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MICHAEL

Mia stepped out of Poppy’s room and gently closed the door. She gasped and clutched her chest when she turned around and saw me leaning against the wall.

“Michael…”

“I didn’t mean to scare you,” I said.

Her eyes darted around, landing everywhere but on me. That sinking feeling I’d been getting since we arrived in Boston returned. She’d been acting strange since the get-together at Alex and Olivia’s. Mia had been avoiding me as if her life depended on it, and I didn’t understand why. I racked my brain, wondering if I did or said something wrong.

“It’s okay.” She smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes.

“Are you alright?” I asked. What I really wanted to ask was were we alright.

“Sure. Poppy is out for the count.”

I peered at her in the semi-dark hallway. “Now we have some time to ourselves.”

She wrapped her arms around her middle and rocked back on her heels. “How about a rain check? I’m beat. I’ll just go back to my room and?—”

“Continue avoiding me?”

Her mouth opened and then closed. Although it was dark, I saw the guilt flicker across her face. “I just thought I’d give you time to enjoy yourself with your friends, that’s all.”

My eyes narrowed to suspicious slits. “Thanks, but now I want to enjoy you .” It was probably crazy that I craved her with this intensity after only a couple of days without the intimacy I’d gotten accustomed to lately. We had a magnificent time on the jet after Poppy fell asleep. Thankfully, the plane’s bathroom wasn’t so tiny. I’d locked us in there and made use of the few hours we had alone. I was addicted to her and had been for some time now.

Her cheeks practically glowed as her gaze slid away from me again. “I’m really tired, Michael.”

She brushed past me, but I was too stunned to react. It wasn’t her refusal that had me puzzled but the look on her face when she did. I thought about letting her go, but maybe it was best to address whatever was wrong right now. She didn’t get very far when I gently shackled her wrist.

“Not so fast. You’re tired… fine. Stay with me. We’ll just talk.” Afterward, she could sleep in my bed where she belonged.

Her shoulders hiked up, and her eyebrows puckered.

My eyes were fixed on her face, taking in every nuance of her expression. She seemed uncomfortable… with me ? Since when?

“Talk about what?”

I gaped at her, utterly pissed that she was playing ignorant. My jaw clenched almost painfully, but I reined in my irritation. I’d been told many times that sometimes I came off as a cold, authoritative asshole—mostly by my equally asshole-ish friends—and I didn’t want to be that, not with Mia, and certainly not when it concerned our relationship. To be fair, she didn’t know we had a relationship—not a serious one, anyway—because I’d been hiding my feelings for her. The intense emotions had crept up on me and taken me by surprise. Since I was adamant from the beginning that what we had was casual, I thought I’d look foolish for changing the rules.

“You know exactly what we need to talk about,” I said, keeping my voice low but firm. “You’ve been distant since we arrived in Boston.”

“I haven’t…” Her voice was small and unconvincing. She glanced at where I still held on to her and tugged her hand free. I let her go with a soft sigh and followed her as she walked toward the suite’s living room.

“Did something happen, Mia?”

She wheeled around to face me, and I almost collided with her. “Nothing happened.”

“Then why have you been behaving as if you and I have a problem?”

She finally met my gaze. “We don’t.”

As I held her gaze, I debated telling her why I really invited her to Boston. When I invited her to come to the wedding, she was supposed to be my date. However, she took it another way, and I was too embarrassed to correct her, so I went with it. I had no idea when I’d become such a coward. Now, I wasn’t sure how to tell Mia that I wanted us to be more than casual.

“Olivia invited me to the wedding,” she said, changing the subject.

I allowed her to because, honestly, I was terrified of getting into a conversation about my feelings. “I heard.”

“I wasn’t sure what to tell her. I figured I’d ask you first.”

“Why the hell would you have to do that?”

She shrugged. “I’m here on the job…”

I could kick myself in the ass for that. I should have set her straight about my reason for inviting her from the beginning. “Right. Of course, it’s okay if you attend.”

“I’m still thinking about it. I didn’t bring anything to wear to an extravagant wedding. I might have to decline.”

The most awkward silence I’d ever experienced settled over us. I cleared my throat as I tried to think of something to say. For a man who was usually sure about things, being uncertain about matters of the heart was torture. I didn’t know how to take charge of this situation like I usually did.

“The ladies are really nice,” Mia said. I figured she threw that out to quell the uneasy silence. “Your friends are too. Everyone is more laid back than I imagined.”

I nodded.

“So… Elena…”

My eyes snapped back to her face. “What about her?”

“I saw you chatting with her the other day.”

I shrugged. “I chatted with plenty of people.”

Mia wrapped her arms around herself. Her body language was a tad confusing and so was the random topic of Olivia’s friend. “She made you laugh… a lot.”

