A Million Tiny Pieces

by Nicole Edwards

  Not like it really mattered what he looked like anyway. Mia didn’t have time to be admiring anyone, not even from afar. She had too much to focus on. School was keeping her plenty busy.

  And on top of that, she didn’t want to date anyone, so it didn’t really make sense that she should get caught ogling some attractive runner who quite possibly lived in her building. She had a plan. And it definitely didn’t consist of a relationship — casual or otherwise — anytime in the near future.

  Chapter Five

  “I HEAR YA, man,” Phoenix told the guy behind the counter, although hearing him was about as far as Phoenix got, which was the same as most days he came into the coffee shop.

  The name of the guy making his coffee was Brian, he knew that much. He was married with a kid. Other than that, Phoenix didn’t really know him, but every time he came in the coffee shop, which was usually at least twice a day on the days he was in town, Brian greeted him as though they were long-lost friends. Somewhere along the way, they’d given him a nickname — Coach — and though it had stuck, Phoenix had never bothered to correct them on the fact that he technically wasn’t a coach. Granted, his driver and a few others had adopted the nickname just to fuck with him, so he’d gotten used to it.

  Today, Brian was telling a story about how his son had started kindergarten that year and wasn’t all that keen on having to go back now that the holidays were over. Phoenix couldn’t relate — he didn’t have kids and wasn’t around them at all — but he smiled and nodded, tacking on the appropriate encouraging phrase when necessary. He knew how to hold a conversation even when he knew little about the topic; he’d been doing it most of his life.

  When Brian passed over the drink he had ordered, Phoenix walked back over to the register, dropping a five-dollar bill into the glass jar labeled TIPS. It wasn’t that he was feeling overly generous as much as he was trying to get a look at Mia.

  Yes, Mia.

  He knew her name thanks to the information Tarik had provided him that morning, but now he had another reason to know her name. A reason that was significantly less stalkerish than having someone pull up her personal information without her knowing. Brian had conveniently announced her order as Phoenix had been paying for his own, which meant he now had a suitable excuse. Running into her for the third time in one day seemed almost … too good to be true.

  During their trip up to the seventeenth floor, Phoenix had wondered whether or not she had realized he was the same guy from their run-in in the lobby that morning. He didn’t think so, based on the way she was darting looks at him. And that intrigued him for reasons he didn’t quite understand. Not that she had given either “him” an approving look, but Phoenix had to wonder why she’d gone out of her way to avoid looking at him both times. Hell, he’d laughed when she’d practically launched herself out of the elevator when they’d finally reached her floor.

  Mia.

  He had to admit, even her name gave him a hard-on.

  Deciding he wasn’t ready to allow this opportunity to pass him by, he took his coffee over to the corner she was sitting in and dropped down into one of the chairs behind her. She looked intently focused on the novel in her hand, and he would’ve believed that she was engrossed in the story, but even he noticed that the thing was upside down. Not that he intended to say anything. She was too damn cute, and he liked the idea that she was possibly trying to avoid him.

  Her cell phone rang, and Phoenix sat back, waiting. He still wasn’t sure whether he would interrupt her or not, but he was seriously considering it. He’d never been the kind to let an opportunity pass him by.

  “Hey,” she greeted the caller.

  Phoenix immediately liked her voice. Soft and a little raspy. Not the high-pitched, saccharine type he’d heard far too many times.

  “Yeah, it was good. Kinda boring.”

  He wished he could hear what the caller was asking her. He had an overwhelming urge to know what she was talking about.

  “No.”

  Pause.

  “Yes.”

  Pause.

  “Tomorrow night? Are you—?”

  Pause. (Obviously interrupted by the person on the other end of the line.)

  “Hockey? Really? I don’t know, Alex…”

  Well, hell. Phoenix frowned. Alex? Seriously? She was talking to some guy? About hockey? That would be just his fucking luck.

  “Got it. Yep, I’m in.”

  Pause.

  “What about Friday?”

  Pause.

  “Aww, crap. I totally forgot about that. Yes, you can pick me up.”

  Pause.

  “Yes,” she said, chuckling. “Friday night. It’s a date.”

  Pause.

  “Okay. See you tomorrow night.”

