I expect to hear from Mia. She called me, of all the people in her life, when she was afraid and nervous. Maybe because I was there when Dylan came over, or maybe just because I’m the scariest guy she knows, but I don’t think that’s it. I think she wanted to see me because she wants me.

Except she never calls. Two days pass and I don’t hear a thing from her. There’s no texts, no emails, no Facebook messages, nothing. She doesn’t get in touch with me.

I’m not the type to sit around and fucking worry about what a girl thinks, and so I don’t. But there is a part of me that wonders why she hasn’t called yet.

I can probably make some guesses. Maybe she doesn’t want me to get more involved than I already am, or maybe she’s just busy. I’m not freaking out about it either way, but I do want to see her.

If I want something, I do it. I don’t sit around and obsess and worry about whether it’s the right thing to do or not. When Mia called me, I didn’t for a second wonder if I should drop everything and go see her. She sounded afraid and she needed someone to come and be with her, and so I went. Plus, I wanted to make sure that fucking sick Carter shit didn’t touch her or hurt her in any way. Part of me wanted him to still be there just so I would have an excuse to beat his ass down.

Two days of nothing pass. I spend time with Noah and I keep working with Alice, but after two days, I decide I want to see her.

And so around noon, I take my lunch break, get in my truck, and drive over to the preserve. I don’t bother calling first. If she’s too busy and can’t take time off, that’s no big deal. At least she knows I’m still interested, and if she feels the same, she’ll see me eventually.

Once I get there, I park my truck out front then climb out. I shoulder the basket I brought with me, a little picnic lunch, and head into the office.

“Hello?” I call out. The place looks empty. Actually, come to think of it, the place always looks empty. I can’t say that I’ve seen anyone working here other than Laura and Mia, but that can’t be true. Most people have to have jobs here than just two people.

“Back here!” I recognize the voice, but it’s not Mia. I head around the corner and find my stepmom’s friend Laura sitting at her desk, smiling at me.

“I thought that was you,” she says. “Here on official flower business?”

I shake my head. “No ma’am. Looking for Mia.”

“Ah. Is this a . . . social visit?” She gives me a sly little smile.

I grin at her. She’s just like Alice, damnit. “It is,” I confirm. “Know where I can find her?”

“She’s out changing the nectar in the hummingbird feeders. Follow the path around back for maybe five minutes, can’t miss her.” She pauses and looks at my basket. “Is that lunch?”

“It sure is. She due for a break?”

“Take as much time as you need.” She gives me another wink.

I can’t help but laugh. “Thanks a lot,” I say.

“Have fun!”

I wave then turn and leave. I find the path pretty easily and follow it down along a winding trail, over a few rocks and past a short valley stream. On the other side, I spot Mia using what looks like a watering can to fill small plastic feeders hanging from a bush.

“Mia,” I call out before I get too close. I don’t want to scare her.

She looks over, surprised. “Lucas?”

I wave and grin at her. “How are the hummingbirds today?”

“Hungry,” she says and turns toward me. “What are you doing here?”

I hold up my basket. “Brought you some lunch.”

She pauses and I catch something drift across her face. I’m not sure what it is, but it’s quickly gone. “I don’t know if I have time,” she says.

“I already got permission from Laura.”

She scowls at me. “You talking about me behind my back.”

I grin and shrug. “Guilty as charged. Though more like she’s talking.”

“Sounds about right.” She bites her lip and checks her watch. “I guess I can space a half hour.”

“If you’re busy, we can do this another time.”

“No, no. It’s fine.”

“What a ringing endorsement. You sound excited.”

She relaxes a little bit and smiles at me. “Sorry. It’s just been a stressful few days.”

I take the blanket from the basket and spread it out on the ground. “Tell me about it?” I ask.

She sighs, sitting down. I get out some sandwiches from a nearby deli, some sparkling water, and some nice bread with butter. I cut her off a piece and hand her the butter before unwrapping a sandwich for myself.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I think I’d rather not get into it all.”

“Whatever you want,” I say, shrugging and biting into my food. “I’m just here to feed you.”

“Think I need to be fed?” she asks.

I grin at her. “I’m not falling into that trap.”

She laughs and takes a bite of her bread. She grabs a bottle of water and a sandwich, and we eat for a minute or two in silence.

I’m surprisingly comfortable. I thought I was going out on a limb here, and that things might be weird, but it’s shockingly normal between us. I’m pursuing her, which I actually really enjoy, and I think she likes it too. She probably didn’t call because she wants me to make the first move, and I don’t blame her. I’m a lot older than she is and I have a kid. There’s a lot of baggage here.

But sitting down on this blanket, eating with her, none of that seems to matter. Everything else disappears. The Carters are irrelevant in this moment. I don’t care about anything except the way the sun moves through her thick hair, the way she smiles at me, the way she laughs, and the way she leans toward me when she speaks.

My heart races when I’m around her. It’s fucking insane, to be totally honest. I’ve never felt like this before. It’s excitement, not just pure desire, but also a giddy joy at just being near her.

“I was wondering earlier,” I say, finishing my sandwich. “How many people work here?”

“Not many,” she says. “Me and Laura are full time. We have some part time rangers, really just volunteers, plus some maintenance staff. They mostly work nights and weekends, though.”