“She’s a funny gal…” I hadn’t had many run-ins with the journalist, but she was hilarious.

“And beautiful too,” Mia murmured.

I lifted an eyebrow. “Sure…”

To my shock and confusion, Mia’s expression crumbled. She gave a curt, “Good night, Michael,” before she whirled around and marched away.

“Wait… Mia. We didn’t…” Really talk . I took off after her, but she was already out the door. “Mia, get back?—”

The door closed with a bang, and I stopped to stare at it. What the fuck just happened? Just then I remembered why I’d avoided relationships all these years. Still, I wanted to dive into one with Mia because she had me hooked.

I gave Alex a congratulatory clap on the shoulder as the marriage officiant pronounced him and Olivia man and wife. He glanced back at me with the goofiest, happiest grin I’d ever seen before he swept Olivia into his arms and gave her another kiss.

This one went on for too long and seemed to be getting a bit too heated, considering that there was a church full of guests. There was a murmur of amused sounds coming from the audience.

Jamie, who stood behind me, sighed and whispered, “Jesus.”

“Ahem.” I gave Alex a subtle nudge which seemed to bring him back from the world he and his wife seemed to have gotten lost in. He released her and glanced at me with a sheepish grin, while Olivia blushed profusely.

This was why Alex named me the best man. According to him, I’d been keeping him in line since we met… like an old, grumpy grandfather, always there to rein him in when he got carried away. He was such an asshole for that, but I was honored.

I was happy for him and Olivia… and maybe a little envious that they seemed to have found their perfect match in each other. For so long, I was convinced that the idea of a perfect partner was bullshit. People changed, and it all crumbled eventually. That was my experience, and I’d never tried to have a relationship again.

However, Alex, a former playboy extraordinaire of all people, showed me that maybe the whole committed relationship thing wasn’t so bad after all. I watched the happy couple walk down the aisle of the church hand in hand. They practically floated on their cloud of happiness. Then there were Charlotte and Jamie, who seemed more in love than ever after marriage. Was that kind of happiness in the cards for me? I glanced at Mia, sitting amongst the guests. She had a snoozing Poppy in her arms. The picture they made…

My heart skipped a beat. They looked so natural together. I remained frozen as the emotions I’d spent years avoiding swamped me. Maybe—just maybe—Mia and I belonged together, and because of that, our relationship wouldn’t end in a shitstorm of lies and resentment. Still, that skeptical monster surfaced to whisper doubt into my mind.

Jamie nudged me from behind, snapping me out of my thoughts. “Hey, get a move on, man.”

I blinked and realized that the bride and groom were almost out the door and I was supposed to have followed them. I took a step forward and offered an arm to my counterpart, the maid of honor. Elena looped her arm through mine.

“Hey.” She smiled. “Look at us, the best man and the maid of honor. I think this is a sign.”

“Mmm-hmm.” I had no idea what she was talking about. It was hard to care when I was still reeling from my apparent emotional awakening. No, actually that happened some time ago when it hit me that I wanted more than just casual with Mia. This was like the emotional dam being completely obliterated, flooding me with things I had been afraid of feeling for a long time.

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You seemed far away a moment ago.”

“I’m fine.” I didn’t look at her because I was busy staring at Mia. God, she was beautiful. Not just in that dress that hugged her curves and her silky mane framing her face. She was beautiful to her very soul, and it was like my six-year-old perceived it long before I did and… chose her.

“I hear you’re sticking around for a few more days,” Elena said.

“Yeah…”

“What if you and I hung out sometime? Like say… for dinner?”

“Hmm?” I craned my neck to keep Mia in my sight, and Elena followed my gaze.

When I glanced at her, she let out a soft chuckle and said, “I see.”

“See what? Did you say something about dinner?”

Sighing, she patted my arm. “Never mind, Michael. Never mind…”

My eyebrows furrowed, but I didn’t get to press about what she saw because we stepped outside, and she pulled out of my hold to help Olivia with her dress as she got into the limo. I turned back to wait for Mia and Poppy. They emerged in the middle of the throng, and I hurried back up the stairs to relieve Mia of her load.

She smiled. “Hey. This one is knocked out. Somebody had too much fun prancing down the aisle.”

I chuckled as I took Poppy. She’d put her all into her role as flower girl. She really did prance. “Come on, the car is waiting.”

“Aren’t you traveling with the others? I can take Poppy back to the hotel while you enjoy the reception.”

“No, you should enjoy it, too. It’ll be fine.” We reached the car, and I held up a hand, signaling to the driver not to bother coming out. I opened the back door and waited for Mia to get in. When I slid in beside her, she scooted further away. It was subtle, but I caught it. Blowing out a breath, I held my tongue. After the reception we were going to talk, and she wouldn’t get out of it this time.