Mia #2
My breath stuttered, and my skin prickled with sweat. We weren’t even outside yet, and I was already overheated. I shouldn’t have enjoyed the thought of Theo hating his attraction to me back then, but it felt almost validating to know he’d felt the same way.
I hated that I couldn’t turn my brain off. I hated that I kept thinking about him every time I touched myself. But I couldn’t help it. And I loved that he couldn’t either.
The elevator in my hallway dinged once, the doors opened, and I pulled on his hand, leading him inside the empty carriage. “Come on. I need a decent coffee after what you just did to me.”
His hands circled my waist, drawing me tighter against him. “Did I make it feel better?”
“With your cock? Yes. But with your tongue? God, yes.” I gently elbowed his ribs. “I’m not sure showing me what slow sex is like with you was a good thing. Now I won’t want anything else.”
He just smiled, and I could feel him press into my hip. Hot and thick, so hard and ready for me. He’d finished me six times now. When was it going to feel like enough?
“You sure I can’t just make you a coffee at my place?” he murmured, and I shook my head.
“You know I want to buy that new Arlena Brandowe book.”
“Yeah, but why? She’s a romance author. You don’t read romance.”
I fiddled with the strap of my crossbody handbag. “Lilly’s a huge fan, but she can’t make it to the book signing today. I was going to leave a copy on her desk tomorrow.”
The look he gave me softened into something like affection, and I had to look away. This was getting dangerous. It was one thing to want him physically. It was another to feel like my insides were fizzing just because he looked like he might care about me.
But then there was the thing he almost said in my apartment. About taking me home to talk to Kira. And the danger of that was even more terrifying.
For a single, painful second, as Theo’s touch burned into my waist, I wished it could just be as simple as this. As easy as two people meant to be together. And it almost felt that way as we walked hand in hand down the street and into the subway.
He pointed out girls holding hands with their moms and told me stories about Kira as a little girl. How she used to run in with picture after hand-drawn picture of ducks just because he’d once told her he liked feeding them.
And if that wasn’t cute enough, he told me about the suit phase she went through after he let her watch Men In Black when she was eight.
“She thought memory erasers were a real thing, and I found this one online. Here.”
I put my head on his shoulder as the subway carriage jostled and stared at a picture of a gap-toothed Kira wearing black sunglasses and a pantsuit, holding a carbon copy of the silver memory eraser from the now-ancient hit movie. The way he talked about his daughter was almost brain-melting.
His grip was strong as he led me out of the subway and through the city streets. We jostled shoulder to shoulder with other New Yorkers on our way to Wrinkled Pages.
I sighed in relief as the bookstore’s glass doors closed behind us and let go of Theo’s hand long enough to lift my hair from my sweaty neck.
“Hotter than Satan’s taint out there, isn’t it?”
He snorted a laugh out through his nose. “Let’s find this book so I can get you out of here.”
I went straight to the New Releases table, where book after book sat side by side in a series of bright colors.
Theo’s weight pressed into my shoulder as we searched for the book I wanted, until someone bumped the table on their way to join the long line of people waiting by the back of the shop.
“That’s probably the line for the signing,” I said, watching Theo stretch to his full height as he scanned the queue.
“It’s long,” he grunted.
“Are you here for the Arlena Brandowe signing?” gushed a nearby adorable sales assistant in black-rimmed glasses. “You can join the line if you want a copy of her new book. I don’t think she has many left.”
I groaned. I didn’t think the line would be this long. And there were so many romance readers. I wanted to do something nice for Lilly, but what if they tried to talk to me about their genre?
I said as much out loud, and Theo raised his brow. “I’m pretty sure you’d enjoy that.”
I scoffed and playfully nudged his arm. “Excuse me?”
He gestured to the queue. “I know you don’t read the books, but after what you told me about the universe, I’m pretty sure you’re as into this as they are.”
I straightened as a few gorgeous women talked excitedly amongst each other in the line, glancing nervously at Theo as they did.
Ah, crap. Maybe he was right. Maybe I was fighting a losing battle, and I liked this genre more than I wanted to admit.
“Well, it’s not like I have much of a choice anyway.” My grumble was a bit put on, so I whipped my hair for emphasis as I stalked to the back of the store.
Theo laughed, then came to join me. He kissed me softly, and the woman in front of me sighed. When I looked at her, she was practically swooning.
“All right, all right.” I poked Theo’s chest. “You have to go to the thriller section.”
He looked confused. “Why?”
