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Like we hadn’t already slept together.

Her fingertips brushed the corners of my lips, her thumbs pressing gently into the crease of my laugh lines.

“You have to make the sound from the back of your throat,” she instructed, softly shaping my mouth into the right shape. My mouth went dry, and for a moment there was nothing and no one else except Mia and her fingers on my face.

I couldn’t look away from the sparkle in her eyes, and the dimples in her soft cheeks, and-

Oh.

Oh.

“Obrigada.”

“Perfect.”

Chapter 27

The Other Shoe

MIA

“Wedon’thavemuchtime left in Brazil,” I said to Reid, scrolling through our dwindling schedule. “I think we have a handful of meetings and then you can sit down and make a decision on where to expand.”

The restaurant hummed pleasantly around us, filled with people enjoying their break on a busy Tuesday. It was nowhere near as classy or fancy as the places Reid was used to, but she’d been proud of her choice.

Reid had insisted we eat elsewhere, stating that the food at the hotel restaurant had lost its taste. She wanted something more “authentic”.

I didn’t have the heart to tell her she wouldn’t find much authentic food at a Brazilian version of a diner. Indeed, looking at the menu proved me right. Burgers, pasta, pizza. All typical fast food options. Not that Reid seemed to mind. She dug into her lunch with all the vigor of a starving woman.

I could watch her for hours.

“How much longer do you think we have left here?” Reid asked, her attention on her food.

“Maybe two weeks at best?” I offered. “I should probably start planning our flights back home.”

“We don’t have to leave as soon as we’ve wrapped business up, you know.”

I looked up at her, my chest squeezing with the tiniest rush of fear. “What do you mean?” I asked, doing my best to smother the panic that bloomed in my gut. “Stay here instead of going back to New York?”

“Why not?” She shrugged, and I could have given her at least twenty business-related answers before I eventhoughtabout Donnie ruining my life.

“We have two press conferences scheduled in the next month alone,” I sputtered. “Not to mention the entirety of our new VR line’s release preparations. We really should leave as soon as we can.”

Reid’s brows pulled down in confusion. “I’d honestly expected you to be a little more excited,” she admitted, and my heart sank. “I know how much you love it here, and I don’t want you to think that work is more important than your happiness.”

Heat rushed to my face and I glanced away, chewing on the inside of my cheek. I hadn’t expected Reid to say something like that. Or in that cadence. Like she cared a lot more than she should. Maybe it was because I was so on edge, that my emotions simmered right below the surface.

Ready to spill over at the slightest nudge.

“I get that,” I said earnestly, my fingernails already picking at my nail beds. “But I love my job, Reid. You can’t expect me to be any different, can you? I’d love to stay here and spend more time with my family. But I also have a responsibility to the company. To you.”

I paused, lifting my gaze to Reid, who sat motionless as she listened.

“Besides,” I said, desperate to inject some amusement into our conversation. “You’d be bored here after a while. Not that you’d even need me around, now that you’re practically Brazilian yourself.”

At last, she chuckled.

“You give me way too much credit.” She sighed. “And you give yourself way too little.”