Читать онлайн книгу «Tempting The Best Man» автора Tanya Michaels

Tempting The Best Man
Tanya Michaels
A lesson in chemistry…Back in college, Mia Hayes had a secret crush on fellow student Daniel Keegan, who was an obnoxious stuffed shirt. But she fantasized about turning Mr. Uptight into Mr. Hot Sex. Now Mia owns a successful event planning business, and at a bachelor party she’s organized, she runs into Mr. Uptight himself. And she's determined to show overly serious college professor Daniel how to loosen up a little…Imagine Mia’s surprise when she learns that Daniel has a deliciously wicked side—one that makes her knees weak with lust. It turns out Daniel is a whole lot more than she ever dreamed. But tempting the professor might have been the riskiest thing Mia has ever done. Because in their case, opposites don't just attract… they combust.


A lesson in chemistry...
Back in college, Mia Hayes had a secret crush on fellow student Daniel Keegan, who was an obnoxious stuffed shirt. But she fantasized about turning Mr. Uptight into Mr. Hot Sex. Now Mia owns a successful event-planning business, and at a bachelor party she’s organized, she runs into Mr. Uptight himself. And she’s determined to show overly serious college professor Daniel how to loosen up a little...
Imagine Mia’s surprise when she learns that Daniel has a deliciously wicked side—one that makes her knees weak with lust. It turns out Daniel is a whole lot more than she ever dreamed. But tempting the professor might have been the riskiest thing Mia has ever done. Because in their case, opposites don’t just attract...they combust.
“I fantasized about you once or twice...”
“What kind of fantasies?” Daniel’s voice was silky, coaxing.
The air between them crackled. How would he react if she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss?
“Flirting lesson number one,” she said lightly. “If a woman admits you’ve starred in her fantasies, she’s probably interested.”
His mouth curved in a sensual smile. “Probably?”
“Gaze can be a good indication of desire,” she murmured.
“And if she’s looking at my lips like she wants to taste them?”
She gave in to impulse and traced his bottom lip with her finger. He shuddered out a breath, warm on her skin.
Her own breathing was unsteady as she slid her hand down his chest. “Go with your instincts.”
Dear Reader (#uc2555ef3-4a2b-5b18-89b0-8787de0e5ae9),
I love “opposites attract” stories. The chemistry between two people with different viewpoints and personalities can be incredible—if they can stop driving each other crazy long enough to explore it.
When Mia Hayes and Daniel Keegan first met in college, he thought she was a confrontational attention-seeker...who also happened to be distractingly gorgeous. And she thought he was a disapproving know-it-all...who would be unbelievably sexy if he ever figured out how to cut loose.
Years later, when Daniel runs into Mia at his best friend’s bachelor party, the attraction between them is stronger than ever. The resulting affair is blazing hot, but is it only a short-term fling? Or can they embrace each other’s differences well enough to fit into each other’s lives?
I hope Mia and Daniel’s story heats up your winter, and I’d love to hear from you! Join me on Twitter, @TanyaMichaels (https://twitter.com/TanyaMichaels), or at Facebook.com/authortanyamichaels (http://www.Facebook.com/authortanyamichaels) to chat about books, TV, travel, family and sassy house pets.
Happy reading,
Tanya
Tempting the Best Man
Tanya Michaels


www.millsandboon.co.uk (http://www.millsandboon.co.uk)
TANYA MICHAELS, a New York Times bestselling author and five-time RITA® Award nominee, has been writing love stories since middle-school algebra class—which probably explains her math grades. Her books, praised for their poignancy and humor, have received awards from readers and reviewers alike. Tanya is an active member of Romance Writers of America and a frequent public speaker. She lives outside Atlanta with her very supportive husband, two highly imaginative kids and a bichon frise who thinks she’s the center of the universe.
Contents
Cover (#ucc1b3ca3-6ef9-5479-b3cc-7f1b4e35caf9)
Back Cover Text (#u95f3c7e7-1f03-51e8-8b8a-88e138bf8941)
Introduction (#ucbb06c56-248a-59ab-823b-37bc80bea25e)
Dear Reader (#udeed5552-b804-526c-b19b-800a11707f41)
Title Page (#u8d000b05-297d-55cc-bcb7-82fc977f29d0)
About the Author (#u67ec528e-bbbd-5df4-af85-cfbc9f83aba7)
Chapter 1 (#u617fcddd-0519-5d36-85c4-0194233d0c46)
Chapter 2 (#u1f32f8e5-af78-52a7-995c-c3d7415ffa5c)
Chapter 3 (#u061a82a7-b7ce-5598-9e23-630527eafff9)
Chapter 4 (#u52d0fd22-bd5a-5394-8266-078e41796a11)
Chapter 5 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 6 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 7 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 8 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 9 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 10 (#litres_trial_promo)
Chapter 11 (#litres_trial_promo)
Extract (#litres_trial_promo)
Copyright (#litres_trial_promo)
1 (#uc2555ef3-4a2b-5b18-89b0-8787de0e5ae9)
“SO WHAT’S NEW with you?”
It was the third variation of that question Daniel Keegan had heard in the last fifteen minutes. He’d always dreaded parties where he had to make small talk with strangers, but tonight was proving that catching up with former acquaintances could be just as awkward.
Daniel sipped his beer, stalling. “Um...” Very articulate for a man with a PhD. He could share the story of how he’d proposed a few weeks ago. It had seemed romantic to pop the question at the stroke of midnight on New Year’s.
Would’ve been a lot more romantic if Felicity had said yes. She’d blurted out a panicked no and fled his parents’ lavish party.
Or Daniel could discuss how he was being considered for tenure at the university—never mind that he was up against three very qualified candidates all competing for the same vacated spot. Professional triumph would ease the sting of getting dumped, but even with tenure, he’d still be the underachiever in the Keegan family. His older brother was hoping to be the next governor of Georgia.
Fortunately, the opening trombone notes of a classic striptease score interrupted conversation. Men eagerly turned toward the makeshift stage. The chandeliers in the rented ballroom dimmed even further as a spotlight appeared. Leaning against a column toward the back, Daniel tried to look enthusiastic, but part of him would rather be at home in his Buckhead condo, grading papers. You’re the best man. Participation in the bachelor party is mandatory. Hell, he was just lucky Eli hadn’t asked him to plan it.
Tonight’s location-hopping party—dinner followed by a private burlesque show before winding down at a jazz club—had been part of a package deal with the same event planning service that was managing Eli’s wedding next Saturday. The company had even provided a luxury bus and chauffeur.
A voluptuous redhead in a rhinestone-studded mesh bodysuit sauntered onto the stage, asking where the lucky groom-to-be was and making jokes about the honeymoon. From there, she progressed to audience participation, gathering bits of trivia about Eli’s past. The spotlight followed her to the guest of honor, where she sat in Eli’s lap and serenaded him with an improvised song about his favorite childhood stuffed animal and the day he got his driver’s license. Her lyrics were met with laughter and applause, but the guests really went wild when she introduced the next act—a pair of dancers with large feather fans and teasing smiles.
“Get you another?” A petite blonde waitress, wearing not much more than the women on stage, nodded at the microbrew in Daniel’s hand.
“Oh, no thanks.” He’d been nursing the same beer since arriving, and it was only half-finished. Party animal. “I’m trying to set the record for how long it takes to finish a single drink.”
“Designated driver?”
“Nope, just really boring.” It was something Sean Clark, head of the university kinesiology department, heckled him about once a week. Sean was the poster child for impulsive fun—which was why Eli hadn’t asked him to be the best man. Sean was the kind of guy who would lose the rings. Or miss the wedding entirely because he’d skipped town with a hot bridesmaid.
“I’m sure that’s not true,” the waitress protested. She gave him a slow once-over and a mischievous smile. “You look like you would be very exciting under the right circumstances.”
“Maybe you’re right,” he agreed politely. “Maybe I’ll surprise myself.” Liar. It had been drilled into him from birth that he had a family name and image to protect; he’d repressed his wild side for so long it probably didn’t exist anymore.
