by Cari Quinn
Mica eased back from the kiss even as her body screamed no. “You haven’t asked me yet.” Her lips brushed against his as she asked.
“Haven’t asked?”
“The date, remember?”
He smiled, and dipped his head, forward for another quick kiss. This close and she could see the green flecks in his irises. Mica held her ground this time she wouldn’t get swept away. This time it would be a conscious choice for her and not as a means of escape.
“Yeah I remember. Would you like to go out for dinner?”
“Yes.”
He left her after he’d kissed her again, the slow slide of his tongue against hers sweet torture battering her resolve to take this one slow.
“Be ready at six thirty.”
He stepped back and Mica let her sense of humor fly. “Are you worried our meal will be interrupted?”
Cam’s eyes crinkled as his lips stretched into a grin and Mica’s heart beat like a drum against her ribcage.
“No. You’ll be with me this time.”
“Wait a minute.” She pushed away from the door. “Don’t’ you need my number?”
“No. I’ll get that later.”
“Why later?”
“Because this way you can’t change your mind and cancel.”
~*~
Mica fussed with the black pants and top she’d chosen. Her heels were sky high and the blouse she wore looked conservative until you looked closer and saw the silky material might have been opaque but it hugged every curve and yet bared a sliver of flesh that lunged into a deep V at its opening.
Alexa crowed her delight. “You look fabulous.”
“Jonathan...”
“Jonathan is a jackass. Who, I might add I never liked and had the bad taste to let you go.”
“So I’m worrying over nothing.”
“Yes, and I’m happy to see you getting out and about.” Alexa took a bite of ice cream. “Though I’m selfish enough to wish you could stay home in my time of need.” She pointed the spoon at Mica. “You did not hear that. You are not backing out of the first date you’ve had since you got back. I can wait.”
Mica checked her watch, “I’ve got some time. You want to give me a brief overview of what has you eating ice cream for the second time in a week?”
“The historical society wants to raise funds so we can do things like save some of the older buildings instead of hoping someone else will swoop in and buy them.”
“What’s the problem?”
“I need to put together a fundraiser that not only highlights the issue but raises money for the cause while highlighting the community so that all parties are involved and we have a higher turnout out and a higher likelihood of success.” Alexa stuffed another spoon full into her mouth. “So I have to come up with a proposal soon.”
“You want to brainstorm?”
“I might take you up on that offer soon but in the meantime you need to put on some lipstick, lip balm or something, darling, because you want those lips to be kissable.”
Mica felt a hot flush of embarrassment cover her face. “I should never have told you.”
“Nonsense.” Alexa waved the spoon at her. “I am your best friend, I require details. Someone needs to tease you instead of laying into you at every turn.”
“It’s hard for them. They love me.”
“Mica, we’re not getting to this argument again. Yes your parents love you. That’s not the problem. They don’t want you to grow up. That’s the problem.”
Mica wanted to say that wasn’t true, but in the last few months she’d come to understand something about herself that her parents had proven incapable of understanding. She was a woman grown.
“Most people have a career. I have a house sitting business.”
“Whoa, whoa. I hear dejection in your voice. This is not the time for that. You came home and you found a way to support yourself.”
“I wouldn’t have been able to do it without you.”
“Everyone needs help Mica and after that first job you practically sold yourself. To know you is to love you. And people who have sense love you and understand that you are a person.”
“As opposed to a possession.”
“Yes, and that’s why I was glad Jonathan gave you up. Now we just have to get your parents to do the same.”
Mica paused in the act of applying lip gloss to look at Alexa, when a knock at the door sounded. Alexa rose from her stool, grabbed Mica’s purse, and held it out to her. Mica looked at her friend’s outstretched hand and was surprised when Alexa pulled her close.
“Even if Jonathan hadn’t thrown money at you out of guilt. I would have let you live here for free and you would have had a job within a week and you would been fine.” Alexa released her hand and smiled. “Now go get him tiger, at the very least get a good meal out of him.”
CHAPTER FIVE
Cam waited in the hallway, his back against the wall opposite Mica’s door. He could hear her talking to someone else. He had half decided she’d changed her mind when the door opened and Cam thanked whatever god decided to favor him that night. She was stunning in black silk hugging her every curve. What drove him mad to touch her was the deep V in the valley of her breasts.
If they made it past this first date, he would buy her a necklace to wear with that outfit. Maybe a single gem to hang in that opening.
Mica was staring at him in amusement and Alexa was squeezing past her.
Cam shook his head. “Wow, you look amazing.”
Alexa’s laugh echoed down the hallway and still Cam couldn’t take his eyes off the woman in front of him.
“Thank you.” She ducked her head and Cam reached out to take her hand.
“So I’ve got an idea about dinner.”
The truth was he hadn’t planned it out. He’d been so busy kissing her that he’d forgotten to ask and then he’d thought he was so smart that he hadn’t gotten her number. From the nerves he sensed from Mica, it was probably the right call but it meant that he had no idea what kind of food she liked.
“An idea?”
“Yeah.” Cam decided to own up to it. “Kissing you wasn’t in the plan the other day so it messed with my head I forgot an important question.”
“What’s my phone number?”
“That too.” He laughed. “What do you like to eat?”
“Everything. Except sushi. I can do rolls but that’s about it.”
“Italian?”
“Italian is good.”
Cam peered down at her shoes. There was no way she could walk far in those, which eliminate a couple places he had in mind.
“I know they look ridiculous, right? As long as it’s a strolling pace I can walk in them.”
He let her go ahead of him into the elevator and had to agree that the view from behind was appreciated. Strolling it was, he’d just make sure to minimize their time on cobblestone. Having her break an ankle wasn’t happening on their first date.
