Chapter Four
Mia hadn’t forgotten that kiss. Not for a second, and at the reminder, heat washed over her, tightening her skin. Austin’s nearness didn’t help.
He reached out and tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear, a gentle gesture that affected her like a sensual caress.
“I’m waiting for an answer.”
She ran her tongue over her bottom lip. “No, I can’t get it out of my head, either,” she admitted.
“I thought so.” He lifted her chin with his hand. “What are we going to do about this mutual wanting?”
“Nothing smart,” she murmured.
He grazed her lip with the pad of his thumb, causing her to lean into him on a soft moan. She knew better than to give in. She’d spent the train ride home convincing herself to maintain the status quo, to steer clear. But how was she supposed to resist a man who worried about her welfare, who waited up for her to return, who looked at her as if he wanted to consume her?
“To hell with smart when it feels so good,” he said.
She agreed. For the moment, she was finished fighting with herself, the devil on her shoulder winning. She’d deal with the repercussions later, and slid her tongue out to lick his finger, where it lingered on her mouth.
His gorgeous brown eyes darkened, and need pulsed through her veins, her sex damp with desire.
“Now let me taste that sweet mouth.” He slipped a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her in. This time he didn’t wait for her acquiescence. He dipped his head and covered her mouth with his.
The kiss was hot, his mouth branding her with the intensity of his need. He pulled her against him and she melted into his hard body. Her breasts crushed against his hard chest and her heart beat a mile a minute as he devoured her mouth, his tongue taking possession of hers.
He backed her up to the nearest wall, his lips never leaving hers. He grasped her waist, gliding his hand up her shirt, beneath the jacket, until he encountered her silk bra that he released in the front with a flick of his hand.
He tilted his head back, meeting her gaze, his irises dark with desire. “Take off the jacket,” he said in a gruff voice. He backed up so she could do as he asked, and she leaned forward, shrugging off the leather and letting it fall to the floor.
He lifted her shirt up and over her head.
“Bra next.”
She swallowed hard, and, emboldened by his need, she shrugged her shoulders, shimmying the opened garment down her arms so it fell on the floor. The cool air and his heated stare caused her nipples to pucker tightly.
“I wondered what these pretty tits looked like.” He cupped her breasts in his hand, rubbing his thumbs over her distended nipples, the sensation causing a clenching of her core, an emptiness that needed to be filled.
She lifted her hands, intending to pull his shirt up so she could feel his skin. Turnabout was fair play, after all, but he shook his head.
“Don’t. Not yet. Let me fulfill at least one of my personal fantasies first. I want to know what they taste like, too.”
Before she could process his words, he dipped his head and covered one breast with his hot mouth, licking her flesh and teasing her nipples, grazing them, before he shocked her, sinking his teeth into her tender flesh.
She gasped at the bite of erotic pain that he quickly soothed with gentle laps of his tongue. Pleasure swamped her, her legs trembling, her sex damp. She grasped his head, holding him tight as he continued to focus on her breasts, moving to the to the other side, giving her left breast the same sensual treatment.
By the time he was finished, her hips were shifting back and forth of their own accord, her body seeking fulfillment. He slid one strong thigh between her legs and soon she was writhing against him, waves of pleasure accosting her body. Her sex throbbed with desire and she whimpered aloud.
“I’ve got you,” he said, wrapping an arm around her waist as his free hand unbuttoned her jeans and slid down her panties, his strong fingers gliding over her clit.
She moaned at the first touch of her most sensitive spot, falling back against his arm and the wall behind her.
“Let me make you feel good. Let me make you come.”
She wasn’t about to argue. Not when his fingers danced over her slick folds and his seductive words had her trembling, shaking, and on the verge of an explosive orgasm.
He picked up speed, his fingertip rubbing circles over her clit. He stroked her in just the right spot, in the most perfect way, and stars sparkled behind her eyes, warmth and pleasure sizzling along her nerve endings, the ultimate peak with reach. A tweak, a pinch, and she was calling his name, coming hard on and around his fingers. The waves rippled around her and she rode out the storm, pleasure consuming her.
