B00Z637D2Y (R) (12 page)

“No, but he says it’s urgent.” The nurse glanced over her shoulder and back. “And he has a dog with him.”

Mia shot to her feet without thinking. Why would Michael come there? And he’d said it was urgent. Her mind shuffled through possibilities. Maybe Clancy was sick…

“Hey.” Gladys snapped her fingers. “She needs to let us meet him.”

“Oh, yeah, let him come on back.” Mia lowered herself into her chair and tried to adopt an air of nonchalance.

Michael strode into the room. To a stranger, he probably appeared completely calm, but Mia knew him well enough by then to detect the strain in his features. His lips were drawn a little too tight, and a tiny furrow marred his perfect brow. Something was wrong. “Good evening, Mia.” He nodded to the Queen B’s. “Ladies.” Clancy’s tail wagged a million times a minute as he strained against the leash to get to Mia.

She kneeled in front of the dog. “Hey, Clancy Pants, what’s up?” It was much easier to talk to the dog than Michael at the moment. His unexplained appearance was unsettling, especially after her tell-all session with the Queen B’s.

“I need you,” Michael said.

“Well, it’s about time,” Gladys blurted out.

A furious blush burned Mia’s cheeks. No telling what else Gladys would say. “To do what?” Mia asked.

“I have a meeting. It’s the foreign client I told you about.”

She’d never seen the B’s so attentive. All four of them were leaning forward expectantly.

“And?” Betty said.

“And…” His gaze wandered over the women, who were probably holding their breaths for his reply. “And, is there a place we can speak in private, Mia?”

“No.” She had no idea precisely what prompted her to deny him, but she liked seeing him out of his element. His discomfort made him seem human and reachable. “The Queen B’s are like family. Anything you say to me can be said in front of them. What does the meeting have to do with me?”

He glanced down at his feet for a moment, which made him look like an unsure child, then he raised his chin, and all traces of insecurity were gone. “We have a business deal. I realize it doesn’t extend to this early hour, but I would appreciate it if you could come to the meeting. The client is a dog aficionado, and as you know, I’m not good with animals. He will expect the dog to be there, but after its behavior today, I’m worried it will act up during the meeting and cost me the deal. Or rather, my reaction to its acting up will cost me the deal.”

Well, at least Michael was taking most of the blame. That was certainly a step in the right direction. Too bad he still saw the dog as an “it.” “What did Clancy do today?”

“It toilet papered my office.”

Mia couldn’t help but laugh. The image of any kind of mess or fun in Michael’s office was hilarious. Obviously, Michael didn’t find it amusing, as his demeanor remained stoic. She cleared her throat. “So, you want me to dog wrangle while you wheel and deal.”

“Yes. I realize it’s outside of our business agreement, but it would be a great help to me.”

“Business agreement, my backside,” Gladys grumbled. Blanche pinched her and she cried out, then added, “Well, it’s true. Business partners don’t have sex dreams about each other.”

Michael’s eyes widened for a moment before his calm façade slipped back in place.

Stifling an embarrassed groan, Mia stood and untied her paint smock. “I’ll go.”

“I appreciate it.”

Gladys snorted. “I hope he plans to show her just how much he appreciates it.” She yelped as Blanche pinched her again. “He needs to do more than kiss her on a bridge this time,” she added as Mia grabbed her coat and scarf and ushered Michael out the door as quickly as possible.

Chapter Ten

Seated in the lobby of Anderson Auctions, Mia smoothed a wrinkle out of the coat folded over her lap. Everything about the place fit her image of where Michael would work: opulent, stylish, and perfect.

Michael had been super quick on the uptake when she gave him a brief dog handling lesson in his office before the meeting began, and Clancy reacted with surprising enthusiasm to Michael’s caresses. Maybe he’d been acting out to get his interim owner’s attention. She certainly couldn’t blame the dog. Being the center of Michael Anderson’s attention would be a heady thing.

Stroking the sleeping dog next to her, she studied the lobby for the millionth time. Polished marble floors reflected the high-end furnishings strategically placed for the highest impact… Just like the man.
High impact
. Yep. That fit Michael Anderson perfectly.

