Chapter Fifteen

Brad

My eyes popped open, and I realized I was not in my own bed. I blinked a couple times, staring at the unfamiliar ceiling. I was in Mia’s bed, which meant it was her left leg thrown across my thighs and her arm over my chest. My arm was under her lithe body. It was tingling a little due to lack of circulation, but I didn’t want to move. I wanted her to stay just as she was. I could feel her hot breath brushing over my chest as she slowly inhaled and exhaled.

My hand moved under her, touching the exposed patch of skin between the waistband of her leggings and her T-shirt. I used my fingertips to draw little circles over the bare spot.

She shrieked and sat up. Her shirt was twisted around her breasts, showing me more skin.

“Brad! What are you doing?”

She picked up a pillow and hit me in the face as I laughed at her minor tantrum.

“What do you mean what am I doing? I’m just lying here,” I said, all innocence.

She jumped off the bed and stood there, staring down at me, both hands on her hips. Her eyes drifted over my chest and further down. She made a strangled sound when she saw the tent my erection was creating under the sheets. She couldn’t be that surprised.

“Sorry. It’s natural.”

She spun around and walked into the bathroom. I laughed and threw off the blankets, needing some serious coffee. I walked into her kitchen, saw all the fancy gadgets, and had no idea where to start.

“Fuck,” I groaned, just wanting some coffee.

Who didn’t have a coffee machine? I pulled open the fridge and found a variety of yogurt, cheese, and a few cans of soda. I hated soda, but at least it was diet. I grabbed one and took a long drink from the can. Clearly, she didn’t eat at home often. I slammed the fridge door and wandered into the living room to the large bank of windows that rose high above the city.

I wanted to get out and see the city. I wanted to stroll through the park and see all the life. I had missed this place. I wondered if she would be interested in playing tourist for the day. She probably didn’t even notice the beauty that surrounded her. To her, it was all boring, everyday stuff. I wanted to see it with fresh eyes and hoped she would share that with me.

“What are you doing?” she asked from behind me.

I turned around, and all thoughts of seeing the city vanished from my mind. Mia was standing there in a pretty light blue sundress. Her hair was piled on top of her head in the sexiest messy bun I’d ever seen on a woman. She looked absolutely fuckable.

The erection from earlier sprang back to life. I wasn’t ashamed of my response to her. I used my hand to adjust myself, my eyes on her the entire time.

Suddenly, I didn’t want to leave the apartment. I wanted to stay inside all day and fuck her over and over. I wanted the woman every way possible. She was nervous, though. I didn’t want her to be nervous, so I took a deep breath and shelved the idea of sex. We needed to rekindle our friendship before I pushed her. I wanted it to be natural.

“Let’s see the city today,” I blurted out before she took off running.

“What? You’ve see the city.”

I walked toward her. “Not like that. Like tourists.”

She laughed. “Brad, we’re not tourists. I mean, I guess you kind of are a tourist since you haven’t been here in forever.”

I nodded. “Exactly. Show me the city.”

“I have to go to work.”

I grinned and shook my head. “No, you don’t. Helga said you had the day off. She wants you to spend it with me.”

“She was joking.”

“No, she wasn’t.”

I stepped toward her, putting the can of pop on the coffee table before putting my hands on her hips. “Please? Let’s just walk around the city. We can go to the park, maybe do a little shopping at those tourist traps. I want one of those cheesy little Statue of Liberty things.”

I looked into her eyes, silently begging.

“Fine, but I have to check in with the office first.”

I smiled. “Perfect. I’ll get dressed.”

I walked away and heard her mumble the word “good” under her breath. That made me chuckle. She wasn’t completely unaffected by my presence.

My bag of clothes was light. I wore shorts most of the time in LA. It wasn’t quite as warm here, but I figured the walking around would keep me warm enough.

“Can I take a quick shower?” I asked, coming down the hall.

She nodded. “Sure. You can use mine. The other one doesn’t have anything in it.”

I could tell it made her a little uncomfortable. “I brought my own stuff. I can use the guest shower.”

Once I was ready, we left her building and stopped at an outdoor café for a quick breakfast. She drank coffee and ate a doughnut while I stuck with a bowl of fresh fruit and green juice.

“Where do you want to go first?” she asked.

I shrugged. “I don’t care. I’m at your mercy.”

A glimpse of the old Mia appeared at that. I knew the very second she shucked her anger and was ready to hang out and have fun with her old friend.

“Well, I’m ready. Are you?”

“Let’s do this. Should I buy a camera—so I blend in better?”

She laughed. “No one carries a camera anymore. It’s all about the phones.”

I nodded. “I knew that.”

“Let’s go.”

We started down the sidewalk, and I took her hand in mine. She didn’t protest and easily accepted the contact. The day was beautiful as we strolled through the open-air markets. I picked up a T-shirt for Jaxon that said “I heart NY” and a few trinkets for Tina and her kids.

