Her Sexiest Mistake Read online

  “I’ll have you know I have an excellent singing voice.”

  “Maybe you snore?”

  She eyed his amused mug narrowly. “No.”

  “Ah. You have stinky feet.”

  “Not that it matters,” she said through her teeth. “Since I’m not shacking up with you.”

  “I have a spare bedroom. You two can share it. That way Hope won’t have to miss school. Plus, you’ll be close to home so you can bully your terminators. We all know how you like to be in control of everything.”

  Mia eyed him. Is that how he saw her? Controlling? True, but not exactly flattering.

  “Please, Aunt Mia?” Hope clasped her hands and batted her eyelashes.

  “Maybe you missed the part where I said it’s for a week,” Mia said to Kevin.

  “I heard.”

  Oh, God. “What if I get tired of you?”

  He ran a finger over her jaw, an odd light in his eyes. “Is that what you’re afraid of? Really? Because I think you’re afraid you won’t get tired of me.”

  She stared into his patient but amused eyes. Damn it. Damn him for always reading her mind. Prove him wrong. “I don’t cook,” she warned.

  “I think we can manage.”

  He sounded amused, the ass. “When you regret this,” she said, “you’ll have no one but yourself to blame.”

  His smile, damn him, was slow and sure and took her breath.

  Everyone came into Mia’s house while she and Hope gathered what they needed for the week. When Mike, Tess, and Hope headed to Kevin’s, Mia stood in her living room, taking one last look at her place.

  Kevin held the pizzas and came toward her, all long, loose-legged stride. “Do we have the works in here?” he asked very seriously.

  She nodded and he smiled, one of those really amazing smiles that said The world is an awesome place, that said I’m always going to think so no matter what happens, that said If you let go just a little you could feel the same way.

  She didn’t understand what it was about him, but even now she felt a funny tightness in her chest. There was also a flutter deep in her belly, and she’d begun to fear it wouldn’t go away no matter how many times she got him naked.

  “I’d give my entire bank account to know what you’re thinking right now,” he said softly.

  “Sorry, but you can’t afford my thoughts.”

  Instead of being insulted, he just let out another slow smile.

  More than her belly quivered now. A little surprised to find herself reacting so strongly to a mere man, she backed up a step.

  He arched a brow.

  “Mia?” Hope called from outside. “You guys coming?”

  Kevin didn’t take his eyes off Mia. “Are you coming?” he asked very softly, silkily.

  “God, I hope so,” she murmured.

  His eyes smoldered as he looked at her so directly, so deeply it also was too much. He touched her cheek. “Right behind you,” he called out to Hope, then put his hand on the small of Mia’s back to guide her out the door. “Bad day?”

  “Yeah.” She sighed. “Work sucked.”

  “Any more trash can fires?”

  “No. But I almost strangled a coworker who thinks he’s God’s gift.”

  “The one who got Tess fired? The same guy who’s trying to step on your toes and take your account?”

  She looked at him in surprise.

  He shrugged. “Tess told us. You should have seen Hope. She was pretty hot under the collar about your boss.”

  “Really?” Mia sighed and rubbed her forehead. “Maybe the kid likes me after all.”

  “You think?” He looked at her for a long moment. “You really do look beat.”

  “Gee, I want you, too.”

  “Oh, I want you.”

  She stared at him, disconcerted by the way he disarmed her. She swallowed hard. “Why do things seem so complicated right now?”

  Another long, thoughtful look. “Maybe for tonight, over pizza and beer and laughs, things can get a little uncomplicated.”

  “Yeah. Maybe.” But she didn’t believe it. Then, before she knew it, they were in Kevin’s kitchen, with Mike pressing a beer in her hand and Tess regaling them with the story of her adventures of getting Cookie Madness on the map. One of Mia’s contacts called her after Mia had left her this afternoon—and ordered two hundred pounds.

  Over more pizza, they all marveled at that. Then Kevin told them about his hopes of catching his pot-head, thanks to Hope’s rigging his gas burners with an alarm. “Tomorrow,” he said smiling, “is going to be fun.”

  Hope laughed again, and Mia looked at her, feeling her chest tighten again. God, she loved that sound, and she put her hand on Hope’s arm.

  “What?” Hope asked, still smiling.

  Mia just shook her head. She’d just wanted to touch her, maybe hug her, but she wasn’t sure how to do that. Tess moved around, cleaning up, touching Mike, pushing Kevin, kissing Hope, being so easy and free with her emotions that Mia felt a little lost. A little out of place.

  “Hey.”

  She blinked, and Kevin was standing close, tipping her face up to look deep into her eyes. “Where did you go?”

  “I’m right here.”

  Slowly he shook his head. Then he took her hand in his and led her to the door. “We’re going to get more sodas,” he told the room in general, grabbing the two helmets on the counter. “Be right back.”

  He didn’t say anything on the walk to his bike or when he handed her a helmet. Or when he straddled the bike and waited for her to join him. She hadn’t been prepared to press her body to his, but when she did, some of the odd tension left her.

  And a new one gripped her.

  He turned his head and looked at her, smiled, and then, with a rev of the engine, they took off. Wind in their faces, the hills whipping by…yeah. This was just what she needed. All too soon, they were stopping at a convenience store for a six-pack of sodas, then heading back.

  Dusk arrived and the heat lifted a bit. They parked on the street and sat there for a moment, not moving. Mia could smell the azaleas, could hear the buzz of a lone bee. From far down the street she could hear the normal sounds of traffic.

  A world away from where she’d grown up. There the heat would still be thick, too thick to breathe. Dogs would be barking, growling, fighting. Kids screaming. Adults fighting. The smell of meat frying would be overwhelming. And above it all would be the sounds of her momma and Sugar, in their deep, Southern drawls, planning out their big catch at the rec center barbeque.

  Mia’s universe couldn’t be more different. She’d carefully cultivated it to be.

  So why wasn’t she happy? She’d blame it on the kid, or work, but that wouldn’t be honest.

  She had the sexiest man on the planet looking at her, making her knees weak without even trying, causing her heart to pitter-patter like a kid’s; a man who claimed to want her, a man who wouldn’t accept her cool, calm façade she’d always given the world.

  And yet she’d hidden herself for so long she didn’t know how to reveal herself to him, or—even more unnerving—she didn’t know who she really even was.

  Kevin remained quiet as he got off the bike and reached for her hand. “Hey.”

  “Hey.”

  “Feel any better?”

  “Is that what the ride was about?”

  “It always works for me, so I hoped—”

  “Yeah.” She smiled. “It worked. I just got overwhelmed. You know…work, Hope, Tess.”

  “You mean Mike.”

  “Maybe him, too. Tess won’t admit it, but she’s been hurt, too much. Maybe you could tell him to move on now before it’s too late. It won’t be difficult. All he has to do is smile that smile and another woman will be falling all over herself to snag him.”

  Kevin smiled grimly. “I’ve had this conversation with him.”

  “And?”

  “And he wants Tess.”

  “Damn it, Kevin.”

&n