Grab (20 page)

Mia was a bit taken aback. It was
her
hair, what did it matter what Jordan thought about it? She didn’t want to make herself unattractive to him, but why was that Krista’s first thought?

“What do you mean?” She was utterly confused. This was one of the reasons why she didn’t date. Mia didn’t want to have to run everything by her boyfriend to gauge his approval.

Krista looked uncomfortable to broach whatever she was about to say, and Mia got nervous, afraid of what was coming.

“I’m just saying Jordan obviously likes you just the way you are.” Krista quit looking at her, choosing to focus on her hair instead, piling it up in a messy up-do that Mia was surprised actually looked pretty good. Krista finally took a deep breath, and Mia braced herself for whatever the woman was about to say.

“So, Ryan told me what happened to you.” Krista held up a hand, pleading for Mia to listen. “I went through something similar, and hearing your story sort of helped me. A lot.” The woman looked at Mia shyly. “I hope you don’t mind.”

Initially, she was pissed people were talking about her. But she could understand. Ryan was there, and he might be scarred by what he saw.

She looked up at the other woman, slightly older, but not by much, and saw for the first time, a shadow behind her eyes. Then it dawned on her. She went through something similar. Mia honestly wasn’t sure she wanted to know. That reaction gave her pause, making her wonder if Grounds for Redemption would help her at all if she had to listen to women with similar stories all day long. Would they want to go in there and talk about that stuff? “Helped you?”

Krista nodded. “I went through a similar situation, although not nearly as severe, about six months ago. Ryan saved me.”

Mia was quiet. She wasn’t sure she was ready to talk about this, even though it was exactly what Grounds for Redemption was all about. So instead of talking about herself, Mia told Krista about the coffee shop. Baby steps, right?

Krista was quiet through the telling, nodding in appropriate places. When Mia was finished, Krista said, “That sounds awesome. Your life is totally different now. You’re no longer just Mia, getting by. You’re a survivor. You’re the guardian for your sister. You’re Jordan’s girl. You have a new normal. You need to embrace that. And the coffee shop will help you regain some control that’s been lost.”

“Nothing’s under my control anymore.” Even the coffee shop, really. Right now, it was just a pie-in-the-sky idea. Until it came to fruition, it was a fantasy.

“You know these guys will do anything for their women, right? You can’t fight them.” Krista had listened quietly to her talking about her and Misty’s plans, nodding in the appropriate places.

“I’m not his woman,” Mia scoffed, but she knew the truth. She was Jordan’s just as much as the sky was blue.

“Whatever. I’ve heard Ryan talk about the way he talks about you. Ryan sees it. I saw it in the way he said goodbye to you when he left. I know he would do anything for you, just like Ryan would do anything for me. In fact, as much as he makes fun of my baking skills, I’m pretty sure he’d let me make cookies and muffins for your shop. Just because he loves me and wouldn’t be able to say no. Just like Jordan would move heaven and earth to make you happy. Hell, honey, he’s already killed for you. Now let him do some of the easier stuff.”

Jordan left the apartment high as a kite, knowing it was inappropriate for the meeting he was going to, but still giddy nonetheless. Mia had said she loved him, and as much as that made him a pussy, he could sing to all of downtown Austin she was his and she loved him.

The DA had agreed to meet at a coffee shop near the capital, and as Ryan and Jordan arrived, they saw Simon and a rather harried-looking man already seated.

After introductions, Jordan discovered the harried-looking man was the Assistant DA assigned to his case, Mr. Jenkins.

He flipped through a wrinkled legal pad as he spoke. “I’ll just get started. I’m sure you two are ready to hear it. Since Michael Bishop had already killed one girl and tried to kill another, and would have certainly eventually killed Miss Reyes, you guys are in the clear. I have no desire to waste tax-payer’s money on an investigation and trial when you were doing what you had been hired to do, which was recover Misty. I wish you had gone about it differently, and you will be stuck with repairs to the house and any civil suits Mr. Bishop’s family may bring up against you. But as far as the city of Austin is concerned, this is a case of justifiable homicide. You guys saved two lives who were in danger, so you did what you thought needed to be done.” He took a sip of the coffee in front of him. “For future reference, the correct thing to do is to call the authorities.” His raised eyebrows and pinched lips drove home his point.

Jordan and Ryan both expelled their breath in a loud
whoosh
that ruffled Simon’s hair. It was okay, and he was beaming at them. It was the first genuine smile Simon had bestowed to Jordan, and it brought home the fact Simon wanted him to be a part of his team and had been just as nervous about the DA’s assessment as he’d been.

“So you’re both off administrative leave. You can get your asses back into work,” Simon replied snarkily. Mr. Jenkins left with a smile and a handshake, and Simon turned back to Jordan. “Seriously, though, is Mia going to be okay?”

Jordan smiled. “I think so. She may need a few days to adjust to me being gone, but I’ll see what I can do.” Honestly, he might worry about her more than she would worry about herself, but she had her sister, and she’d been talking to Misty a lot on the phone, and they’d been making plans for their new coffee shop. Evan had even said he and Paige might put up some money for it and become investors. He loved his brother for that and could almost forgive the whole fiancée fiasco with his mother.

After lunch, he and Ryan were outside his apartment. “Hey, can you stay with her a while? I need to do some shopping.”

“Sure. No problem, man. Hey, I’m really glad things are working out with you guys. She seems nice, and anybody who can show Krista a thing or two about baking is aces in my book. I fucking love cake.”

