“So what kind of playdate do you have, Mia?” Austin asked, a handsome grin on his face as he settled into his chair at the table.
She frowned at his inquiry, not wanting to get into her personal life when she was trying to keep a professional distance from him.
Still, this was an easy question in front of Bailey. “I’m having dinner with friends.”
“Female friends?” he asked, surprising her.
“Friends from my city days,” she said vaguely, if only because it really was none of his business. If they were going to keep things normal, he shouldn’t be asking.
She swung around, picked up oven mitts, and carried the casserole tin to the already set table.
“How are you getting there?” he asked.
She told herself this was normal conversation, not to read anything into it. Even if they’d never discussed her social life before and she had gone out on the admittedly rare Friday or Saturday night.
“The train,” she said, joining them and sitting down, pulling her chair in so she was more comfortable.
He frowned at that.
“Something wrong?”
“Nothing going in. It’s just a little empty and dangerous coming back alone at night.”
“I’ll be okay,” she said, understanding his point. “I’m not coming home all that late and I’ll keep my eyes open.”
A growl-like noise sounded from deep in his throat. She couldn’t tell if he was agreeing or still unhappy with her choice in transportation, but he didn’t get a say.
“Going anywhere fun?” he asked.
“I’m meeting the girls at happy hour after my friends get off work.” She caught her slip immediately. Yes, she was going with her girlfriends.
His frown turned into an obviously satisfied smile, telling her he’d have cared if she had plans with guys, too. The notion pleased her, which was ridiculous. She shouldn’t care what Austin thought of her social life. They weren’t going to go there. No repeat of the kiss. Not again.
Mia served Bailey a smaller portion of lasagna and busied herself giving Austin his before taking her own. Bailey, meanwhile, had watched the grown-ups talk in unusual silence, and now she dug into her meal quickly and with gusto, spreading the dinner all over her face.
Mia nudged her lightly. “Napkin,” she said, pointing to her sauce-covered cheeks.
The child wiped her face, succeeding in smearing the red sauce around even more. With a chuckle, Mia dipped her napkin into a glass of water and wiped Bailey’s mouth and cheeks.
Austin’s gaze followed the interchange, his dark eyes warming at the sight.
Flustered, Mia focused on her meal. Luckily, Bailey finished her food quickly and the chatting began again, giving Mia a much-needed break from Austin’s questions and concerns and her desire for a man she couldn’t, shouldn’t have.
* * *
It had been a long time since Mia had been in a bar during happy hour. The loud din of voices and laughter rang around her, and she couldn’t hear her friends talk over the noise. She turned down offers from guys who wanted buy her a drink, not in the mood for small talk with strangers. She’d rather be catching up with her girls than fending off potential advances. Besides, her mind was occupied with thoughts of one man only and she couldn’t get him out of her head.
From the bar, they went to a nightclub, and though there still wasn’t quiet time to talk, she danced with her friends and had a great time. The night went fast, and before she realized it, it was past eleven. She wanted to grab a train home, not wait until the last one that would be completely empty.
“Hey,” Amber, her good friend from her days being a nanny in Manhattan, said, having to yell in her ear. “You have that I’m-done-here look.”
Mia smiled. “You know me.”
“Let’s go. I’ll share your cab to Grand Central. I have to pass there on the way to my place anyway.”
“Great!” They said good-bye to the others and she and Amber headed for the exit.
They walked through the doors and into the fresh, cool night air, the silence surrounding them a welcome relief.
“Oh my God. Peace and quiet!” Amber exclaimed.
“Tell me about it. Oh, look, there’s a coffee place on the corner. Let’s get something before we grab a cab.”
They headed into the shop and placed their orders, sitting down to wait for them to be made. “So what’s up with you? You seem a little off tonight. Not that we could talk over the noise but that’s why we’re here. Problems with the new job?”
Mia shook her head. “Just the opposite. It’s a dream job. Great kid, nice room, access to the car, pay is good.”
“Then what’s wrong?”
Amber knew her well. She’d held Mia’s hand and seen her through the trial with her last employer, and the wife’s ranting and raving that Mia had ruined her family, even though it was her husband who’d done an illegal deed. Parker Alexander, thinking he was home alone, had a business meeting with an associate during which they discussed the kind of retirement scam that would make Bernie Madoff flinch.
Mia had heard enough to grow concerned, especially given the memory of the swindle that had cost one of her foster parents everything. Instinct had made her turn on her phone to record the conversation. And when whispers about embezzlement in Alexander Investments started to come out, she’d taken the recording to the police.
Unfortunately, due to New York law, the tape couldn’t stand on its own. It had merely proven to the DA that Mia’s story was true… which was why they’d subpoenaed her to testify. She’d literally had to sit in the hot seat, knowing every word she said was helping to put her former boss in prison.
“Mia? Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” Amber asked.
Mia blew out a long breath. “The guy I work for? He’s drop-dead gorgeous and… he kissed me.” And she’d kissed him back, and she hadn’t stopped daydreaming about it since.
