She sat in the seat Melissa had. “Do you think you’ll ever be friends again?”
My heart hurt. I wouldn’t be able to trust her for a long time, and honestly, I didn’t know if she’d be able to trust me. We’d both fucked up big time. And I didn’t want to be hurt again. I shrugged and glanced at Michael, who was talking to James now.
For his sake, I’d try my hardest to be friends with her eventually, but I couldn’t promise that anything would come of it. Our friendship hadn’t ever been broken this badly before.
CHAPTER40
MIA
It had been two long and tortuous weeks since Mom’s surgery. Since my chat with Melissa, I had barely seen her. She seemed to be ignoring me, as she had come over to see Michael once in the morning, when I was at the hospital, but that was it. As far as I knew, she was living it up with Mason in his luxury apartment, acting like things were perfect, acting like the perfect girlfriend, like I had at one point.
But I would continue to ask Michael about her every now and then. I didn’t want her to end up like I had. When I saw the signs, I’d make sure she knew them, too, no matter how much she didn’t want me to butt into heramazingrelationship. I would because I cared about her even though I shouldn’t.
I sat across from Michael at a restaurant, feeling like a fraud. I hadn’t been out to dinner in weeks, and sitting here in a pretty black dress with my makeup done and my hair curled made me feel … weird, to say the least. Michael liked it—that much I could tell.
He sat across from me in a black suit, his hair wet and parted to the side, gray eyes on me. Just by the way he looked at me and only me, the way he gave me his full attention, instead of ogling some other girls, it made me feel good on the inside. It was a feeling I hoped never went away.
“Hi, I’m Alicia, and I’ll be taking care of you tonight,” a young woman said, smiling between us.
She went over some specials—half of what she said I couldn’t even pronounce, but I didn’t mind.
I gave her my order and sipped on my white wine. There was so much I wanted to talk about tonight, but I didn’t even know where to start. I decided to keep my mouth shut though. Tonight was supposed to be a happy, feel-good kind of night, and I didn’t want to ruin it with my problems.
Michael would say that it wasn’t ruining it, but for me, it would. This night was about us.
So, we had dinner and dessert, finished an entire bottle of wine, and talked all night long. About anything and everything, and I learned things that I hadn’t even known about him before. It was cliché, but it was so real and so raw for once.
I scraped some frosting off my plate with my fork and stuffed it into my mouth. Michael talked about his work, smiling at me with so much pride that it made my heart warm. A candle flickered between us, illuminating his perfect face.
Before I could stop myself, I leaned over the table and placed a kiss right on his mouth. This man … God, I loved this man with all my heart, and this feeling wasn’t going away. He had been there for me since Mom had had her second aneurysm, had stayed with me night after night, had given me a place to stay and security without making me feel bad about it. He was everything I could ever ask for in a man and so much more.
He kissed me back, his fingers brushing against mine on the table.
When I pulled away, I gathered all the courage I had inside of me. “I love you, Michael.”
Michael sat, wide-eyed, across from me, a million emotions crossing his face. My heart skipped a beat, and I wanted to take it all back. It was probably too much.
“Sorry if it’s too soon,” I said, rubbing my palms on my dress. “I know how I feel and—”
Before I could speak another word, he cupped my face and pressed his lips back to mine in a heated, open-mouthed kiss. “Oh, Mia,” he said against me. “I love you so much more. I’ve been waiting for you to say it. I didn’t know if it was the right time.”
Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and I smiled so widely.
Michael loved me too.
He pulled out his wallet, grabbed a few bills, and threw them onto the table. Then, he took my hand and pulled me to the back of the restaurant.
“God, I can’t wait to have you.” Without even checking, he pushed open the restroom door, his lips all over my neck from behind. His hands were roaming my body, touching every part of me that he could.
He kicked the door closed with his foot and locked it. My heart was pounding against my chest at the thought of being caught, but I didn’t want to stop now. I wanted him here.
The restroom was cleaner than any other public restroom I had been in with granite countertops, porcelain sinks, and a large mirror with dimmed accent lights. He pushed me against the counter and plunged his fingers under my dress and into my panties. I stared into the mirror, watching his dark eyes devour every inch of my body. In and out and in and out, his fingers moved so fucking fast that I had to clutch on to the sink for support.
His palm hit against my clit, and I closed my eyes, letting the heat build. I moved my hips ever so slowly against his fingers, riding them. He sucked on the skin just below my ear and groaned against me.
“You’re so wet, baby.” He slammed his fingers up into me, thumb rubbing against my clit.
I moved my hips back and forth, the tension rising in my core. The friction against my clit was driving me crazy. I needed this man, and I needed him now.