Another lie. Daniel knew damn well he had a rebellious streak buried deep down. But after so many years censoring himself, if he ever gave in to it, how would he regain his self-control?
“I’ll be sure to check back with you later,” the waitress promised. “I like surprises.”
As she moved on toward the tables clustered in front, Eli Wallace appeared, clapping Daniel on the shoulder. “Did I see you flirting with the cute waitress?” His approving smile gleamed white against his dark skin. “Progress!”
“Just a bit of friendly conversation.”
“At least I can trust you not to get too friendly.” Eli’s smile vanished. “My dumb-ass cousin Terrence got a little handsy with the bartender. I questioned whether to even invite him tonight, but since both of his brothers were coming... Help me keep an eye on him? If he gets too obnoxious, we pour him into a cab and send his ass home.”
“Remind me, which one’s Terrence?” Daniel and Eli had gone to high school together before ending up as professors at the same university years later; Daniel had met many of the man’s relatives in passing, but only knew Eli’s parents well.
Eli pointed across the room to a man in a disheveled suit whistling at the dancers from his seat.
“I’ll keep an eye out,” Daniel promised.
“Thanks, man. If you’ll excuse me, I should mingle—and keep some distance between me and the performers. If anyone else ends up in my lap, Bex will kick my ass.”
Rebekah was tiny compared to Eli’s six-foot-five but the surgical resident was fierce. “Yeah, probably best not to piss off a woman with regular access to scalpels and bone cutters.”
Eli laughed, but his amusement gave way to sincerity. “All I want to do is make her happy.”
“You will. You guys are great together.” Daniel almost winced at the unintentional irony; Eli had said the same to him when Daniel was psyching himself up to propose to Felicity.
Sympathy flashed in Eli’s gaze, and Daniel waved his friend away. “Go. You’ve got other guests to talk to.”
Making good on his agreement to watch Terrence, Daniel glanced in the man’s direction a few minutes later, but his gaze snagged on the second waitress working the room. She had her back to him, her black hair swishing across her bare shoulders in a straight, shiny fall that reminded him of someone he hadn’t thought of in almost a decade. Mia Hayes. In college, she’d had hair like that, but streaked with turquoise.
Trying not to ogle, he resisted the urge to compare the waitress’s body to Mia’s. Déjà vu aside, they couldn’t be the same woman. Mia had been in the MBA program. With her intelligence and aggressive nature, she’d probably taken over a company by now. Or a small country. Seeing people from his past tonight had simply triggered a sense of nostalgia.
Still, details about Mia came rushing back with startling clarity. The flaming feather tattoo on the back of her neck, her lush curves, her husky laugh. Her utter disdain for him. Daniel had made a woefully bad first impression, and she’d been unforgiving. The few times they’d been forced to work together in class had only made the situation worse.
Putting aside the past, he checked again on Eli’s cousin, who was now stumbling toward the men’s room. Free to watch the show, Daniel turned to the stage. A tall woman was asking for volunteers. She and another performer with great comic timing did a parody of a magic act, full of tricks that “failed” and innuendo-laden explanations.
It wasn’t long before his undisciplined gaze scanned the crowd for the dark-haired waitress bustling between thirsty guests and the bar. He still hadn’t caught a clear look at her face, but her curves were evident even in the dim lighting. Black shorts cupped a generous ass, and although she was probably only average height, the seamed fishnet stockings she wore with sparkly stilettos made her legs appear endless. Anxious to see the purple brocade corset she wore from the front, he considered walking to the bar just to cross her path.
Don’t be sleazy. Let the woman do her job.
But then he saw Terrence approach her on unsteady feet. Daniel bolted toward them as Eli’s cousin gripped her elbow. Everyone else’s attention was on the stage. As Daniel got closer, he heard the man remark in slurred speech on how cold she must be in her outfit and offer a vulgar suggestion of how he could keep her warm.
“If my choices were you or frostbite,” the woman said in a low, don’t-fuck-with-me tone, “I’d happily freeze to death. Now let go of me before I knee you so hard your dentist will be giving you your next prostate exam.”
Daniel was struck by shock and recognition. “Mia?”
2 (#uc2555ef3-4a2b-5b18-89b0-8787de0e5ae9)
NO WAY. THAT DEEP, rich voice slid up Mia’s spine like a caress and she whirled around, temporarily forgetting the dipshit she’d been about to neuter. Finding herself eye to V with the unbuttoned collar of a black suit shirt, she lifted her gaze to a chiseled face that had only grown more arresting in the last decade. Her breath caught. “Ta—Daniel?” She’d almost called him Tall, Dark and Disapproving, her private nickname for him in college.
“Glad you remember.” He gave her an uncharacteristically warm smile before his expression hardened as he glanced past her to the guy who’d finally released her arm. “You are taking a cab home. Immediately.”
“What the hell business is it of yours?” The man thrust out his chin belligerently. “I don’t even know you. And—”
Daniel took a step forward, his silvery eyes glittering with menace. “Would you like to step outside where we can get to know each other better?”
Mia was impressed despite herself. Damn, he’d grown up well. Not that they’d been kids when they’d had Psych together. She’d been twenty, and he’d inspired a few very adult fantasies. Swallowing hard, she stepped away from both men to regain her composure.
Daniel gave her an assessing look, his gaze sliding over her in a way that made her shiver. Then he turned and led the dipshit away, either to hail him a cab or to pummel him in the parking lot. Either option was okay with Mia. She could take care of herself, but the more she thought about what had happened, the angrier she got. If one of the waitresses who routinely worked for her hadn’t called in sick at the last minute, the younger woman would be here now, harassed by unwanted attentions. There was a risk that Mia’s hostile words to a guest could get back to the client and upset him—although Mia had more faith in Eli than that—but as a self-employed party planner, Mia could take that risk without fearing reprisals from a boss. Would the waitress have felt free to stand up for herself, or would she have tolerated the pawing because she needed the job? Mia’s anger surged higher.
When she saw Daniel return, she abandoned the empty bottles she’d been collecting and strode toward him. “Did you beat him up?” Wishful thinking. Rigid rule-follower Daniel Keegan in a fight? Never. Yet he’d looked so deliciously sinister when he’d challenged the guy.
“Of course not. I got him a taxi. Although...” He pursed his lips, unexpected mischief lighting his eyes. “While I was helping him into the car, he may have hit his head. Twice.”
She grinned up at him, and when he returned the smile, her pulse fluttered. The pull of attraction was even stronger now than when he’d given a presentation on social motivation and she’d spent the class wondering what it would take to motivate him to misbehave. She’d concluded he wasn’t capable of it. Yet here he was enjoying an evening of strippers and booze. Promising.
Had he changed over time, or was he only in attendance because he was a friend or colleague of the groom-to-be? Another thought struck her. Was Daniel married? Her gaze slipped to his left hand, and she felt something ridiculously similar to relief when she didn’t spot a ring there. Daniel Keegan hadn’t been in her life in years—and, even when he had, his role had mainly been judgy classmate—so who cared if he was single?
When she realized the silence between them had become officially awkward, she blurted, “I can’t believe I ran into you here.”
“Same. I’m surprised you ended up a cocktail waitress. Although, I suppose you—”
Her hackles rose; he’d always been too quick to judge based on superficial appearance, too arrogant in thinking he knew a damn thing about her. “You suppose what?”
“Well.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Even with your grades, the idea of you in the business world...”
Was what, laughable? Ridiculous? He didn’t think she could cut it. Given the hours she put in, sacrificing the last few years of a social life to make her party-planning business successful, his offhand dismissal was infuriating.
“Same old Keegan,” she snapped. “Still leaping to the nearest conclusion based on cursory observation. What a shame. For half a second, I was thinking about how much fun we could have had if you’d changed.”
* * *
What kind of fun? The unspoken question kept Daniel rooted to the spot even as Mia spun on her heel and abandoned him to deliver another round of drinks.
