“Mia?”
She looked up, her face tired and blotched after all the crying.
“Do you want to sleep?” She nodded. He simply led her to her room and got in beside her after ensuring her door was locked. If she was surprised, she didn’t show it. He spooned her gently, kissing the top of her head. “My beautiful, brave girl.”
Chapter 9
Sunday mornings were usually lazy for Mia. She tended to sleep in, asking Tom to take over. She’d also employed another girl to wait for tables and help over the weekends. That gave her some much-needed rest on Sunday mornings. She slowly opened her eyes to the muted light that filtered through the peach-colored curtains. The first thing that she saw was the wall next to her balcony door. Strange! She always got up looking at the ceiling. What was all the unusual heat? Mia’s heart stopped and restarted when she realized she was spooned against Armaan. And then all that happened the previous day rushed in.
Mia turned around to see him waking up. “Hello, sleepyhead! He gave a smile, his eyes refusing to open. She tensed for a minute, unused to waking up with a man. Eventually, seeing him struggle with sleep, she giggled. His eyes simply refused to open. Soon, her giggles turned to open laughter when he grumbled.
“Don’t wake me up. My biological clock says it’s still midnight.” When she started shaking with laughter, he simply pulled her to himself, making her face smack against his chest.
Mia’s words were muffled against his t-shirt. “I need to pee. Urghhh, let me up, you ass!”
Sighing, he finally relented and rolled over, his hands going behind his head. He saw her sprint to the bathroom, a chuckle escaping his lips. He also got out of the bed and freshened up in the guest room before moving to the kitchen. Noticing Mia still in her room, he started the coffee. He might not know to cook, but he knew how to make coffee.
A subdued Mia came out of her room, fresh after a shower. Sensing the inner conflicts in her, Armaan turned around with the coffee, his tone deliberately light. “Morning! Here, try this.”
She took the mug without a word, mindlessly staring into the liquid for a few seconds. Taking a deep breath, she looked at him to find him looking at her. “What are we doing? What do you want?”From me, was her unspoken question.
He placed his mug on the island and leaned towards her. “I don’t know what “this” is or where this is going, but I want to be there for you. Will you let me?” The time to beat around the bush was long gone.
“I...I don’t know. What if I can never let anyone close to me? What then?” She looked away, conscious of her list of never-ending issues.
“We will see what we can do then.” He tipped her chin and looked into her blue-green eyes. “We will go at your pace. I won’t do anything that you’re not comfortable with, and anytime you want to stop you just say so. No matter what, I’ll stop. Do you trust me enough to try?”
Do I trust him enough to try?She asked herself the same question. She wanted to explore, oh, she really wanted to. But what if he lost patience and gave up? Where would that leave her?
“I can see the wheels in your mind turning. Well, it’s really up to you, Sugar. If you don’t want to cross lines, we’ll just remain friends.” He shrugged, hiding his true feelings behind that casual gesture. He wasn’t sure if he could remain detached, just friends. He was certain he couldn’t see her as a platonic friend after all this. But, to announce that or scare her wasn’t his intention at all. Nevertheless, he heaved a huge sigh of relief mentally when he saw her small nod.
“Okay, hmm, I need to leave. I’ll come over in the evening. Do you want to go out for dinner?”
“Can we just do dinner at my place, please? I have an early start tomorrow, and I don’t want to end up late.”
“Sure. Ciao! I’ll get us something, don’t cook.” He kissed her cheek.
She smiled tentatively when she felt him quickly get away. “You sure you don’t wanna have breakfast?”
“Nah, I’m good. Don’t bother.” He picked up his keys and gently closed the door behind him.
∞∞∞
The next six weeks were equal parts exhilarating and frustrating for Mia. She longed for Armaan, his company, his little touches, his affection. Initially, she’d been completely thrown off to see the entirely unexpected side of the womanizing billionaire. All those years back, he’d been a good friend and a great conversationalist. But he’d also been a little distant, sometimes indifferent - especially when he’d been with his women. Instinctively, she knew this side of his was something he rarely showed to people, if ever. She was grateful she could experience it.
After he’d left her place that Sunday, he’d come back for dinner with takeout. Charming and attentive, he’d taken her breath away. That was nearly a month ago. She was still trying to catch her breath.
Mia was in her restaurant’s kitchen, preparing a batch of chocolate chip cookies. Her mind went back and forth, to their shared dinners, morning calls, or the video chats when he was out of town for business. He’d managed to pull out more of her past whenever they’d met in-person, at her place. Strangely, after that fiasco, he’d never offered to take her to his place. Nor had she expressed any interest to visit. She remembered a conversation just two weeks back, on her couch.
“Your hands have the power to make the best meals a man could ever want.”
“What?” She had laughed at his statement.
“It’s true. Whenever you’re tempted to think about the past and that bastard’s words, don’t. Instead, know that you have the most beautiful heart that cares for others and hands that weave magic when it comes to baking. Baking witchery!” When she looked at him in amusement and tenderness, he’d continued. “Whenever you used to wear those dresses and your cute little sweaters or whatever it’s called, it used to drive me crazy. You look super-hot in your prim, touch-me-not dresses.”
Mia’s eyes widened.Wow! So, his sexual ramble the other day hadn’t been just some heat of the moment thing.
He cleared his throat. “Okay, that was...I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable. But...”