“Whoa,” Amber said, shock in her gaze. “Is this a good thing? Or a bad thing?”
“That’s what I’m trying to decide.”
“Mia!” the barrista called out, letting them know their coffee was ready.
“Be right back.” Mia rose and picked up their cups, sitting back down in her seat across from her friend. “Here you go.” She slid Amber’s cup across the table and took a sip of her latte. “Ooh, it’s hot.”
“Okay, let’s figure this out. Did you like the kiss?” she asked bluntly, as was her way.
Mia’s cheeks flushed. “Umm, yes. It was the hottest kiss of my life.”
“So it’s the employer issue?” Amber asked knowingly.
Mia wrapped her hand around the cup. “In part.” And that’s what she’d been struggling so hard with. If she got past the fact that she worked for him, there were deeper issues she didn’t want to think about.
Amber took a sip of her mocha-flavored coffee. “This is me you’re talking to. What’s going on?”
Mia swallowed hard. “He’s the whole package. A sexy man, a good-hearted guy who adores his child… and his daughter is great, too.”
Amber leaned closer. “This is all good! It’s not like you’re telling me he’s a player who hits on every woman he meets. So—”
“So I can’t afford to fall for him! He admitted he’s done the family thing for the last time. He was burned. Badly. But from my perspective, he has, he is everything I’ve ever wanted in my life.” She rubbed her hands on her jeans, hating having to admit these things out loud. “So how foolish would I be to sleep with the man I work for? And possibly fall hard, knowing ahead of time that we want drastically opposite things out of life? Then I’d have to get over him while working in his home. I know that’s not wise,” she said, voicing her greatest fears.
Amber twirled her brown hair around one finger as she listened thoughtfully. “What if you didn’t have to get over him? What if you fell for him and he fell just as hard for you?” her optimistic friend asked.
&nb
sp; No, that wasn’t in the cards. “Life hasn’t typically given me the family I wanted,” Mia murmured. “And he’s already made it clear he isn’t doing the commitment thing again.”
“Then go into it for the sex. If that kiss is anything to go by, you’re in for some spectacular orgasms.”
“Be quiet.” Mia crumpled her napkin into a ball and threw it at her friend, her face on fire from the direction of their conversation.
“Just giving you your options,” Amber said unrepentantly.
“Let’s just say you’ve given me a lot to think about and leave it at that.”
Amber shrugged. “Go for the orgasms. That’s all I’m saying.”
Mia rolled her eyes. “You just had to have the last word, didn’t you?”
Amber grinned over her coffee cup and laughed.
They spent a few more minutes talking about Amber’s life and live-in boyfriend, her job as a guidance counselor for junior high school kids, and life in general before heading to hail a cab so Mia could take the train back to Austin’s house.
* * *
Austin paced his family room at midnight on Friday night. He’d long since dropped Bailey off at his parents’ place farther upstate and, at his mother’s coaxing, stayed for dinner. It wasn’t like he’d had other plans, and he hadn’t wanted to be home in the quiet house by himself. You’d think he’d enjoy the break from his usual routine with Bailey, and he did, but he knew if he was alone, his thoughts would turn to Mia. As they did now.
What was she doing at bars in Manhattan? How many guys tried to pick her up? Was she safe wandering Grand Central Station at night, and alone on the train ride home? He didn’t need to tell himself he was obsessed. He was.
Maybe he should have gone out with the guys and Ava, his friends from work, but then he’d have had to ask his parents to drive here to get Bailey, and he didn’t want to put them out. Which left him home, nursing a cold beer and wondering what Mia meant when she said she wouldn’t be out late. Because in his book, after midnight was late.
He shouldn’t have acted so overprotective when she’d told him she was taking the train, or worse, like an overbearing boyfriend, which he definitely was not. But thanks to his job, he was someone who considered all angles of any situation, and he always looked out for the people he cared for. And there was no doubt he cared about Mia. He glanced at the clock once more.
Finally, the alarm beep sounded at the side door, letting him know that Mia had returned. He closed his fingers around the armrests on his chair and remained in his seat. She had to pass through this room—and him—to get to her bedroom.
Having picked Bailey up from school and driven her to his folks’, he hadn’t been home when she left the house. So he was unprepared when she strode into the room, looking like a sexy siren wearing a pair of high wedge shoes and skintight jeans. A cropped black leather jacket completed the outfit with a sparkly low-cut shirt beneath. Her hair, normally pulled up in a messy bun, hung straight down her back, the long strands perfect for him to wrap around his hands and hold on to while he fucked her from behind.
He muffled a low groan, warning his dick not to stand at attention and give his reaction to her outfit away.
“Austin!” She raised a hand to her chest in surprise, obviously startled by his presence. She came to a stop in front of his chair. “I thought maybe you’d be out but the alarm was off so… I knew you were here. But I didn’t think you’d be downstairs.”
That she thought he’d have gone out tonight was interesting. He stored the fact away for later. “I’m just having a drink before I turn in.”
He rose from his seat and picked up the now empty bottle, walking across the room and tossing it in the recycling bin in the kitchen before returning to talk to her.
