I grunted. “Maybe.”
“Hm,” she murmured, and then pushed out a breath. “Has anyone ever told you you're intimidating?”
“More times than I can count.” You don’t get as big as I am without hearing that sentiment a time or a hundred. “I would never hurt you,” I felt the need to assure her. “My father would break my neck,” I joked.
She let out a breathless laughs and it felt better than a breeze on one of those famously humid nights in Tulum. It was soothing in a way that should be illegal when you’ve known someone less than three days.
“I can’t let that happen, I suppose.”
“Right? And who else will teach me about toxic masculinity and tell me my library of books is garbage?”
She gasped. “I never saidallof them are bad.”
“The 48 Laws of Power,” I retorted.
“Well, that one is trash. Speaking of toxic masculinity …”
I groaned, and she giggled. “I’ll save the lecture for tomorrow.”
“I’m looking forward to it.”
Suddenly, the twelve or so hours between then and the morning when I would see her was too much. I was typically a man of patience. In my line of work, there was often a lot of standing around, waiting for business meetings to end, and planes to arrive or take off. I knew how to occupy my time, stay aware of my surroundings for hours, and keep my clients safe. I had learned how to rein in my anxiousness.
But counting down the hours until I saw Mia again was a challenge.
“Get some sleep,” I said before I could talk myself into showing up at her door.
“I’m going to go for another swim in my private pool before showering and going to bed.”
I groaned.
“What’s wrong?” she inquired, sounding more innocent than she should.
“If you want me not to abandon my friends at dinner and wind up on your doorstep before the night’s over, I highly recommend that you don’t tell me about your plans to put on a bathing suit and get all wet.”
“I see how that could present a problem,” she said with humor lacing her voice. “Good night, Brutus.”
Fuck.The sound of my name from her mouth.
“Tomorrow, Mia,” I said instead of goodnight. A promise lingered in my words, and I wondered if she heard it, too.
I pulled the phone from my ear and glanced over my shoulder. Will approached just as I turned.
“Was that work? Those Townsends can’t get along without you, huh?” He slapped my shoulder.
I blinked, realizing that for the first time in … ever, work hadn’t been a constant on my mind. A few hours earlier, I received a text from my second in command letting me know all was well back home. Aside from that, it hadn’t even crossed my mind to check in with the office. Yeah, I was on vacation, but it was totally out of the ordinary to not check up on things back home when I was away.
“Everything all right? What? Does Aaron Townsend need you to fly back to Williamsport to go with him to some top-secret business conference or something?” he joked.
I shook my head. I never mentioned the details of my job, even with my friends. None of us did, even though we all worked for some high-profile and influential families and businesspeople. Will himself was on the security detail for an all-star athlete turned entrepreneur.
A part of me was still stunned that I hadn’t thought about work in hours. Thoughts about Mia and our excursions the following day took up most of the space in my mind.
“I’m heading out,” I told Will. “Early morning.”
His forehead wrinkled, but he shrugged, knowing I wasn’t about to give up any information I wasn’t willing to share. “If your ass hops on a plane back to Williamsport, at least send a text this time,” he replied before holding up a fist.
I pounded his fist and gave a noncommittal nod before waving over his shoulder at the rest of the guys. An uproar of,‘Where are you going?’,‘That job’s got you by the balls!’,and a stream of other nonsense followed me out of the door. None of it bothered me. Ribbing one another was a way of life for my group of friends. It was how we survived long, grueling missions in the military with one another.
