Still Into You (44 page)

No. Must get to Kaitlyn’s party.

He must have known what was on her mind because a devilish smile came to his face and he strutted towards her. She shook her head. “I know what you’re thinking.”

“That you want me.”

“And while that may be true, we are late.”

Ethan placed a hand on either side of her and leaned in. Then his mouth was on hers, kissing her passionately, taking her breath away, making it hard for her to want to get off of the bed, because dear God, she needed him like she needed oxygen.

Before she lost her own battle, he abruptly stopped the kiss. “I’ll finish that later, suga.”

She scrambled from the bed. “Let’s go before we are really late for this party!” she said as she flew down the stairs, leaving him in her wake.

If she stayed, her clothes would have been discarded and he would be making love to her. Mia glanced behind her and saw him hurrying down the stairs after her, a grin on his face and Kaitlyn’s present in his hands.

“You runnin’ away, suga?”

“Uh, no, we’re just late. Very late.”

“Are we?” he asked, his Southern accent becoming more noticeable, more damn irresistible.

“You know we are and you also know if we stay here any longer, we won’t make it to that party.”

He opened the door for her. “I know, though it doesn’t sound too bad,” he said with a wink. Mia almost grabbed his hand and headed back inside the house. Instead, she hurried to the car and buckled herself in. She heard his sexy chuckle float in the air as he entered the car.

Ethan made the quick drive to Luke’s and soon they were walking up to the front door. He rang the doorbell and while he waited, he stared down at her. She wondered what kind of thoughts were running through his mind. Was he thinking about the great sex they had last night? Because she was. He loved her. He touched her. He made her orgasm over and over. The intensity of it burned into her forever because it had never been like that and she couldn’t get over that fact.

Luke answered the door. “Hey, man, what’s up?”

Mia popped her head from behind Ethan and smiled. “Hi, Luke. Where’s the birthday girl?” she asked, handing off the presents to Luke.

“Downstairs with her friends,” he replied, clearly a little taken aback. Luke closed the door after them and Mia didn’t wait. She headed downstairs without another word, leaving Luke with Ethan. She could hear the young boys rush Ethan, talking over one another about last night’s game.

Mia quietly descended the stairs to the basement, hoping to sneak up on Kaitlyn. She was almost at the bottom when a loud creak announced her arrival. Ten girls’ heads whipped towards the stairway. All their mouths dropped in shock except for her girl.

“Mia!” Kaitlyn screamed joyously, running towards her.

“Hi, sweetie. Happy birthday,” she said as the girl hit her with her exuberant embrace. Mia closed her eyes, reveling in being with Kaitlyn again. She kissed her cheek and hugged her tight. “I missed you, kiddo.”

“Missed you too, Mia. My friends flipped out when I told them you were going to be here.”

“Well, let’s go and meet them, hmmm?” Mia said. The young girl beamed as Mia let her go. Kaitlyn grabbed her hand and pulled her further into the basement.

Mia loved talking with the younger kids. They didn’t care about the stuff she did wrong in her life; they just wanted to know about the music. Their excitement at meeting her was freaking adorable and made her day . . . no, it was more than that. It made so much of the hardships of her career worth it, canceling out the stuff the gossip rags printed about her. So she relished that moment and answered all the questions from the young girls and boys . . . mainly girls. The boys who were there gawked at her—early adolescence! Yikes! Most of the boys were upstairs with Ethan and Luke.

After an hour, she quietly broke away from the youngsters and headed up the stairs. She desperately needed a break.

She passed the young boys with Luke and Ethan who were playing foosball, one kid and one adult per side. The competitive guy he was, Ethan was so engrossed with the game that he didn’t notice her, but Mia did make eye contact with Luke. She shot her eyes towards the kitchen and hoped he would get the hint and join her. Continuing on to the kitchen, she made a beeline to the refrigerator and opened the door to grab a cold soda. When she turned around, Luke was making his way into the kitchen.

