted Luke’s office. Through the open door, he spied them embracing and felt a small stab of jealousy in his gut. He never really understood their bond. Both were pretty mum on the topic. Well, if Ethan was being honest, he never really asked either. All he knew was that they had met in Chicago when Luke had worked there and had been friends ever since. Part of him wondered if they had been former lovers. It wouldn’t change anything if they had, but it would definitely explain a whole lot.
Luke’s voice brought him back to the present. “I wish you would tell me, Mia.”
“Now you’re just being nosy,” she answered back.
Ethan decided it would be best to make himself known, because one, he was very curious about what they were discussing, and two, he didn’t want them to find him eavesdropping.
“About what?” Ethan asked as he walked into the office. He watched the surprise register in their bodies. Mia quickly turned in Luke’s arms. She looked upon him with her big, beautiful eyes and smiled, and in that smile, he saw her desire, and most amazing of all, her love for him, making the small, green monster disappear.
“You too?” she said, breaking Luke’s embrace and stepping a few feet away from him. “Both of you! Nosy men!”
“Hey, don’t yell at me,” Ethan said in his defense. “I just came up to find the grown-ups and relay a message. The kids want cake. They are possessed.”
Luke rolled his eyes. “Great! I better get down there,” he said, giving Mia’s arm a quick squeeze and winked at Ethan as he walked by.
Ethan stood where he was, staring at Mia, devouring the sight of her. He still couldn’t get over that she was here. He wanted to catalog everything. Every moment. Every word. Every expression.
They stood apart for a few moments. He waited for her to speak first and smiled when she did.
“Hi,” Mia said timidly, her eyes downcast. So she was going to go all shy on him. He got such a kick out of the times when her shyness beat out his confident rock goddess. Moving closer, his eyes locked on her teeth nibbling on her lower lip.
“Hi,” Ethan returned, before pulling her to him and capturing her mouth in a fierce, possessive kiss. He knew he surprised her with the force of it. Hell, he surprised himself. She gripped his forearms tightly to steady herself. Bending his knees, he lowered himself to her level, cupping her face, angling her so he could better ravish her mouth. Mia latched her arms around his neck,
molding herself to him. He quickly moved his hands to the back of her hips. God, he wanted her to hop up and wrap him in her long legs.
Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ethan knew that they should stop, that this wasn’t the best location for the wild love-making he wanted—no, needed—right now, but he fought it. It had been building since earlier this afternoon. He slid his hands up the gap between her pants and shirt, feeling the softness of her back. She didn’t help him in his fight when her lips traveled to his ear, her heavy breath, serenading him with her song.
“Fuck, Mia,” he swore as she teased him with her mouth. “You know we’ve got to . . .” Her nibbling teeth interrupted him. He absolutely loved the way her teeth grazed his earlobe. If she didn’t stop, she would be against those cushions faster than he could release a football. He placed his hands upon her shoulders. “Mia, we’ll continue this later, I promise, but we’ve got to stop before I make a fool of myself, okay?” he said, running his fingers through her hair, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.
She regarded him with those dark eyes of hers. He smiled fondly at the arousal he saw swimming there, the arousal that he helped create.
“Uh, yeah, there are about twenty kids downstairs, huh? I got a little carried away. Sorry.”
He laughed and chastely kissed her. “About as carried away as I, but you don’t see me complaining . . . well, I’m complaining only that we couldn’t, well, finish what we were doing.”
She laughed at that and hugged him. “We better find Luke.”
He nodded and she grabbed his hand, entwining her fingers between his. The smile she gave him was filled with so much happiness. Something he had not seen in years. Again with the years. He had to stop and think of “the years” and focus on now. The first steps had been made—they just had to keep climbing and things would work out all right. He was sure. This time he wasn’t running away and he wouldn’t let her run either. He would stay with her. Forever.
Ethan
“Where to?” Ethan asked, as he pulled the car out of Luke’s driveway. As much as he loved Kaitlyn, he desperately wanted to be alone with Mia.
“My suite,” she said simply.
“Okay,” he replied, not wanting to argue but secretly disappointed they weren’t going to his house. He wanted to get her back in his bed where she belonged, wanted her scent to cover the bed so every night when he fell asleep and every morning when he woke, he would smell her.
They drove back to downtown Indy in silence. Once off the highway, Ethan broke the quiet. “So, how long are you going to be in town?” he asked, glancing over at her. He recognized the hesitation on her face and knew her response wouldn’t make him happy.
“I’m leaving tonight actually,” she replied, staring out the window.
No. Not happy at all.
Leaving tonight?
He returned his eyes to the road, feeling the anger zoom through his body. When the hell did she plan on saying something? Ethan couldn’t believe how angry he felt at just finding this information out. Was he not important enough to know about this earlier? There had been so many opportunities for her to tell him while they were in bed together, during any of the car rides, in the shower.
“Tonight?” he asked, hoping he didn’t sound as upset as he felt, hoping he heard her wrong.
“Yeah, my flight is set for nine.”
“Heading back to California?”
“Yes,” she said, turning her head to the window. “I have some business that I couldn’t reschedule.”
“Are you coming back here?” he asked, gripping and re-gripping the steering wheel, actually afraid of what she might say.
“I’ll be back Tuesday afternoon.”
