But as hot and raw as his words had been, they hadn’t compared to the look on his face. Never in Mia’s life had a man looked at her like it was taking every ounce of willpower he possessed not to grab her and rip off all her clothes.
She wasn’t really the clothes-ripping type. Or, at least, she never had been before Romeo.
“So what’s the next step for you two?”
She was relieved when Cami interrupted her thoughts. Much more time remembering the look on Romeo’s face and she might melt into a puddle. And then who would finish their palm frond tarp?
Certainly not Cami.
“What do you mean?” she asked, determinedly going back to work.
“I mean, it’s obvious there’s going to be some wild monkey sex happening. But after? Are you thinking an engagement ring followed by a beach wedding?” Cami snapped her fingers. “I know thisgreatwedding planner in Miami who specializes in beach ceremonies. I’ll give you his number when we get back to civilization and—”
“No.” Mia shook her head. “It’s not like that.”
Cami’s wide grin turned into a frown. “What’s it like then?”
That was the million-dollar question, wasn’t it?
Mia had spent so long assuming there was no chance of having anything more than a friendship with Romeo that she’d never stopped to think what having more than friendship with him might look like.
Would it be a one-night stand? Would they become lovers for...however long she continued to work with Deep Six Salvage? Would it be something in-between? A few rolls in the sand until they’d scratched their itch?
Although, she couldn’t imagineanyamount of scratching that would soothe the itch Romeo had built inside her. He was sexual poison ivy. Sexual chicken pox. Sexual folliculitis?
She wrinkled her nose, realizing she’d driven that particular analogy about as far it should go.
Right. So the question had beenwhat is it like then?And her answer was, “I don’t know. I just know there won’t be any engagement rings or beach weddings.”
Cami nodded. “You’re a modern woman. No engagement ring because the entire diamond industry is a scam. DeBeers is a monopoly. They hold, like, what? Eighty-five percent of all the rough diamonds in the world, but they only let a few of the little suckers trickle out at a time to create the illusion of scarcity and rarity so that they can keep the prices abnormally high?”
Mia stared. She decided then and there if Cami hadn’t become a lawyer, she’d have made an excellent radio talk show host. The woman never seemed to run out of words.
“But you could still do an engagement ring,” Cami added firmly. “Just do a nontraditional one. Like a sapphire. You said blue is your favorite color, right? Or...what’s your birthstone?”
“Topaz, but—”
“Topaz?” Cami cut her off. “That’s perfect. The exact color of your eyes!”
Lioness eyes...Again, Romeo’s words echoed through Mia’s head.
“Now, if you’re not into beach weddings,” Cami continued, “I’m sure Enrique could—”
“Let me rephrase.” Mia was once again forced to interrupt the flow of words streaming from Cami’s mouth like Lake Michigan streamed into the Chicago River when the lock was opened. “There won’t be an engagement ring or a beach wedding because there won’t be an engagement or a wedding. Ever. Period. End of sentence.”
For a full five seconds, Cami stared at her. Finally, she ventured, “For...who? You or him?”
“Neither one of us is interested in taking any sort of plunge that doesn’t end with us finding sunken treasure.” Mia grinned at her own wit.
“Oh-kay.” Cami nodded even though she looked a little bewildered. “You’re both lone wolves, content to hunt the hills alone. I get it. I mean, IwishI got it. If I got it, life would probably be a lot less complicated.”
The lawyer made a dramatic gesture. “Alas, behind this ball-busting lady lawyer facade beats the heart of an old-fashioned romantic. I want the ring and the wedding and the house and the kids. I want holidays and family.”
Her eyes took on a faraway look when she continued. “Then, you know, that peaceful fade into retirement, matching front porch rockers, grandkids running through the sprinkler system on hot summer days. The more storybook and clichéd, the better.” She laughed. “Hard to fathom, right? A career-minded broad like me wanting to get all domestic?”
“No.” Mia shook her head. “I think lots of people, most maybe, fantasize about the sort of life you’re describing. Getting to have it all, the career, the family, the accomplishments both professional and personal.”
Cami shrugged. “But it requires finding the right man, and so far he’s proved elusive.”