With a sigh, she checked the time on her phone. He’d been in there with Mr. Kawashima and his interpreter for over an hour. She’d been invited to join, but had decided against it. She’d contributed everything she possibly could by visiting with the man about his dogs during the introductions. Michael had performed brilliantly through the whole conversation, following her earlier instructions to the tee, and Clancy had reacted better than expected to the staged show of affection from his reluctant temporary master. Heck, if she hadn’t been the one to instruct him on exactly how to hold and stroke the dog, she might have believed the act herself.

The dark set of wooden double doors swung open, finally, and Clancy leapt off of her lap and bounded toward the three men. Mr. Kawashima crouched down, and to Mia’s amazement, the dog blasted right by him and skidded to a halt at Michael’s feet.

His panicked expression almost caused her to laugh out loud, but instead, she made a gesture with her arms. Michael took the cue and picked Clancy up, cradling him just as she had indicated. He didn’t even flinch when Clancy licked him on the face.

Lucky dog.

She shook herself mentally.
No! Absolutely not, Mia
. That man, no matter how adorable he looked holding the wiggly Shih Tzu, was not for her—or any woman, probably. Men like Michael Anderson were for themselves. His single-minded pursuit of his business image and success knocked him right out of the running for any place in her heart…or her bed, regardless of how much her body disagreed.

He grinned and his dimples flashed, causing her skin to tighten and heat.
Stupid body.
Fortunately, Mr. Kawashima cleared his throat, which pulled her back from the lust ledge just in time, before she swan dived right into the Abyss of Really Bad Ideas.

After goodbyes that included some bows and firm handshakes, Mr. Kawashima and his interpreter disappeared into the elevator, leaving her alone with the one-two gut punch of hot man holding cute dog—almost more than her self-restraint could bear.

“Well?” she asked after several moments of trying to read Michael’s face while pushing down the twinges of excitement swirling through her.

Expression still non-committal, he set Clancy down and gave him a gentle pat. “The meeting went well, thanks to you.”

Again, there was a strange, unreadable look on his face as they stood just out of reach in awkward silence. Even from that distance, she swore she could feel the heat rolling off of him, warming her skin and raising her heart rate.

“How well?”

He took a step closer—close enough to touch her, but he didn’t. “How on earth did you know his wife’s dog’s name?”

It was hard to focus with him this close and intense. “Do you watch football?”

“Yes.”

“Do you know who played in the Super Bowl last year?”

His gaze shifted to her lips, then back to her eyes. “Of course.”

“Do you know the names of the key players on both teams?”

“Yes.” He dragged the word out, causing his answer to seem directed at something more than the conversation, and her heart rate kicked up another notch.

“Well, I’m into dogs, and the Westminster Dog Show is like the Super Bowl of dog shows. His wife’s dog was a key player in that Super Bowl. I knew its name.”

Again, he moved closer. “You were brilliant.”

“Nothing brilliant about it. I just knew the right trivia. You’re lucky I’m a dog person.” Her voice came out funny-sounding to her ears. Breathy and light.

“Yes, lucky.” Such innocent words in isolation, but the liquid tone of his voice loaded them with promises of nothing innocent—and she loved it. He placed his hands on her shoulders and she held her breath. “
Very
lucky, Mia.” As he trailed his hands down her arms, she closed her eyes, reveling in the contact.

Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea.
But no matter how many times she chanted it in her head, her heart and body called her bluff, and she pictured images of the heated dreams she’d had every night recently about her painfully hot, control freak roomie completely losing control.

Leaving a trail of heat, his fingers skimmed back up her arms and over her shoulders, and then he took the ends of her scarf in his hands, brow furrowing. “Where on earth did you get this ghastly thing?”

“Gladys made it. I like it.”

His clear blue gaze locked on hers and held there. “I like
you
, Mia.”

