by Blair Grey
I could tell that he had her scared pretty good, and not just because she was afraid that he might come after her. That he might hurt her physically. No, I could tell that there were mental scars there that were still healing, too. That part of the reason why she was reluctant to get into a relationship with me was because she was afraid that I would screw her over at some point in the future too.
I wanted to show her that I wasn’t like that. I might not have the most relationship experience, but I knew I’d be damned lucky to call Mia my girlfriend. She was smart, and she was sexy, and she was funny. She was willing to ride along on the back of my bike. She was everything that I could have wanted in a girlfriend.
I’d never cheat on her. No matter what happened. But in order to get her to believe that, I had to show her how much she was starting to mean to me. I had to show her that she deserved to be treated right.
So I wanted to take her out to a nice restaurant. Nothing too fancy, but nothing too cheap either. I wanted to spoil her a little. I hadn’t been to anywhere suitable the last time I’d been in Sarasota since I hadn’t exactly needed to go to a fancy dinner. But fortunately, when I called Neil, he knew just the place. It was right near the beach, and it was owned by Red Eyes, so he could get us on the list for that night with no problem.
I just had to swear him to secrecy about the whole thing. I wasn’t ready for Landon to hear about this, not just yet. It felt strange to keep something from my brother, especially when I kept talking with Mia about how much I missed him. But at the same time, I knew he would realize that I was developing feelings for Mia, and he’d probably want to know if she was officially my girlfriend. I wasn’t ready to explain everything to him, not just yet.
I wanted to see where things went first. And I was starting to realize that was how he must have felt with Anne too. It was no wonder he kept telling me that he would be returning to Las Cruces, until right up at the end when he’d decided that he was actually going to stay here. Now, I realized that it probably hadn’t been his plan all along. He’d probably felt confused and uncertain about their relationship.
I hadn’t been there for him. I realized that now. And it gave me a whole new appreciation for how he’d handled things with the Mambas. I didn’t know what I would do if someone were to kidnap Mia right now, but I knew I wouldn’t have half the composure that my brother had shown when Anne was in trouble.
Mia came out of the bathroom toweling off her hair. “I hope this is okay,” she said, gesturing at her dark jeans and green button-down shirt. “I didn’t really bring anything nice out here with me, so it’s either this or the dress that I wore the other night when we went out with Landon.”
I shook my head. “You look beautiful,” I told her. “Anyway, the place I’m planning on taking you to isn’t super upscale. It’s nice, but it’s beachy. They’re said to have the best seafood in town, though.”
“Sounds yummy,” Mia said, smiling at me. She sat down at the vanity table to fix her hair and makeup, and I quickly hopped into the shower.
“This has been a really good trip,” she said later, as we were finishing up dinner and splitting the rest of a bottle of wine.
“It has,” I agreed. “I’d actually like to do this more.”
“Come back to Sarasota more? To see Landon?” Mia asked.
“That too,” I said. “But what I meant was more, I’d like to go on more trips with you.” I paused, wondering what her reaction to that would be. I knew she was adamant that we couldn’t be in a relationship, but I was hoping that she would agree that at least as friends and travel buddies, we could do more together.
I just liked going places with her. She saw things in a totally different way than I did. I liked seeing the childlike joy in her eyes when we explored the beach the previous day, or the look on her face when she bit into her fish tonight. She was so unguarded. Like she didn’t care what anyone thought about her. And I really appreciated that.
I shrugged at her. “You know, I’m pretty picky about who I’ll travel with. Landon and I always traveled together, and I guess I got spoiled with that because he and I may be different in a lot of ways, but we’re similar in some fundamental ones. We work well as a team. So finding someone else that has a nice, relaxed travel style, that’s gold.”
Mia blushed and grinned. “If we stay in the penthouse every time, I might have to let you take me all over the world with you,” she said teasingly.
I laughed. “I guess I’ll talk to Ray and see what I can do,” I said, winking at her. “Is there any place in particular that you want to go to?”
Mia snorted. “Honestly right now, I have to admit that I’ll be pretty happy to get back home,” she said. “I’ve had a great time, I’ve definitely enjoyed this. But I can’t wait to get back to work and get back into my routine. It’s nice to take a break, don’t get me wrong. But I love what I do too.”
I shook my head. “Don’t take this the wrong way, but what the hell are you doing as a bartender anyway?” I asked. “I don’t mean to sound like an ass, but you’re really smart. It just seems like you could, I don’t know, be running the world or something. If you wanted to.”
Mia giggled. “I don’t know about running the world,” she said. She shrugged. “I still plan to use my economics degree at some point. One day, when the time is right. But like I said, I like what I’m doing right now. I like bartending. And it makes me feel young. I guess I just wanted to hold on to that feeling for a little while longer before I settle down into some boring office job or something.”
I scrunched up my face trying to picture it. Then, I shook my head. “I can’t imagine you in a boring office job,” I told her. “I don’t know; I guess if I picture you working any sort of job using your economics degree, I picture you as a business owner.”
“Unfortunately, the only business I know is bartending,” Mia said wryly. “And the last thing I want is to go into competition with Candice.”
