Mia
It was well after midnight when we returned from our bike ride. Wrath walked me up to my front door, and I could tell by the look on his face that he was about to leave. I didn’t want him to go, so I said, “It’s late. Why don’t you just stay here and head back in the morning?”
He didn’t immediately respond, so I took it as a positive sign and gave him a little push, “It’ll be daylight in a few hours.”
“Yeah, I know, but I’m not sure that it’s a good idea.”
“Maybe not, but if it makes you feel better, I’ll promise to behave myself.” I gave him a playful wink as I teased, “Unless you don’t want me to.”
“No, behaving would be good.”
“Okay, I can do that.”
I put my key in the lock and gave it a quick turn. I wasn’t surprised when it didn’t budge. I’d reported it to maintenance, but as usual, they hadn’t come to see about it. I started to do all my little tricks to open it when Wrath grumbled, “How long has that lock been busted?”
“A couple of days, but really. It’s not a big deal.” I gave him a quick shrug, then finally managed to get it to open. “If maintenance doesn’t come soon, I’ll get Dad to fix it.”
“It’s dangerous.” He followed me through the door, then started toying with the latch as he asked, “Do you have any tools here?”
“Not any that will work on that lock. Besides, it’s late. We both could use a few hours of sleep.”
He nodded, then we both headed into the bedroom.
Neither of us spoke as we undressed and climbed back into bed.
I was actually kind of surprised that Wrath agreed to stay.
It made me wonder if he was finally starting to come around, but he didn’t pull me close.
He didn’t snuggle up whatsoever. He just lay there like he was in a stranger’s bed, so I didn’t bother getting my hopes up.
The last thing I needed was a heartbreak, so I took the moment for what it was and nothing more.
We hadn’t been lying there long when he whispered, “Good night, Mia.”
“Good night.”
I watched as he closed his eyes, and after a few moments, his breathing started to slow.
He was close to drifting off, so I turned and curled into my pillow.
It seemed like I’d barely closed my eyes when I woke to the sun shining through my blinds.
I glanced up at the clock and was surprised to see that it was almost seven.
I shot up out of bed and was about to rush to the bathroom when I realized that Wrath was no longer in bed.
I had no idea when he’d left, but he was gone, nonetheless.
I shook off my disappointment and continued to the bathroom.
After the way I’d left work the day before, I needed to get there on time.
I also needed to make sure I had my coffee, so I took a quick shower and wasted no time getting dressed.
As soon as I was ready, I grabbed my things and made my way down to my car. I’d just put my keys in the ignition when my passenger side door flew open. I was about to panic until I spotted a familiar pair of black boots stepping inside. “Dad?”
“Morning, kiddo. How ya making it this morning?”
“Pretty good… I didn’t know you were coming by.”
“Just in the area and thought I’d stop by.”
“You wanna come up for a cup of coffee or something?”
“No, no. I’m not staying. I know you need to get to work.”
“Okay.” He was being weird—very weird, and I didn’t have the time to tiptoe around him. “Did you have something on your mind?”
“Yeah, actually it’s you... You’ve been on my mind a lot lately.”
“Well, I’m okay. Things are going really well, Daddy. You don’t have to worry about me.”
“I’m your father. I’m always going to worry.”
There was something about the way he was looking at me that led me to ask, “Is there something in particular thing you’re worried about?”
“You could say that.” He let out a breath, then said, “You’ve been around the club long enough to know that tying up with a brother can be a dangerous game. There are consequences, both good and bad, and it’s not a decision to take lightly.”
“Yeah, I know.” My father was a savvy man.
He always knew things way before anyone else, so I had no doubt that he either knew something had happened between me and Wrath or had suspected it.
I wasn’t prepared to confirm or deny, so I asked, “Is there a particular reason you felt the need to tell me that?”
“Just looking out for my girl.” He held my gaze for a moment, like he was trying to read my mind, then nodded and said, “I'll let you get going. Have a good one.”
