Chapter 26
Mia
IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN my day off, but I’d just survived a near-death experience and my friend had been punched in the face for dancing with me. So I did not care how the guy I was falling for was looking at me.
He could have been the leader of all the crime syndicates in the world and I still would have stared him down like he was a child.
He owed my friend an apology, or so help me God.
“I can go to a hotel, also. If you would like.” I tilted my head at him. “I’ll need a new phone, though, to call for accommodations.”
Jameson’s jaw did its normal dance of irritation before he pulled a brand-new phone from his pocket and set it on the dresser. “I already got one for you this morning.”
“Great.” I reached my hand out, palm up, and pointed. “I’d like it now to make that call.”
He swiped the phone off the dresser like he was going to throw it again, but when I lifted an eyebrow, he growled and walked it over to me.
I started Googling hotels.
That’s when Jameson pulled at his short dark hair and spun to face Archer. “Sorry for punching your dumbass face. But if you dance with her again, I’ll bury you.”
Archer’s smile was brighter than the sun before he laughed and said, “Have a good morning, you two.”
I tsked as the door shut and looked up at Jameson. “That wasn’t a very good apology.”
“He appreciated it. Did you see the smile across his face?” Jameson said as he placed a plate of food down on the bed.
I chuckled and nodded. “You’re all wild in your threats to each other, I guess. He means well.”
“He means too well.” He harrumphed.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Eat and quit worrying on your day off.”
“I don’t get days off. This is your day off. Not mine.”
“Fine. Enjoy the food with me, and then you can get right back to work.” I looked down at the food, not wanting to make eye contact and blushing over the fact that I’d asked him to stay.
I didn’t want to eat alone, and I didn’t know how to discuss what we’d done the night before or what was happening between us now.
I felt the mattress dip next to my legs and then his hand was on my chin, lifting my gaze to meet his inquisitive blue one. “You’re hiding from me, darling Mia. What for?”
I shrugged. “A lot happened last night. We got …” How did I even broach this topic? Was there a name for hooking up with your boss on a rooftop before getting shot at? “Carried away on the rooftop.”
“Carried away?” Was he holding back a smile?
“Yes, and obviously we shouldn’t have done anything.”
He frowned. “We shouldn’t have?”
“No.” I threw my hands up. “I’m just the summer-school teacher.”
He hummed. “You’re also the woman I can’t stop thinking about. I think about your smile, your need to stand up to me constantly, your desire to always put my daughter first. I also think about that body of yours and about burying my dick into you twenty-four seven, Mia.”
My stomach cartwheeled at his admission. “So, I guess we didn’t nip that distraction of ours.”
“No, but as long as you’re here, we have all the time in the world to do that,” he said casually, as if he’d made peace with it. And of course he would have. What did it matter if he screwed me and everyone else with no strings attached all the time?
I wasn’t stupid enough to bring up knowing he slept with Valerie. I was actually considering if I cared. Maybe that would be the way to continue to distance myself, to break the emotional connection with him and not get caught up.
“Right. Do you happen to have an end-of-term date for me?” My heart stuttered at the thought of leaving, and a flash of hurt flew through me that I needed to get control of.
His grip tightened a bit on my chin. “When I say so.”
This I knew how to do: argue with him and bicker.
This felt comfortable now, easier than addressing the growing feelings between us.
“And I have to accept that because I accepted the academy job, right?” I took one of the flaky biscuits on the tray and ripped it in half angrily before shoving a piece in my mouth.
I shook my head at him. “You brought me to this place and kept me here where you know I’ll never be able to leave and be the same.
” His hand dropped from my chin as he winced at my words.
“I’ll have to live like this from now on …
Constantly seeing the blood of men when I close my eyes.
Constantly worrying for Franny and you. Welcome to Paradise Grove, I guess. ”
“Not about me. I’ve told you before, I’m trying to distance myself from my daughter, and you shouldn’t—”
“Don’t tell me not to care, and don’t act like you not caring is good at all for her. She’s young. She needs you. And you know it.”
He didn’t agree out loud, but I saw the turmoil. Something like acceptance settled in his eyes before he murmured, “They aren’t targeting you. They’re targeting anyone close to me, which includes those women you were with yesterday.”
