Chapter 43
Five Years Later
Reid
The late afternoon sun was nothing more than a dull orange glow through my closed lids as I reclined in the cabana with Mia. She was still wet from her dip in the pool, and her damp curls tickled my neck.
“I could do this forever.” I traced lazy patterns on her arm. “Here, like this. With you.”
Her low hum of contentment reverberated through me. “Forever sounds perfect, but for us it’s ‘til tomorrow, when the staff get back from their time off.”
“Don’t remind me.” I groaned out loud and pulled her closer, not caring about the wetness of her bikini that seeped through my wrap.
Legs intertwined, the warmth from her body was a provocative contrast to the cool kiss on my skin left by the summer breeze.
Nothing like the difference between what I felt when my plane touched down in Rio, and when I had to say goodbye to Mia six months later.
Five years in, and there was nothing alluring about the vast emptiness that overwhelmed me every time I left our home here.
“We have a few hours.” She looked up at me, eyes sparkling with her signature glint of mischief. Her fingertips ran a feathery trail up and down the bare skin of my abdomen. “I say we make the most of it, like we always do.”
I placed my hand over hers, calling an end to her tender touch. “Do you have any idea how much I want to kiss you right now?”
“Is it somewhere in the area of ‘more than anything’?” Mia’s lips curled into a slight, knowing smile.
“Somewhere around there.” I laughed softly.
I felt the distinct rise and fall of her chest, her pronounced breath wisping onto my lips and making them tingle with anticipation. Mia leaned into my touch as I brushed her cheek with the back of my fingers, her eyes drooping closed.
Just then, the charged tension between us was pierced by a shrill ring. It was as if the universe could sense the moment shifting into something else entirely and felt the need to derail it.
Mia sighed heavily and rolled over, taking up her spot beside me. “Better get that.”
With a quick nudge of my foot, I moved my phone deeper under the square pillow lying there. “I’m not taking any calls.”
She met my gaze with a look of surprise. “What if it’s work?”
“I’m not taking any calls,” I repeated in a firm, measured tone. “Now, come here.”
I reached for her, wanting her body pressed up against mine. I already missed the feel of her.
But Mia shook her head slowly and motioned to my phone. “Reid, I’m serious. It could be important.”
“Nothing’s more important than you.” I rolled over onto my side, bent arm under my head while I gazed at her. “It’s my last day.”
My desperate need for connection was mirrored in her eyes as she looked at me. Tender, circular caresses of her thumb on my cheek. How was I going to make another six months without these simplest of touches?
A weight settled heavy in my heart, the answer to my question.
The same way I made it all the other times over the past few years–an insane amount of video calls and virtual dates. And when the pining reached fever pitch, one of us would hop on a plane for a whirlwind weekend that could tide us over.
My phone was still ringing, and something told me it wasn’t going to stop. I huffed impatiently, giving in to the uninvited disruption.
“God, your tan is horrendous.” Alex grimaced. Three familiar faces popped onto the screen, peering over each of her shoulders. “I keep telling you that the South American sun is no good for you.”
Mia stifled a giggle beside me, but I just rolled my eyes. “And I keep telling you that you’re not as funny as you think. Why are you making a nuisance of yourself on my last day?”
“Because it’s your last day,” Taylor piped up from Alex’s left shoulder. “We wanted to make sure that you’ll actually be at dinner tomorrow night, and not decide to extend your stay like last time.”
“We miss you.” Hayden pouted over Alex’s right. “And there’s absolutely no way you can’t show up tomorrow. Trust me, you’re going to want to be here.”
Alex hushed her up too quickly for it to be nothing, which piqued my interest.
“What’s going on?” I narrowed my eyes. Each of my friends adopted a mask of innocence, albeit totally transparent. I sat up and Mia followed. She was just as curious and craned her neck to see my screen.
“You know we’re not going to fall for this act,” she said, referring to their useless display. “So you might as well spill it. I won’t be at dinner, if that helps convince you.”
Alex sighed and shook her head. “The plan was to dial Mia in when the time came. But thanks to my dear friend’s inability to keep a secret…” She glared at Hayden who simply shrugged, utterly unfazed by the accusation.
“When the time came for what?” I pressed, trying to bring the focus back to my burning curiosity. “Alex, I swear to God-”
“Gracie’s getting a little brother.” The sentence tumbled from her lips all at once, as though it were one word.
Mia and I gasped at the same time, both our faces lighting up with huge grins.
“No! When? You didn’t tell me you and Devon were planning to-”
“We wanted to surprise you and didn’t want to put you through the nerve-wracking waiting period.”
Alex was misted up, but laughing with the kind of unfettered joy that only kids can bring. Motherhood really did look great on her.
We talked some more–mostly about the new baby. By the time I hung up, I was a mess.