He leaned over kissed me on the forehead, then got out of my car and walked over to his bike, leaving a wake of confusion in his path.
I knew my father well enough to know that there was more to our ever so brief conversation than the few words that were said.
The club meant a great deal to him, but Mom and I meant more.
In his own way, he came there today to remind me of that, and it meant a great deal to me.
I sat there for a moment, just thinking about how lucky I was to have him as my father. Eventually, I started my car and drove over to the coffee shop.
Half an hour later, I was walking into the office.
I stopped by to speak to Garrett but was surprised to find that he wasn’t in his office.
I didn’t think too much about it. There were times when he didn’t come in at all—for days on end, and he had every right to do so.
It was his office and his work. I was merely there to take up the slack.
Thinking he’d eventually show up, I continued on to my office and got busy on the edits on the coffee shop images.
I spent hours on them, and I was feeling pretty good about the new changes I’d made.
I was eager to show him what I’d done, so I sent the file over and called out to him, “Hey, Garrett!”
When he didn’t respond, I shouted again, “Garrett!”
Nothing.
I’d been so enthralled in my work that I hadn’t noticed that he’d never made it into the office.
I opened my email, checking to see if I’d gotten anything from him, and quickly spotted one that had been sent earlier that morning.
I opened it and quickly discovered that Garrett had flown off to the Caribbean to do a big photoshoot.
He made absolutely no mention of needing me or wishing I could’ve come with him.
Instead, he requested that I keep the office going while he was gone. I won’t deny that I was a little disappointed about missing out on a chance to see the Caribbean, but I hoped, in time, I would get an opportunity to show off my talents at a tropical resort.
I’d already done my work for the day, so I tried to busy myself with old emails and online shopping.
When closing time rolled around, I did a quick cleanup of the place, then turned out all the lights and headed home.
It was a quiet day but a productive one, and I was feeling pretty good about things.
And when I got home and found that my deadbolt was no longer sticking, I felt even better.
Wrath had given me the impression that he wasn’t looking to get involved with me, but when he did things like this, it made me wonder if that was truly how he felt.
It was definitely hard to tell with him.
He wasn’t exactly quick to express his emotions—unless he was angry.
That was something we both had in common, so I knew firsthand that him getting that silly lock fixed meant something.
I just had no idea how he’d managed to get it done, so I decided to use it as an excuse to reach out to him. I didn’t know where he was, so I decided to send him a text:
Me:
Hey- did you come by and fix my lock?
Wrath:
No
But I did call the super.
Me:
Thank you.
I don’t know what you said, but he finally fixed it.
Wrath:
Good.
Wrath was never a big talker, and clearly, he was even worse when it came to texting.
I felt like I was pulling teeth, so I left it at that and went to change out of my work clothes.
Once I was done, I headed into the kitchen to fix myself a bite to eat.
I’d just opened the fridge when I heard my phone chime with another text.
I walked over and checked the screen, and to my surprise, Wrath had messaged me again.
Wrath:
Chinese or Mexican
Me:
What?
Wrath:
It’s a simple question.
Me:
Mexican
Wrath:
Good choice
Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock at my door, and when I opened it, I found Wrath standing there with two big bags of takeout. “What’s all this?”
“Dinner.” He carried the bags over to the kitchen table and started pulling out the various containers of food. “I hope you’re hungry.”
“Good heavens.” I stepped over to get a better look. “What all did you get?”
“A little of everything.”
“Seriously?”
“I wasn’t sure what you liked.”
“Well, look at you being all sweet.”
“Anything but sweet, babe.”
“Says the man who just bought out the Mexican restaurant.” While he grabbed the plates, I got our drinks from the fridge, and we carried them over to the table. “I didn’t know you were planning to come by tonight.”
“I didn’t either.”
“Well, I’m glad you did.”
We both sat down and made ourselves a plate.
I was tickled that he was there, but I tried to act unfazed by his presence as I started eating.