I lowered my voice. “Because you’re distracting me.”
“I like distracting you.”
I tried to give him a stern look. “If you keep kissing me, we’ll hold up the line.”
His chuckle was low as he shook his head at me, but he did what I asked, giving me another heart-meltingly soft kiss before he made his way across the store.
The woman in front of me flicked her glance in my direction, and something about the way I watched Theo leave made her do a double take. “You miss your boyfriend already?”
I shook my head and tried to rearrange my face. “Oh no. He isn’t my boyfriend.”
Her brown eyes narrowed. “He kisses you like he’s your boyfriend.”
I smiled. “It’s really more of an enemies-to-lovers kind of thing.”
The woman behind me leaned in, whispering, “Uh, you’re not serious.”
I looked back at her and nodded. “I am, actually. The last time we were here, I slammed into his giant chest, and we argued for ten minutes.”
“How do you go from real-life enemies to real-life lovers?” asked the woman in front of the woman in front of me.
I shrugged. “I think it was the universe. It has a twisted sense of humor.”
“The universe pushed my husband and me together,” said a dark-haired woman with a soft-spoken Latina accent. “He wasn’t meant to be stationed at my hospital, and I thought he was such a jackass when we met.”
I pointed at her. “Yes, exactly. I had the same thing. I thought I’d never see this guy again, and then, bam, it turns out I’m mentoring his daughter.” I threw my hands out. “I mean, what are the odds?”
“Totally,” the woman behind me agreed. “You guys must be fated mates.”
Thanks to Lilly, I knew that trope. “Isn’t that strictly a werewolf thing?”
She shook her head. “Oh no, honey. If a man is meant to be yours, he’s yours. No matter the race.”
These women were brilliant. They actually listened when I told them the universe pushed Theo and me together–without scoffing, rolling their eyes, or telling me they thought I was crazy.
“That’s what Arlena wrote about this time,” the woman with the pretty accent said. “Fated mates between a fairy and a merman. I don’t know how she worked the spice into this one, but I can’t wait to find out.”
Okay, I had to admit, that had me curious.
“There’s probably a lot of oral play involved,” I mused, pressing my thumb to my chin. “But then, how would that work for the merman if he doesn’t have a… you know?”
The woman in front of me gestured like girl, we got you as she said, “I wouldn’t worry about it. Arlena writes some of the best spice I’ve ever read.”
I channeled my inner Lilly and asked, “But there’s more than spice to this book, right?”
“There’s plot too, don’t worry. I read the blurb online, and this one is set during a war between races. So there’ll be some political intrigue.”
“I can’t wait,” sighed the woman behind me. “I brought my favorite book of hers to sign.”
The woman in front of me craned her neck over my shoulder to look at the cover. “Which one is that?”
“Frisky Frontiers. The only thing better than a merman is a cowboy.”
I held in a giggle as I spotted Theo’s muscled back and said, “Couldn’t agree more.”
When I finally made it to the front of the line, I asked Arlena to sign two copies of her latest book for me.
Was she staring at us? I could’ve sworn she was. The woman with the sunhat and big sunglasses. She turned away from the shop window as I squinted at her. She was too far; I couldn’t make her out.
Theo slid into the seat across from mine and put my iced coffee in front of me. I pointed at the brunette’s back. “Do we know her?”
He looked over his shoulder and shook his head. “This is a big city. We’re not going to run into anyone.”
I gave him a wry smile, and he hummed. “Well, okay. You and I running into each other after the fundraiser was a weird coincidence.”
“Uh-huh,” I drawled.
I sat back in my wrought-iron chair. This café was small but richly decorated. Painted navy and dark green, the walls were lined with plants and artwork. It reminded me of the coffee shop Lilly used to work at. It was cool enough and quiet enough that I felt like I could breathe again.
“Don’t worry. No one will find out.” He reached across the table and put his hand on mine. “This stays between you and me.”
I shivered. The last time he said that, I wound up dry-humping him in the meeting room.
“Thanks for coming with me to the bookstore. Lilly’s going to love this.”
I tipped my glass toward the two signed copies of Arlena’s book resting neatly on the table.
Theo adjusted the cuff of his sleeve and looked away. “You and Miss Fares are pretty close, aren’t you?”
I smiled. “Closer than a thong in an ass crack.”
He burst out laughing, and the sound of it made me feel so warm and fuzzy inside, I almost didn’t want to douse it with icy-cold caffeine.
He was still smiling when he asked, “How did you meet?”