“Fair enough,” I said. “But hey, at least you know that you’d have Red Eyes protection, no matter what you did. And not just from me. I can tell that Ray is pretty fond of you too.”
“Ray’s a good guy,” Mia said. She stared at me for a moment, swirling her wine in her glass. “So are you,” she added.
I smiled at her. We both finished our wine in silence, looking out over the dark waves. “What do you say,” I finally asked. “Do you want to go for a walk down the beach? It’s our last night here after all.”
“That sounds nice,” Mia said.
I paid the bill and then led her out onto the sand. I looped an arm around her shoulders, but this time, it wasn’t to keep her warm. I just wanted to keep her close to me. I wanted her to feel safe, protected…loved.
Well, maybe not loved. I wasn’t sure if I was quite there yet. But I was definitely well on my way to it. I couldn’t help it. She just did things to me. Made me want things that I had never wanted before. I could feel all of my emotions bubbling up inside of me, and suddenly, I just had to let them out. I had to let her know how I felt. Had to let her know that I wanted her as a girlfriend, and if the timing wasn’t right on that now, then I was going to wait.
I’d give her time to sort her own feelings out. I wasn’t going to pressure her. I knew she was going through a lot with Darren and that there was more emotional upheaval there than she was letting on. No, I’d let her take her time. But I wanted her. And I wanted her to know that. I wanted her to know that I was going to take care of her, whatever she needed, wherever she was.
It was scary, those feelings. But if Landon could move to Sarasota to be with Anne, then surely, I could tell Mia that I wanted to date her for real.
I paused my steps, drawing Mia to a halt as well. “Mia,” I said, looking deep into her eyes.
But she stopped me before I could say anything else, clearly sensing the words that were about to spill out of my mouth. She gave a slight shake to her head, her fingers covering my lips. Then, when she cou
ld tell that I wasn’t going to continue with what I wanted to say, she drew her fingers away and replaced them with her lips against mine.
I was still dying to tell her how I felt, but I supposed when I really thought about it, neither of us was ready for me to say those words. Not just yet. Give it a little more time. And don’t do it here, removed from reality. I didn’t want her to think that things would change as soon as we got back to Las Cruces. That this was all some sort of dream.
And what’s more, I didn’t want to make the drive home awkward and uncomfortable. I wanted to keep this easy nature to our relationship.
So I kissed her back tenderly, trying to show her with my actions how much she meant to me, rather than saying so in words.
The fire of passion grew between us, needy and all-consuming. We were in a dark, secluded part of the beach. No one was going to see us. I grinned into the kiss and started undoing the buttons on her shirt, cupping one heated breast in my palm even as I lay her down on the sand.
28
Mia
All through dinner, I couldn’t help feeling like Braxton and I were on a date. But the idea of that wasn’t exactly unpleasant. I kept trying to remind myself that logically, dating him was a terrible idea. I was bound to get hurt. And I really shouldn’t jump into anything before the Darren chapter of my life was totally closed. As long as he was still stalking me, as long as he was still hanging around the bar, as long as he was still an issue, I couldn’t be with Braxton.
But it was our last night in Sarasota, and even if this were a date, that didn’t mean that anything had to continue between us when we went back to Las Cruces. What stays in Vegas, that kind of thing. Right?
I knew my feelings for him were getting stronger, though. He was just so nice to me, holding out my chair when we were being seated at the restaurant, letting me try his dinner. Telling me that I was too smart to be a bartender. Somehow, whenever Candice got after me about actually using my degree, it felt like an insult. But with Braxton, it was anything but. He really did think that I could be doing something amazing with my life. Whatever I set my mind to. And that was a heady feeling.
My thoughts swirled around my head as we strolled down the beach, roiling with all the force of the nearby waves. I didn’t know how to deal with this level of feelings for Braxton. I honestly felt more for him than I had ever felt for anyone before. I tried to tell myself that it was just because this relationship was still new, because this whole trip had the feeling of a honeymoon about it.
But I knew it wasn’t just that. And what’s more, I could tell that Braxton felt the same. It was there in his gentle touches, in the way that he so easily draped an arm around my shoulders and pulled me closer.
When he slowed to a stop, looking down at me with such a serious gaze, I knew exactly what he was about to say. And that made me panic a little bit inside. I knew that I had feelings for him, but to find out for real that he had feelings for me too? I would have no choice but to agree to be his girlfriend. It was what we both wanted after all.
And then, things were bound to go to hell.
I wasn’t ready to deal with that. Not now, not tonight. Maybe not ever. Tonight, I just wanted to have a good last night in Sarasota. To think about the other trips that we might go on together in the future. Not that I thought those trips would really happen. I shouldn’t let them happen. But what’s more, as long as there were no more Darrens in my life, there would be no reason for us to take off together.
It was a nice dream, nothing more.
I couldn’t let Braxton say anything about feelings to me. We were both bound to regret it in the end. And so I covered his lips with my own, swallowing those words before he could say them out loud.
What I didn’t expect was for things to spiral totally out of control from there. But I definitely wasn’t complaining, as Braxton laid me on my back in the soft sand.