With Ryan off to watch after the girls, Jordan was free to find something he’d been thinking of for Mia. Problem was, he had no idea where to look. He started at an upscale antique shop, and after explaining what he wanted to the shop keeper, all it took was a half dozen phone calls and a trip across town. Totally worth it.

Two hours later, he was home, letting himself into their apartment, being assaulted by the most fabulous smell of his life. Yeast, chocolate, vanilla, sugar—you name it, if it could be baked, he smelled it. He supposed Mia homemaker was back with a vengeance and he was ready to meet her. Striding into the kitchen, intent on kissing the fool out of her, he was surprised to find bowls of bread rising, plates of gooey cookies, and a cake cooling, but no Mia.

The panic gripped him first before he realized he would always panic where Mia was concerned. Before he could call out, a sultry voice he hadn’t heard in a while called to him from the hallway.

“Jordan?”

He turned to see Mia standing there wearing an apron and holding a bottle of tequila, the shoes he’d bought her at the mall, and nothing else. He dropped his package as his left hand went limp, saying a mental thanks to the shopkeeper who’d wrapped it so well.

Starting at the shoes, Jordan’s eyes tracked the length of her, lingering on the ankles he dreamed of licking, her lush thighs, the curve of her breast peeking out the side, her elegant neck, and her face. She wore makeup, and her hair was styled up in a tangle of shiny, raven strands piled on top of her head.

He made a choking sound as Mia turned slowly, giving him a full view of her spectacular backside.

“Where’s Ryan? He said he would stay with you until I got home.” Jordan’s voice sounded funny, but he ignored it. He was hard as a fucking rock, seeing Mia like this, and he hoped he knew what she was up to, but Ryan had promised he would stay, and he wasn’t here. Jordan hoped.

“He and Krista wanted to get out of here, so I told them to go. I wanted to do something.” Her voice was low, husky, and sexy as fuck. It, and the bottle of tequila she was waving at him, reminded him of times past, when they teased the hell out of each other.

“What’s up?” Faking nonchalance, she had the grace to giggle at him.

“I think it’s obvious you like challenges, am I right?”

“Right…” he said hesitantly, not sure where this was going but sure his voice gave away his horniness. As she turned to face him, he made a move to cover his straining erection.

“I’ve never had an orgasm with a man before.”

Her words left her mouth on a blush that flamed her cheeks. The red lighting her olive-skin was the sexiest fucking thing Jordan had ever laid eyes on.

Was she saying what he thought she was saying? “You know what you’re asking me, right? I can make you come, but it’s—”

“I want this. Now. I’m ready.” The determined jut of her chin told him she was ready.

“Then get in the bedroom. I’ll be in there in a minute.”

Running to the bathroom, Jordan had to make sure he had plenty of condoms. Challenge accepted. With a vengeance.

She was ready. She’d never been more ready in her life. Mia had a long talk with Krista while the boys were gone, and she understood even after the ugliness of the experience, she still deserved love. And Jordan deserved to give it to her. He wanted to.

She would take it. And love every minute of it.

Removing her apron, she spread herself on the bed, trying not to feel self-conscious. She left the shoes on because she’d have to be blind to not see how much Jordan liked them. He’d seen her at her worst, and now that she felt sexy and beautiful, he’d see that, too. God, he hadn’t seen that in a long time.

She took a swig from the tequila bottle for a little liquid fortification and waited. When Jordan came into the room, she was ready. And suddenly, she wasn’t, but not for the reasons she’d thought there’d be.

He was one sexy beast. His tongue licked his lips, his T-shirt stretched across a broad expanse of muscles, outlining abs and biceps tensed with restraint. His fists clenched, and Jordan had an obvious bulge in his jeans. His wild, sexy eyes pierced her core, causing a surge of wetness between her legs. Shit. She was in some fucking trouble.

“How much of that tequila have you had?” His voice was a low growl that sent need shattering throughout her body.

“Um, just a sip or two.”

A delightful twinkle lit his eyes as a smirk cracked his lips. She hadn’t seen this side of Jordan since their body shot night, and she realized just how much she’d missed him. His next words took her breath away.

“How many orgasms would you like for your first time?” The quiet growl turned to a sexy murmur, and Mia melted into a puddle on the mattress.

“Dunno…” She wanted to scream ‘Yes, please!’ but the words didn’t come, she was mindless, just staring at his deep cobalt eyes as they raked across her heated skin.

He stalked toward her, palming his bulge. “You know this isn’t about sex for me anymore, don’t you? You do this with me, and I’m never going to let you go.” His face got serious as he spoke, as if he couldn’t control the words and didn’t want to say them. Mia knew he was trying so hard not to scare her with his intensity, but she couldn’t figure out how to tell him his intensity was what she needed right now. She needed him to
need
her.

Words gone, she sat up and reached for him. All she knew was she wanted Jordan and his body on top of her, inside her,
now
.

Jordan crawled across the bed until he hovered over her, and his lips fell in a maddeningly sensual kiss—a kiss that tasted of chocolate cookies—as he slowly lowered his body on one side of her, where he could touch her.

And good God… Touch her he did.

His hands roamed her body, caressing her skin, stoking the flames inside her. Ever since she had made the decision to give herself to him today, a spark of a fire had been growing inside her, and each touch he left on her body ignited the embers. They flared to life as his fingers rubbed between her legs—her thighs, her sex, her
spot.
He knew exactly where that spot was and was using it to his advantage.