He didn’t let up, caressing her through her climax and as she came down from the high, and only when she was too sensitive to take his touch anymore did he slide his fingers out of her pants.
At the sudden loss, she forced her eyelids open and looked into his lust-filled gaze. “Austin,” she whispered, her voice hoarse, in awe of what she’d just experienced at his hands.
“I like hearing my name on your lips when you come.” A satisfied smile tugged at his lips.
“I like when you make me come.” The admission caused her to blush.
Not breaking eye contact, he raised his fingers to his mouth and licked the taste of her off his fingers, causing a tug of renewed desire to flicker to life inside her. But her brain was just beginning to function again and though she couldn’t say she regretted what just happened, she was pretty sure it hadn’t been her smartest move. All the reasons she’d laid out to Amber returned, running through her brain on a never-ending loop. He was her boss, she loved her job, and ultimately they wanted very different things out of life and relationships.
She let out an unwitting sigh, wishing she could take it back the second the sound escaped her lips.
He met her gaze, eyeing her warily. “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” she said, and despite her reservations, she reached for the waistband of his pants, wanting to give him the same pleasure he’d bestowed on her.
He grabbed her wrist, gently pulling away, her hand grazing his hard erection, which strained against the taut fabric. “Fuck,” he muttered, his voice sounding like rough gravel, his need obvious.
“Why are you stopping me?” she asked.
“Because it’s clear I lost you.”
She nodded because she couldn’t deny the truth. “All the reasons this is a bad idea are shooting through my brain.” She reached down and closed her jeans, feeling totally awkward, especially since she’d just come and he… hadn’t.
“I get it,” he said in an understanding tone. “I came on pretty strong when you walked in the door and I didn’t give you time to think.”
She sunk her teeth into her lower lip and shook her head. “I can make my own decisions and I own what happened between us. It wasn’t you pushing me into anything. I just think since I work for you, we shouldn’t get involved.” She settled on the easiest explanation even though it hurt her to say it.
No reason for him to be privy to the fact that the future she envisioned for herself—a family and a man who loved her—were the things that would fill the emptiness she’d grown up with inside her. She always sugarcoated her time in foster care because she had had it better than most, but deep inside her she yearned for more. She didn’t do casual relationships well and Austin was the whole package.
He could break her heart.
“I should go.” She picked up her shirt, put it on, then turned and headed for her room, feeling his hot gaze on her back as she walked away.
* * *
Austin watched Mia leave before shutting the lights and heading upstairs to his room.
Alone.
He had to admit that hadn’t been the outcome he’d envisioned when he’d had his hand down her pants, his fingers spreading her slick need over her clit as he made her come.
Her sigh had been his first clue something was wrong, and though she’d been willing to give him his turn, he didn’t want her that way. He wanted her breathless and eager, no hesitation between them. Besides, he had the feeling she wasn’t giving him the full reason for her reservations. Yes, she was his employee. Yes, it could be awkward and had bothered him, too, but he’d come to realize they had no one to answer to but themselves and she’d wanted him as much as he desired her. Something more was at play behind those expressive eyes of hers.
But unless he wanted something more than easy sex, he had no right to ask. So instead of her sexy lips wrapped around his dick or taking her upstairs to his bedroom, he was suffering from a painful case of blue balls he was going to have to deal with in the shower. And as he wrapped his soap-slickened hand around his cock, water streaming over him, it was Mia’s mouth sucking him dry that took him over the edge and to completion.
He woke up the next morning and drove to pick up Bailey, bringing her home and going about his business as if the night hadn’t occurred.
* * *
Austin drove into work, pulling into the parking lot, early for the normal weekly meeting. A week had passed since that night he’d felt Mia’s slick sex beneath his fingers and brought her to climax, his name on her lips, and he found the trip to the office a welcome reprieve from being alone in the house with Mia and pretending he didn’t desire her with every breath he took.
He paused in the kitchen area and poured himself a cup of coffee when Jared Wilson joined him, leaning against the doorframe.
“Hey, man. How’s it going?” Jared asked.
