Worth the Wait (McKinney/Walker #1)

by Claudia Connor

  “Day cash!” Hannah yelled happily, and Mia felt Nick stiffen. Right. His parents had crashed, not that Hannah knew that. She desperately wanted to wrap him up, hug him tight, but dinner was ready and there were other ways she could help.

  The three of them ate the meal he’d promised—chicken nuggets, mac and cheese, and steamed broccoli. Afterward, she set out emptying the dishwasher, opening cabinets to find where things went. She could tell there had been a system, once. The dishes and bowls at the bottom of every stack were matched and neat but got more and more haphazard after that. Measuring cups were tossed in with baking dishes. Well, some of them. She found the missing half cup in the drawer with the silverware, which was mixed and turned in every direction with no regard for the metal divider. She wasn’t obsessively neat, but that was just wrong. Plus, she wanted to help him.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Nick said.

  Yes. I do, she thought. “I don’t mind. It’s nice being at a real house and out of the dorm.”

  “Okay. Knock yourself out,” he said smiling. Cute. Grateful. “I’ll start Hannah’s bath.”

  The man never stopped. She finished the kitchen and then, with Nick’s direction, chose pajamas for Hannah—light-blue pants and a top with scattered images of Hello Kitty. Pausing at the door, she listened to them, Nick’s deep voice counting slowly. She could hear the water pouring with each number and figured he was rinsing. His gentle voice when he talked to Hannah always did funny things to her stomach.

  When Hannah called out a joyful, “All done,” Mia went in and joined Nick, kneeling beside him at the tub.

  “You’re good at that.”

  He slanted her a quick glance, embarrassed. “Look, here’s Mia,” Nick said, lifting Hannah from the water and wrapping her in a pink towel. “She brought you pajamas.”

  She had to clear her throat. “I did.” She held them up while Nick gently rubbed Hannah’s little head with the towel.

  Hannah’s tiny hands gripped his wide shoulders.

  “I got Hello Kitty.”

  He slipped Hannah into the pajama top. “Don’t tell me you actually know that cat.”

  “Wewo Kitty,” Hannah said, looking down at herself and pointing.

  “Of course I do. Everyone knows Hello Kitty.” Mia grinned up at him. “I take it you never went to the Hello Kitty store for sparkly candy.”

  She shifted closer to hold Hannah’s panties while Nick helped her step in. The scent of Hannah’s baby shampoo filled the small space, mixing with a hint of Nick’s aftershave. And she was plenty close to smell him, cocooned in the warmth of a small bathroom after a bath.

  Hannah lunged into her brother, who caught her close for a quick hug before she bolted from the bathroom, calling for her brother, “Sack.”

  Nick turned, and soft, brown eyes met hers, their faces only inches apart. He made her nervous and eager all at once, and the way he was looking at her now, added hot and quivering. His lips curved in a small smile. “I must have missed the sparkly candy.”

  “A shame.” Her voice sounded breathless. She barely knew what she was saying.

  They stared, just breathing, for one heartbeat. Another. Then Nick’s mouth was on hers, his hand cupped the back of her neck. Warm lips skimmed over hers, his tongue dipping in to tease against her own. His fingers tightened in her hair, making her scalp tingle, but the kiss floated over her, dreamy and sweet. It was like fireworks bursting into the sky while she did a free-fall off a cliff at the same time.

  Zach cleared his throat from the hallway. “The princess summons you both.”

  She jerked back, embarrassed, her pulse fluttering. Nick didn’t seem bothered at all, keeping a firm grip on her hair. “Okay,” he answered, then gave her a look that said he’d liked that kiss and there would be more.

  With her hand in his, she followed Nick to Hannah’s room. Zach was beside Hannah’s bed, pulling back pink covers. Dallas held her over his head, flying her in with an airplane sound.

  Mia stood back and watched them perform something called the Bears’ Sleepy Dance. Three big guys swayed and stepped, completely out of sync with each other, all with stuffed animals on their heads. The song sounded like nonsense, but they all knew the words. So did their young audience. Hannah sang along and clapped.

  Mia was grinning when the light clicked off, leaving the room in a soft, night-light glow.

