Page 69 of Ruled Out

OMG! Ground beef?

Of course.

The man of my dreams.

When I hear a key slide into the lock twenty minutes later, I shut the burner off and head over to the front door.

“Does it ever stop raining or snowing in Seattle?” Mia steps inside, pulling down her hood and kicking off her boots at the door.

“You get used to it,” I say, taking her bag from her shoulder and setting it down on the floor.

“My fingers are freezing, and all I did was walk from the taxi to the lobby,” Mia says on a shaky breath, fumbling with the buttons on her red coat.

I step forward and take her hands in mine, warming them through.

She looks up at me, the golden fleck in her left eye shining underneath my apartment lighting.

“You’re freezing, Sweetheart.”

“It’s cold outside, and the taxi driver was too cheap to use the heater.”

I unzip my black training hoodie, and her eyes fall to my bare chest.

“Bring it in. I run hot.”

Mia steps forward, snuggling into me, and I wrap my hoodie around her.

“My mom used to call these under-jacket hugs.”

“She did?”

“Yeah.” I rest my chin on top of her head. “She said they were the best type of hugs—warm and cozy. She had this one jacket that was so big that she could zip us both up in it.”

Pressing her lips against my chest, she places a gentle kiss over my heart. “The day my mom died, the last thing I did was hug her. I’d been a brat all morning and wanted to wear my school skirt short, like the other girls in class. She wouldn’t let me.”

She takes a deep breath and exhales, the warmth of her breath picking up my heart rate. “We fought from the moment I woke to the second I left the house. But before I walked out the door, I got this urge to make it right, you know? To hug her. So, I did … and that was the last time I saw her.”

Reaching down, I bring my hands under her ass and lift her up so we’re nose to nose.

“Jessie,” she protests, “you’re still in pain.”

With one arm supporting her, I wrap her left leg around my waist. “And I told you what my best pain relief is. I’m fine, Mia.”

Gently, she wraps her other leg around me and then kisses the end of my nose. “I’ll never stop worrying about you.”

“I know, but I’m telling you, I’m good.” I look around at the kitchen. “I had this special night planned for us, starting with tacos, followed by a movie and ending with you in my bed.”

Her green eyes turn darker as she looks down the hallway toward my bedroom. “I have this feeling that tacos are just like grilled cheese—best served cold.”

“Funny you should say that because I’ve heard the same.”

She giggles as I walk us through to my bedroom and kick the door closed with my foot.

“I wanted to do this so badly yesterday,” I say, laying her down on my bed, and I watch the way her dark hair fans out against the crisp white bedding.

“You changed it,” she says, running a palm over the cotton duvet.

I shrug off my open hoodie, leaving me in only low-riding black jeans. “I didn’t want there to be crumbs when you got back into my bed tonight. My goal is to keep you in here for as long as possible.”