“Something that is completely unnecessary by the way.” She turned her body to face me in her seat. A frown tugged at the corners of her mouth.
Despite the frown, I found it hard to take my eyes off of her to concentrate on the road. She wore a cream, off-the-shoulder top with a pleated leather skirt that stopped a few inches above the knees.
She matched the outfit with a pair of over the knee black boots. The outfit gave a glimpse of her plush thighs, and every time I looked at her I found my mouth watering.
“It won’t be changing,” I said firmly. We’d had this argument many times over the past month. She hated that I had my father accompany her to work in the early morning when I was away or had an early morning myself. Neither my father nor I budged on the issue, though. Her father showed up a few times to pull a shift with Rick.
“You’re all ridiculous. The kids who vandalized my shop are probably long gone or got it out of their system.” She brushed invisible lint off her skirt.
“Good for them if they have. If they haven’t …” I peered at her out of the corner of my eyes.
“Anyway, we’re doing the book club.” She held up her hand when I started to reply. “We can work around the time. Maybe make it a little earlier. Or have it on Sundays right after we close at five. That way it won’t be dark out once we end.”
I bit my tongue because it was a reasonable compromise.
“And get this, another customer brought up the idea of hosting a monthly game night. I’ve talked to a few customers, and some of them seem to like the idea. And you know the bookstore a few blocks over?”
I nodded.
“They’re having some author signing events and have asked that Cup of Joy cater it.”
She sighed in contentment. “Three months into my dream, and it still feels surreal.” She reached across the threshold, taking my hand.
I squeezed it before bringing it to my lips to kiss.
“You’re the best part of it all, though.”
My heart stuttered in my chest.
“For so long I put off my dream to build what I thought was supposed to be the right path. Breaking the glass ceiling and moving up in the company I worked for was my lot in life. I enjoyed it for a while, but it left me drained and a little bitter, to be honest,” she admitted.
“I would never call you bitter,” I told her with a wrinkle between my brows.
She chuckled. “I hid it well.” She shrugged and kept going. “But I don’t think I even realized it until I quit. And then I went off on what I thought would be some time to rest and regroup before coming back to open my shop. I did that, but most importantly, I met you.”
I looked over to see her eyes watering.
“You’ve been the best gift of all. Thank you for taking your first vacation in five years.” We both laughed at that. “Without it, we probably would’ve never met, and now, I can’t imagine my life without you.”
“Stop talking,” I said, abruptly.
“What?”
I hated the confusion in her voice, but she was making it too damn difficult to keep my head on straight. Thankfully, we arrived at the Mexican restaurant I’d bought out for the night.
“Baby, tonight is about you. So, you can’t say all of this sweet stuff to me right now because it’s making me lose my shit. I need to focus on delivering you the best night of your life. And I can’t do that with you making me want to yank you onto my lap, spread your legs, and make you scream until your voice is hoarse and your pussy is throbbing from all of the times I made you come.”
“Brutus …”
I caught sight of her squeezing those ample thighs together. I had to tell my dick to calm the fuck down.
“We’re here.” Tonight would be the night I’d ask Mia to be my wife.
* * *
Mia
Was Brutus actually … nervous?