“Good. Keeping busy.” Austin took a sip of the coffee, made in the Keurig machine that Dan splurged on for the team. “What about you?” he asked his friend.
“Same. Busy.” He shrugged. “We miss you around the office, though I don’t blame you for wanting more time at home with your daughter.”
“It was the right choice.”
“You don’t miss the field work?” Jared asked.
Austin shook his head. “Surprisingly, no.” His new work-from-home situation suited him fine.
“Austin?” Lara, the longtime receptionist at Alpha Security, looked past Jared, who moved aside to let her into the room. “You have a visitor,” she said.
He narrowed his gaze. “I’m not expecting anyone. Who is it? An old client?”
She shook her head, concern etching her features. “She says she’s your wife.”
He flinched and cringed at the same time. Everyone here knew he was single and had had problems with his ex, so Kayla’s attempted power play with Lara held no sway.
“Son of a bitch. I don’t suppose you could tell her I’m not here?”
“I’d be more than happy to tangle with her if that’s what you want,” the ever-loyal Lara said. “But she’s determined. I already told her you were busy and she said she would wait.”
“Fine,” he muttered. “Is the conference room cleared out?”
Lara nodded. “I’ll bring her in there to wait.”
“Everything okay?” Jared asked.
Austin slammed a frustrated hand against the counter. “The bitch showed up at my house demanding money or else she threatened to go after custody.”
Jared let out a low whistle. “What’d you do?”
“Threw her out and called my attorney. My lawyer says we have a strong case based on Kayla’s history, but we both know I have no proof of what a shitty mother she was. Aside from me and my parents, and we’re all biased.”
“Fuck.”
Austin ran a hand through his hair. “You can say that again. I don’t want to go through a legal battle or put Bailey through one, either. I don’t trust Kayla not to bring my little girl into court just to push me against the wall. And there’s no way in hell I’m paying her to go away. She’ll just come back next time she runs out of cash again,” he said, listing all the problems that kept him up nights. “I’ve been waiting for her next move. Guess this is it.”
“Want backup when you face her?” Jared offered.
“Thanks but I can handle her.” He hoped.
He left his coffee in the kitchen and headed to the conference room, where his ex was pacing back and forth behind the large table. She was dressed similarly to the last time he’d seen her, a tight dress, high heels, overdone makeup, and hair teased full. Compared to Mia’s natural beauty, Kayla was plastic and fake, inside and out.
What had he seen in her the first time? It was too late to wonder now.
“Kayla,” he said, stepping inside the room but leaving the door behind him open. “What are you doing here?” he asked, remaining on the far side of the conference table, away from his ex.
She met his gaze with a cool stare of her own. “I haven’t heard from you and I’ve given you plenty of time to consider my offer.”
He frowned at that. “It wasn’t an offer, it was blackmail using your child as leverage. I told you I’m not paying you again. You received your settlement.”
She let out a prolonged sigh. “Leave it to you to make this difficult.” She pulled out a folded piece of paper from her purse. “This is notice of a hearing. I warned you I’d go for custody and I meant it.”
“You bitch.” Austin stared at the offending paper without touching it, rage filling him at the thought of Kayla getting anywhere near his daughter.
“Fine, don’t take it.” She slammed the sheet down onto the table. “It doesn’t change the fact that you have to show up in court… Or you can pay me and this entire problem goes away. Poof. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers in the air in a dismissive action.
The irony was she didn’t want custody. She was counting on Austin caving into her demands out of fear she might win.
He curled his fingers into fists at his sides, breathing hard, trying to find a way to harness his anger. “In your eyes, Bailey’s either a pawn in your bid for cash or a problem you don’t want to deal with. That’s how you see her, isn’t it? Well, let me tell you something. You’ll get my money or my daughter over my dead body.”
“Promises, promises.” She tossed her hair over her shoulder and treated him to a cool smile and walked out the door, leaving Austin… and the hearing notice behind.
* * *
Mia pushed the shopping cart through the grocery store, filling up the wagon with all Bailey’s and Austin’s favorite foods, her mind occupied, as it often was, with thoughts of Austin.
