Chapter Twenty-one
Once they finished some of the best Chinese food Mia had ever tried, they tucked a tired little girl into bed and slouched together on the sofa… newly filled wine glasses held in their hands.
“So, who’s this guy Jack that Maisie’s in love with?”
“Remember I told you that Angie had a contractor friend who she suggested could come and drive us from L.A. to Maricopa?”
“The one who’s going to do the renovations and help us set up?”
“Uh-huh.”
“You mentioned he was coming, but I’d left by then.”
“Right. Well, he showed up.”
“And…?”
“And, he was nice to her.”
“To who?”
“Maisie.”
Mark scrutinized Mia until she shuffled uncomfortably. “Was he nice to you too?”
“Very nice. We made love twice.”
“You made love. It wasn’t having sex.”
“Not for me. The next morning, he backed off like I’d just arrived from another planet, had two heads and a third eye. Then he let it be known, our night together was a mistake.”
Stunned, Mark’s eyes widened. His strangely deep voice questioned, “You’re sure?”
Slamming her wine glass on the table beside her, and then wiping the spill off her hands, she ground out, “What do you mean, am I sure? Of course, I’m sure. A girl can hardly miss something so obvious.”
“You can. How many times have you credited someone with a crime they never committed, and then had to back down?”
“Ahhh… never?”
“Okay.” Mark looked flustered. “So… maybe not. But it could happen. Other people get their signals crossed, why can’t you? Come on, honey. You’ve been under a load of shit lately. Something like this could really mess with your head.”
“It messed with more than my head.” Mia admitted her feelings without realizing what she’d just confessed.
“You mean, you got a hankering for this dude? Really?”
Mia stared at Mark as if he was obtuse, and it took only seconds for him to catch on.
“Oh. Ohhh! You like him.” Mark stared her down. “You really like him.”
“I did last night.” Mia’s growl rang between them. “Now, I just hate his rotten guts.”
Laughing, accepting the slug to his arm that Mia threw his way, Mark, at his most infuriating, agreed, “Wight. Then I hate him too.”