Chapter Four
“I can’t believe you knew him, and you didn’t tell me!” Mia was furious. After sharing the hottest kiss of her life with Adam, Nana walked into the kitchen, and Mia watched her date all but swallow his tongue. He’d gone into shock, and it wasn’t from the kiss. “You didn’t say anything about teaching him! How could you?”
“I didn’t think it mattered. It was almost twenty years ago.”
“Didn’t matter? Oh, my God!”
“Mia, calm down.” Nana turned on the music and Bobby Sherman started belting out “Easy Come, Easy Go.”
How ironic.
Sinking into the kitchen chair, Mia couldn’t shake the picture of Adam practically running out of the house. He’d engaged in a little small talk with Nana and then bolted. What a disaster.
Mia let her head drop to the table.
Her grandmother’s hand left a light touch between her shoulder blades and Mia couldn’t help but wonder why she couldn’t have a normal life.
“What’s wrong?” Nana asked.
“He looked, I don’t know, spooked.” Mia rubbed her hand under her hair and across the back of her neck. She was warm. He did that to her.
“I don’t know. He might have seemed surprised, but I don’t think he was that spooked.” Nana was trying to make light of the whole situation, but Mia was still trying to make sense of what had happened. “I guess you had a nice time?”
Mia closed her eyes and nodded. The best time ever, she wanted to say.
“And I got the sense,” Nana began, “That Ben and I interrupted a private, um, conversation.”
“You could say that.” It was only the understatement of the century. God, how had she let things get so out of control? And Ben! Thank God the only thing on his mind was riding his new bike.
Mia ached. She couldn’t get over the way her body lit up when he touched her. The response had been automatic and intense. And then it was over, and even though Mia barely knew Adam, there was an ache, a void when he stepped away. What did it all mean?
A light breeze wafted in the back door, and Mia rose and walked toward the coolness, hoping it would steady her. She may not have been the most experienced person when it came to matters of the heart, but the way she felt was more than simple lust. Without a doubt, Adam was a gorgeous specimen. But there was more.
“Sweetie? Did something happen?” Nana walked over, stood next to her and laid a hand on her back, making small circles.
It was a kiss, she thought. Just a kiss. But as she let herself relive it, her body—her heart—reached out for Adam, and never had anything been more confusing. Mia could only shake her head, hoping against hope that her grandmother wouldn’t ask any more questions.
She didn’t, but her hand stayed on Mia’s back, circling, always trying to soothe. “When I met Grandpa, I had no idea my reaction to him would be so visceral.”
Mia turned, amazed that her grandmother always knew what to say.
“I was so young, barely twenty, and I had no experience with boys. When I met him, well…”
Nana was lost in her own memory, bringing her fingers to her lips, remembering her own kiss. “The first time he touched me, it was so innocent, but still…” She paused. “After that, I was lost to him.”
“Oh, Nana…”
“I’m sorry I didn’t say anything about knowing Adam. I should have.”
“It’s okay.”
“For what it’s worth, he drove me crazy, but I always loved that kid. He was a good boy, challenging, but good. Probably one of my favorite students. I think he’s a good man.”
Mia nodded. “You don’t think he’s going to be all weirded out because we’re related?”
“Maybe at first, but in the long run, I don’t think so,” Nana said.
“I mean you know him, and he knows you and…”
Nana laughed. It was an honest to goodness belly laugh, and Mia wondered what was so funny.
“You’re right about that,” Nana chuckled. “But that’s true of a lot of people in town. You can’t avoid it here.”
“I guess.”
“Oh, Mia, you’ll get used to it. You were brought up with a certain level of separation. Compass Cove has none. I taught for over thirty years. Thousands of kids passed through my classes, and you’ll be hard pressed to find someone here in town who isn’t connected to me somehow. It’s one of the things your mom hated.”
Mia nodded. “He looked pretty freaked out. I don’t know.”
“He’ll be back.” Nana was trying to contain her chuckle. “Adam Miller is many things, but he’s not stupid.” She was the second person who’d said that about him.
