Chapter 4 #3
Before he could overthink it, he reached out to Sadie, taking her hand and spinning her around the kitchen floor. Her loud laughter felt like rain on parched earth. He’d half expected her to pull away, to reject him, and the fact she hadn’t, felt amazing.
Mila stepped back, giving them a larger dance floor, but Boone didn’t like her being so far away.
Reaching out, he pulled her in, spinning both of them at the same time, and Sadie and Mila laughed as they bumped into each other.
They continued dancing until the song ended, all of them slightly breathless.
“That was fun!” Sadie exclaimed, finishing her salad.
Her task was taking longer than it should because she kept stopping every few minutes to reply to Piper’s unending texts.
Apparently, there was some serious middle school drama at play, as a boy in their class had just broken things off with one girl to go out with another.
Boone didn’t have a clue what constituted “going out” in seventh grade, because he sure as shit had no intention of letting Sadie date until she was sixteen and could drive. And even then, he’d have to meet the boy first.
Fortunately, that was a problem for another day. However, considering Sadie wasn’t even a teenager yet, and she’d already been putting him through his paces, he wasn’t looking forward to it.
Once dinner was ready, Boone plated the chicken parmesan, his mouth watering over how good his kitchen smelled right now, thanks to the tomatoes, the garlic, and the bread.
The three of them sat together at the small table by the bay window.
Because it was winter, darkness had fallen over an hour ago, so the trees were barely visible in the moonlight.
It was a pleasant meal, the conversation easy as they talked about their days.
After they’d eaten their fill, Sadie went to her room to do her homework, while he and Mila quietly cleaned the kitchen.
“Well…” Mila started.
She was planning to go, but Boone wasn’t ready to say goodbye yet.
“Stay for a glass of wine.” He’d intended his words as a question, but they hadn’t come out that way.
Mila hesitated, which made sense. He’d done this. Built this wall between them. He’d done it on purpose, thinking it the best way to get a handle on Mila’s effect on him. After tonight, he understood all the distance in the world wasn’t going to dim this attraction.
“I, um…” She was searching for an excuse to leave.
Boone didn’t like the idea of her lying to him, so he gestured toward the couch.
“Go make yourself comfortable while I pour us each a glass.”
She bit her lower lip. “I really do need to—”
“Mila. Sit.”
Boone’s cock twitched when she blushed and walked to the couch, sitting down without further complaint.
This was why being around Mila was a bad idea. Not that he could stop himself now.
He poured the wine, then joined her on the couch. A wise man would have taken the armchair.
Mila thanked him for the wine, taking a small sip, as Boone searched for a safe conversational topic.
In the end, they discussed the wine they were drinking.
Despite her roles involving aspects other than the making of the wine, she was quite knowledgeable about the grapes and the wine-making process.
“Obviously this is our slow season,” she said, when they began talking about the winery. “In the spring, summer, and fall, the winery and the brewery are both very popular with locals and tourists, especially on the weekends.”
“Probably has everything to do with the quality of the beer and wine made here.” One of the first things Boone had done when Levi called to offer him a job was try the wine.
While the job had fallen into the too-good-to-be true range, Boone wouldn’t have accepted it if the quality of the wine was poor.
He’d been impressed by just how good Lighting in a Bottle wine tasted.
“And the view,” Mila added. “On a clear day, we can see all the way to D.C.”
“It is an amazing view. I’m assuming you’ve lived here your whole life?”
Mila nodded. “Yep.”
“Never considered moving away and living somewhere else? Like Lucy?”
“No. Never. This is home. I don’t have to see the world to know there’s no place better than this.”
Boone smiled. He’d lived in various towns up and down the East Coast, his father never satisfied to settle in one place.
Boone had hated the transient lifestyle, so when he landed the job at the winery in Williamsburg, he’d been determined to live out his years there.
He was glad he’d made the decision to uproot and move to Gracemont, because it already felt more like home than Williamsburg ever did.
“I’m pretty sure you’re right,” Boone agreed. “This town and this mountain…they’re damn fine places to grow old.”
Mila’s pleased expression told him just how much pride she took in her hometown. “Sadie seems to be settling in well,” she said softly, not wanting his daughter to overhear.