Mia Hayes had always been sexy, but tonight—in that outfit, with those glinting amber eyes that alternately threatened and promised—she was lethally seductive. When she’d smiled up at him after he’d admitted Terrence had bumped his head, Daniel had been struck with sheer lust. He’d rarely been on the receiving end of her smiles; he might be willing to bust a few more skulls to see it again.
Unfortunately, based on that final glare, the head she wanted to see bashed was his own. He hadn’t meant to insinuate she couldn’t be more than a waitress...or that there was anything wrong with waitressing, for that matter. But he’d obviously put his foot in his mouth.
Not the first time.
When she’d knocked on his door in college, looking for his roommate, Daniel had made some assumptions based on the women his roommate usually dated. During small talk while they’d waited, Mia had made a comment about majoring in business and, taking in her blue-streaked hair and controversial fashion choices, he’d legitimately thought she was kidding. Laughing had not endeared him to her.
Twice before the dancers’ finale, he tried to approach Mia to apologize, but she evaded him, moving with impressive speed in her high heels. He didn’t want to make a scene by cornering her, but as he and the other men boarded the party bus for their next location, he regretted not having the chance to say he was sorry.
“Saw you escort Terrence from the building,” Eli said quietly. “Thanks.”
Daniel nodded. “Your cousin was having trouble taking no for an answer, and the waitress was about to eviscerate him. Damnedest thing—I went to school with her. Mia Hayes.”
“Isn’t she great? Not only has she made the entire wedding process painless, she stepped in tonight when one of her servers canceled last minute.”
Daniel blinked. “What do you mean ‘wedding process’?”
“She’s our event coordinator. She arranged everything for tonight and hosted a bachelorette scavenger hunt for Bex.” He reached into his wallet and pulled out a business card, which he handed to Daniel.
As Eli continued happily chatting about the arrangements Mia had overseen for next weekend, Daniel stared at the writing on the card. She ran her own company. So...not a cocktail waitress, then. Although it had seemed like a valid assumption under the circumstances, he was embarrassed by his reaction to seeing her. When would he learn that Mia Hayes didn’t meet simple expectations? On the plus side, he now had the phone number for her office.
Considering their history, further contact could be disastrous. Yet Daniel caught his own grin reflected in the window. He couldn’t say whether or not a conversation with her would end in disaster. But he was damn sure it wouldn’t be boring.
* * *
“HOW DID I LET Penelope Wainwright talk me into organizing a formal tea?” Mia asked, grateful to be back in the office before Monday was completely over. After showing her client three potential venues in the Roswell historic district, Mia had lost an hour plodding behind school buses and swearing at afternoon traffic. “High-society crap isn’t my area.”
Shannon Diaz, receptionist and one-woman IT department, closed a drawer in the metal filing cabinet. “You agreed because she caught you after a weekend of binging on Downton Abbey episodes,” the brunette reminded her. “And because Penelope is one of our best paying clients. And the tea is a fund-raising event for a good cause. Not to mention, you secretly adore her.”
“Ha! Well, I admire a couple of her qualities,” Mia relented. The sixty-year-old woman did not suffer fools, for instance. “But she’s a pain in the ass to work for—demanding, opinionated...”
Shannon shot her a pointed look over the top of her playfully retro multicolored horn-rimmed glasses.
Mia scowled. “Is it wise to imply I’m an opinionated pain in the ass when your job security is in my hands?”
“You’d be lost without me. My job security is just fine.”
“Too true.” Pausing at Shannon’s desk before heading into her office, Mia added, “You know, as wonderful as your professional confidence is, don’t you think that—”
“Want to hear your messages? No point in wasting office time on my personal life.”
“You’re brilliant and beautiful and not without a sense of humor. Plus, we already know she likes you. All you have to do is ask her out.”
“When I’m ready,” Shannon mumbled.
Timing had been a major hurdle between Shannon and Paige. The woman who ran the French café on the third floor of the office building once asked Shannon on a date, but, emotionally raw from recent heartbreak, Shannon had refused more abruptly than intended. By the time she changed her mind a few weeks later, Paige was seeing someone.
“You’re both single now,” Mia said.
“I’m aware. But what if it’s too soon after her breakup? Besides, it’s been ages since she asked me out. Who knows if she’s even still interested?”
“You—”
“So about these messages.” Shannon waved squares of pink paper at her. “A prospective client set up a meeting to get price quotes, Wren had a brainstorm about the venue for her sister’s engagement party and Dara Abrams returned your call about flower deliveries.” Mia was trying to set it up so that, rather than being thrown out afterward, any remaining live flowers from events she coordinated could be donated to nursing homes. “And a man called after lunch.”
Mia arched an eyebrow at the vagueness. Shannon was usually a stickler for details. “Did the man have a name?”
“One assumes. But he didn’t leave it.”
Even though it was an illogical leap, Mia’s mind immediately went to Daniel Keegan. It had been a shock to run into him for the first time since college. There were millions of people in the Atlanta metropolitan area; she and Daniel didn’t exactly run in the same circles. He’d looked so damn good. That part wasn’t unexpected—his physical appeal had always made her lady parts twitch with interest—but she’d been startled to find that he was even more attractive than she’d remembered. For a few brief, titillating moments, she’d believed the attraction was mutual.
But even if he thought she looked drop-dead sexy in a corset—which, frankly, she did—it was difficult to imagine him contacting her. In the past, he’d wanted as little to do with her as possible.
His loss. She banished all thoughts of Daniel and his mesmerizing eyes and the corded forearms that made her yearn for a look at the muscles hidden beneath his well-tailored clothes. She didn’t need mental images of him for fantasy fodder. She had cable.
Mia took the messages. “So what did the mystery caller say?”
“He asked to speak with you and seemed disappointed to hear you were out of the office. In lieu of leaving a message with me or on your voice mail, he asked if I knew when you’d be back. Maybe he’s planning to call again. Maybe you have a secret admirer!”
“I’ve never found the idea of a secret admirer romantic. It actually runs the risk of being a little stalker-y, if you think about it. Someone lurking on the edges of my life but without the nerve to walk up and say hi directly? I’m attracted to people who put their cards on the table.” She paused a beat. “Maybe Paige appreciates the direct approach, too.”
Shannon sighed. “I’m not ready. And you may sign my paychecks, but you are not the boss of my love life.”
“Sorry. You’re right.” Mia hadn’t meant to push so hard, she just wanted to see her friend happy. “I won’t bring it up again, I promise. But one last general piece of advice? To get what you want, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone.”
“I couldn’t agree more,” said a masculine voice from behind them.
Daniel. Mia spun around, stunned to find him entering the office. Her mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t think of anything to say other than what the hell are you doing here? which was hardly a polite, professional greeting. She swallowed. “What the hell are you doing here?”
“Stepping out of my comfort zone.” He flashed a self-deprecating grin. “I thought maybe I could buy you dinner, if you’re not busy after work.”
Tempting. Dressed casually in well-worn jeans and a black sweater, he looked every bit as good as he had Friday night. Where’s your pride? The man had insinuated that she couldn’t hold a grown-up job. If she were a petty person intent on making a point, she’d name-drop wealthy Penelope Wainwright. But she didn’t care about Daniel’s opinion, she just wanted him to go away and take his assumptions with him.
“Actually, tonight I...” She sighed. Fibbing wasn’t in her nature. Besides, Shannon was watching with acute interest. After all of Mia’s encouragement to take some risks, wouldn’t dodging Daniel be hypocritical? “Dinner sounds—” confusing “—nice. But I have at least another hour’s worth of work to do here.”
“No problem.” He held up a briefcase. “I noticed on the building directory that there’s a café upstairs. I can grab a cup of coffee and get some work of my own done.” He wrote down his number so she could text him when she was ready. Then he was gone, leaving her bemused over the turn of events.
“Well.” Shannon leaned back in her chair, grinning. “At least one of us has a date.”
“I wouldn’t call it a date, at least not in the romantic sense. Just two former classmates catching up. Daniel and I went to college together.”