In the days since she’d kissed him and he’d made her come apart beneath his hands, she fought the hard fight to put both things out of her mind. She tried not to pay attention to his finer qualities, either, but she couldn’t help but notice his patience with his daughter, his dedication to his job, and his continued kindness toward Mia herself.
He’d never mentioned that night and if she hadn’t caught him staring at her when he thought she wasn’t looking, she’d think he had forgotten the incident completely. But the fact was, the sexual tension between them was thick, broken up only by the little girl Mia cared for.
She finished up her list, paid with the credit card Austin provided for house-related things, and headed to the SUV. She was engrossed with loading the bags into the trunk when someone pushed their cart into hers, shoving the metal end into the back bumper.
“Hey!” she said, glancing up to see a man she didn’t recognize holding on to the handle of the cart that had hit her.
He stared at her, a scowl on his pock-marked face.
“Can I help you?” she asked, unnerved by both his actions and menacing expression.
He strode around the cart, getting into her personal space. She glanced around, unsure if there was anyone else around her. Afraid now, she began to tremble, gripping the cart harder in her hand. If he touched her, she’d scream loud enough to bring people inside the neighboring stores out here to help.
“I’ve got a message for you,” he said, so close she could smell his bad breath. “Mind your own damned business and you’ll be fine. Stick your nose where it doesn’t belong and you’ll have problems.” He punctuated his message with a shove that didn’t hurt her, just reinforced his point.
“What are you talking about?” she asked him.
“You look like a smart girl. Figure it out,” he said, and took off without taking his cart with him.
Trembling, she put the last bag in the back of the truck, slid both carts into the collection area, and rushed to lock herself inside the SUV. She tried to think of what that threat meant and came up empty. She didn’t know of anyone who’d want to threaten her, wasn’t involved in anyone else’s business. Not anymore.
The incident reminded her of the time before the trial of her former boss, when he’d sent someone to convince her that it was in her best interest to back off and not testify against him. But Parker Alexander was in jail and she was living a quiet life here. She bit down on her lower lip. It just didn’t make any sense, but the incident had her rattled and she couldn’t wait to get out of here.
The short drive home seemed endless. When she finally arrived at the house, she pulled the SUV into the garage and closed the door behind her before getting out of the car. The garage was big enough for her to still be able to open the trunk and unload the groceries, even with the electric door closed, and she felt safer now that she was back home. Austin’s car was on his side of the garage and a sense of relief washed over her that she wasn’t here alone.
She walked into the house, her arms loaded up with grocery bags, as many as she could carry hanging from each hand, and deposited them on the counter. She didn’t see Austin, which meant he was in his office or the home gym, so she went about putting away the items she’d purchased.
When she finished that chore, she turned her attention to emptying the full dishwasher. She didn’t realize how badly she was still shaking until she dropped a glass onto the floor. It shattered, the pieces spreading out around her.
“Dammit.” She pulled out the garbage pail and dropped to her knees to pick up the larger pieces before she began sweeping up the rest.
She managed to place a few bigger shards into the trash, but when she lifted another, she missed how sharp and jagged the edges were and sliced her palm.
“Oww!” She dropped the glass and grabbed her hand only to find blood flowing from the cut.
She closed her eyes and groaned, doubting this day could get much worse.
“Mia?” Austin came up behind her. She hadn’t noticed him entering the room. “I heard something shatter. Oh, shit,” he said, taking in her bloodied hand.
She grasped her wrist and looked up at him. “I’m sorry. I was just trying to clean this up.”
“You don’t need to be sorry. Come here.” He helped her up, lifting her beneath her elbow and walking her over to the sink. “Let me see.” He gently turned her hand over but blood covered it, obscuring the cut.
“I can’t believe I was so clumsy,” she muttered.
He shook his head. “Don’t worry about the glass. But we do have to see how deep the cut is.” He turned on the faucet, sticking his finger underneath the running water to make certain it was cool. “Okay, this may hurt but let’s see what we’re dealing with. Ready?”
She drew a deep breath and nodded, letting him control things as they moved her hand beneath the spray. It was easy to see that the cut looked deep, and for all she knew, there were smaller shards of glass in the open wound.