“She is. Thanks to you. Introducing her to Piper was a stroke of genius.”
Mila shook her head, downplaying his compliment. “I’m sure they would have found each other either way.”
He didn’t like the way she constantly belittled her acts of kindness, making them less than they were.
“Why Donut?” she asked. She’d obviously noticed his nickname for Sadie.
“When she was little, she loved donuts. Wanted them for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. I bought one of those bags of the little white powdered ones once, when she was four or five. I was doing chores…and thought I was keeping half an eye on her. Obviously, I wasn’t.
Found her in the kitchen, the bag of donuts empty, her face, hair, and hands all covered in white.
Told her she powdered herself so much, she’d turned into a donut. She giggled and the name stuck.”
Mila giggled as well. “That’s sweet.”
“She had a good time Saturday night with your sisters.” Nora and Remi had invited Sadie to join them for pizza and a movie a few days earlier. And while the invitation had been kind, that wasn’t Boone’s reason for bringing it up now.
“She’s a fun girl, and she’s got a wicked sense of humor. Gets that from…you?” Mila asked.
Boone shrugged noncommittally. “No comment.”
Mila laughed.
When Boone went to pick up Sadie, not wanting her to walk home alone after dark, he’d arrived the same time Mila’s date was dropping her off.
“How was your date?” He should mind his own business, because Mila’s dating life was none of his concern, but he’d stepped out of the woods just in time to witness the good-night kiss.
It had been a goddamn travesty. Zero heat.
If Mila was his, there was no way he’d offer her a tiny peck on the lips.
No. If she was his, he’d devour her, consume and claim her lips until they were red and swollen so every man who saw her would know she was taken.
Boone had struggled to sleep that night, forced to admit it bothered him when he discovered she’d been out with someone, even though he wasn’t about to toss his hat in the ring.
Relationships were for other men. The most he could offer her was sex, and Mila wasn’t the type of woman a man made his fuck buddy.
She was wife material.
And he wasn’t husband material. Lena had driven that point home.
Boone equated marriage with betrayal, abandonment, and failure, three things he wasn’t signing up for again. His walls weren’t just up—they were well fortified. Wedding vows were nothing more than lies told in pretty clothes.
And if that wasn’t reason enough to stay away from Mila, there was the fact she was a Storm. He’d uprooted his entire life and Sadie’s to bring them here. Doing anything to risk their fresh start would be the height of stupidity.
Mila’s brows rose, indicating she was surprised he knew about her date.
“I saw the man dropping you off when I came to get Sadie.”
“Oh. Yeah. It was…okay.”
Boone noticed the pause before the word okay. It told him that the date wasn’t okay, but that wasn’t what he really cared about. Cursing himself for a fool, he dug deeper. “Is this guy a boyfriend?” He tried to make the question casual and light, but he didn’t pull it off.
Mila quickly shook her head. “No. Not at all. Pastor Joshua is—”
“Pastor?”
Mila gave him a rueful grin. “I really need to stop calling him that. Saturday was my fourth date with Joshua, but he’s not a boyfriend. He’s, uh, just a nice guy.”
Yeah. She made the word nice sound as shitty as okay. Of course, given the lackluster kiss he’d witnessed, he could understand her lack of enthusiasm.
He had a million things he wanted to say about Mila’s nice pastor, but it wasn’t his place.
Because the things he thought in regard to Mila Storm weren’t nice. Hell, they probably weren’t okay, either. There was something about her that called to him in a very primal way.
Boone wasn’t an easy lover. In fact, he was downright rough.
He had a penchant for bondage, demanding total control over his lovers.
Lena had responded to his dominant side.
It was one reason he’d been so quick to marry her.
Her sexual desires had matched his. Unfortunately, good sex wasn’t enough to make a successful marriage.
He really should change the subject.
But…
“Why do you make ‘nice’ sound like such a bad thing?” he asked, apparently a glutton for punishment.
Mila flushed. Jesus, he loved her blushes. “I didn’t mean to. It’s just, well…Pastor Joshua is very polite and…” She blew out a long, slow breath. “The dates are boring.”
Boone chuckled. “Got it.”
“But I need to just get over it, because nice, boring guys are the only ones I attract.”