“And you never...?” Shannon waggled her eyebrows. “I mean, he’s not my type, but damn.”
Mia resisted the urge to fan herself. Damn, indeed. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Diaz.” There’s not room for both of us. Even back in college, when Mia had told herself she couldn’t like anyone as closed-minded as Daniel Keegan, she’d had more than her share of dirty thoughts about the man. Seeing him again stirred up each and every one of them.
Trying to look unfazed, she headed into her office. But she couldn’t focus on work. She didn’t know which was more difficult—wrapping her head around Daniel’s out-of-the-blue invitation to dinner or trying not to fantasize about dessert.
3 (#uc2555ef3-4a2b-5b18-89b0-8787de0e5ae9)
EVEN THOUGH THEY’D agreed Mia would text him, Daniel was still somewhat surprised when her message popped up on his phone. She hadn’t looked thrilled to see him when he’d appeared in her office earlier. On some level, he’d expected her to find a reason to cancel. Then again, Mia had never been the sort to make excuses. She meant what she said and said what she meant.
A decade ago, he’d found her bluntness abrasive. But after Felicity blindsided him, dumping him when he’d never realized she had reservations about their relationship, he had a greater appreciation for outspoken females. Mia might be opinionated, but a man would know where he stood with her.
Eager for her company, he hurriedly stuffed graded papers into his briefcase. Instead of waiting for the elevator, he took the stairs and met her in the lobby. She stood against the wall, studying her phone. Between her trench coat and the leather boots that went up almost to the hem of her skirt, she wasn’t showing any skin. But the way she carried herself made her as sexy as she had been in fishnet tights and a corset.
When she glanced up, her hazel eyes meeting his, awareness jolted through him. At that moment, asking her out felt like the best decision he’d made in months. “Thanks for agreeing to dinner,” he told her. “I hope my showing up in person didn’t make you feel obligated to say yes.”
Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “No worries on that score. My parents have tried to control me through a sense of obligation for years, with no success.”
He felt a stab of envy—would that he could shrug off his own family obligations so easily. “Glad to hear it.” Did that mean she wanted to go out with him?
She nodded toward his briefcase. “Get a lot of work done?”
No. He’d been too distracted by the prospect of going out with her. “Some.”
“What kind of career did you end up with, anyway?”
“I teach.”
Lips quirked in a half smile, she studied him in a leisurely perusal that made his skin prickle with heat. He reached for the door, welcoming the January chill.
“You’re a professor,” she said, as they stepped outside.
“Good guess.”
“Well, I can’t picture you surrounded by small children. And college is so much more serious than high school.”
For a minute, he really wished that he taught teenagers so he could show her he wasn’t as predictable as she imagined. But you are. Depressing.
On the other hand, coming to see her this evening had been completely out of character. Who knew what other surprises might be in store? “And you’re an event planner,” he said, curious about the path she’d taken.
She turned to face him, walking backward down the sidewalk. “What would you have guessed? I mean, if we hadn’t run into each other and I happened to cross your mind for some reason, what would you have imagined me doing for a living?”
Daniel felt as if the question was a test. He had a history of unintentionally insulting her, which he didn’t want to do now, but she wasn’t the type of person who would appreciate a disingenuous answer, either. “No idea. But I could have pictured you as a lawyer. You always enjoyed arguing.”
Her laugh suggested she was not offended by this assessment. Instead, she winked at him. “I enjoy lots of things, Danny.”
His pulse pounded in his ears. He was suddenly very grateful Felicity hadn’t accepted his proposal. The fact that Mia’s mischievous smile seemed sexier than anything that had happened to him in the past six months proved there had definitely been something missing in his last relationship.
“Why did you come here today?” she blurted. “If it’s just because you feel like you owe me an apology for putting your foot in your mouth the other night, don’t worry about it. I was already cranky from that jackass trying to—”
“I’m here for fun.”
She raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. He didn’t blame her. When was the last time he’d done anything for the sheer hell of it—because it made him smile, because he liked the exhilaration of not knowing what would happen next?
He held her gaze, feeling freer, lighter, than he had in a long time. “You said that if I had changed, we could have had fun together. Maybe I need a change.” He’d carefully planned his life, set short-and long-term goals and worked studiously toward them, yet where had his efforts landed him? Single, with a family that would drive him ever crazier as the fall election approached. And as much as he hoped the university’s board of regents granted him tenure, stressing about their answer wouldn’t improve his chances.
“Daniel Keegan having fun.” Mia’s tone was light and teasing. “There’s a mind-blowing concept.” They’d run out of sidewalk, and she paused at the edge of the parking lot. “So where to? Did you have a specific place in mind?”
No. He was officially making this up as he went along. The only place he wanted to be was alone with her, but that seemed like an odd thing to say to a woman he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. “What are you in the mood for?”
“Ever had a plantain s’more?”
“A what, now?”
“Baked plantain, rolled in chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs. There’s a restaurant about fifteen minutes away that does Latin American and Caribbean food. They shouldn’t be too crowded on a Monday. Excellent dessert menu.”
Her priorities amused him. “You always decide where to have dinner based on the desserts?”
“Yes.” Her husky tone was both challenge and invitation. “What’s wrong with enjoying the evening more because you know it’s leading up to something deliciously decadent?”
“I can’t argue with that.” The longer his gaze held hers, the more he wanted to hear about her ideas of decadence. He broke the connection, glancing toward his car. “I’m, ah, parked over there. Do you want me to follow you to the restaurant?”
“To be perfectly honest, I spent the afternoon in traffic and am in no hurry to get back behind the wheel. Do you mind driving? I can give you directions to the restaurant, then you can bring me back here. If that’s not taking you too far out of your way.”
“Not at all.” He might be out a little later than expected, but that might be a good thing. If he went to bed later than usual, would he stop waking up at three thirty or four in the morning, unable to fall back asleep?
He’d had insomnia since New Year’s. During that window of time when he tossed and turned, pretending he might actually fall back asleep, it wasn’t Felicity who haunted him so much as his family’s faces when he’d told them. Poor Daniel had hung in the air like suffocating smog. His two older brothers were both married and unquestionably successful. Had he imagined the hint of smugness in their condolences? Daniel’s birthday was in a few weeks, which meant the usual family dinner. God willing, he’d have tenure by then. He would not be the failure in the Keegan family.
He led Mia to his car and opened the passenger door for her, which earned him a bemused smile.
“The polished manners of gallant Daniel Keegan,” she said softly.
“Is that a roundabout way of saying I’m old-fashioned?” His own friends called him stuffy. To a free spirit like Mia, he must seem downright rigid.
“It’s a roundabout way of saying I’m surprised you’re voluntarily spending time with me. I’m not known for demure refinement...as you pointed out more than once when we went to school together.”
He flinched. In retrospect, he’d been a bit of a self-righteous ass when he was younger. Luckily, the longer he’d been out of his parents’ house, the less he judged others through the Keegans’ narrow worldview. When he’d met Mia, he’d found her both fascinating and discomfiting. He’d been raised not to steal attention from his brothers, who were clearly Going Places, raised never to do anything controversial or scandalous. His job was to blend, to be polite and unobtrusively charming.
Mia Hayes did not blend.
When he climbed in on his side of the car, he told her, “I’m sorry if there were times I was a sanctimonious jerk.”
“If?” But she smiled, looking pleased by his apology.
“You were so different from most of the girls I’d known.” And not because he’d rarely seen tattoos and turquoise-streaked hair at his parents’ country club. “You seemed to thrive on friction.”
“Under the right circumstances, friction can feel pretty damn good.”
His brain lit up with images of bodies rubbing against each other, and it was on the tip of his tongue to say to hell with the restaurant and ask her back to his apartment.
But then she instructed, “Make a left at the intersection,” and he shifted his focus to driving. More or less.
As they waited at the red light, he told her, “I know we were never friends in college, but I did admire you. I respected your smarts—”
“Even when I got a higher grade than you did?” she needled.