“This is a lot of emotions for one afternoon.” I tossed my phone aside and flopped back next to Mia. “A baby… crazy, right?”
Her excitement from before had been replaced by a somber expression that I couldn’t quite read. I propped myself up on my elbow to have a better look at her.
“Mia?”
Sad eyes met my concerned gaze. “You should be with your people for moments like this. Your family. They shouldn’t have to schedule milestone moments because you’re living in another country for half the year.”
“You’re my family,” I said with a gentle firmness that I hoped conveyed how strongly I felt about it.
And before she could protest any further, I kissed her.
Mia
Reid’s kiss was deep. Slow. Her hand came up to brush the wet hair from my face, then started a lazy trail down my body.
She always said all the right things to make me believe she was happy with the way things were. But I knew better. I saw it buried in her eyes each time something big happened back home and she was stuck here, having to celebrate over the phone.
“There’s nowhere I’d rather be than here with you,” Reid murmured close to my ear, then sucked the skin on the side of my neck into her mouth.
She stopped soon after, careful not to leave an obvious mark, and brought her lips back to my ear, tugging my lobe between her teeth. The sensation of her hot breath mixed with the pleasure-pain sent a rush of warmth between my thighs.
Her mouth still nipping and sucking, Reid’s hand paused over my breast, pinching my stiff nipple between her thumb and forefinger. She smiled when I arched my back into her touch, a muffled moan fluttering against her lips.
“I feel the same way,” I said, gazing deep into her eyes. “That’s why I’m coming back with you.”
Reid stopped what she was doing. No, it was less a choice to stop and more the fact that she froze. Her jaw dropped slightly as she fixed me with a stupefied expression.
“Wh- what do you mean? You have work. And your mother…”
“Mom’s been doing a lot better, and I’ve reached an agreement with my sister about how we’ll take care of her. I don’t need to be here full time,” I gently explained, trailing my fingertips up and down her back. “And DawnStar, well, that’s what we should probably talk about.”
Confusion clouded Reid’s face as she propped up on her elbow beside me. “Mia, I’ve looked at the numbers. DawnStar is doing great, and a huge part of that is because you’re at the helm. What’s there to talk about? You can’t walk away from a thriving company. That’s just… that’s absurd.”
It annoyed me more than I thought it would, hearing her push back this way. My announcement was supposed to be a happy moment. Romantic, even. Was it delusional of me to think she would have been jumping around with glee once I broke the news?
“Do you want to know what’s absurd, Reid?
” I sat up and looked her square in the eye.
“That I only get to have you for six months out of the year.” She opened her mouth to argue, but I held up a hand to stop her.
“A few emergency weekends scattered around doesn’t make up for the fact that I feel like a part-time girlfriend. ”
Her mouth snapped shut again. Hurt brimmed in her eyes.
“I thought it was working,” she started hesitantly. “I thought we were working.”
“Making it work and working are two different things,” I replied. “I’m tired of first and last days. I want to be with you all year round. I’ve given enough time to DawnStar, and I’m ready to move on. We’re in talks with a DigiSigil about an acquisition.”
Reid’s brows knitted together. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I wanted to surprise you.” It sounded stupid and childish when I said it out loud. “I wanted to make it a big thing–me moving to the city with you. The acquisition will allow me to start my own thing over there. I did this once, I can do it again. And this time, I’ll have you with me.”
A soft smile tugged at her lips as she brushed them against mine. “You’re amazing, you know that? I love you so goddamn much.”
“Then show me,” I whispered, pulling her to lie back down with me. I took her hand and guided it lower, down to the ache in my core.
She pushed past the waistband of my bikini bottoms. Two fingers slid easily between my slick folds, making Reid groan out loud. I rocked my hips, relishing the pressure from her flat palm while she started a slow, teasing stroke just there.
“I was going to ask if this was what you wanted.” She played with the wetness at my opening. “But your answer to that question is dripping out of you.”
“Put it in.” I squirmed under her hand, my way of begging for it. “I want to feel you inside me.”
Reid plunged into me with both fingers, curling against the fleshy spot she knew would blow my mind. I bit my lower lip, grinding myself into the pressure of the thumb she had perfectly positioned over my clit.
Feeling my rising need to come undone, Reid started thrusting her fingers into my burning wet core. She knew exactly what I needed, and how to give it to me. Harder, deeper… Riding the wave of ecstasy with me until she pushed me right over the edge.
I squeezed my eyes shut, bracing against the climax that crashed over me as my walls clenched hard around Reid’s fingers. The world faded into nothing but white noise as my body jerked and trembled beneath her.
“You’re so beautiful when you’re like this,” Reid murmured, peppering me with soft kisses. Her fingers began to slow as she brought me down from my high. “I love making you come.”
I lifted my head and crashed our mouths together in a bruising, passionate kiss. “Then do it again.”