“How’d you get back from the train?” he asked, yet another thing that had concerned him. He’d have picked her up if she’d asked, but she hadn’t.
“I called an Uber. And I’m back home, safe and sound,” she said, clearly meaning to reassure him.
“Did you have a nice time?” He sat on the arm of the couch.
“I did. I don’t see my friends often, so it was fun.” Her eyes glittered as she answered.
Obviously she’d had a good time while he sat home and brooded. About her. Had she thought about him at all? Would it have bothered her if he’d been on a date?
“Why would you think I went out?” he asked, his mind returning to her earlier statement.
“I don’t know.” But her cheeks flushed pink, as if she knew something and didn’t want to admit to it.
“Come on, Mia. You can do better than that. Where did you think I was tonight, without Bailey here to keep me busy?”
She pursed her lips, the pucker a reminder of what he wanted to do to that mouth. Kissing her senseless was just the beginning of what he desired.
“I figured you were out on a date,” she finally blurted out, the frown on her face as she said the word a dead giveaway to her thoughts on the matter.
He shook his head and laughed, relieved at her admission and the fact that she didn’t like the idea of him with another woman.
She braced her hands on her hips, clearly annoyed. “What’s so funny?”
Pushing himself to a standing position, he stepped closer. Her scent, the citrusy aroma he’d come to associate with her, the same one his body automatically reacted to, wafted around him. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that you think I could be with another woman when I can’t get that hot fucking kiss out of my head?”
Those same lips that were the object of his obsession parted in a surprised oh.
“Have you forgotten? Can you get it out of your mind? Or do you lie in bed at night thinking about me the way I do about you?”
Chapter Four
Mia hadn’t forgotten that kiss. Not for a second, and at the reminder, heat washed over her, tightening her skin. Austin’s nearness didn’t help.
He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, a gentle gesture that affected her like a sensual caress.
“I’m waiting for an answer.”
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “No, I can’t get it out of my head, either,” she admitted.
“I thought so.” He lifted her chin with his hand. “What are we going to do about this mutual wanting?”
“Nothing smart,” she murmured.
He grazed her lip with the pad of his thumb, causing her to lean into him on a soft moan. She knew better than to give in. She’d spent the train ride home convincing herself to maintain the status quo, to steer clear. But how was she supposed to resist a man who worried about her welfare, who waited up for her to return, who looked at her as if he wanted to consume her?
“To hell with smart when it feels so good,” he said.
She agreed. For the moment, she was finished fighting with herself, the devil on her shoulder winning. She’d deal with the repercussions later, and slid her tongue out to lick his finger, where it lingered on her mouth.
His gorgeous brown eyes darkened, and need pulsed through her veins, her sex damp with desire.
“Now let me taste that sweet mouth.” He slipped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in. This time he didn’t wait for her acquiescence. He dipped his head and covered her mouth with his.
The kiss was hot, his mouth branding her with the intensity of his need. He pulled her against him and she melted into his hard body. Her breasts crushed against his hard chest and her heart beat a mile a minute as he devoured her mouth, his tongue taking possession of hers.
He backed her up to the nearest wall, his lips never leaving hers. He grasped her waist, gliding his hand up her shirt, beneath the jacket, until he encountered her silk bra that he released in the front with a flick of his hand.
He tilted his head back, meeting her gaze, his irises dark with desire. “Take off the jacket,” he said in a gruff voice. He backed up so she could do as he asked, and she leaned forward, sh
rugging off the leather and letting it fall to the floor.
He lifted her shirt up and over her head.
“Bra next.”
She swallowed hard, and, emboldened by his need, she shrugged her shoulders, shimmying the opened garment down her arms so it fell on the floor. The cool air and his heated stare caused her nipples to pucker tightly.
“I wondered what these pretty tits looked like.” He cupped her breasts in his hand, rubbing his thumbs over her distended nipples, the sensation causing a clenching of her core, an emptiness that needed to be filled.
She lifted her hands, intending to pull his shirt up so she could feel his skin. Turnabout was fair play, after all, but he shook his head.
“Don’t. Not yet. Let me fulfill at least one of my personal fantasies first. I want to know what they taste like, too.”
Before she could process his words, he dipped his head and covered one breast with his hot mouth, licking her flesh and teasing her nipples, grazing them, before he shocked her, sinking his teeth into her tender flesh.
She gasped at the bite of erotic pain that he quickly soothed with gentle laps of his tongue. Pleasure swamped her, her legs trembling, her sex damp. She grasped his head, holding him tight as he continued to focus on her breasts, moving to the to the other side, giving her left breast the same sensual treatment.
By the time he was finished, her hips were shifting back and forth of their own accord, her body seeking fulfillment. He slid one strong thigh between her legs and soon she was writhing against him, waves of pleasure accosting her body. Her sex throbbed with desire and she whimpered aloud.
“I’ve got you,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as his free hand unbuttoned her jeans and slid down her panties, his strong fingers gliding over her clit.
She moaned at the first touch of her most sensitive spot, falling back against his arm and the wall behind her.
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