The gallant response would be yes. “On two projects, Hayes.” He’d busted his ass to earn an impressive GPA. “As I recall, I finished with a higher final score in both classes we had together.”
“Because you were teacher’s pet, dutifully regurgitating what the professors told us instead of exploring more divisive interpretations.”
“Arguing a premise out of sheer reflex is habit, not proof of intellectual superiority.”
“And I suppose when you grade essays and exams, you reward students who mindlessly parrot what you’ve told them?”
“Of course,” he snapped. “For I am an academic god with no patience for mere mortals who think for themselves.”
She laughed aloud at his sarcasm. “Good thing we’re mature now and finally get along, huh?”
He couldn’t believe that she’d provoked him so easily, yet sparring with her was perversely refreshing. “I was trying to pay you a compliment.”
“Next time, I’ll handle the flattery with more grace.”
“Pfft. What makes you think there will be a next time?”
“Run out of nice things to say about me already, Professor?”
You’re audacious and funny and so fucking sexy I can barely keep my eyes on the road. “I don’t think ‘nice’ applies to you.”
“You’d be surprised.” Her grin was wicked. “I can be very nice when I want to be.”
When she smiled like that, there wasn’t enough air in the car. His chest constricted. His body tightened with lust, and he gripped the steering wheel harder to keep from reaching for her. If he could’ve found his voice in that moment, he would have asked what it took to coax her to be nice.
But he was starting to think maybe nice wasn’t what he wanted.
* * *
DINNER WITH DANIEL was a revelation. Mia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun on a date. Is this a date? she asked herself as the waitress set dessert on the table. Daniel’s explanation for asking her out hadn’t been a burning desire for her company, simply that he needed “a change.”
Still, his impersonal reasoning aside, their evening had the hallmarks of a date. Since Daniel had never been to the restaurant before, they’d decided to sample tapas plates instead of ordering entrées, sliding close together in the curved booth to share food. While enjoying yucca fries, miniature empanadas and grilled beef served with flavorful chimichurri, they’d had a lively conversation, discussing literature-based movies and arguing about which format was more successful for each story. Most date-like of all, there was palpable chemistry between her and her smoking-hot companion.
Daniel might spend a lot of his time teaching classes and publishing academic papers, but it was clear from his muscular build and lithe grace that he didn’t overlook physical recreation. He’d mentioned weekly basketball games with Eli and jogging the paths around the Chattahoochee River in warmer weather. It was difficult to decide which was sexier—his toned, masculine body or the gleam in his silvery eyes when he teased her. She was discovering he had a much better sense of humor than she would’ve anticipated. Daniel Keegan in a playful mood was nearly irresistible.
Mia tried not to get bogged down by regrets, but for the first time she wondered what their earlier relationship would have been like if she hadn’t had a chip on her shoulder when they’d met. She’d gone off to college angry with her father and her stepmother, wounded at their lack of support when she’d needed it most and betrayed by their attempts to remake her in the image of her oh-so-proper stepsister. Never gonna happen.
“Hey.” Daniel lightly poked her shoulder. “Did I lose you somewhere? I could understand if I’d been droning on about Renaissance literature, but I was sharing a quality childhood anecdote from my limited supply. I can count on one hand the number of times my brothers and I indulged in humorous shenanigans.”
“Then we have that in common.”
“Really? I would have thought your youth was full of shenanigans.”
Far fewer than he imagined, and none with her stepsister. “Patience and I didn’t have a whimsical relationship.”
“Patience being your sister?” He reached for a chocolate-coated slice of plantain.
“Step. It was just me and Dad for years. He remarried the summer before I started high school, and, boom, suddenly I had an older sibling. We’re only a year apart in age, but Patience...” Mia couldn’t think of a way to describe her that didn’t sound petulant.
“Is she bossy? I have lifelong experience being the youngest sibling.”
“Patience is shy and soft-spoken. She wouldn’t be able to boss around the world’s most accommodating personal assistant, much less me. We couldn’t be less alike.” Much to their parents’ dismay.
Even now, years after the fact, the memory of her father’s words were a raw wound. I’m not saying that it was your fault, but I can’t imagine the same thing would have happened if Patience had been in your situation.
“I don’t want to talk about my family,” she said abruptly.
Daniel nodded, unfazed by her harsh tone. Perhaps he’d heard it often enough in college to be used to it. “How did you decide you wanted to be an event planner?”
“By accident. I was interning for a horrible woman who used to pawn off her personal errands on me, everything from picking up her dry cleaning to emptying her cat’s litter box—which I firmly refused to do. But then she put me in charge of her parents’ anniversary party, and it was more fun than work. I mean, who doesn’t love a party?”
He gave her a sheepish look, silently admitting parties weren’t his favorite place to be.
But Mia had never been one to back down from a challenge. “I bet I could plan you the perfect party.” A successful event meant different things to different guests. One person’s backyard kegger was another person’s museum wine-tasting. She’d coordinated myriad events, everything from painting parties to bar mitzvahs to themed scavenger hunts.
“My birthday’s in early February,” he told her, sliding the dessert plate toward her so she could take the last piece. “It’s tempting to hire you to plan a celebration instead of going to my parents’. Breaking tradition would probably get me disowned, but...” He hitched a shoulder in a half shrug, suggesting family exile might not be the end of the world.
“My mom hosted my favorite birthday party of all time.” It was one of the few vivid memories she had of her mother. “It was for our dog, Sasha.”
He grinned. “You had birthday parties for the dog?”
“Not every year. Just that once. It had been a hot-as-hell summer, and I was antsy to start kindergarten.” She knew those details more from hearing her dad repeat the story than from her own recollections. “To help me pass the time—and probably for her own entertainment, since I had to be driving her crazy—Mom said we should have a party for the dog. She told me Sasha was turning one, but I have no idea if the dog’s birthday was even in July. Mom invited other puppies from around the neighborhood. She organized games and baked a cake for me and my friends in the shape of a giant bone. I still have the picture she snapped in the ten seconds when all the dogs were actually wearing their party hats.” Less than six months later, her mother had been killed in a car accident.
Daniel was smiling at her story. “Maybe, subconsciously, you decided then that you wanted to be a party planner.”
She tried unsuccessfully to smile back. Her face felt stiff, and her throat was tight. She was glad when the waitress interrupted, bringing their check. Mia offered to pay half, but Daniel insisted that since dinner had been his idea, he should pay.
“Besides,” he added, grabbing a couple of mints as they exited, “I owe you. This place is fantastic, and without you, I never would have known it existed.”
The restaurant was small and family-owned, on a lot so tiny that parking was several blocks away. “It’s true they don’t do much advertising.” Mia was constantly telling people about the hidden gem, doing her part to keep the place in business. “I’m not even sure they have a website. Thank goodness for repeat customers and word-of-mouth recommendations.”
“Word-of-mouth and networking must be important for your business, too. Eli said Bex met you at some friend-of-a-friend event?”
“She was actually a guest at two completely unrelated functions I handled—a baby shower for one of her former sorority sisters and a bachelor auction benefiting the hospital. We hit it off, and she asked me to do their wedding, even though it’s not my area of expertise. Theirs will bring me up to half a dozen.”
“Seems to me that opportunities for expansion are a sign of a successful company. I’m impressed you’ve managed to thrive in a customer-based field.”
Mia stopped dead on the sidewalk, narrowing her eyes. “Your surprised tone is ever so flattering.” Was the man always going to underestimate her?
“Sorry. There was meant to be a compliment in that.”
“Must have missed it,” she said.
“It’s impossible to make everyone happy, right?” He unlocked his car with the key remote as they approached. “I’ve had more than one student drop my class or complain to the department chair about a grade—although so far, he’s upheld all my decisions. In order for you to build clientele, there’s a certain amount of people-pleasing inherent in your job. But there must be times you’d rather verbally skewer someone.” He opened her door for her, his expression darkening. “Like with that jerk who grabbed you at Eli’s party.”