“I think this is going to need stitches,” he said, reading her mind.
As soon as she took her palm away from the water, blood began to pool again.
“Let’s head over to the emergency walk-in clinic,” Austin said. “I think it’ll be faster than dealing with the emergency room at the hospital.”
She nodded.
He grabbed a clean hand towel from the drawer and pressed it against her hand. “Hold that there. I just need to put on shoes and grab my keys.”
“You don’t need to—”
He placed a hand beneath her chin and forced her to look at him. “Do not say I don’t need to take you.”
“Okay, but first call the Slaters and ask Tina if she can bring Bailey home with Robin for a playdate,” Mia said of the next-door neighbor, who had a daughter one year younger than Mia. The girls often played together and they did each other favors when needed. “I have to pick her up in an hour and we won’t make it in time. If Tina can’t do it, I really can go alone.” Not that she wanted to.
Austin’s kind, caring demeanor calmed her nerves. She hated to admit it but she was glad he wanted to come with her. Taking an Uber by herself for stitches wasn’t something she’d have looked forward to. She didn’t do well with hospitals, needles, or blood.
He stared at her for so long she grew uncomfortable.
“What?” she asked. “What’s wrong?”
He blinked, still gaping at her. “You thought of Bailey first,” he said, looking at her with what looked like awed admiration.
“Of course I did.”
“Right.” He shook his head, as if clearing his thoughts. “It’s just… after the day I had, you took me by surprise.”
She wondered what he meant but she didn’t have time to ask. “Austin? I need a fresh towel.” Blood had soaked through the one she was using.
Hours and five stitches later, they returned home and Mia was forced to admit she’d needed Austin by her side. She was surrounded by unpleasant memories in the sterile, bland-colored hospital rooms to begin with. And she really didn’t do well with pain.
He’d held her good hand, and when the doctor had injected around the cut to numb her skin, she’d tucked her head against his strong chest when the burning sensation became too much. She appreciated his strength and caring. He could have sent her in alone, not jumped up the minute she hesitated after they’d called her name.
He’d stopped to pick up dinner on the way home so she wouldn’t have to worry about putting something together with one hand, which she would definitely have attempted to do, he’d cleaned up the broken glass mess in the kitchen, and he’d given Bailey her bath.
Although he’d instructed her to rest for the remainder of the night, she still wanted to help where she could. She changed into comfortable sweats and a tee shirt, and although the numbness had worn off, she was managing the throbbing sensation without too much trouble.
She walked upstairs to check and see if father or daughter needed anything before she turned in for the night. Voices sounded from Bailey’s room and she paused outside the doorway.
“Daddy, you don’t sound like a unicorn!” Bailey said, giggling.
“No? What do unicorns sound like?” Austin asked.
“Girls! Unicorns are girls.”
The next sound was uncontrollable six-year-old giggling, obviously from being tickled. Just how did he think Bailey would relax enough to fall asleep if he worked her up right before bedtime? Tickles were tantamount to giving the little girl a sugar rush, Mia thought. She was about to walk into the room and tell him so when the voice of reason in her head stopped her.
It’s not your place.
She wasn’t Bailey’s mother and Austin had given her the night off. Who was she to walk in and tell him how to handle his own child? Sure, she might mention it in passing when they talked tomorrow, but for tonight she’d leave him and his daughter alone.
She was about to turn and leave the doorway when Austin lifted his head, catching sight of her, his dark gaze settling on hers, a warm smile on his face. Her stomach tumbled over at the sight.
“Wait for me downstairs?” he asked her in a sexy, gruff voice. “I want to talk to you.”
She swallowed hard and nodded.
“Mia!” Bailey popped up from her prone position in bed.
Mia waved at her. “Night, Munchkin.”
“Night, Mia,” Bailey said, yawning big afterwards.
Austin encouraged Bailey to lie back down.
Maybe she’d fall asleep easily after all, Mia thought. She watched Austin pull the covers up and over Bailey’s little shoulders before leaning down to kiss her good night.