And for a moment, the world stood still as she let herself believe he really meant it. He looped the scarf one more time around her neck and her pulse quickened. Then he wound the ends around his palm. With a gentle, constant pressure, he drew her closer still, the comfort of the soft yarn around her throat matching the warm pull low in her belly.

Bad idea
, her brain warned again.

Best idea ever
, her body answered.

As if having a similar internal debate, he hesitated, studying her face. “How did the woman at Heart’s Home know I dream about you?”

She stifled a gasp. Gladys had been talking about Mia’s dreams, not his.

“Business partners don’t have sex dreams about each other,”
he repeated, scarf still wound around his palm, face only inches from hers.

“I…” What was she supposed to say to that? She breathed in through her nose, loving his distinctive scent.

“But I do. I dream about you every night, Mia, and the dreams are spectacular.”

So were hers, and she was certain, as her entire body readied itself, reality would exceed her dreams by a mile.

“What are you thinking right now?” His lips brushed hers. Just a feather of a touch, but her knees trembled.

“Hard to think…”

Lips, warm and firm, molded to hers, and as if clicking a perfectly matched puzzle piece into place, he pulled her against him.

So good. So right.
He deepened the kiss and all those days and sleepless nights of longing for him crashed through her in a hot, liquid wave as their tongues danced together and she struggled to remain standing and not dissolve into a puddle at his feet.

One hand still holding the scarf, he ran the other from her shoulder blades to her waist, then lower, holding her firmly in place while he pressed his erection against her, never breaking the kiss. “I want you Mia. I want you now.”

And she wanted him, too.
I like you, Mia,
he’d said.

He cupped her ass in his hand and squeezed. “I want you in my office.”

As if dancing, he took a step back, pulling her along, once again kissing her.

Yes.

Taking her with him, he shuffled backwards several more steps toward his office door. “I want you naked on my desk.”

Yes…

“I want to lick every inch of your body and make you scream.”

Oh, hell yes…

“I want to take you right there next to the contract Mr. Kawashima just signed.”

And like hitting pause during her favorite song, everything stopped.
No.

It wasn’t
her
he liked. It was what she helped him obtain: the deal. It was all about the deal and his goal. It was not about her. She could have been anyone at that moment. He was celebrating another business triumph, not his attraction to her specifically.

“Business only.”

She hadn’t realized she’d said it out loud until he froze, loosened his grip on the scarf, and stepped back, cool air swirling where his warmth had been. Then he dropped his arms to his sides, and took another step back. “I’m sorry. I got caught up.”

So had she, but it was even more evident how far gone she’d been, once he’d broken the spell by releasing her, leaving her cold and empty and limp, like a deflated party balloon.

“Give me a minute to pack my briefcase and Jacob will take us home.”

Home.
She didn’t have a home. It was
his
home, and she was only crashing there temporarily. She needed to keep that in mind. “Okay.”

As she shrugged into her coat, the deep murmur of his voice drifted from his office as he spoke on the phone. How on earth was she going to make it through the next few days at the wedding? Pretending to be his fiancée would require touching and familiarity. Considering how his touch had affected her so far, she was in way over her head. No way could she pull this off.

Business only
, she reminded herself. It would be her new mantra.

…

Business only, my ass
. Michael drummed his fingers on his thighs while Jacob opened the door of the limo in front of his apartment building. They were later than he’d planned because Mia had forgotten her phone at the office, and they had to go back for it. She took Jacob’s hand and stepped out first, Clancy close behind.

He had become way too fond of this woman. She felt the same way he did, he was certain of it. Yet, still, she pushed him away. He’d fix that…somehow. Just then, though, he was excited for her to see his surprise. For the first time in years, he was excited about something non-business related.

As the elevator rose to his floor, he fought back a grin. Everything should be in place, just as he had ordered it. For days, he’d imagined her reaction. What woman wouldn’t be thrilled?

As he opened the apartment door for her and she froze, the answer hit him over the head like a sledgehammer:
Mia.
Mia would not be thrilled.
Fuck.

Stock still, she stood just inside the door. “What is this, Michael?”

“Clothes.” He knew that was an idiotic answer, but he had no idea what she was really asking.