Part of my mind was screaming that we were out in public and that I just didn’t do this sort of thing. That I definitely shouldn’t be doing this sort of thing here, with Braxton, when we were both discovering that maybe our platonic relationship was anything but.
I didn’t want him to stop, though. As his hands trailed lines of fire down my sides, no. I wanted more. I definitely wanted more.
I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him toward me, urging him on. It was such a strange feeling: I wanted this to be over quickly so that we wouldn’t get caught, but at the same time, I wanted it to drag on forever. I wanted to lose myself in the feelings of his body against mine.
Braxton kissed me until I was breathless. I tried my best to quiet my moans, to keep from making too much noise, but it was so hard to do when he played my body so expertly.
I fumbled with his belt, and he laughed as he helped me out, nuzzling into my neck and then nibbling a mark just below my ear. I trembled. My whole body felt as if it were in tune with every movement that he made. Prickles of lust shot up and down my spine, slicking the space between my legs. He pushed my pants down just enough so he could slide his fingers up inside of me, hurriedly kissing me as I cried out at the sensation of pleasure that burst through me.
“Sorry,” I whispered, giggling a little as he pulled away.
Braxton just grinned, shaking his head. His fingers continued to play with me, opening me up, moistening my entrance even further. He played his lips along my neck and the open collar of my shirt, making me squirm with desire. Eventually, he pushed his pants down as well, giving me only a second of warning before he thrust into me, quieting yet another cry with his lips against mine.
There was something about having sex out here, in the open and on the beach, that gave me a heightened appreciation for the feel of his body against mine. Not that the sex we’d been having hadn’t been good. But this was something else entirely. It felt as though my whole body was going to explode, as though I would be totally consumed in a fiery ball of passion. I’d never felt like this about anyone before, but looking at Braxton like this was like looking at him with new eyes.
He was devilishly handsome and charming, and I could tell that he wanted to look out for me. To protect me, to keep me safe. This whole dinner had been so wonderful, like he really cared about me. I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt so comfortable with someone. There was definitely something special about him.
He knew just how to use my body as well, working me over as wave after wave of pleasure rolled through me. I could feel my walls tightening around his length, my back arching against the sand. I dug my fingers into the smooth granules, letting them sift through my fingers, just one more sensation for my mind to focus on.
But really, all my focus was on the way he pressed into me again and again. The way his body moved against mine as his thrusts sped up, until he was rocking into me with incessant fury, the stress clear in the straining muscles of his arms.
We came at the same time, as I stared up at the stars, my head thrown back in utter ecstasy. I barely knew where I ended and he began. We were totally entwined now, mind and body. I groaned as the last wave of passion flushed through me, making me shudder with a hint of overstimulation. He pulled out, laying a soft kiss to my temple.
And then suddenly, he went alert, his eyes staring off down the beach. “Hurry, get dressed,” he hissed, pulling his pants back on even as he grinned down at me.
I glanced over where he had been looking and saw the bouncing beam of a flashlight coming toward us. Police, maybe. Because we were outside, where anyone could see us, having sex. I felt a blush spread across my whole body, tingling with the aftereffects of pleasure. I knew I shouldn’t want to get in trouble, but at the same time, I had to admit that if we got in trouble for this, it was probably worth it.
Still, my fingers furiously worked to do up the buttons of my shirt and fix my jeans. Braxton caught my hand and pulled me to my feet, dragging me down the beach and into the shadows of one of the piers. He cradled me close against his body, and I barely dar
ed to breathe as we watched the flashlight beam get ever closer.
But then, whoever it was stopped, scanned the beach for a minute, and then headed back up the beach in the direction from which they had come. I breathed a sigh of relief, relaxing against Braxton’s broad chest.
He slipped his fingers under my chin and tilted my face up, kissing me gently. I giggled and pushed away from him. “We should probably get out of here, just in case they come back,” I whispered. “Anyway, we have a nice bed in the penthouse that we could be cuddling in.”
Braxton laughed. “You’re right,” he agreed. “Let’s go.”
“This has been the best week of my life,” I blurted out as we walked back to the hotel. I couldn’t help it. I knew that the whole reason we’d ended up having sex on the beach was because I didn’t want him to tell me what he was feeling, because I was afraid of what that might do to us.
But now, I just had to let him know that I didn’t want this night to end. That I wanted to stay here with him forever. Suspended outside of time. Outside of responsibilities. He did things to me that I didn’t wholly understand. All I wanted was to explore what we might have together.
Fortunately, Braxton didn’t go into his thoughts from earlier. Instead, he just bumped his shoulder against mine, smiling down at me. “We’ve set the bar pretty high, but I guess it can only get better from here. We’ll have even more fun on the next trip.”
“The next trip,” I echoed. He sounded so certain. But where earlier, I’d been nervous, thinking about those possible future trips, now I couldn’t help but feel excited. I wanted to head home right now and get to work planning the next one. Where might we go? What else might we learn about each other?
29
Braxton
I honestly wished there was some way that I could drag out the drive home with Mia. I just wasn’t ready for this little trip of ours to end. I hated the feeling I had in my gut…that now that we were back to reality, maybe things would be different. Maybe this had just been a vacation fling, and now she would move on.