It wasn’t easy. He looked so hot sitting there in his cut, his black long-sleeve t-shirt, and worn jeans.
I was so tempted to lead him to the bedroom and have another round of wild, passionate sex with him.
But I finally had a chance to really spend time with him, and I was going to take it. “I went by to see Hadley the other day.”
“Oh?”
“Um-hmm.” I took a sip of my drink before I told him, “I took some pictures of Willa for her birthday invitations.”
“Damn. I forgot that was coming up.”
“Yeah, she’s growing fast. I can’t believe she’s almost two.”
“You’re telling me.” He shook his head. “Seems like only yesterday Hadley brought her home from the hospital.”
“I know! She was so tiny, and now, she’s about to be two.”
“Time has a way of getting away from you.”
“Yes, it does.”
“So, how was the photoshoot?”
“I think it went pretty well. I mean, at first, it was tough. Willa wasn’t in the greatest of moods and had no interest in having her picture taken.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, she was not happy at all. She had that bottom lip out, pouting and stomping around.” I smiled and gave him a little nudge with my elbow as I told him, “Kind of like you the night you came over to fix my fan.”
“I wasn’t pouting.”
“Well, you certainly weren’t happy.”
“You busted the fan with a pillow.”
“I needed a way to get you over here.” I rolled my eyes, then continued with my story, “Anyway, just like you, she eventually warmed up to me, and I was able to get some amazing shots.”
“Good. I’m sure Hadley appreciated it.”
“Yeah, I think she was pleased.”
“So, you really like doing this whole photography thing?”
“I love it. I’m not all that great at doing it, but I’m learning.”
“You’ll have to show me some of your work sometime.”
“I’d love to.”
There was something about the way he was looking at me that caught me by surprise.
It wasn’t like before. It wasn’t lust or intrigue.
I saw a glimmer of something much deeper than that, and that was something I was beginning to think I would never see.
I held his gaze for a moment, then turned my attention back to the enormous amount of food on the table.
“I still can’t believe you bought all this. ”
“Don’t worry. It won’t go to waste.”
I nodded, then we both went back to eating. When neither of us could take another bite, we gathered all of the remaining containers of food and placed them back into the bag. I thought he was going to put them in the fridge until he started for the door and said, “I’ll be right back.”
He disappeared out the door and returned ten minutes later empty-handed. “What did you do with all that food?”
“Took it to a couple of homeless guys who hang out a couple of blocks down.”
“That was very sweet of you.”
“Again, with the sweet.” He shook his head. “I already told ya. I’m anything but sweet.”
We walked over to the sofa and sat down as I told him, “Okay, then, it was very thoughtful.”
“Ummm…” He grimaced. “Not sure about that either.”
“You fixed my fan and my door. And you brought me dinner. That was thoughtful.”
“I think that’s a stretch.”
“Are you kidding?” I gave him a teasing shove on the shoulder. “It’s the kind of thing that romance novels are made of.”
“You’re pushing now.”
He was right. I was pushing, but the annoyed look on his face spurred me on. “Forbidden Hearts is an emotional tale of love, loyalty, and... unrequited love.”
“Oh, good grief.”
“Readers will be captivated by the profound connection between a damaged man and the beautiful, sultry woman who tempts him at every turn.”
“Sultry, huh?”
“It’s a romance book, Wrath. It’s gotta have some spice.” I clear my throat, then continue, “On one fateful night, the two lost souls stop resisting the pull they feel towards one another and discover an undeniable connection.”
“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I saw that on the Disney channel last week.”
I sighed with frustration, then muttered, “I give up.”
“Already?” He sounded a little disappointed as he said, “You didn’t get to the spice.”
“There’s no spice on the Disney channel, Wrath.”
“Oh, well. I guess we’ll have to make some of our own.”
He slipped his arm around my waist, pulling me over to his lap, and the second his mouth landed on my neck, I knew he was going to give a whole new meaning to spice.