by Jaci Burton
"Okay. Enough work talk."
His lips curved. "And I was just going to ask about your day."
She laughed. "It was hectic."
"Tell me why it was hectic."
"I thought we were done talking about work?"
"We're done talking about your work as it relates to me, not as it relates to you. Tell me why your day was hectic."
She told him about her entire week and when she was finished, that tension she'd worked so hard to dissolve was back.
"You're a badass, Mia. Maybe I will consider letting MHC present to me."
She couldn't resist the satisfied smile that crept onto her face. "Take the weekend and think about it. But I told you, we're good."
"You're good."
"It's not just me. I've got a really good team and they're the ones who would be taking care of you. Not me."
He looked over at her again and the look he gave her didn't have anything to do with business. "What if I want you to take care of me?"
She felt a rush of heat, of need and desire mixed with the memory of his mouth on hers. All of those feelings were very bad. "Nathan. We aren't going there."
"What? I meant it in an entirely professional way."
"Did you?"
"Of course. What did you think I meant?"
Maybe she'd read him wrong and it had been entirely in her own mind. "Nothing."
"Not nothing. You were thinking about you and me, weren't you?"
It didn't surprise her he'd pick up on that. "Yes."
"You already made it clear that wasn't gonna happen, so I really was talking about you taking care of me from a business point of view."
"Okay. But no, I don't deal with the athletes once they're on board. Everyone has their own point person. My function is overall management of the company. I'm there in the beginning, during the presentation and signing of the contracts, to be sure it all runs smoothly. After that, I hand you off to your designated managers."
"I see. Sounds very well organized."
She smiled. "Of course it is. I totally have my shit together."
Professionally, anyway.
The drive to Napa Valley took a couple of hours. It was always enjoyable to spend time with Nathan, because their interests were similar, even down to liking the same music. They sang together in the car, though Nathan sang off-key. Not that he cared much, which made Mia laugh. They talked current events and families. She'd known Nathan long enough to know everything about his, and he knew all about hers. Of course, he already knew one of her brothers personally since they played on the same team.
"So my Aunt Jenna is pregnant."
Mia blinked. "She is? Really? That's fantastic. I know you told me she and Tyler were talking about having kids, but she was focused on her music and the club so they couldn't decide when."
"Yeah. I guess it was kind of a surprise, but they're both really happy about it."
"Aww. That's great. When's the baby due?"
He shrugged. "Uhh, no idea. I know my mom told me, but I forgot. I think it's during hockey season, so Tyler will probably miss some games."
She rolled her eyes. "Well, that's not at all specific since hockey season runs from October until next April."
"Hey, you can text my mom. She'll tell you."
"I might just do that." She'd never met Jenna or Tyler, but from conversations she'd had with Nathan she felt as if she knew them. She had met Nathan's mom, Tara, though, along with Nathan's dad, Mick. They were wonderful people.
"How's Sam?"
Nathan grinned. "Feisty. He's doing great. Loves school."
She shook her head. "They grow up fast."
He laughed. "That's what my mom said about me."
"She did space you and your little brother out quite a bit."
"Yeah. It took her a long time to find the right guy to fall in love with. Then she found my dad."
"You have a great family, Nathan."
"Thanks. I think so, too."
Mia smiled and leaned back in her seat. She loved the story of how Nathan's parents met and fell in love. Even though Mick Riley wasn't Nathan's biological father, Mick and Tara had met and fallen in love when Nathan was fifteen. Nathan's biological father wasn't in the picture and had never been, so Mia was happy that Nathan had such a strong father figure in Mick Riley, who had adopted Nathan after Mick and Tara got married. And then Nathan's little brother, Sam, came along.
There was nothing better than a real-life happily ever after.
Nathan adored his little brother. She'd met Sam one family weekend at college, where she'd also met his parents. Seeing the way Nathan doted on Sam reminded her of the way her big brothers had treated her when she was little. There was a lot of teasing, but also genuine love and tenderness.
It was one of the reasons she had kept Nathan in her life. A man who wasn't afraid to show that kind of love to both his parents and his brother was a man worth keeping as a friend.
They rolled up to the lodge and Nathan parked out front.
"Let's go get checked in," he said.
She was more than ready to get out and stretch her legs. They went inside to the reception desk.
"You still have time to attend the wine hour," the person at the reception desk said. "Complimentary wine from our vineyard, along with snacks. We also have information there about our wine tours."
Nathan smiled and nodded. "We'll be sure to check that out, thanks."
"I do want to attend," Mia said as he grabbed their bags.
"Then let's drop the bags and go."
Their rooms were right next to each other, so Mia keyed into her room and put her bags inside, then met Nathan outside his.
The wine reception was great. There were several varieties to choose from, and she was happy to see there were snacks left, because she was hungry. She ended up choosing a cabernet and filled her plate with a few hors d'oeuvres. Nathan grabbed a glass of wine and then went back and filled two plates.
"Hungry?" she asked as she found them a place to sit on the outside patio.
"Starving."
"We could have stopped someplace to eat along the way."
He shrugged. "I figured we'd eat when we got here. This will do for now."