He was far from the first. She sighed. “Since he’ll also be a wedding guest, I suppose I could have tried to handle that with more diplomacy, but—No, screw that. He didn’t deserve tact. Getting groped in college by idiot fraternity guys who considered it flirting was bad enough. But he was a grown-ass man who should know better. Hopefully, he’ll think twice next time before making a move on some poor bartender or waitress.” Or babysitter. Mia clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into her palms as Daniel crossed to the driver’s side.
He turned the key in the ignition, his posture tense. “You got groped a lot in college?” Maybe she wasn’t the only one with anger issues; from his tone, he sounded like he wanted to go back in time and dole out some fist-based justice.
“Probably less than the average female university student.” She’d gained a reputation after pepper-spraying a guy who had trouble processing no. “I like sex.”
The car jerked unsteadily as they backed out of the parking spot.
“But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to have it with just anyone,” she continued. “Nor am I required to defend my decision not to have it. I told Shannon earlier today that I respect men who are direct, who aren’t afraid to make their attraction known. I’ve never been mad at a man for showing interest. But when the interest isn’t mutual, it’s time to back the hell off. Too many guys willfully lie to themselves about what constitutes encouragement. A woman inhaling and exhaling is not a sign of burning lust.” And a teenager wearing a tank top and shorts on a humid, hundred-degree day was not a sign that she wanted to be pawed at by a man twice her age.
Daniel was quiet as he turned onto the street leading back to her office, and Mia realized she’d been ranting. She hadn’t meant to sound so hostile; Daniel hadn’t done anything wrong. He’s one of the good ones. She was pretty sure she’d had the situation at the bachelor party under control, but she appreciated his coming to her aid. Chivalry might be on the endangered species list, but it wasn’t extinct.
“So, what should a guy look for as real signs of interest?” he asked, changing lanes.
She eyed him, trying to decide if he was making light of her tirade.
“I just got out of a long-term relationship with a woman I’d been seeing on-and-off since middle school,” he told her.
“You’re kidding.”
“Nope. Our families convinced us to go to the eighth-grade formal together.”
Ugh. Mia couldn’t imagine dating anyone handpicked by her parents. No doubt they would have tried to find someone who would be a “good influence” on her.
“My flirting skills are rusty.” Daniel parked next to her car, one of the few left in the lot. “Assuming I ever had any in the first place.”
“If not skill, per se, definitely potential.” Sure, he used to annoy the crap out of her, but did he know there’d also been times when he’d made her knees weak and her stomach quiver? “I fantasized about you once or twice during Dr. Leonard’s lectures.”
Even in the dim lighting, Daniel’s wide-eyed gape was obvious. But he recovered quickly. “What kind of fantasies?” His voice was silky, coaxing.
“Maybe I’ll tell you. Someday.”
The air between them crackled. His intent expression was heady, the thrill that shot through her even more delicious than plantain s’mores. Self-preservation had her climbing out of the car before she did something crazy. Like front-seat sex in the office parking lot?
It was a beautiful, clear winter night. An impressive number of stars twinkled down on them despite the city’s lights. Shoving her hands in the pockets of her coat, she sat on the hood of her car and took a moment to appreciate the view. Daniel joined her, standing with his elbow against the hood. How would he react if she grabbed the lapels of his jacket and pulled him in for a kiss?
“Flirting lesson number one,” she said lightly. “If a woman admits you’ve starred in her fantasies, she’s probably interested.”
His mouth curved in a sensual smile. “Probably?”
Damn, he had a great mouth. For all that she’d scoffed at him in the past about being an unimaginative rule follower, he had full lips more reminiscent of sweaty carnal weekends than stuffy classroom lectures.
“Gaze can be a good indication of desire,” she murmured. Had he noticed her staring? “If a woman’s uncomfortable, she might glance around for exits or possible rescue. If she’s attracted, there’s often a lot of eye contact.”
He leaned close enough for her to breathe in peppermint and the faint, pleasant scent of sandalwood soap. “And if she’s looking at my lips like she wants to taste them?”
So, yeah, he’d noticed. Since she was busted anyway, she gave in to impulse and traced his bottom lip with her finger. He shuddered out a breath, warm on her skin, his pupils dilated in dark contrast to his silvery eyes.
Her own breathing was unsteady as she slid her hand down his chest. “Go with your instincts.”
With a sound that was part sigh, part groan, he cupped the nape of her neck and bent toward her. He traced her lips, as she had his, but with his tongue, teasing, enticing, before he angled his head and deepened their kiss, thrusting into her mouth. A jolt went through her, like a small static-electricity shock without the sting. This was pure pleasure.
She’d entertained dozens of naughty thoughts about Daniel Keegan, yet she’d never believed she would actually be in his arms, hungrily kissing him. It had been worth the wait. He wasn’t just good at this; he was wickedly skilled, setting off hot prickling need through her body. Her knees fell to either side as he stepped closer, breaking their kiss to scrape his teeth over the column of her throat. Clutching his shoulders, she tilted her head to give him better access. He supported her with one strong arm behind her back.
His other hand had pushed aside her jacket and was sliding over the slope of her breast. She closed her eyes as he palmed her through the layers of clothing. Aching desire built, her nipples hard and seeking attention. He stroked one with his thumb, and she tugged him close for a frantic kiss. When he pinched the sensitive peak, his mouth muffled her involuntary cry. It was all she could do not to pull him across her and have sex right there on the hood of her—
“What do you kids— Oh...” A man cleared his throat as a beam of light hit Mia’s face.
She blinked, dazed by sensation and confused by the disembodied voice. Daniel was much quicker to react. While she was still mentally processing that they’d been interrupted by the night security guard who patrolled the property, Daniel had already straightened, tugging her wrist to pull her off of the car and partially behind him. He stood between her and the glare of the flashlight.
The stout security guard sounded as flustered as she felt. “Mistook you for a couple of teenagers. You shouldn’t be here.” Suddenly, he rocked back on his heels. “Ms. Hayes?”
It wasn’t uncommon for her to work late hours, and the guard had offered to walk her to her car on more than one occasion. She raised her hand in a limp wave. “Hey, Myron.”
He locked his gaze on the pavement, stammering, “I, ah...”
“We were just saying good-night,” Daniel said. “We’ll be on our way now.”
Myron’s head bobbed in relieved agreement. “Good, good. Y’all drive safe.” He got back into the little golf cart he used to cover the spacious lot.
Mia pulled her trench coat tight across her body, feeling exposed. But it occurred to her that Myron hadn’t really seen anything other than some intense kissing. Nobody had been undressed. Yet. Now that she’d had a chance to regain her composure, she was able to see humor in being mistaken for a couple of kids necking.
She turned toward Daniel, a small smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. “Well, that was—”
“Unacceptable.” His tone was grim. Bordering on angry.
Unacceptable? Not what a girl hoped to hear after a first kiss. The last of the pleasure she’d felt faded, making her newly aware of how cold the night had become.
“I apologize for my behavior.” He shoved a hand through his hair. “That wasn’t me. I never—You...”
She started to point out he hadn’t acted alone, but maybe that was the point. Was he blaming her for their kisses? Why was he even upset? He wasn’t the one who’d have to face Myron again. She stared, trying to understand what Daniel was feeling. But his expression was shuttered. He looked nothing like the playful man she’d spent the evening with.
Because he’s reverted to form. Right now, he bore entirely too much resemblance to the remote, critical classmate who’d tried to shame her for her actions in the past. One would never guess by looking at him that he’d been aroused.
His voice was downright impersonal as he asked, “Are you okay to drive?”
“Fine.” She’d been temporarily dazed, not drunk. That haze of desire she’d experienced was embarrassing next to Daniel’s calm clarity when they’d been interrupted. While she’d been writhing against the car and losing her mind, had he been unaffected? No, not unaffected, not with the way he’d kissed her. But he hardly seemed swept away by passion.
He looked like a man who faulted her for his temporary loss of dignity. That wasn’t me, he’d said. You... Sure. Why not wash his hands of all responsibility and dump it on her? An unpleasant sense of déjà vu stung her chest like heartburn. Why couldn’t grown men be accountable for their own actions?