  A strange wave of disappointment flooded him as he watched Mia tuck her phone into the pocket of her sweatshirt. She had a date with Alex. Two dates, it sounded like. He found it odd that it bothered him. He’d really have to give that some thought. It wasn’t like he knew the girl, so why the hell should he care if she were going out on a date?

  Shit.

  Getting to his feet, Phoenix grabbed his coffee and headed for the door. As he pushed it open, he glanced back at Mia. She was looking at her book again; this time it was right side up in her hands, and she didn’t seem to be paying any attention to him.

  Seriously. He was going to have to figure out what the hell his problem was, because he didn’t chase women. Ever. He didn’t have to. There were too many lining up to spend a night in his bed. And that wasn’t ego talking, either. Sometimes it was irritating as fuck because … well, because sometimes it was just irritating.

  Maybe he would like the chase; he didn’t really know. If and when it ever happened, he’d know.

  Stopping at the door, he dared one more look at her. This time, her arctic-blue eyes slowly slid up to meet his. God, she was beautiful. In a sweet, innocent sort of way. He offered a small smile, a barely there tilt of the corner of his lips, and he felt a jolt of heat hit him square in the gut when her cheeks turned a fascinating shade of pink right before her eyes darted back to her book.

  As he headed out of the coffee shop, his cell phone chirped, signaling a message. He pulled it from his pocket and glanced at the screen. A text from Tarik.

  The blonde girl’s cute. Not your type, but cute.

  Phoenix smiled and typed a quick response. Not your type, either. Hands off.

  Not surprisingly, he received one more message before he reached the elevator to take him to the penthouse.

  No promises.

  »»●««

  When Phoenix walked into his condominium a few minutes later, after waiting for the damn elevator for longer than he’d cared to, he was grateful to be alone. Tarik wasn’t there, and surprisingly, Phoenix’s mother wasn’t there to greet him, either.

  Maybe that sounded strange, but it was necessary to understand his life to realize why he’d prefer to be met with silence than someone asking him questions about his day. Living alone, it should’ve been a no-brainer that he would have time to himself, but strangely, it seemed people were always traipsing in and out his door, never offering him a moment’s peace.

  Case in point, when Phoenix had come home earlier, Tarik had been in Phoenix’s home office, his laptop sitting on the desk in front of him and the phone to his ear. It wasn’t unusual to find Tarik in his condo at any time of the day. When it came to business, Tarik took his job very seriously. Oddly, Tarik was about the only person Phoenix could tolerate in large doses.

  Tarik had greeted him with a gruff look, which, now that he thought about it, really was the guy’s one and only expression, but no words. That had lasted all of about a minute before Phoenix had headed for his bedroom, changed out of his suit and back into street clothes — which so happened to be the same as his running clothes, his going-to-the-store clothes, and … hell, they were pretty much the only thing he wore when he didn’t have to be somewhere importan
t — then darted back downstairs. Initially, he had gone in search of coffee, but seeing Mia had briefly changed his reason for being there.

  Dropping down onto the leather sofa that sat in the center of his living room, facing the wall of windows in a room that he spent little time in — there wasn’t a television, therefore he didn’t have much use for the room — Phoenix contemplated his little hang-up on the blonde-haired, crystal-blue-eyed woman who lived in his building. She was hot, there was absolutely no doubt about that. But seeing a sexy woman didn’t generally spike his pulse the way she did, or send him into some sort of fixation. Clearly this woman had something … something incredibly appealing.

  Was it the look of innocence in her blue eyes? Possible.

  That or it really was the chase.

  He genuinely liked the fact that she’d looked right past him, strange as it sounded. Three times in one day, in fact. Although, again, he really didn’t think she’d figured out that he was the same guy she’d seen that morning and again on the elevator. That he found interesting as well. Then again, maybe she didn’t care.

  He grabbed his laptop from the side table and flipped open the lid, leaving his coffee to sit untouched. He pulled up his web browser and typed in Mia’s name. Maybe, just maybe, there was something he could find on her. Why, he didn’t know, but he figured it was worth a shot.

  Two seconds later, he slammed the lid closed.