“My friends,” I clarified. “And Franny before.”
He nodded.
Franny and my friends. I couldn’t shake the feeling that I felt more at home with them and Jameson than I had with even my family for years.
And with Jameson too.
He accepted my outbursts, took note of my requests, and tried his best to respect my wishes. He’d solidified my place here in Paradise Grove and I found I didn’t want to run from that.
I took two breaths, knowing that the words I was about to say weren’t ones I should say, but I couldn’t hold back anymore. “I want in. All the way. Because I can’t have one toe in and one toe out.”
He frowned at me. “In to what?”
“You said people work for the syndicate, partner with you all, marry into it too. Whatever. I’m working for you and by proxy for them.
So, tell me everything. I want in.” I shoved away the food and looked toward the ceiling.
“I don’t want secrets. I want to understand what I’m dealing with, what my friends and Franny deal with.
I’m already invested in Franny. I’ve already made friends.
Let me be a part of it. Work wise. Diamonds get in by working, right? ”
“And by trust,” he grumbled, like this was all a bad idea. “Your work is temporary.”
He said it so flippantly, like I was so easily disposed of.
“Well, you trust me with your daughter. Plus, you said I needed to do this job without distractions. You know how distracted I can be when I don’t know the whole story.”
“The syndicate is now a distraction?” he asked, incredulous.
“Yes.”
“Being a part of the syndicate is dangerous and—”
“Would it put me in any more danger than I was in last night?”
His jaw worked up and down as seconds ticked by.
“You told me people work for the syndicate and become a part of it all the time. It’s an honor, and so why not me?”
“Because—”
“You don’t trust me? Or anybody?” I lifted a brow at him.
“I trust you more than I trusted the woman I was married to,” he retorted fast, his tone lethal.
Crossing my arms, I stared him down. “I don’t even know if that’s good or bad, Jameson.”
He pulled at his hair like us talking about his trust issues was the most frustrating part of his day. “Jesus, I don’t have time for this today.”
“Well, when will you have time for discussing my future here with your daughter and my friends, huh?”
“Never, because you’re not supposed to have a future with them!”
“Because I’m not a part of this here with all of you.” I didn’t ask it, but stated it.
“You’re not supposed to get involved and get hurt, Mia! You’re not supposed to be in danger because of me,” he almost bellowed, but I ignored his outburst.
“So what? You’re telling me no is your answer, then?”
He got up to swear again and again, cursing me and the life he lived, before he spun and walked over to put his hands on either side of me. “You want this?”
I didn’t even stutter. “Yes.”
“You think you’re ready?” He watched me, looking for a weakness. I had a lot of them. Every part of me that was strong had come from the parts that were broken.
“Someone once told me I wasn’t ready, and I hated him for it,” I admitted.
“Who?” He seemed offended for me as his brows slammed down.
Chuckling, I pointed out, “You acted as if I wasn’t ready to nanny Franny too and needed help, Jameson. Remember?”
He sighed before he backed off and sat down beside me instead. “Did you hate me for it?”
“No, because it was valid.” I took a deep breath and looked out the window to murmur, “When my tennis coach in college told me that, though, I hated the statement. It meant no one would believe in me, and I’d have to believe in and trust myself over everyone else.”
“Mia …” He took my hand in his as he said, “I want the whole story.”
I nodded, realizing that I wanted to tell him it too, wanted him to understand that I was giving him all my trust and that he could do the same with me.
“I started playing tennis young. And was good enough that my parents invested in my training through high school. We found this amazing coach. He came to family dinners, got close to all of us. And he was good, honestly.”
Jameson frowned like he didn’t know where the story was going but knew he wasn’t going to like it. He rubbed his thumb over my knuckles and cautiously said, “Continue.”
“I went to state in high school, they even thought I could potentially train for the Olympics … When I tore my MCL my freshman year in college, my parents were devastated. Family friends were in the tennis circles, we’d invested so much, and one bad move caused too many people to lose their faith and their hopes and their dreams. That coach, though …
” I shook my head with a sad smile on my face.
“He assured them. All pro bono, he’d be extra attentive, he knew all the tricks, he’d get me better than I was before.
And I believed him. I trusted him. He’d coached me for years before he made a pass at me in the locker room with my cast still on. ”