Teeth clenched, she unlocked her car door. “Good night, Daniel.”
He hesitated, and she willed him to say something—anything—that made her feel like he didn’t regret what they’d shared, that she hadn’t been the only one caught up in the moment. Instead, he nodded stiffly. “Night.”
Inside her car, she let loose a few choice expletives before putting the vehicle in reverse. That was a humiliating end to the evening.
It could have been worse, though. At least he’d delivered her back to her car after dinner and hadn’t driven her home. Because, if they’d been in proximity of a bed and he’d kissed her like that... Given the disdainful way he’d eyed her after making out, she could just imagine how charming he’d be after they slept together. Forget the question of whether he’d respect her in the morning—he barely respected her now.
Past college fantasies be damned, sex with Daniel Keegan was out of the question.
4 (#uc2555ef3-4a2b-5b18-89b0-8787de0e5ae9)
“WHAT THE HELL, KEEGAN?” Eli scowled. Across the court, Sean’s teammate jogged after the basketball. “Were you aiming anywhere near the basket?”
They were playing two-on-two, but given Daniel’s performance, Eli might have been better off taking on the other team alone.
Sounding more concerned than annoyed, Eli asked, “What’s with you this morning? Lack of caffeine?”
In order to have the campus gym to themselves, they met at five forty-five. Sean declared it an unholy hour, but the time didn’t bother Daniel. Since his insomnia problems had started, he was always out of bed by five anyway. Today, he’d jolted awake around four, pulled from scorching hot dreams of Mia and the kisses they’d shared last night.
In his dreams, there had been no security guard. And no stopping.
He’d awakened sexually frustrated, which was no less than he deserved, and still furious with himself. After a lifetime of prioritizing proper behavior, he’d let the lure of Mia’s mouth turn him into a ravening beast. He hadn’t spared a second’s concern for whether someone would see them or how that could affect her. They’d been right outside her place of business, for God’s sake. What were you thinking?
The beam of the guard’s flashlight had sliced through the night like an accusation. Daniel had recoiled immediately, running on autopilot as a hundred lectures from his parents rang in his ears. He’d been so chagrined over his undisciplined behavior that he could hardly recall what he’d said to Mia. He did remember her stricken expression, though—the one she’d tried to hide before climbing into her car. She must think he was a total ass, no better than the men she’d described who groped and pawed at women.
“Sorry,” Daniel said. “Been distracted lately.” Lately meaning since last night, and distracted meaning he was unable to concentrate on a damn thing besides Mia’s enthusiasm and the heat of her mouth.
Eli knelt to tighten his shoelaces. “Still obsessing about the committee recommendation? You know the provost’s in your corner. I get that waiting sucks, but the decision’s in the hands of the president and the board of regents now. Don’t make yourself crazy in the meantime.”
Tenure. Right. That goal he’d busted his ass to attain. “Actually, work was the furthest thing from my mind.”
Eli stood, his expression perplexed.
What did it say about Daniel’s life that his friends assumed his career was the only thing he had going for him? “I had a date last night. Dinner with Mia.”
“No kidding? That’s fantas—”
Daniel grimaced.
“Not fantastic?”
“Actually, it was. Until the very end. I...” ...fell on her like a sex-starved maniac? They’d been only a few feet from passing traffic, and he’d gone for second base like a horny teenager. Lord knew what he would have done without Myron’s fortuitous interruption. “I screwed up.”
“Hey!” Sean dribbled the ball, scowling at them. “Considering the embarrassing score, I get the need to talk strategy. But could we return to our game sometime before spring break?”
“Surprised you’re in such a hurry to give up your lead,” Eli called back. “Might as well savor it while you’ve still got it. Ready, Daniel?”
He nodded.
“FYI,” Eli added under his breath, “I’ve screwed up a time or two with Bex. In my experience, flowers help.”
“Thanks.” But Daniel doubted an assortment of plant life was going to make up for his boorish behavior.
“Now focus. Quit throwing away your shots.”
Unfortunately, Daniel couldn’t shake the feeling he already had—not on the basketball court, but with the sexy-as-hell event coordinator. She’d given him a look of near loathing before she’d driven away.
He wasn’t sure what he could say to convince her to ever go out with him again. Considering his wildly undisciplined reaction to her, maybe it was best if he stayed away from her. Kept his distance. It was sound logic, but on some primal level, he rejected the idea even as he had it. Never kiss Mia again? Never touch her?
With an inward snarl, he lunged for Sean to steal the ball, knocking his friend on his ass.
Sean grunted a surprised expletive before propping himself up on his elbow. “Foul.”
Eli fought a smile. “Dude, I said ‘focus,’ not ‘maim.’”
“Right. Sorry. I lost my head for a moment.” A moment? Ha. He hadn’t felt like himself since Mia turned around at that bachelor party, meeting his gaze. Avoiding her might be the only way to return to normal.
Screw normal. The restless part of him he habitually stifled refused to stay silent. Maybe it was time to admit he didn’t want “normal.” He wanted change. He wanted excitement. And he desperately wanted Mia Hayes.
* * *
“BRANT IS PERFECT,” Wren gushed as she unrolled her mat along the studio wall. “Well, perfect for me, anyway.”
Mia and her friend Wren Kendrick had driven to the Tuesday night yoga class together. Wren managed an upscale lingerie store and occasionally gave Mia a generous friends-and-family discount, which was how Mia happened to own the perfect corset and fishnets to work a burlesque party. Both women had been working so hard lately that girl time had been scarce; Mia had yet to meet Wren’s new boyfriend. The bubbly blonde had been chatting about Brant nonstop for the past fifteen minutes. Hopefully, she’d wind down before class started. Otherwise, they were in for another evening of the instructor shooting Wren pointed glances. Talking was not encouraged during the ninety-minute session.
“I’ve never dated a man I have more in common with,” Wren said.
“That’s great,” Mia murmured absently. She was glad for Wren’s joy but running out of supportive things to interject in the conversation.
“Our personalities are just so in sync.”
What must that be like? Annoyingly, Mia’s mind drifted to Daniel. Again. He’d been in her thoughts way too much today—not that she believed for a moment that the preoccupation was mutual. He seemed to have wiped her from his mind before he even drove out of the parking lot. His expression had been so insultingly blank she’d wanted to shake his shoulders. Hi, remember me? Mia? You just had your tongue in my mouth?
Their sizzling kisses might support the generalization of opposites attracting, but she had too much self-respect to share a hot night with a man likely to sneer at her the next morning. Whatever had motivated his stated need for change, modifications to a person’s lifestyle or behavior were often fleeting.
Like temporary insanity. That’s what you experienced, a little hormone-driven insanity. Nothing to obsess over.
It was embarrassing how distracted she’d been today. Thank goodness she’d been able to avoid Shannon and any perceptive questions about Mia’s mood. A dental appointment had kept the woman out of the office that morning, and Mia had been on the go all afternoon. Yoga was the perfect opportunity to regain clarity and perspective. She straightened her legs in front of her, stretching over them as Wren continued her ecstatic Brant-themed babbling.
“You know the first time you have sex with someone and he doesn’t know what you like yet, so you’re trying to gently steer him toward what you want without seeming bossy?”
Mia made a noncommittal sound. She spoke her mind, in bed and out of it, and had never much worried about whether she sounded bossy. What would Daniel be like in the bedroom? Willing to follow his lover’s lead, or convinced his way was the right one, just as he had been in college? Stop it. At twenty, she may have fantasized once or twice about the opportunity to help loosen him up, but she was an adult now. She didn’t have time in her life for a man who wouldn’t appreciate her.
“My sisters are scandalized I slept with Brant after knowing him less than a week,” Wren said, unconcerned that the woman one mat over was shamelessly eavesdropping, “but it didn’t feel like our first time. It was like we’d known each other forever, like we were two halves of the same whole.”