As they continued to stand quietly by the back door, Mia recalled the kiss, thinking about how Adam had touched her. It was gentle, intimate… like he knew her. When she looked in his eyes, she could tell he felt as off balance as she did, but he didn’t stop kissing her until there was no other choice.
“He was nice?” Nana was back to questions.
She nodded. “Very.”
“Ben seems to like him.”
Mia smiled. “He’s so great with Ben. I mean, he has a pretty bad reputation. I thought he’d be… I thought he’d be different.”
“Not what you expected?”
Mia shook her head. “He broke the arrogant jock stereotype I’d been warned against all to pieces.” She drew a breath and shrugged.
Nana examined her face, looked at her close, like she was searching for information. Then her eyes widened. “You really like him.”
Crap, crap, crap. She really had to practice that poker face. “I liked spending time with him. We got along very well, but I can’t imagine I’ll be able to hold his interest.”
Nana stood, and started to gather fixings for salad. It was another quiet moment and Mia wondered if she could use the break in conversation to make a getaway.
“You know,” Nana turned to Mia, her normally bright eyes now full of concern. “You always sell yourself short. I did the same thing.” She started to peel leaves off the head of lettuce. “Part of the reason I wouldn’t go out with Grandpa at first is that I thought it was some cruel joke. I mean, why would he want me?”
“Grandpa adored you, Nana.”
“I know,” she said. “But it wasn’t always easy to believe that.” Her grandmother put the lettuce in the bowl and closed the gap between them. “You don’t know who’s going to be your love story, Mia. It may be Adam, it may not. But don’t be so afraid that you close the door before you have a chance to find out.”
*
The burger was done perfectly, and Adam chased the bite he’d just taken with a taste of his favorite local beer. It was his second meal of the day at Dock’s End, but this time he was by himself. The breeze off the harbor forced him to throw on a jacket, but the weather was just about as perfect as his burger. The waves slapped at the pylons holding up the waterfront deck and the gulls made their familiar squawking sound overhead. The evening couldn’t have been scripted better. Okay, so he didn’t like that he was alone. That pretty much sucked.
He should have just picked up a pizza and gone home. Sitting near the bar, staring at the table where he’d had lunch with Mia and Ben a few hours earlier wasn’t helping him erase the memory of that kiss.
And it certainly wasn’t helping him forget his former history teacher walking into the kitchen. It was the last thing he expected, and it completely kicked his ass.
Then Mia came into his head. That sweet, gorgeous girl fried his brain cells every time he saw her, and he had no explanation for his reaction.
“You are so full of shit, Miller,” he grumbled to himself. The explanation was simple. He liked her. She was funny, smart, and down to earth. Not uptight or cold like he originally thought. Sure, she was reserved, but she was honest and she had no expectations. Because of that, Adam found he could relax around her. Couple that with some good old-fashioned chemistry, and she became a girl he could dream about.
He took another pull on his beer and thought about how she felt in his arms, fitting against him perfectly. Adam always wanted his relationships simple, and the reaction he had to Mia was way more complicated than anything he’d experienced before. Damn chemistry.
He flipped open the scouting report for the following week’s game and tried to concentrate on something that didn’t have to do with Mia, but he couldn’t get her out of his head. He couldn’t get the feel of her out of his head.
“What are you doing here?”
Adam looked up to see one of his assistant coaches, Drew Griffin, approaching him with a beer and a basket of ribs. Drew was a hometown boy who’d stuck around, landing a job teaching English at Compass Cove High and coaching at Jennings. He was probably one of the smartest guys Adam knew. Drew and Mia were around the same age. They’d probably hit it off.
Which would suck, because then Adam would have to kill one of his best assistants.
Drew raised his beer in salute as he sat down at the table. “How was your bike expedition?”
“Successful. Got the kid a kickass bike.”
“How was the librarian?” Drew took a pull on the bottle. “As expected?”
“She’s all right. Nice enough.” And she tastes like heaven.
“Yeah? I got a look at her the other day. Damn.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?” Adam heard his voice drop a whole octave, coming out in a growl. He freaking growled. Like a wolf protecting his territory. Shit.