  No. He was not going to go there. If there was something to learn about her on the Internet, he didn’t want to know. He’d had enough of those types. If she was worth getting to know, he was going to get to know her on a personal basis, no Internet involved.

  Staring out at the Austin skyline as the orange and pink from the setting sun slowly settled into darkness, Phoenix realized he had a problem. This was not how he usually managed things. He didn’t get a glimpse of a woman in an elevator and become some slobbering idiot who wanted to know more about her. That was fucking absurd.

  Nor did he think about Tarik with that very same woman, both of them naked and writhing in the throes of an intense orgasm. Yet his mind had drifted there more than once that day, the mental images playing like a slide show through his head, one erotic scene after another. Now, as he imagined the two of them, Phoenix superimposed himself into those encounters. He could practically feel the hardwood biting into his knees as he knelt before Tarik, sucking his cock deep into his throat while Mia kissed Tarik, watching everything he was doing while Tarik fingered her pretty little pussy.

  Son of a bitch.

  Shaking off the thought, Phoenix focused on the buildings outside the window.

  What the fuck was he doing? He was supposed to be thinking about Mia. Only Mia. Not entertaining thoughts of threesomes or … or pleasuring Tarik. He’d never fixated on interactions with men before. Well, nothing more than a couple of hand jobs and some rather exquisite blow jobs during a time in his life when he’d been trying to identify some of those lingering desires. Sure, he might’ve sated some curiosity, and maybe he’d gotten off to gay porn a time or two, but that didn’t mean… He wasn’t…

  Fuck.

  He was. He so was.

  Tossing the laptop onto the cushion beside him, he grabbed his cell phone. Pulling up his contact list, Phoenix held his finger over the button that would dial the number, one of the few numbers he had that weren’t business related. It would take the push of a button, and Phoenix would prove that he preferred women over men any day. He enjoyed women.

  Damn it.

  He hesitated, staring down at the phone.

  “Son of a motherfucking bitch,” he growled, backing out of the screen and tossing his phone on the cushion beside his laptop.

  Calling any woman other than Mia — which wasn’t even a possibility because he didn’t have her phone number — wasn’t going to do a damn thing to curb the ache that had taken up residence in his balls since that brief run-in that morning. Even if a woman came over and gave him exactly what he needed, he would still go to bed longing for something he couldn’t have. And what fucking good would that do him?

  An hour of mindless sex with a woman who didn’t want anything from him wasn’t going to help. It never had before. Even if his dick thought otherwise.

  But he needed to do something. Whatever he had to do in order to stop thinking about the woman who’d been on his mind for no other reason than she had captured his interest that morning in an elevator.

  Fuck.

  Mindlessly, he stared out the window and slid his hand down into his shorts, gripping the steely length of his erection, stroking ever so slowly. His mind drifted back to Mia, to the way she’d looked that morning when she had stepped off the elevator. Those tight jeans that hugged a perfect little heart-shaped ass, the trim legs that would feel like heaven wrapped around his hips while he thrust into her.

  Jerking his cock more firmly, Phoenix let his head drop back against the cushions, closing his eyes and imagining those soft pink lips wrapped around the head of his dick while he fucked her mouth, his fingers twining into the silky strands of her blonde hair.

  The fantasy morphed into something far more erotic, and Phoenix imagined Tarik behind him, driving his thick cock deep into Phoenix’s ass while Mia continued to suck him, her sweet lips caressing the head of his dick.

  Oh, God.

  »»»»»♥«««««

  THE FIRST THING Tarik noticed when he walked into the darkened penthouse was that Phoenix was home. He could see the back of his head as he sat on the couch facing the wall of windows and the illuminated Austin skyline beyond.

  Closing the door as quietly as he could, Tarik moved closer. He had come to give Phoenix shit about the blonde woman and then see if he wanted to grab dinner, but he was pulled up short when he heard Phoenix speak.

  “Oh, fuck yes,” Phoenix said breathlessly.

  Tarik narrowed his eyes, moving closer still, trying to see if someone else was there. That was when he realized Phoenix was jacking off on the couch, no one else in the room. That was new. Tarik’s dick stood up and took notice immediately, and he was tempted to pull out his cock and stroke it along with Phoenix, but he managed to refrain, mesmerized by the sounds coming from the couch, the soft moans, the low growls.