  “If you tell anyone, we’ll have to kill you,” Dallas said, passing her.

  Fighting a smile, she gave him a swift and serious nod. “Your secret’s safe.”

  Nick was the last out, and he pulled the door almost closed after taking one last peek.

  “Don’t ask,” he said, backing her into the dark hallway. “It's the only thing that works.” His hard body pressed into hers. His head dipped to graze his lips over her cheek.

  “I loved it.” She slid her fingers into his hair, sighing at the feel of it, then tugged until his mouth found hers.

  She wasn’t halfway in love with Nick Walker. She was all the way gone.

  Chapter 5

  SIX WEEKS AFTER THAT first kiss, Nick stood waiting for Mia outside the science building. The shadows stretched long over the brick, the sun was warm, even though fall was upon them with a wild splash of color. Like Mia was his own personal splash of color. She’d come into his life and made everything better, brighter.

  She knew things a teenage guy just didn’t: that fabric sheets in the dryer made bath towels softer and that the metal bar on the wall was actually to hang them on. And since she could get the twins to use a laundry basket with nothing more than a “please” and a smile, the whole damn place didn’t smell like a locker room. And their parents’ bedroom. Mia was able to do what they couldn’t.

  She got him through those weeks, made him believe he’d made the right decision when he doubted himself. She told him he was doing a good job and that Hannah was lucky to have him, always when he needed to hear it most.

  She helped all of them move forward. He’d once overheard her telling Zach, as his head hung, his eyes looking suspiciously like he’d been crying, that you couldn’t move any other way.

  They all needed her, he thought, keeping watch down the concourse. And then there she was. His Mia. He rolled the words over in his head.

  My Mia.

  Even at fifty yards, he knew her. She moved down the red-brick path toward him, her sexy legs visible beneath a soft cotton skirt that swung around her knees. With it, she wore a long-sleeved tee and tennis shoes. Her hair flowed down around her like a black cape. Just the sight of her knocked him sideways. It always did.

  She stopped in front of him, tipped her smiling face up to his. “Hi.”

  His heart jumped. He slid his arms around her and kissed her nose. “Hi, yourself. How was it?”

  Her arms went around his back. “Good. Easy.”

  He gave her bottom a playful pat. “You know if the professor uses a curve, you’re killing it for everyone.”

  She just smiled, lifted her shoulder. “Guess they should study more.”

  “Says the girl with the photographic memory. Dallas is watching Hannah. I thought we could go to the waterfall.”

  “The one you said I shouldn’t go to?”

  “I said you shouldn’t go by yourself.” Seemed like he was always telling her that. Every time, he thought he sounded like his dad, but the girl was independence personified. Besides, sounding like his dad wasn’t such a bad thing. He took her hand and started toward his car. “This will probably be our last warm day. It’s supposed to get cold this weekend.”

  “Then it’s the perfect day.”

  Twenty minutes later, they were in the woods of the nearby state park, and it was perfect, a mix of soft and crunchy leaves under their feet and a crisp blue sky above. Surrounded by fall and the scent of decomposition in the air, they made their way down the steep incline to reach the boulders at the base of the falls. Shouts and yelps came from a handful of other students wh
o’d had the same idea. He helped Mia up and over the rocks. His hands circled her tiny waist then lingered there when he lifted her down on the other side. They both knew she didn’t need the help.

  To their right, water flowed nearly straight down a manmade wall of stacked blocks built to hold back the lake above. It poured over and pooled around the boulders below, leveling off to just a trickle that continued on their left and out of sight. They crossed at the nearest point he thought Mia could make it across without getting her feet wet. He went first, stepping carefully over nearly submerged rocks, holding her hand, prepared to step into the cold water if need be.

  Once on the other side, he kept her hand in his and led her through the dense woods. It was embarrassing what just having her hand in his did to him.

  “Have you ever brought Hannah here?”

  “No.”

  “You should. I bet she’d love it.”

  “Mmm.” She was probably right, but his thoughts were not on his sister at that moment.

