6. Mia
MIA
“I’m gonna go.”
I wanted him to stay, but I wanted him to want to stay even more. That clearly wasn’t the case, so I didn’t bother trying to change his mind. “It’s probably for the best.”
“Yeah, probably so.”
He didn’t move.
He just lay there.
I was beginning to think he might’ve changed his mind, but then I felt the bed dip, and I knew that wasn’t the case.
My heart sank as I pulled the covers over me and watched him walk past the foot of the bed.
He went into the living room and quickly gathered his clothes, and he didn’t say a word as he started to dress.
I’d just had the best sex of my life, and it was killing me that it was ending like this—so awkward and abrupt.
I shouldn’t have been surprised.
Wrath had made it clear that he didn’t want to get involved, and I knew exactly what I was getting into. That being said, I hadn’t missed the fact that he kissed me everywhere except on my mouth. It was something that stood out to me the night I’d see him with Jasmine at my graduation party.
He’d done the same thing to her.
It wasn’t a huge deal, but it did sting a little.
I hated thinking I was in the same ‘realm’ as one of the club’s hang arounds, but I had no one else to blame for it.
I’d done it to myself.
Once he was dressed, Wrath came to my doorway and asked, “We good?”
“Yeah, we’re fine.”
“We had an understanding.”
“I remember.” I swallowed hard, hoping it would help ease the knot forming in the back of my throat. “It’s fine, Wrath. Just leave it.”
He stood there for a moment longer, then eventually turned and walked out of the apartment.
As soon as I heard the door close, I got out of bed and made my way to the bathroom.
I turned on the shower and waited a moment for it to heat up, then I stepped inside and let the hot water cascade down my head and shoulders.
I was on the verge of getting really upset, but then I remembered how incredible Wrath’s hands felt on my body.
Just thinking about the way he looked at me when he lifted me up on that table made my heart race.
He didn’t second guess himself. He knew what he wanted, and he took it, and he took it well.
I’d never been so turned on in my entire life.
Hell, he took every fantasy I’d ever had and pulled them all together in one hot, blissfully wicked night that I would never forget.
I’d gone after what I wanted, and I got it.
And I got it damn good.
I shook off the remainder of my ill feelings as I finished my shower and put on my pajamas. As I crawled back into bed, I had a newfound resolve. I was a fighter. I always had been. I always would be. And if there was something I wanted, I was going to go for it—just like I had done tonight.
‘I am woman. Hear me roar.’
The next morning, I got up early and put on my favorite outfit.
I took a little extra time and did my hair and makeup, and I was feeling pretty good as I headed downstairs to my car.
I still had a few minutes before I had to get to the studio, so I decided to stop for coffee.
I ordered my favorite mocha latte, and in hopes of it being a sort of peace offering, I got one for Garrett, too.
I knew he’d been annoyed that I hadn’t been in the office for the last week or so, and I couldn’t blame him one bit. He’d taken a big chance on hiring me with so little experience, especially when he was new in town. He’d only had the studio for a few months, and things were going well for him.
He’d had one client after the next. He was swamped, and he was counting on me to help take up the slack and I’d gone AWOL on him.
He hadn’t hidden the fact that he was upset with me for not being there when he needed me, but thankfully, Garrett didn’t fire me and allowed me to do some of the work at home.
When I walked in, I found Garrett sitting at his desk, looking over his latest project. He didn’t even look up when I placed his cup of coffee in front of him and said, “I’m back.”
“Um-hmm.”
“How’s it going?”
“I can’t complain.” He finally glanced up at me, but only for a brief second. “You look well.”
“I’m doing alright.” I was hoping he’d mention the images I’d sent in, but no such luck. I feared that meant he was outdone with me, so I smiled and said, “I brought you coffee.”
“Um-hmm. Thanks.”
“Okay, well... I guess I better get to it.”
I turned, and as soon as I started out of his office, he announced, “Like what you did with the Jennings’ shoot.”
“You did?”
“I hadn’t thought about going black and white.” He finally really looked at me as he said, “It was just the right touch.”
“Great. I’m glad you liked them.”
“I sent you another group of files to look over.”
“I’ll check them out now.”
I felt like I was walking on cloud nine as I made my way through the gallery and into my office.
Garrett wasn’t a man who gave out compliments freely.
If he gave any positive feedback, it was earned, so I couldn’t help but feel proud of the work I’d done—which was something I couldn’t say when I first started working with him.
In the early days, I was a mess. I barely even knew how to angle my camera or get the right light, much less edit properly. I smiled as I thought about the day I was working on some practice shots and made a complete fool of myself.
I’d just finished setting up my equipment when a fly decided to make itself at home on one of my props.
I tried to shoo it away, but the damn thing kept buzzing relentlessly around my head.
I gave up on trying to get rid of him and grabbed my camera.
I started to snap pictures of it, hoping to capture a shot of it in mid-air when Garrett walked in.
Sadly, I didn’t even notice that he was standing there watching me.
I was too busy trying to get that perfect shot, and I could only imagine what he thought as he watched me scurry around that room taking pictures.
I thought I had the perfect shot when the stupid fly decided to take a dive straight into my camera lens.
I was worried that all my efforts had been in vain, but I ended up with some fantastic shots. Even Garrett was impressed.
