After giving Clancy a pat on the head, Sue headed down the stairs, passing Jason and Kelli on the landing below. For a moment, Mia said nothing as her friend’s footsteps faded and her ex and his girlfriend closed the door below them.
When she finally spoke, she didn’t make eye contact; she stooped to pet the dog instead. “I’m so sorry about this, Michael. I’m sure you’re accustomed to huge suites and chocolates on the pillows, not dinky rooms the size of a closet.” She kept her attention on Clancy, but he could see the tears pooling in her eyes, and it made him want to take her in his arms. “If you want to leave, I’ll totally understand. I can come up with a cover story. They all saw you. I’m sure that is enough to give them a weekend of gossip.”
She stood and he took her face in his hands. “Please stop.” He ran his finger over the smooth skin of her cheek, wishing she could see herself through his lens, not that of her friends. “I’m not here for luxury accommodations. I’m here for you.”
Her eyes met his, and her lips parted. He wanted to kiss those lips—wanted it more than he’d wanted anything in a long time. Briefly, her gaze flitted to his mouth, then back to his eyes and he hardened.
“Your words are as smooth as your public image, Michael David Anderson. A girl could fall hard for you if she weren’t careful.”
He found himself holding his breath.
“Good thing I’m very careful,” she added.
Dropping his hands, he took a step back, making sure his expression didn’t reveal his unexpected disappointment.
She leaned down and unsnapped Clancy’s leash. “Go on in, Mr. Fancy Pants. You can hold down the fort when we’re gone.” The dog trotted ahead. After grabbing her suitcase, she pushed into the room and flopped it on the bed next to where Clancy made himself right at home nestled into the stack of pillows. “So we need to get our story straight.”
“What story?” Michael set his suitcase on the bed next to hers since there wasn’t a square inch of floor space to spare.
“How we met, how we fell in love, you know… our story.”
“I suggest we stick to the truth as much as possible. We met when you caught bread on fire and flooded your bathroom.”
She popped the lock on her suitcase “Well, that’s certainly believable.”
“And we just keep all the facts the same, except it happened earlier… say, maybe the day you moved in?”
“I’ve only been next door to you a total of six weeks, Michael.”
“It was love at first sight.”
She rolled her eyes and unzipped her suitcase. “The great and mighty Michael Anderson falling for his flaky nobody neighbor who almost burned his place down…at first sight. Yeah. They’re going to believe that, no problem.”
“Why do you do that?”
“What?”
“The self-deprecation. Why would I not fall for you?”
“Because I’m… me.”
“That’s not a sufficient answer, Mia.”
She pulled out a heap of horrible green and yellow knitted material and slammed the suitcase shut. “That’s because you don’t really know me well enough. Here.” She shoved the blob of knitting at him.
“What on earth is that?”
“It’s a gift for you from Gladys. She made a matching one for Clancy, see?”
It was a sweater…sort of. “Surely you don’t expect Clancy or me to wear those.”
“I think it was a really sweet gift and you should write Gladys a thank you letter.”
He held up the bigger sweater, which had a lopsided M on the front and groaned. “I should have my lawyer write her a Cease and Desist letter.”
She wrapped the matching scarf around her neck and Michael bit his lip to keep from remarking how bad it looked with the cashmere dress. She knew what he was thinking, though, and her eyes narrowed. “I’m guessing you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about by the time this wedding is over. ‘Because I’m me’ will be completely sufficient to answer why a man like you would never fall for a woman like me.”
And as he stared at her, flushed and wearing a spectacular dress with a horrendous handmade scarf, he realized he had fallen—and hard.
From below came male laughter, and then a playful, feminine squeal.
Mia paled and closed her eyes. “Insult to injury,” she whispered.
More laughter drifted up. By the sound of it, Jason and Kelli were going to make the most of their hour before shopping, heedless of the potential audience above them… or maybe because of it. Michael would put nothing past Jason after hearing him insult Mia.
“This was a mistake,” she said. “I should have followed Jason’s advice and not come.”
If there was anything he’d learned in his life, it was to fight fire with fire, and if that didn’t work, piss on the fire and put it out. He threw his head back and laughed loudly, then met Mia’s wide eyes and winked.
Her mouth fell open with disbelief and he laughed again, ending it with a long “Mmmmm, Mia, yes!”
She covered her mouth and giggled as he shoved his suitcase off the bed. It hit the floor with a loud bang as it wedged between the bed and the door.