“My office?” he suggested, nodding towards the stairs leading up to the secluded room. She followed, knowing that he wanted to talk without the kids interrupting. She smiled as she walked up the stairs. The stairway was full of framed photos of his friends and family—including many of her with Kaitlyn and Luke. So many wonderful memories with them.

Mia entered the office. If any room said Luke, his office would be it. It was modern and sleek. Combine it with the cushy leather chairs, it was comfortable too. The shelves and walls were loaded with memorabilia from his short time as a sports reporter and from all his years with the Flash. The room smelled so much like him, that signature cologne. That scent steadied her, calmed her. In her mind, the scent equaled safety.

Luke walked to the front of his desk and leaned back against the edge, looking down at her. A lecture of some sort was coming her way. She opened her bottle, took a nice, long drink, and let her tired body revel in the comfort of the chair for a few moments, sinking further into the cushions.

“So?” he asked curiously, crossing one foot over the other, settling into his BFF interrogation mode.

“Yes?” she bantered, loving to tease him and see him get exasperated, his head shaking and his eyes growing wide.

“Did you come with Ethan?” he asked, his hand extending out like he wanted her to expand.

“Yes.”

“When did you make that decision?”

“Today.”

“At his place or yours?”

“Mine.”

“Did you guys talk?” With each additional question, Luke grew more and more frustrated with her one-word answers. Mia, on the other hand, was enjoying herself.

“Obviously . . . I mean, how do you think we decided to come together?”

“Mia!” he said, his hand raking through his well-groomed, dark brown hair. She liked the shorter hair on him, especially after he ran his fingers through it and messed it up like he just had.

She decided to be nice and stop messing with him. “I told him that I loved him but we haven’t really spoken about everything yet . . .”

“But you slept together is the information you’re leaving out,” he supplied.

The smile she had on her face grew and her cheeks reddened.

He laughed. “You are way too easy.”

“You try abstaining after not having sex with him for three years!” she exclaimed, sinking further into the chair. After he said nothing, she looked over at his stone face. She knew he didn’t have to say a word. “I know, I know. We’ll talk more tonight before I leave.”

“You’re leaving?” he asked, his face falling in disappointment.

“Yeah, I’m flying out later tonight,” she said. Mia placed her drink on the table and rose, closing the space between them. “I have a few meetings in Los Angeles that I can’t miss.”

“Are you coming back to Indy?”

She stood before him, a sparkle in her eye. “You miss me?” she asked, wrapping her arms around his waist.

“That’s a stupid question. Of course I do,” he replied, looking into her eyes. “Nice glasses by the way. I would have said something before but you bolted. Are they real?” he asked, taking them from her and putting them on. He quickly removed the eyewear and placed them back on her face. “Damn! You are blind!”

“Thanks,” she said, smirking at him. But then she kissed him quickly on the lips. It felt good to know that he missed her. Of course, she knew, but it was always nice to hear the words aloud.

Mia let herself be wrapped in Luke’s comforting arms. She could not imagine her life without him, but it had been that way for the past year. She needed to see him a hell of a lot more often. She spoke softly against his chest. “I miss you too. I wish we could see each other more. And that’s one thing that I’m currently working on . . . hopefully, things will go my way in Los Angeles.”

“What’s in Los Angeles?” he questioned, undisguised curiosity in his voice.

“I’ll tell you when it’s complete,” she said, looking up at him. He started to speak but she placed her index finger against his lips. “Please? It’s got to be this way, Luke.”

“Okay,” he said, returning her head to his chest. She snuggled closer. He rested his chin upon her head and sighed. It about broke her down. He truly did miss her. This life plan of hers needed an addition.
Spending more time with her BFF.

“When I get back, how ‘bout you, Kaitlyn, and I go out for dinner? A fun place. Let her pick, okay?”

“Sounds fun. She’ll love it. She misses you a lot.”