From that day on, I didn’t let myself get caught up with the small stuff.
I simply pressed on and let the cards fall where they may.
I’d just sat down and turned on my laptop when my cell phone started to ring. I quickly grabbed it out of my purse and checked the screen. When I saw that it was Darby, I answered with a whisper, “Hey, I just got to work. I can’t talk right now.”
“You’ve gotta be kidding me!” she fussed.
“I’m sorry, but you know how Garrett can be.”
“I don’t give two toots about Garrett and his tight ass,” Darby complained. “You gotta tell me how things went last night.”
“I will, but I can’t right now.” I could hear him shuffling around in the other room, so I told her, “I’ll call you during my lunch break.”
Without giving her a chance to respond, I hung up my phone and shoved it back into my purse.
I could hear Garrett getting closer to the office, so I quickly pulled up the files he had sent and started going through them.
They were the shots he’d taken of the town square before and after the renovations, and like all of his work, they were phenomenal.
I was looking over the ones he’d taken of the bank when he appeared in my doorway and asked, “So, what do you think?”
“They’re really good. I’m very impressed.”
“I don’t know. I’m not sure I liked the lighting in the coffee shop.” He grimaced as he said, “I should go back and do a reshoot.”
“Really?” I looked back to check the images as I told him, “No. I think they look great.”
“And that’s why you’re still a novice.”
“Maybe so, but I know a good shot when I see it.” I could tell by his expression that he wasn’t convinced, so I added, “Just let me tweak a few things, and if you still aren’t happy with them, then you can go do your reshoot.”
“Fine, but I’ll expect them to be done today.”
“Won’t be a problem.”
Without saying anything more, Garrett turned and went back to his office.
I spent the next couple of hours working my magic on the images of the coffee shop, and while there were a couple that were harder to manipulate, most just needed a couple of tweaks here and there.
I emailed him the final edits, grabbed my purse, and started for the front door.
When I passed Garrett’s office, I called out to him, “I’m going to grab lunch. I’ll be back in half an hour.”
“What about...”
“Already emailed them to you.”
“Oh... okay. I’ll see you when you get back.”
“You want me to bring you something back?”
“No. I’m good.”
“Okay. I’ll be back in a bit.”
I gave him a quick wave, then continued out to the parking lot.
I’d just gotten in my car when my phone started ringing. I grabbed it out of my purse and smiled when I saw that Darby was facetiming me. I answered and was surprised to see that Susana was with her. She was practically beaming as she said, “Hey, hooker! I hear you have juicy tea to spill.”
“I don’t know if I’d say all that.” I started my car and turned on the heat. “You know I’m not one to kiss and tell.”
“So, you kissed?” Darby asked as she leaned into view.
“Not exactly.”
“But he came over, right?”
“Yeah, he came to fix the fan.”
“Ooo-kay,” Darby glanced over at Susana, then back to me. “Did he fix the fan, or did he fix you?”
“Well, after what I did to it, the fan is pretty much beyond repair, and after last night, I am, too.”
“Whoa. What’s that supposed to mean?” Darby gasped.
“Like I told you earlier, it’s complicated.”
I spent the next few minutes giving them the rundown of what had happened with Wrath. I didn’t go into explicit detail, but I told them enough to get Darby riled up. “He just left! You gotta be kiddin’ me!”
“Afraid not.” I let out a long, defeated breath, then told them, “But in his defense, I didn’t ask him to stay.”
“You shouldn’t have to ask him!” Susana snapped. “The jerk should’ve realized that he was lucky to even be there.”
“It’s not his fault... We had an understanding.”
“Well, your understanding was stupid,” Darby interjected. “He should’ve stayed, and more than that, he should’ve wanted to stay.”
“Yeah, that would’ve been great, but it’s not how the cards fell.” I shrugged. “But I’m okay with that... like seriously okay. I had an incredible night with him, and that was that. No hard feelings.”
“How can you be so cool about this?” Darby’s eyes narrowed. “It didn’t happen to me, and I still want to cut his balls off.”
“Nothing happened to me. At least, nothing I didn’t ask for. And if I want something more from him, I’ll ask for that, too. Now, let’s just leave it at that.”
“If you say so.”
“I do.” I glanced up at the clock, and when I saw the time, I grimaced. “I’m sorry to cut this short, but I’ve gotta grab a bite and get back to work.”
“Okay, but you gotta promise that you’re gonna come up next week. There’s a big party, and Casey and Lexie are going to come and go with us.”
“Umm, I don’t know. I’m not really in the mood for a party.”
“Oh, come on! It’ll be fun.”
“I’ll think about it.”
“Don’t make me come there and get you.”
“I said I’ll think about it. Now, I’ve gotta go. I’ll call you later in the week.”
“Okay.” Worry filled Darby’s eyes as she said, “Hey... are you sure you’re okay about everything?”
“Yes!” I gave her a big, reassuring smile. “I’m more than okay. Everything is great. I promise.”
“I just wanted to be sure. Now, go get your lunch, and I’ll see you soon.”
Before I could argue, she gave me a cheesy grin and ended the call. I thought back over our conversation, and I couldn’t help but smile. I was very lucky to have such wonderful friends.
And it was a good thing I had them.
I would be needing them in the days to come—more than I ever had before.