  They walked along the opposite bank until they reached the falls, staying several feet back in the woods so they didn’t get wet from the blowing mist. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugged her close against him, and nibbled at the side of her neck. Her hands covered his, and her head fell back, giving him better access, and he took it. He kissed and nipped at her ear, then the side of her face. A couple of daredevils climbed the falls while two more taunted them from the top. Mia laughed at them, and Nick sighed inwardly. He hadn’t counted on the crowd.

  Abruptly, he let her go, grabbed her hand, and pulled her deeper into the woods. They had two hours. He didn’t want to waste them. “I know another spot. It’s better.”

  She laughed as he tugged her up the slight incline. “Slow down, nature boy.”

  When he thought they were far enough away from spying eyes, he stopped just as abruptly as he’d started. With his fingers splayed wide across her narrow back, he brought her up hard against him and took her mouth in a long, deep kiss. He sank into the feel and the taste of her. Their tongues circled, drawing a tightness from his toes to his balls.

  His hands moved past her hips to cup her bottom, and she arched into him, as she always did, like she couldn’t get enough.

  Her fingers flexed against his chest, fisting in his shirt, then wound around his neck. They were both panting when they pulled back for a breath. “I’ve never felt like this,” she whispered.

  He lifted his head, fell into her fathomless eyes, and knew it was true. Knew he felt the same. Mia’s mixture of confidence and innocence was just one more thing that drew him in. “I’m glad.”

  “It’s so easy for you, isn’t it?” She smiled up at him, her dark brown eyes a little dreamy. “Making the girls’ hearts race?”

  He skated his palms up her sides, just grazing the underside of her breasts before sliding down to mold over the curves of her waist, her hips. He kissed along her neck, behind her ear. “Yours is the only heart I’m interested in at the moment.”

  “At the moment?”

  Lifting his head, he studied her. It wasn’t like Mia to be unsure of herself. She had that take-it-or-leave-it attitude, another thing he loved about her. “Yes. This moment.” He cupped her face in his hands. “Every moment.”

  She stared up at him thoughtfully. His Mia was always thinking. “What?”

  “It’s dumb.”

  “You’re the smartest person I know. Say it anyway.”

  She pressed her lips together.

  “Mia.”

  “Okay. Do you think we’d have gotten together if things had been different?”

  “Different how?”

  “You know. If you’d been going to parties, doing your thing.”

  “Hmm. Maybe you’re not that smart.” He grinned and tightened his arms around her. “Maybe you would have reformed me. Or maybe I would have corrupted you,” he added, giving her bottom a squeeze.

  She wasn’t laughing.

  “Mia.” He smoothed his hands up her back. “I know for a fact I would’ve gone after you no matter what. One look in your brown eyes, and you had me. Though I doubt I would’ve gotten very far.”

  “Why do you say that?”

  “My moves might have made you run in the other direction. It’s like Hannah was there to save me from myself.”

  She laughed softly now, but he grew serious and tightened his grip. “One thing I know for a fact: I would have suffered from my own stupidity. Because if I wasn’t with you, Hannah or no Hannah, parents alive or parents dead, I would suffer.”

  She didn’t say anything, didn’t need to. He saw it all in her eyes. Wrapped up in her arms, he sank into the sweet heat of her mouth. He pressed a kiss to her throat, skimmed his lips along the skin there. She always smelled so sweet, tasted sweeter. Sweet and innocent, barely eighteen years old, away from home for the first time, Mia was his. So completely his.

  He walked them back to a level spot and pulled her down to sit beside him. His lips found hers again. On and on, hot kisses, sweet touches, until she was on her back with him angled over her.

  Beams of sunlight danced softly over her as they found their way between the gently swaying trees. And with the pleasure of deep, hungry kisses, his hands slipped under her top to find bare skin. Mia was shy, but when she kissed him, their combined heat and need burst into fire in seconds. He didn’t know how he’d survived this long without passing second base, didn’t know how much longer he could stand to wait.

  Mia sighed into his mouth, stealing his very breath, and he knew exactly how long he could wait—as long as she wanted, as long as she needed. Even if it killed him.

