“Oops, sorry,” Mia said. “This is my…friend, Ross. Ross, this is my cousin, Liz.”
He shook her hand and said a quick hello before the two women were buzzing in conversation again as if trying to pack in as much information as possible in a minute.
“You should have told me you were coming to the city. We could have met for coffee or something. We need to catch up. I have so much to tell you about the family and, of course, they’ll want to know all about what’s going on in your life.”
“It was a last-minute idea,” Mia replied, “I’m dying to hear how you’ve been.”
“Well, what are you doing right now? I just got out of a meeting with a client from hell and was going to take a caffeine escape.”
“Oh, well, I can’t right now. We have—”
“Mia, why don’t you go for coffee,” Ross said.
The women stopped, both pairs of eyes turning to him.
“It’s fine,” he replied. “You can catch up with your cousin. I’ll take care of business and then meet you at the coffee shop when I’m done. It shouldn’t take me very long, and what I’m doing is not very interesting anyway.”
Mia studied his face.
“Come on, cuz. I’m dying to catch up. Let’s do it,” Lizzy said.
She appeared to be giving it more consideration as her eyes locked with his. “Are you sure?”
He rubbed a hand across the length of her arm. “Yeah, I’m sure. It’ll probably take me an hour, tops, then I’ll come get you, and we can go to your store.”
“Okay,” Mia agreed after a moment. “We’ll be in the coffee shop across the street, but I did want to see what treasure chests full of jewels look like. It does sound interesting.”
“You can come with me next time,” Ross assured her.
He wasn’t happy about the situation, but when Mia smiled and gave him a hug, it removed some of the sting. “Thank you,” she whispered in his ear.
“Okay,” he said. “Go on. The faster I walk over there, the faster I’ll be done.”
He spent a moment watching Mia and Lizzy lost in conversation with each other, making sure they crossed the street without incident. He wasn’t sure either one was paying attention to their immediate surroundings.
Ross sighed before continuing on his path alone. God, he wanted more from her. He wanted everything.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
“So, are wegoing to talk about the tall, dark, and handsome elephant in the room?” Lizzy asked.
Mia shook her head before taking a sip from her caramel mocha. “I was wondering how long you were going to hold out for.” She eyed the clock on the wall. “It only took ten minutes. I applaud you for your restraint.”
“Thank you. That’s practically forever in my world.” Lizzy grinned.
“Like I said earlier, he’s my friend, Ross.”
Her cousin snorted. “Yeah, okay. We may not be roomies anymore, but I can still detect your bullshit and right now you reek of it.”
“It’s complicated.”
“That I believe, because Mia Russo always has to make everything complicated, even when it doesn’t need to be.”
“I’m beginning to remember why I hated living with you.”
Lizzy laughed. “Because I’m always right?”
Her older, street-smart cousin lived for being right and she usually was. Mia also used to believe the same thing about herself, but lately history revealed that Mia didn’t know as much as she thought she did.
