The door to her room was open and Dom was lying back on her bed, laughing to himself.
“Dominic.”
He jumped and shot upright. “Hey, Luc.”
“Where’s Mia?”
Dom nodded towards the bathroom door as he answered, “She’s trying on some clothes.”
“Did everything go smoothly today?” I asked him. “Did she get everything she needed?”
“Within reason,” he answered. I narrowed my eyes and he continued, “She didn’t take your card.”
I frowned at that admission. Why wouldn’t she take it when I gave it to her? I’d given her the freedom to be able to pick up anything she wanted with no restraints. I had no idea what she would need so it seemed unfair to give her limitations.
“Other than that, perfectly fine. She found everything she wanted and a few extras.”
“Thanks for keeping an eye on her.”
“Part of the job, boss.”
“I’d like to see Mia alone,” I told him, rubbing the back of my neck. “Just to check that she’s okay.”
Dom got up from the bed and gave me a curt nod. “Absolutely fine by me.”
He left, closing the door, and I sat down on the edge of the bed, waiting for Mia. I dropped my head into my hands and tried to straighten out my thoughts.Why am I here? Dom said she’s fine. I should leave her to her evening but there’s a desire to see her, hear her… touch her.
No.
I should not mix business with pleasure. Not where Mia was concerned.
I’d watched her closely over the past two weeks. The way she wanted to help Lydia, the way she laughed with Dom and the way she devoured novel after novel. Mia was not a woman that belonged in my world in any form, other than what she had been brought here for. To imagine her in my bed was all well and good, but that steely spirit would be broken with ease in my line of work. Her fierce attitude had been forged through the typical hardships that an average person would face, not through a life where you constantly strived to stay ahead of the curve because falling behind could mean death.
“Dom, I’m not being funny but when the hell am I ever going to wear…?”
Mia stumbled out of the bathroom dressed in a tight leather dress that showed more skin than I’d seen her opt to display herself. I felt the blood run south and my logic clouded over as my eyes stayed fixated on the woman before me. She’d taken a barefooted few steps in my direction before looking up and realizing that I was not Dominic.
“Oh my God,” Mia said, eyes wide and she turned away quickly, but I refused to let her go so easily. I pushed myself up from the bed and grabbed her around the waist so that she faced me again. Any sense I had to keep my distance from her had ceased to exist.
“Lucas, this is not… I wouldn’t… Dom,” she floundered while her face flushed red.
I don’t think I’d ever been so grateful to have Dominic in my employment.
“I like it,” I told her, my voice low and husky from the effect she’d had on me. Mia’s body had mesmerized me, the way her figure dipped and curved and the hint of black ink that peaked from her cleavage.
Pulling her flush against my body, I felt no resistance from her. Without shoes, I appreciated just how petite she was next to my frame, her head coming to just beneath my chin. I took her hand in mine and lifted it to my mouth, kissing the bruised skin on her wrist in a silent promise that I wouldn’t do anything she was uncomfortable with. Any sign of resistance, any reluctance from Mia, and I would leave. I may have been a man with red on my ledger but there were lines that I would never cross. She didn’t pull away.
Leaning down, I kissed her neck before whispering, “You have no idea what I want to do to you right now.”
A verbal cue that the control I had forced myself to maintain around her was quickly slipping. She shivered against me as I brought my lips back to her neck, trailing kisses down the column of her throat and across her bare shoulder. Her skin was still warm from the heat of the summer sun and I wanted to drink her in.
“Why don’t you show me?” she whispered back, the faint tremor betraying the confidence of her words.
I needed no more encouragement from Mia to move my lips from her shoulder to her mouth, finally allowing myself to taste her. My tongue pushed its way past her lips, fueled by lust and desire. The hunger to have her, all of her, and finally quiet the late-night thoughts had her pinned against the wall in moments.
“Mia.” It came out as a growl as I returned the kisses to her neck. My hands slipped from her waist to her hips and I turned her around to face the wall.
“What are you doing?” she asked me over her shoulder. Her lips were swollen, and eyes hooded from the exchange. Mia was a woman who liked some level of control, I’d seen that from our conversations, but that would not be the case here.