  His fingers brushed over the smooth flesh of her stomach. She trembled when he ventured higher. They’d gone this far before, once, and he’d dreamed of it every night since. He cupped her through her bra, dying to feel her bare breast in his palm again. Her kiss grew hotter, more insistent. She tugged at his shirt until he peeled it off and dropped it on the ground beside them.

  “You’re so beautiful.” He kissed across the smooth, pale skin of her chest. He watched and felt his hands skim over her, his complexion dark against her creamy silk. With his hands nearly shaking, he put everything he had that was soft, gentle, and loving into his touch. With nervous fingers, he slid the straps down her shoulders, peeled the cotton from her breast. He cupped her, felt her heart beat hard and fast. She was everything. When he drew the peak into his mouth, she moaned, grabbed his head, urging him to take more.

  His body was on fire for her, painfully ready against the zipper of his jeans. “Mia.” Her name tore from him, half groan, half plea. He sucked and kissed her throat. “Mia, we need to stop.”

  Her nails dug into his scalp, holding him to her. “Don’t stop,” she whispered then looked up at him, her eyes dark and hazy with desire.

  His gaze held hers, his chest heaving. His hands seemed to know what to do even if his brain was malfunctioning. Slowly, they slid up her sides, taking the shirt higher until she raised her arms over her head and dropped it to the soft leaves. Good God, so beautiful.

  He dipped down to kiss her again. Her hands roamed with a frantic search, up his chest, over his back and shoulders. They got rid of her bra. She was usually the one to stop things, and through the haze of desire his mind shouted at him, she’s not stopping. Not stopping and instead arching into him, straining to get closer. He pulled her over him, his hand teasing up and under her skirt, over her bare thigh. He felt the edge of her panties and paused, his breath rushing in and out. When his fingers stroked under and beyond, she jerked her mouth from his, sucking in air, panting. Her breath was hot against his neck as he worked her up and over the first peak.

  He watched the surprise and pleasure on her face. Moving against his hand, eyes closed, her beautiful lips parted. When she pushed his hand away, he fought back a groan. When she shifted, hooked her fingers under the elastic, and dragged the lace down her legs, he struggled to breathe.


  “Mia?” Her name was a question, whispered from his lips like the wind in the trees above them. “Are you sure?”

  She reached for the button of his jeans.

  Shit. With fumbling fingers and his heart beating wildly, he lowered his zipper. Then with her eyes peering up and into his, he came over her. In a rare moment, he thought of nothing else, just her.

  With his weight on his forearms and her face in his hands, he kissed her. All around her mouth, her eyes, her cheeks. She was his. She’d already been his, but now it would be more.

  “My Mia.” He whispered it against her lips, her neck, her hair. He kissed the rapidly beating pulse at the hollow of her throat. His own pulse raced, nerves vibrated, blood rushed. It wasn’t his first time with a girl, but it was the first time he’d felt his insides tremble, his stomach drop over the highest point of a coaster, and his heart pound with more than anticipation.

  He pressed himself between her legs, waited again for her to change her mind. When he saw the answer in her eyes, he got a condom, covered himself. He hovered over her, ready, so ready and knowing he would remember her just like this. Long black hair spread over his white T-shirt and behind into the leaves. Her cheeks were pink with passion, her eyes wide and locked with his.

  “Nick.” She whispered his name, pleading. “I’m sure. Here. Now.”

  Her arms wound tightly around his shoulders, her fingers digging into his neck, and pulled him in for a kiss. And he gave it to her with slow, soothing assurance as he eased inside. God, she was so small, so tight, and he muttered a curse as her heat closed around him. “I’m sorry.” He stilled, not wanting to hurt her any more than he already was.

  He kissed her slowly until he felt her relaxing then filled her completely and at the same time felt filled with her, knowing she wanted him, that she trusted him. Knowing she was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

  The wind whispered through the trees. The sun fell behind the lake above, throwing them into sultry dusk. The water pounded over the falls like the pounding in his heart, and he couldn’t imagine anything more perfect. This is where he would make love to his Mia for the first time. Perfectly unplanned like Mia had been unplanned, like his entire life was unplanned, but Mia was the good part. The best part.