I laughed a little at the memory. “He told me I was better than Dwayne, that I should go on the trip anyway, even if I had to go alone. Then he barged into my room and packed a bag for me—that’s why I’ve been wearing so much Suns’ apparel on this vacation and only had one completely inappropriate summer dress. Dad drove me to the airport himself. That’s how I ended up coming to Paris alone. And that’s why I’m here with you now.”
Mick breathed in deeply after I finished my story.
“That’s the kind of dad I want to be,” he said, his voice husky with emotion. “Not just better—the complete opposite than mine.”
“You want kids?” I knew this was just a fling. But the thought of him starting a family with someone else made my heart clamp. Painfully.
“Sure I do,” he answered. “But it would have to be with the right person. Someone who wanted them sincerely. Not just to trap me or what have ya.”
“Do a lot of women try to…” I started to ask, only to trail off because the answer to my question was obvious.
I’d only known Mick a few days, and the thought of having a child with him made my womb ache. What would it be like to actually date him properly? I could imagine plenty of women resorting to not-so-ethical measures to keep him.
“And your mum?” he asked into my pensive silence. “Tell me ’bout her.”
“Oh, she’s a great mom,” I answered, returning to the subject of my parents with a smile. “We’re actually really close these days, but when I was a teenager, we got into a lot of arguments. Now that I’m older, I think that was maybe because?—”
“You were too much alike,” Mick guessed before I could finish. “She’s soft-spoken, loves to read, doesn’t like a lot of drama, thinks your dad’s a softie, even though everybody else is like, ‘Oi, look at that grump!’”
I laughed. “Yeah, exactly. How did you know?”
Mick didn’t answer, just pushed our intertwined hands above my head as he rolled on top of me.
His lips found mine, and soon he was pushing into me, his strokes rolling and unhurried. Like he had no destination in mind for us other than making our joining last as long as physically possible.
It was heaven.
But the next day, I woke up alone.
My heart stopped, and I jerked into a seated position in bed, looking all around. Until I remembered what Antoni had said about Mick having to go to a team practice early in the morning.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I picked up the phone I’d remembered to leave charging by the nightstand on my side of the bed—only to have my heart stop again.
There was a message from Mick with an address for where to meet him later that afternoon.
But there was also another message from an unknown number.
Baby, this is Dwayne. Did u block my real number??? The Suns FIRED ME!!! And now I hear you already hooking up with some new guy???? I’m texting you from my mama’s phone in Missouri because I need you more than ever. Call me! Call me right now! You at least owe me that.
CHAPTER17
Kayla
What the heck??? Dwayne got cut from the team???
And you told him about my fling with the Brit???
I furiously typedout a text message to Suzie from the back seat of a French taxi headed toward the Golden Triangle. François had magically had the ride waiting for me at the garage entrance as soon as I arrived in the lobby—I so seriously needed to write the Tourmaline a 5-star review with special mention of the French butler’s attentiveness and almost ESP-level intuition.
But I’d barely finished tossing François severalmerci beaucoupbefore I whipped out my phone to send Suzie my “what the heck” message.
We’d been texting back and forth the entire time I’d been in Paris, and she was the only person I’d told about my impulsive vacation fling.
She’d even taken it upon herself to try to find a Mick or Michael Atwater on social media.
Her last message to me had been a completely serious request to pretty please sneak a peek at Mick’s passport or credit card.
There are like hundreds of Michael Atwaters in the UK! Even a middle initial would be helpful to make sure he doesn’t have a string of dead exes he “met on vacation.”