“Tuesday?” he asked, glancing over at her, relief flooding him.
“Yeah . . . I don’t know what your schedule is like, but . . . uh, I was hoping that I might be able to see you when I got back. Maybe Wednesday night for dinner at my hotel?” she asked, fiddling with her hands resting in her lap.
“Just dinner?” he said, placing his large hand over her clasped hands.
“And dessert, if you want,” she added, her voice low and purposefully seductive.
“I love your dessert.”
She leaned across the middle console and kissed his cheek, her hand on his thigh, surprising him when her hand grazed his hard cock, causing his foot to stumble off the gas pedal.
“Better be careful, suga,” he warned.
“Why’s that?” she asked, running her hand along the hidden length. His cock twitched in the direction of her touch.
Damn, he couldn’t wait to get her back to her room. He, just like his cock, wanted to be inside of her so badly.
He didn’t speak, he acted, his hand cupping her between her legs, and rubbed his hand hard. Her surprised intake of breath followed by a soft moan against his cheek told him he was spot on.
“Listen to you with your cute, little moans,” he said, rubbing a little faster. Her head fell to her chest, her eyes closed. Ethan pressed harder and her mouth dropped open. The sweet sounds stopped and he knew she was close to coming, so he stilled his hand.
“What do you want, Mia?”
“You! Oh, God, you!” she screamed as he resumed pressure on just the right spot. He continued for a little while longer, building her desire to a peak yet again, and stopped, removing his hand before she could come.
“We’re here,” he announced, pulling into a parking spot. She slumped into the seat and let out a very frustrated sigh, followed quickly by a few choice curse words before they exited the car.
They hurried from the car into the hotel and to her room. As he pushed her into the room, talking things out was the furthest thing from his mind. She barely made it five feet into the room when he lifted her in his arms.
“Ethan!” she gasped, her arms snaking around his neck. He leaned his head in and quickly smashed her lips with his own.
“Just finishing what we started in the car, suga,” he replied, carrying her the distance to the bedroom.
Tossing her on the bed, he began to remove his clothes, hoping she would follow his lead. He needed to see her naked like his life depended on it. She hurriedly unfastened her jeans, but stopped, her eyes latched on to him as he yanked his shirt off. Grabbing the hem of her pants, Ethan pulled them right off her and joined her on the bed.
He captured her mouth in a fierce kiss while his hand traveled down her covered torso to her hip and when his fingers made contact with the thin fabric of her thong, he tugged, ripping the fabric. And with one swift thrust, he entered her. His groan mingled with her scream of pleasure.
Mia wrapped her arms and legs tightly around him as he moved explosively inside her, her nails digging deep into his bare back. It didn’t hurt. Fuck. It only drove him wilder. He rammed into her over and over, her hips matching his frenzied pace, the slap of their bodies as loud as their moans filling the room.
Her breath came in long, passion-filled whimpers as she grew closer to her release, until she finally exploded, her body spasming around him. His long, guttural groan followed as he shattered hard inside of her, one, two . . . three times.
“Wow!” she exclaimed as he collapsed on top of her. Mia cradled him in her arms, her fingers toying with his hair as she held him to her chest. He went to move but she held tight.
“No. Not yet. Don’t leave me,” she said, a touch of panic in her voice and a reminder to him that they still needed to talk. He could see that the unknown was feeding her fear.
“I’m not going anywhere, suga,” Ethan reassured her, nuzzling her slick neck.
After a few more minutes, he tried to roll over, yet she still resisted. “I must be squishing you.”
“A little,” Mia admitted and loosened her grip on him. He rolled to the side and pulled her to him. They lay silently while catching their breath. He closed his eyes and simply enjoyed her hand moving along his chest. His eyes opened when she stopped. Her hand hovered oddly over his
stomach, her eyes scrunched in concentration, before it began to beat what seemed like a song on his chest.
“What’s going on in that head of yours, Mia?”
“I was trying to magically pack my bags,” she said, looking up at him, the content smile on her face making his cock come to life again. “I really like where I am right now and I don’t want to leave.”
“Then don’t.”
“I wish,” she said, brushing her lips against his.
“What’s in L.A.?”
“One of the final steps in my plan.”
“Oh really?” he said, his curiosity piqued.
“Yep.”
“You going to tell me more?”
“Nope,” she said, kissing him one more time before hopping out of bed. He watched her walk to the closet, her bare ass barely covered by her top and his dick couldn’t help but react. As much as he wanted to love her again, his body needed a rest and they needed to talk. What he needed was a fucking distraction.
“I was thinking about something,” he said from his comfy spot on the bed. “I’m not used to kissing a girl with glasses. I think I may need some practice.”
She stuck her tongue out at him. So mature yet so very much her. Teasing her was too much fun.
“I’m glad you finally went to get some glasses. I didn’t want you falling out a window or something.”
“Down stairs was bad enough,” she replied. “I’ve got very bad eyes and never knew it. It’s like a whole new world.”
Ethan started to laugh. He couldn’t help it. The awe in her voice did him in.
“Stop laughing at me. I still find you handsome wearing these, so be thankful.”
He grabbed an accent pillow and threw a perfect spiral right at her ass. “Touchdown,” he said, raising his hands high in the air. Her mouth dropped open in surprise.
Still Into You (Never Over You Book 2) Page 32