His phone buzzed so he pulled it out of his pocket and looked at the message. "It's from Jamal. They're on their way. He said don't wait on them to eat because it'll take them a while to get here."
"Okay. What would you like to do about dinner?"
"I think there's a restaurant here. Or we could go exploring."
"I'm all about exploring."
"Okay. We'll have our wine and snack, then we'll drive around and see what's for dinner."
"Sounds great. But I'm going to go to my room and change clothes."
He nodded. "You do that."
Since he was wearing jeans and a button-down shirt, he looked fine for dinner. She'd thrown on capris and a T-shirt, so she finished nibbling on her snack and drank her wine, then dashed upstairs. She unpacked and hung up her dress and some of her clothes, then put on a pair of black pants, a black tank and red button-down silk top. She slid into her flats and brushed out her hair, fixed her makeup and added some lip gloss and jewelry, then went back downstairs.
"You look hot," he said with a smile.
She couldn't resist smiling back at him. "Thanks."
They got into his SUV and he took off down the highway. Mia got out her phone and looked up some places where they could stop and eat.
"What are you in the mood for?" she asked Nathan.
"A beer."
She laughed. "Food-wise."
"Don't care. I'm just hungry."
"Okay." She scanned the list. "We could do fancy, like French food, or something simpler like pizza."
"What are you in the mood for?"
She thought about it. "Actually, I don't want to eat anything super rich and heavy since we had those snacks. How does pizza sound to you?"
"I love pizza."
Her lips curved. "I know you do. One night in college I watched you polish off two large pizzas by yourself after a game."
"That was the night our O-line wasn't playing their best and I spent most of the game running for my life. I burned a lot of calories so I was starving."
"Oh, please. You could eat an entire pizza by yourself even without having played a game."
"True. So we're having pizza?"
"Yes, we are." She gave him directions to the Italian restaurant, which fortunately wasn't far, because now that they'd started talking about pizza, she was really hungry, too.
She wasn't sure how busy they'd be, so she made an online reservation, which they had available.
They pulled up and parked, then went inside.
"Busy place," Nathan said as they gave their name and hustled over to the side to wait to be called.
Mia looked the place over, from the concrete floor to the wood-fired pizza oven to the giant copper bell that lit up the place. It was quaint and beautiful, and waiters hustled back and forth to serve their customers.
It wasn't long before their name was called and they were seated at a small table near the back. They looked over the menu and a waiter came over to take their drink orders. Nathan ordered a beer and Mia decided on a glass of wine.
"You should probably order your own pizza," Mia said as she put her menu to the side.
"I can share, you know."
"Oh, I know. But I'm having spaghetti."
"Fair enough."
They put in their food order when the waiter came back with their drinks. Mia had ordered a glass of Syrah, which was delicious and just what she needed to cap off the night.
"Good?" Nathan asked.
"Perfect."
He lifted his beer. "To a fantastic weekend."
She tipped her glass against his beer. "I'll definitely drink to that. I feel like it's been nonstop frantic for the past six months. This is the first weekend I've taken off in . . . I don't know how long."
"Then you're overdue and I'm going to make sure you party your ass off this weekend."
She smiled at him. "I'm so ready for that."
When their food arrived, Mia realized she was hungrier than she thought. She dove into her plate of spaghetti, while also ogling Nathan's sausage pizza, which looked amazing.
"Want a slice?" Nathan asked.
"Definitely." She ended up scooping some of her spaghetti onto his plate, but in the end, it was Nathan who finished off all of the pizza and the majority of her spaghetti. She had another glass of wine, though, which was heavenly.
"Are you sure you had enough food?" he asked.
"More than enough." She sat back in her chair, feeling entirely relaxed for the first time in months. This weekend was a brilliant idea. If she'd stayed home she'd likely be on her laptop about now, going through financial projections and staffing, and reading proposals for next week's meetings.
This was so much better.
When the waiter came and asked if they were having dessert, she fully expected Nathan to say yes, so she was surprised he declined.
"No dessert?"
He shook his head. "Nah. I'm good for now."
When the waiter laid the check on the table, she grabbed it and took out her credit card.
Nathan frowned. "I can get that."
"Or I can get this one, and you'll get the next one."
He nodded. "Okay."
She liked that he respected her enough to let her pay and that he wasn't one of those guys whose ego got out of joint when a woman paid the tab.
They left the restaurant. It was a nice night. The air was crisp but the stars were amazing. Nathan headed for the car, but Mia grabbed his hand.
"I'm so full. Let's take a walk."
"Sure."
The grounds of the hotel the restaurant was located in were amazing, with places to sit by the pool and waterfall. There were walking paths so they traversed those while Mia occasionally looked up to gape at the night sky. As they wandered, she caught sight of some of the rooms. What she could see of them anyway. They were shrouded in privacy with tall walls and shrubbery.
"I did a little reading on this place on the way over. They have both indoor and outdoor showers. Plus a massage table in every room."
Nathan's brows rose. "Yeah? We should stay here next trip up."
"I thought so, too. I love a good massage."
"You should book one while we're here."
"I've considered it. I need to work out the kinks."
