Thoughts of my Army days and friends faded to the background as I headed back to my rented bungalow. Though I’d been hesitant to go on this vacation in the first place, I started to think that this trip was the best decision I’d made in a long time.
And it all had to do with Mia.
CHAPTER6
Mia
“It’s not serious,” I told Sharise as I rushed around my bungalow to find the swimsuit cover-up I planned to wear for the day.
“And yet, this is the fiftieth time I’m hearing this man’s name in what? Three days.”
Stopping in the middle of my living room, I frowned. “I haven’t mentioned him that much.” I bit my bottom lip and thought back to the conversations I’d had with my sister since I arrived in Tulum. Sure, a few times I mentioned Brutus, but not that many.
“Who are you trying to play for Booboo the Fool?” she came back with, sounding just like our mother when one of us tried to pull one over on her while growing up.
“You know—”
“You better not try to tell me how much I sound like mama,” she quickly replied.
I shrugged my shoulder. “Then I won’t say it. That doesn’t make it any less true.” I hummed in satisfaction. “Oh, found it.” I snapped up my bright, colorful coverall and thrust one arm in and then the other.
I ran up the stairs to the bedroom to check myself in the full-length mirror. I wore an electric blue, fishnet cami top and high-waist bikini bottom. The bathing suit hugged every curve to perfection and showed off my not flat tummy at the right angles.
“What do you think of this?” I asked Sharise.
“What?”
“I’m sending it now.” I snapped a picture of myself in the mirror, modeling the bathing suit and cover-up.
“This bathing suit is new. Yess, come through legs, hips, and body-ody-ody,” she sing-songed.
I burst out into laughter. “You’re a fool. But really, do you like it?” I twisted and turned in the mirror. Typically, my plus-size didn’t bother me any longer, not the way it did in my teenage years. But a smidge of insecurity rippled up my spine as I peered at my dimpled thighs.
“Absolutely,” my sister answered. “That cover-up is fire. It’s beautiful against your milk chocolate ass.” She always gave the best compliments.
“Thanks, sis. Carlene helped me pick it out last month.”
“Ah, she has such great taste. I think I need to recruit her to help spice up my wardrobe.”
“You know she’d help you,” I said. Though Carlene was my best friend, she and Sharise were friendly enough. And while Sharise was a full-time accountant, she had a side-hustle as a fashion consultant, just because she loved it so much.
“All right, I’ve gotta go. Love you.”
I hung up with Sharise just in time. A knock on the door sounded, and I peered at my watch to see that it was 8:29. A smile tipped my lips. I loved a punctual man.
Just a fling. My subconscious chose that moment to remind me of what this was yet again. Brutus was on vacation, and I was on a sabbatical. We were two ships passing in the night.
This thing has an expiration date on it, I told myself as I stood in front of the door and inhaled deeply before pulling it open. And all those reminders went straight out the window when his hazel, brooding eyes landed on me.
My breath stuck in my throat as he let his gaze linger on my body, perusing it up and down.
Smoldering.
That can be the only word to accurately describe the gleam in his eyes. They visibly darkened. Any insecurity that might’ve crept into my mind earlier was thoroughly stomped out when his eyes remained trained on my thighs.
Suddenly, a curse violently ripped from his throat, followed by, “Christ.” He appeared angry, his gaze turning stormy.
“What?” I asked, alarmed. “What’s wrong?”