“And a lot of people come here?”

“Surprisingly,” she says. “It’s slow during the week, but come here on a weekend, especially a nice one.”

“I will,” I say, and mean it. “I like it out here. I didn’t really know about this place and I lived in this town for a long time.”

“I know, not many people do,” she says. “It’s a real shame.”

“How’d you come to work here?”

She shrugs. “Chance, really. Laura was hiring, I applied, and I guess she liked me.”

“Lucky you.”

“Lucky me,” she agrees.

“What’s your favorite spot in here?”

“That meadow, the one we went to, remember?”

I nod, smiling at her. “It’s a good spot.”

“But my second favorite thing is near here.” She brushes her hands off and stands. “Want to see?”

“Always.” I stand up and grin at her. “Lead the way, park ranger.”

She laughs a little and we head off further down the trail. It skirts along a valley, and it probably gets a lot of water in the rainy season. I can hear running water nearby, probably that stream widening into something a little bit bigger. We’re heading upstream, and the trail veers around a little grouping of bushes and trees.

Ahead, a bunch of enormous rocks and boulders jut out from the earth. Mia grins at me and walks faster. “Come on,” she says.

I keep pace with her. She walks right up to one of the huge rocks and jumps up. I follow her, smiling to myself. I love how confident she is and how free she seems, like it’s no big deal to be crawling around and climbing these enormous boulders.

We get to the top and she points. About ten feet down is the stream, now a bit wider and faster moving. “I love this,” she says.

“It’s pretty great,” I say. I look around and have to admit that the view is fantastic. There are trees all around but I can see how far the trail twists off into them, and the water runs right alongside the valley.

Mia moves slightly but slips. Without thinking, I grab her waist and pull her against me. It probably wasn’t necessary, but it was total instinct.

Our bodies get pressed together and I stumble back, holding onto her, until I run into a tree trunk. I steady the both of us and she looks up at me.

“Saved you again,” I say softly.

“I didn’t need it that time.” She puts her hands on my chest, body pressed against mine, chin tipped up toward me.

“Probably not. But it worked out.”

“Oh yeah?”

I nod once, hands on her hips. “Because now you want me to kiss you.”

She smiles a little bit. “What makes you think that?”

I move one hand slowly up her back and lace my fingers through her hair before pressing my lips against hers. I don’t need to answer her, because she knows as well as I do that she wants this. Our bodies, pressed together, her mouth against mine, it makes my fucking cock hard as hell as excitement and desire roar through my blood.

I love her taste, the softness of her lips, the way she kisses. I didn’t know what to expect, but I didn’t expect this at all. I didn’t think a kiss would drive me this insane, but I tighten my grip on her hair and pull her tighter against me.

We kiss that way, full and deep, for what feels like a long time. It’s maybe a couple minutes at most before she slowly pulls away and I loosen my grip on her hair, but that moment stretched forever in my mind. She looks up at me, chin up, eyes shining and half closed, a big smile on her face.

“That was unexpected,” she says, a little breathless.

“No it wasn’t,” I say. “You knew I was going to kiss you today the second you saw me.”

“Maybe,” she says, shaking her head. “I wasn’t sure.”

I tip her chin toward me again. “Yes, you were. You know that I want you. And I know that right now, you’re dripping wet thinking about what I can do to your body.”

“Lucas . . . “ she says, her eyes going a little wide.

“Let’s not pretend, Mia. You want me to run my hands along your body.” I move my hand down her back again toward her ass. “You want me to taste that wet little pussy of yours.” I stop my hand and cup her ass, pushing her against me.

She lets out a little gasp, almost a moan, and it makes my blood fucking boil with need.

“I saved you twice. And now you want me to fuck you until you scream.”

She stares at me, mouth hanging open, for half a second. And I know I’m right. I can see it written all over her face. She’s not trying to move away. In fact, she’s staring at me with the most obvious “fuck me” eyes I’ve ever seen in my life.

But in an instant, that changes. She looks away and slowly disentangles herself from me. “I have a lot of work to do,” she says.

I laugh softly. “Don’t tell me you’re scared already.”

“Not scared,” she says, but she doesn’t meet my gaze. “Just busy, is all.”

“Sure.” I stand up straight. Before I go though, I take her and kiss her again. She doesn’t resist, in fact, she presses herself hard against me.

I break the kiss off this time. “Pretend all you want. Make all the excuses you can think of. Sooner or later, you’re going to be mine, Mia Hayes.”

She bites her lip again. I give her a look then turn and jump down off the boulder. I walk away, not looking back, my heart hammering in my chest.

I don’t know what her hesitation was back there. It was like she remembered something that totally took her out of the moment and made her rethink everything. It was strange watching her go from clearly wanting it badly to suddenly being too afraid to do anything.

I won’t push her though. She’ll be ready for me sooner or later. I’m a patient man and I get what I want, I just have to be willing to work for it.

And so far, Mia is fucking worth it. God damn that girl tastes good, feels good, and that little moan still lingers in my mind as I clean up our picnic stuff and head back to my truck.

I won’t be able to think about anything but Mia for a while. I can’t deny it. She’s going to be on my mind, and soon I’m going to know every inch of her.