They made their way to a fire pit, and since she was chilled and no one was there, she led Nathan to a cozy bench in front of it so they could sit.
"This is awesome," Mia said as she warmed her body in front of the fire. "I need a fire pit."
"Where? In your living room?"
She laughed. "No. It's a someday thing. When I have a house and a backyard."
"Why didn't you buy a house?"
"I had enough going on trying to find the space for MHC, getting the company up and running and hiring staff, plus moving here. The last thing I wanted to do was go house hunting. Leasing the town house was enough for now. Eventually, though, I do want to buy."
Nathan leaned forward, closer to the fire pit. "We'll have to go house hunting."
She lifted a brow. "Oh, we will, huh?"
"You'd buy a house without my input?"
"Of course not. You being such an expert on house things."
"Hey. I know house things."
She gave him a skeptical look. "You do, huh? Like what?"
"You might be surprised to know I've learned a few important details about home ownership over the years from my dad and my uncles."
"Which means they used you as free labor."
"You got that right. But if you do go house hunting, you might want to bring me along. I have mad skills and can tell you if plumbing is crap or if an A/C unit is a piece of shit."
"I'll definitely keep that in mind. But it's going to be a while, so cool your house-hunting jets. I have enough on my agenda to keep me busy."
"Yeah, I get it. You're in building-an-empire mode right now."
"I don't know about building an empire, but not having my company sink in the first year is a good start."
He scooted closer to her and put his arm around her. "Babe. You're not gonna sink. Look at how busy you are right now. You've already said you've gotten more business than you thought you would right out of the gate."
"True." She turned her attention from the fire and focused on Nathan. "But can I keep the momentum going?"
"Of course you can. Word of mouth is what breeds success in a business like yours. And the more clients you bring on board, the more they'll talk about your company, and that means other athletes will want to know about you."
She inhaled a deep breath, then let it out. "I hope you're right."
"I'm always right."
She laughed. "I'm going to bring you into my Monday morning meetings as a motivational speaker."
"Uh-huh."
"Are you Nathan Riley?"
Mia looked over to see a guy with a camera. And not just a random fan, either.
"I am."
"Okay, thanks." He took a quick photo. "Is this your girlfriend?"
Nathan frowned, stood and took Mia's hand. "Let's go."
They started walking back, the guy following them. Mia heard the click of the camera as they walked along. They got into their car and drove off.
"Who is that guy?" Mia asked.
"Paparazzi would be my guess."
"I thought those guys only took photos of famous people, like TV and movie stars."
He shrugged. "They take pictures of anyone they think will earn them a buck."
Nathan parked and they made their way inside the hotel.
"Nathan, that was so weird. I mean, I'm no stranger to cameras. My brothers have had their photos taken by fans and press photographers before. But not in the middle of dinner or on the str
eet."
"I'm sure it's because the season is starting soon and there's this whole idea of me stepping into my dad's shoes. This guy's thinking he's got a story to tell, and he got a lucky shot of me out in public, that's all."
"I guess." But still, it worried her. For a lot of different reasons.
"Come on, let's step into the bar," he said. "I need a beer."
They grabbed a table and a waitress came over. Mia ordered a glass of cabernet and Nathan ordered a beer.
Mia sat and pondered the run-in with the photographer. What did he want and how had he found Nathan up in Napa?
The waitress brought their drinks, and Mia sipped hers, lost in thought.
"Hey," Nathan said, laying his hand over hers. "What's going on in your head?"
"Oh. Thinking about that photographer. I mean, how did he even find you?"
Nathan laughed. "I don't think he was specifically looking for me. He probably trolls all the hotels and restaurants hoping to spot someone he can photograph. Likely he knows sports, so he recognized me. That's all."
She took another sip of her wine. "You're probably right."
"Don't worry about it, okay?"
"What? Me worry?"
He laughed. "It is kind of your middle name, isn't it?"
Her lips curved and she felt the tension begin to dissolve. "At least three people mentioned that to me in meetings at work this week."
"Hey, you're just organized. That means you worry about every detail. Nothing wrong with that."
"I do tend to get a little obsessive, but that means I'm doing the best for my clients. You should see me in meetings. I'm very good at my job."
"I know you are." He quirked a smile at her and swallowed the last of his beer. Then he stood and held out his hand for her, pulling her to stand. "I could think of a lot of fun things to do with you, Mia, but biz meetings isn't one of them."
Maybe it was the wine buzz, but she moved in closer to him. "Is that right? What kind of fun things?"
He put his arm around her and tugged her close. "Depends. If it's friends only, then it's hanging out. If it's friends with benefits, I could show you."
She'd had a rough week, and the thought of Nathan helping her release all that pent-up tension sounded very appealing. She laid her palms on his chest. "Well, since you mentioned it . . ."
His phone buzzed. He ignored it and she lost herself in the depth of his gaze. But his phone continued to buzz.
"Shouldn't you get that?"
With a sigh, he removed his hand from around her back and took a step back. "It's probably Jamal."
He answered the call and she took a minute to breathe and recover her senses. If that call hadn't come in, she might have told Nathan she wanted to have sex.