Drew froze with a rib just touching his lips. “She’s good lookin’. That’s all.”
“Yeah. Right. She is.” That ended the conversation for a few minutes. Drew ate his ribs, and Adam devoured his burger.
“So, I guess you had a good time?” his assistant asked.
Adam took a drink from his own beer and nodded. “Yeah.”
Dropping a rib in the basket, Drew leaned back in his chair. “Yeah? You practically rip my head off for saying she’s hot, and all you can say is ‘Yeah’?”
“What? Do you want me to share my feelings or something?”
“No, but what’s up with you? Women don’t usually have an effect on you. At all.”
“Who said this one did?”
“Uh, the whole alpha dog thing you just did.”
Adam took a breath and looked at Drew. He never talked about this stuff, but then again he’d never reacted to a woman like this before. “I like her. She’s gorgeous, that’s a given, but that’s only part of it. She’s smart as hell, sweet…”
“She’s got a kid.”
Adam focused on his hands folded in front of him. This part was the real kicker. “That doesn’t bother me. It should, but it doesn’t. She’s totally got her shit together.”
“Wow. So, are you going to see her again?”
“I don’t know.”
Drew raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
“We were, ah, having a moment back at her house and her grandmother walked in on us. I mean nothing was going on at the time, but it was awkward.”
“Nothing was going on?”
“No,” Adam folded his arms across his chest and leaned back in his chair.
“Then why is it a problem? I mean, Mia’s an adult and… oh, wait a minute…” Adam could see Drew putting the pieces together. “Where did you say she lived?”
“North Harbor. Near the beach.”
Drew started to chuckle. “I know where this is going.”
Adam finished his thought. “Grandma is Mrs. Lang.”
“Damn.” Drew’s mouth dropped open and the chuckled turned into a full-blown belly laugh. “I can’t believe Mia’s her granddaughter.”
Adam nodded.
“Holy shit.” Drew was enjoying Adam’s predicament way too much. “It’s sobering when you find out teachers have actual lives, isn’t it?”
“Yeah, but she freakin’ hated me. Constantly on my case. I almost failed one semester.”
“Mrs. Lang was always pretty fair. Did you almost fail because she hated you, or because you screwed up?”
Adam looked out at the harbor. Of course he’d screwed up. He didn’t stop screwing up until he almost killed himself in that car accident. Adam had always thought he was untouchable, but Janet Lang didn’t buy it, or take his crap. Other than his family, she was one of the few people in his life who wasn’t afraid to call him on his bullshit. He wished he’d listened to her more.
“Mia looked like she wanted to crawl in a hole,” Adam said. “I’m sure she’s gotten a full report on me from Grandma by now.”
Drew laughed again. “I wish I could have seen your face.”
“It’s not funny.” Adam ran his hands through his hair. “Mrs. Lang wanted to talk, and ‘catch up’. I kept thinking, what am I supposed to say? ‘Hey, nice to see you. I was just groping your granddaughter.’”
“Groped? Tell me you got your hands on the librarian’s ass. That booty is a freaking miracle.”
Adam had no intention of telling Drew anything about Mia’s ass, because he’d already said too much. Only now, with that comment, he had to control the urge to throw Drew right off the deck.
“Sorry,” Drew offered nervously.
Without responding to the apology, Adam dropped some money on the table and stood. “I got the check.”
Drew nodded his thanks and took a last drink from his beer before standing himself. “Look, if you like her, see her again. What do you have to lose?”
Adam thought about what Drew said as he left the table, and for the first time in his life, he knew there was a lot to lose. Mia was the kind of person who could wreak havoc with his emotions and his nice safe existence.
Yup. A lot to lose.
But he also thought about what he might lose if he didn’t at least try to see her again.
Aw, what the hell.
He took out his phone and opened a text to Mia. Had a great time today. See you soon.
He started toward his car, apprehensive about what he’d just done. The phone buzzed in his pocket almost immediately. When he saw the response, Adam breathed a little easier.
Me too. :)