Typical Wren. She lived—and loved—boldly. Where Shannon was shy and reserved in her personal life, Wren liked to jump in with both feet. Mia couldn’t imagine ever declaring a guy her other half after a handful of dates, but she respected her friend’s optimistic courage. “I hope he—”
“Good evening, ladies.” The instructor walked into the room.
Hallelujah. Time to begin. Mia wasn’t really in the right headspace to gush about Wren’s new love, even though that was bitchy of her. If things had gone differently last night, Wren would be the first to cheer for her. If things had gone differently... Her imagination started down that path, but she ruthlessly yanked it back as the class opened their session with a collective “Om.”
For about an hour, she was able to push Daniel Keegan from her mind. But toward the end of the session, they went into yin practice, which involved long-held poses and encouraged meditation. It gave her entirely too much time to think. Plus, after sixty minutes of focusing so intently on her body, on her breathing, on the pleasant soreness of muscles as she challenged herself... Well, it only made sense that her thoughts were lured back to the sensual experience of being pressed against Daniel’s body, who’d made her breathing uneven and her skin tingle.
She could tell herself all day long that he didn’t deserve her, but she couldn’t help wondering, if the chance to kiss him again arose, how would she resist? By remembering how aloof he was afterward. Almost as good as a cold shower. She wanted a lover who ran hot. Who looked at her with enough yearning to make her shiver. Who craved her unashamedly. Daniel Keegan was not that man—not based on the evidence of last night.
But heaven help her if he ever got comfortable with his passionate side. Because there’d be no resisting him then.
* * *
“MUST’VE BEEN SOME date Monday.” Shannon flashed a smile over the top of her coffee mug.
Mia froze in the act of removing her coat. “Why do you say that?” She hadn’t pegged Myron as the type who would blab about what he’d seen to other people in the building, but maybe she’d been wrong.
Shannon pointed toward the reception desk. “Because, flowers. You obviously made an impression.”
“Uh-huh.” A slight impression of her butt on the front of her car, maybe. Yet she crossed the room in three long strides to read the card, her curiosity piqued. Given his almost robotic goodbye, she hadn’t expected any further contact from Daniel, much less contact in the form of a square vase filled with carnations, white roses and delicate purple filler flowers.
The note was terse. I’m sorry. Daniel.
For which part, exactly? Asking her to dinner in the first place? Kissing her? Or was he apologizing for Myron’s bad timing?
With a sigh, she crumpled the card.
Shannon’s eyebrows shot skyward. “Dare I ask?”
“I want to discuss my date with Daniel about as much as you want to discuss your progress with Paige.”
“Wow. That bad, huh?”
“Any messages?” Mia asked, officially changing the subject.
They discussed clients and the day’s schedule while Mia fixed her own cup of coffee, although she doubted caffeine was a good idea given her already antsy state of mind. She needed to call Penelope Wainwright this morning, and she needed to be at her most professional when she spoke to the affluent woman. No sense sniping at their biggest client or sounding scattered because she was busy trying to decipher a bouquet of flowers.
Shannon returned to her desk, nodding at the arrangement. “Do you want these in your office?”
“No. Find a place for them out here that isn’t inconvenient for you. They brighten up the lobby.”
“Got it.” She hesitated, her expression apologetic. “Do you want me to put him through or take a message if he calls?”
She thought about his withdrawn manner, the perfunctory message on the card. “He won’t.”
* * *
GLANCING FROM THE stack of tests on his desk to the clock on the wall, Daniel felt a tug of dread in the pit of his stomach. “You have officially overextended yourself,” he muttered. In addition to the classes he taught and the articles he was scheduled to publish this year, he’d signed on for some extra volunteer activities, hoping they’d help him stand out as a tenure candidate. He was the faculty advisor for two student clubs and was serving on the curriculum review committee which met every Wednesday. In ten minutes, as a matter of fact.
Grade faster.
When his office phone rang, his first impulse was to let the call go to voice mail. He didn’t have time to talk to anyone. But what if it was Mia? She should’ve received the flowers by now, so she could be calling to thank him.
He grabbed for the phone, almost fumbling the receiver. “Professor Keegan speaking.”
“Daniel?”
“Felicity.” He was shocked to hear her voice; he was also a little stunned to realize she hadn’t even crossed his mind in the past two days. His thoughts had been too full of Mia. “How are you? Wait, I should let you know, I have a meeting to get to in a few minutes.” When he abruptly ended the call, he didn’t want her to take it personally.
“I’m fine, thanks. And this won’t take long. I just wanted to let you know I won’t be at the wedding this weekend. I RSVPed yes before the holidays, but obviously that was when I’d planned to be your date.”
“Felicity, you don’t have to cancel because of me.” Running into her was no longer the awkward proposition it would have been a week ago. Not just because he’d gone out with someone else but because his response to Mia had helped demonstrate that his relationship with Felicity had lacked passion. “Eli and Bex are your friends, too.” The four of them had double-dated often, spent holiday weekends together, celebrated promotions and other milestones.
“And I wish them every happiness. It’s Rebekah’s big day. I want her to be able to focus on that, not worried about any confrontations between us.”
He almost laughed. Neither he nor Felicity were the type for angry confrontations. “I trust us to be cordial. Maybe even friends, eventually.” Down the road, once his pride had fully recovered and he was no longer worried that friendship between them would give their manipulative families false hope. “After all, we’ve known each other for most of our lives.”
“Friends,” she echoed. “Then you aren’t mad at me for breaking up with you?”
“No. I wish you’d told me sooner that you were unhappy, but I’m not mad.”
“I...” She chose her words carefully, haltingly. “I wasn’t unhappy, exactly. I care a lot about you. We had a very comfortable relationship built on mutual respect. It just...wasn’t enough.”
“Yeah. I get that.” His scandal-phobic family, still reeling from the antics of his infamous uncle, had always encouraged Daniel to live a muted existence, but why should Felicity settle for that? Why should I? “Look, I really have to get to this meeting, but please know that you’re welcome at the wedding if you change your mind.”
“Thank you.”
He hung up the phone thinking half a dozen things at once—from wondering whether he’d convinced her to attend the wedding to being relieved that hearing her voice hadn’t hurt. But his strongest reaction was disappointment that it hadn’t been Mia on the other end. He made himself a deal as he caught the elevator downstairs: if Mia hadn’t gotten in touch by the time his committee meeting ended, he would call her.
They’d had a lot of fun during dinner the other night. Yes, he’d screwed up the last twenty minutes of the date, but if Eli was right about flowers smoothing over social gaffes, maybe Mia would be willing to see him again.
Curriculum meetings were long and boring. Daniel usually resented the intrusion on his schedule. But leaning back in his chair and imagining the best-case scenarios of his upcoming conversation with Mia made it the most enjoyable hour of his day.
* * *
AS IT TURNED OUT, Shannon needn’t have worried about what to do if Daniel called the office phone because he called Mia’s cell phone directly. When she saw his name on the caller display, she briefly considered ignoring him to continue the email she was typing. Avoidance is the coward’s way out.
With a sigh, she hit the accept button. “Hello,” she said flatly.
“Hi. It’s Daniel. I, uh... Did you get the flowers I sent?”
“I did.” What she didn’t get was why. What were they supposed to accomplish? “They add a nice splash of color to the office.”
“Good.”
A long pause stretched between them, an almost expectant silence. If she’d opened solitaire on her computer, she could be halfway through a game by now. “Thank you for the flowers, Daniel.” Was that why he’d called, to give her the opportunity to express socially mandated gratitude? If so, mission accomplished. Now he could go away. “But I have a lot to do and—”
“I meant what I said in the card,” he blurted. “I really am sorry.”
She rolled her chair away from the desk and stood, agitated enough to pace. “Sorry for what, specifically?” If he said he regretted kissing her, she was hanging up on him.
“For my loss of control. We had a great evening, until I mauled you in a public place. Not even a romantic place—a parking lot overlooking the street.”
Though she might tout the importance of ambience to her clients, in Mia’s opinion, geography wasn’t what made a moment romantic. She and Daniel had created their own mood.

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