  “Fuck. Oh, yeah. That’s good.” Phoenix groaned, jacking his cock harder, faster, his head leaned back against the sofa cushions, eyes closed. “Tarik. Mia. Oh, fuck.”

  Tarik nearly swallowed his own damn tongue when he heard Phoenix say his name. It didn’t surprise him that Phoenix had called out for Mia. He was fixated on the pretty little blonde for whatever reason. But for Phoenix to say his name… Did that mean…?

  Phoenix groaned, followed by, “Oh, fuck. I’m gonna come. Take all of me.”

  Tarik wished like hell he knew what fantasy was playing out in Phoenix’s head right then. Was he thinking about Tarik positioned between his legs, sucking his dick? Or was he thinking about Mia riding his hard cock while Tarik fucked her ass?

  It didn’t matter. Whatever Phoenix was thinking about included him.

  “Coming,” Phoenix moaned, his arm stilling, his head rolling side to side on the couch cushion.

  Not wanting to interrupt or to let Phoenix know that he’d been watching, Tarik slipped back down the hall to the front door. He exited silently and then headed for the stairs.

  Once inside his own condo, Tarik maneuvered through the darkened living room, and without an ounce of finesse, he yanked open his pants, shoving them to his thighs as he plopped onto his couch and took his dick in his hand. Closing his eyes, he pictured Phoenix on his knees, his sweet lips wrapped around the head of his cock, sucking him hard and fast while Mia straddled Tarik’s face. He wanted to taste her, to lick her pussy until she was screaming and begging for more.

  He had no idea why he’d become infatuated with her after only seeing her once in the elevator, but he had. Maybe it was the idea of Phoenix wanting her; maybe she had some sort of voodoo. Shit, he didn�
��t fucking know, but he couldn’t stop thinking about her any more than Phoenix could.

  Tarik stroked himself faster, cupping his balls with his free hand, fondling them aggressively while he jacked himself. He didn’t stop until the pleasure accosted him and the only thing he could do was come in his fucking hand.

  And as he’d suspected, when he opened his eyes, bringing himself back to reality slowly, Tarik was left with an even stronger desire and a still-hard dick.

  But at least one good thing had come from tonight… Tarik now knew that Phoenix did think about him. No matter what he wanted Tarik to believe.

  Chapter Six

  “I STILL CAN’T believe you cooked that all by yourself,” Mia teased Alex as she helped to remove the dishes from the table.

  Alex’s husband, Johnathan, shot Mia a knowing look. One that said he had given his wife a hand with the fantastic meal they’d recently devoured.

  “Never doubt my abilities,” Alex replied readily. “Now, shoo,” she told Johnathan. “You’ve got a game to watch. We’ll take care of the dishes.”

  Johnathan planted a quick kiss on Alex’s lips before heading back to the room he’d been in when Mia had arrived a good half hour before.

  “Did he just leave the other guys in there while he ate dinner?”

  “Yeah,” Alex said. “They’re used to it. I’ve offered to cook for them before, but they refuse every time. So I quit asking.”

  “I guess the game’s more important?” Mia carried the last of the plates to the sink, where Alex had flipped on the water and was rinsing the dishes.

  “Of course. I think my husband would bypass dinner if he didn’t think I’d be upset with him.”

  “Would you?” Mia asked.

  “No. But don’t tell him I said that. I like having dinner with him.”

  Mia laughed as she opened the dishwasher and began loading dishes.

  The only thing Mia had walked away with from her divorce from Damien, other than the three mil and her personal effects in one single suitcase, was her friendship with Alexandra Henry, better known as Alex. She had met Alex after Mia and Damien were married. Mia had been attending a charity event, bored out of her skull, when Damien had left her sitting at a table alone so he could converse with everyone else in the room. Everyone but her. Alex had joined Mia at the table, and they’d hit it off with shots of Patron. Alex’s idea. They’d forged a solid friendship, and over the next few months, and the years that followed, they had become best friends. Alex had even stuck with her during the divorce, proving that their friendship wasn’t based on her marriage to Damien. Mia was grateful to Alex for that. At this point in her life, she certainly needed a friend.