She hugged him tighter, fighting to keep the tears at bay. She needed to get the rest of her priorities straight. Like yesterday! Los Angeles was the first of many steps. Getting things right with Ethan was another. God forbid if that didn’t work out. She had no idea what to do if it didn’t. She had no plan B or C. She had nothing! This was it.

Ethan

Ethan thankfully escaped into the kitchen. The kids were antsy for sugar and they were taking it out on him. He couldn’t handle it anymore. Making a quick appraisal of the room, he wondered where the hell Luke and Mia were. He thought he’d seen Luke head toward the back of the house.

Entering the kitchen, Ethan searched around and noticed the stairs leading up to the second floor. For a moment, he considered not going up, but then he looked back to the kids, hearing their loud, rambunctious voices, and his decision was made almost instantly. He raced up the stairs two at a time but stopped at the landing when he heard the muffled voices of Mia and Luke.

He crept a little further and spotted Luke’s office. Through the open door, he spied them embracing and felt a small stab of jealousy in his gut. He never really understood their bond. Both were pretty mum on the topic. Well, if Ethan was being honest, he never really asked either. All he knew was that they had met in Chicago when Luke had worked there and had been friends ever since. Part of him wondered if they had been former lovers. It wouldn’t change anything if they had, but it would definitely explain a whole lot.

Luke’s voice brought him back to the present. “I wish you would tell me, Mia.”

“Now you’re just being nosy,” she answered back.

Ethan decided it would be best to make himself known, because one, he was very curious about what they were discussing, and two, he didn’t want them to find him eavesdropping.

“About what?” Ethan asked as he walked into the office. He watched the surprise register in their bodies. Mia quickly turned in Luke’s arms. She looked upon him with her big, beautiful eyes and smiled, and in that smile, he saw her desire, and most amazing of all, her love for him, making the small, green monster disappear.

“You too?” she said, breaking Luke’s embrace and stepping a few feet away from him. “Both of you! Nosy men!”

“Hey, don’t yell at me,” Ethan said in his defense. “I just came up to find the grown-ups and relay a message. The kids want cake. They are possessed.”

Luke rolled his eyes. “Great! I better get down there,” he said, giving Mia’s arm a quick squeeze and winked at Ethan as he walked by.

Ethan stood where he was, staring at Mia, devouring the sight of her. He still couldn’t get over that she was here. He wanted to catalog everything. Every moment. Every word. Every expression.

They stood apart for a few moments. He waited for her to speak first and smiled when she did.

“Hi,” Mia said timidly, her eyes downcast. So she was going to go all shy on him. He got such a kick out of the times when her shyness beat out his confident rock goddess. Moving closer, his eyes locked on her teeth nibbling on her lower lip.

“Hi,” Ethan returned, before pulling her to him and capturing her mouth in a fierce, possessive kiss. He knew he surprised her with the force of it. Hell, he surprised himself. She gripped his forearms tightly to steady herself. Bending his knees, he lowered himself to her level, cupping her face, angling her so he could better ravish her mouth. Mia latched her arms around his neck, molding herself to him. He quickly moved his hands to the back of her hips. God, he wanted her to hop up and wrap him in her long legs.

Somewhere in the back of his mind, Ethan knew that they should stop, that this wasn’t the best location for the wild love-making he wanted—no, needed—right now, but he fought it. It had been building since earlier this afternoon. He slid his hands up the gap between her pants and shirt, feeling the softness of her back. She didn’t help him in his fight when her lips traveled to his ear, her heavy breath, serenading him with her song.

“Fuck, Mia,” he swore as she teased him with her mouth. “You know we’ve got to . . .” Her nibbling teeth interrupted him. He absolutely loved the way her teeth grazed his earlobe. If she didn’t stop, she would be against those cushions faster than he could release a football. He placed his hands upon her shoulders. “Mia, we’ll continue this later, I promise, but we’ve got to stop before I make a fool of myself, okay?” he said, running his fingers through her hair, tucking a stray hair behind her ear.