Mia and I fell into easy conversation. I told her about Tina and Jaxon and a little about my life in LA.

Her phone rang when we stopped for a bottle of water.

“I have to take this,” she said, taking a step back.

“That’s fine. Do you want anything else?”

She shook her head and walked over to stand in the shade. I grabbed the waters and walked to her. I stood next to her while she talked to someone about her schedule the following week. I couldn’t stop myself from running my finger over exposed collarbone. She looked up at me, not stopping me. Goosebumps jumped out all over her skin. I had to stop myself from lowering my mouth to that dainty area.

When she ended her call, her eyes came up to meet mine. “Thanks,” she mumbled, taking the bottle of water.

“Ready to go to the park?” I asked her, hoping she would say no and demand I take her back home and fuck her.

I didn’t get so lucky. “I am.”

“Everything okay with your work?” I asked.

She nodded. “Yep. Just getting my schedule ironed out for next week.”

We walked through the trees, her hand still in mine with the bags of goodies in my other. “This is really nice.”

She giggled. “Are we seriously so old that we think a stroll through the park is nice?”

I laughed. “I think we must be. I’m not even sad about it. I don’t care what it makes me, except happy. And I’m really happy being here with you.”

“Brad, I don’t—”

I stopped her. I didn’t want her to protest anything. Not yet. She needed to give us a chance before she decided to hate me.

“Let’s just enjoy today. This is fun, right?”

She nodded. “It is.”

“What do you want to do for dinner?” I asked her.

She laughed. “Can we focus on lunch first?”

“Do you want a nice dinner, or do you want to pick up some pho and stay in?”

She shrugged. “Let’s see how the rest of the day goes. You want to go to a museum?”

I grimaced. “I don’t know.”

“Come on. Have you ever been to any of the many museums here in our lovely city?”

I had to think back. “I think when I was in, like, middle school. Like a field trip or something like that.”

“Good! We’re going!”

She grabbed my hand and pulled me off the bench we had just sat down on. “I haven’t been to a museum in forever. I want to go and just be normal. I don’t want to have to look at what people are wearing or anything like that. Let’s just go be Brad and Mia.”

I loved her enthusiasm. “Let’s do it. But, uh, Mia? What museum? Aren’t there, like, a hundred around the city?”

She stopped walking. “I don’t know. We can do the Metropolitan. Or how about the Smithsonian? What tickles your fancy?” she teased.

I shrugged. “Lady’s choice.”

Before I knew what she was doing, she was hailing a cab and we were headed to the Met. The art wasn’t exactly my thing, and there was a lot of it, but I could appreciate the beauty of some of the pieces. It had been a long day, and eventually we were both ready to grab takeout and head back to her place.

“I never knew sightseeing could be so exhausting,” I said, wrapping my arm around her shoulders and pulling her close to me.

She sighed. “No kidding. I’ve lived here my entire life, but I don’t think I have ever seen as much as I have today. My feet hurt. You should have told me we were going to be doing a marathon.”

“I’ll massage them for you when we get back to your house,” I told her in my radio voice.

I felt her body shiver against mine and smiled. The woman was not quite as immune to me as she pretended to be.

“I’ll be fine.”

“I want to,” I insisted.

“Here,” she said, switching the subject. “We can grab something to eat. How about you pick up the food and I’ll grab a bottle of wine. Unless you want something else?”

I shrugged. “Wine works for me.”

She turned to walk away. I took a moment to appreciate the sight, and it was a damn fine sight to see. I brought my attention back to the restaurant I was standing in front of only to see a woman standing off to my left, eyeing me.

I smiled at her, and she said, “She’s pretty.”

“Yes, she is.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not hitting on you.” She held up her hand and wiggled her finger, which sported a large rock. “Happily married. I was just thinking you guys are a great-looking couple.”

“Thank you. She is a beautiful lady. I’m lucky to have her.”

“Yes, you are. Good luck to you both.”

I ordered our food and met Mia outside. “Ready?”

“I am. Do you want to take a cab?” she asked, clearly exhausted.

“If you want. Or I can carry you,” I said with a grin.

She laughed. “No way.”

I shrugged. “Suit yourself. Want to carry me?”

She rolled her eyes and stuck her hand in the air in one smooth move, but it seemed a Friday evening was not the best time to hail a cab.

“Let’s keep walking while you keep trying. Maybe lift that skirt a little to grab their attention.”

“Ha. As if it were that easy.”

We finally got a cab to take us the rest of the way. I felt a little stupid for getting a ride for such a short distance, but I knew Mia was beat. I didn’t want her completely exhausted. I had plans for that beautiful body and wanted her alert—if she let me carry through with them that was.