“So Italian in Winter Park.”
“Why there?”
“Because I need to see you in the rose garden at night.”
“You’ve turned into quite the sweet talker.”
“Nah. I’m just me.” She hit him in the shoulder and Cam smiled. He wanted her relaxed and happy. He had to push himself to remember that this was supposed to be light and fun. Not a search for a wife.
The drive to the restaurant had been executed in a comfortable silence. Cam couldn’t help but compare the constant prattle of his last date to Mica’s quiet enjoyment of driving through the night.
“I love the way the city looks at night,” she said as she stared out the window.
“Why?”
Mica turned to face him a dreamy smile on her face. “I love how the lights light up the buildings. The way they show their characteristics. It’s like characters in a play suddenly they’re highlighted and you see them in a different light.”
“How so?”
“It’s like t
his, some buildings are barely worth noticing in the day. Or at least that how we think of them as we rush around doing what we can. We barely look at them. But at night. At night they come to life.”
“How do they come to life?”
“The lights. They’re like a woman’s evening gown. I’m not explaining it right.”
“No. I think I get it. In the day they’ve got there uniform on and at night they get to dress up. Show off a little.”
“Exactly.”
They’d had to cross the street to get to the park and back again but it was worth it to stroll with her past the fountains. Everything was fine until he ordered the wine for her.
One minute they were enjoying a nice appetizer. She’d been perusing the wine list and he’d, well he’d figured he’d show off just a little. Judging from the company she kept she came from an upper middle class family at least that’s what he observed about her parents.
Then she’d confirmed his suspicions.
“My dad’s a partner at a law firm. My mom. Well, my mom likes to say she has a hobby but the truth is she sells antiques.” Mica sipped her water. Looked at him and given him a rueful smile. “I can’t speak ill of her though.”
“Why’s that?”
“My degree is in art history and I used to work in an art gallery before I went to New York. So you see I have no room to speak.”
Mica smiled at him across the table and he felt the urge to impress her. He may not have a college degree but he was educated and he knew a thing or two about wine. So he did what any other red blooded male did when he felt the need to impress the woman he wanted. He ordered for her.
The moment he’d done it Mica had shut down on him. There was only one way for him to describe her behavior. Glacially polite. Gone was the teasing smile. She’d pulled back from him.
The drive back was nothing like the drive to the restaurant. The conversation was interesting Mica was pleasant and polite but the spark that had been there before he’d ordered the wine wasn’t.
Cam waited until they were in the relative safety of the elevator to speak. “Okay, tell me what I did wrong.”
“What?” Mica looked at him for the first time they’d entered the elevator.
“What did I do wrong?”
“You ordered the wine”
Cam grabbed hold of his temper and forged ahead. This was important. He wasn’t going to question why. He’d seen something in her tonight and he wasn’t willing to let go just yet. “What about that set you off?”
Mica shook her head at him. “Set me off? ‘It didn’t set me off.”
“It made you upset. Why?”
“My father orders my mother’s wine.” She watched her rub her ring finger with her thumb again. “My ex fiancé. Jonathan. He would order my wine for me.” She shook her head her curls bouncing around her face. The elevator stopped and they both stepped forward and stopped. The doors weren’t opening.
Mica looked at him. Panic clear in her eyes as the alarm began to sound.
“Don’t worry.” Cam reached open and pulled open the emergency panel. “The alarm will get their attention and there is a security camera in here so they’ll be able to see us.”
He could tell she was on the verge of hyperventilating. “So you don’t like anyone ordering your wine.”
“Why are we talking about this right now? It doesn’t matter. Why haven’t they called us?”
Cam watched as Mica turned and put her back to the wall. Her breath came in a short gasp and she closed her eyes. “Mica, listen to me.” He reached out and switched off the alarm, it hurt his ears and he was willing to bet hers. “They’ll call, but in the meantime I need you to talk to me and I want to know why it upsets you.”
Mica let her head fall back against the wall of the elevator and slid down to the floor. Cam followed her by squatting. Her breath was coming in gasps and a sheen of cold sweat covered her forehead.
“Mica.” She opened her eyes. “Talk to me.”
“About what?”
“Panic attack?”
“I hate small spaces.”
Claustrophobia could manifest in different ways and right now all he knew was that he had to keep her distracted.
“It upsets me because it means you feel you know better than me about my own life.” She opened her eyes and looked directly into his. “It’s like when you said Karen would be happier. Jonathan said that to me.” She let her head drop back again. Her words were slurred. Cam reached out and her skin was clammy.
“When, when did he say that to you?”
“When he broke off our engagement. After he made me pack up my life and before he threw money at me so I would go home.”
“And he ordered your drinks for you?”
“Yes, and my clothes.” She gestured to her outfit. “This would have been too daring for him.”
Cam was beginning to suspect he wouldn’t have like Jonathan whatever his last name was. “He sounds like a controlling bastard.”
“Well. So do you when you order my drink.”
“I won’t do that again.”
“Who says there’s going to be a next time?”
“I do.” He messed up. Cam had gone into the date thinking that it would be fun and it had been at first and when he was younger he would have dropped Mica off and written the date off as a lost cause. Now he wasn’t sure that he wanted to give up on whatever it was just yet.
“I’m hoping there’ll be a next time.”
Her eyes popped open. “I don’t want to be controlled. I don’t want you ordering anything for me unless I ask. And, I don’t want to be told how to feel about a situation. My feelings are valid.”
Cam sat back on his haunches. There on the floor of the elevator he decided that he liked what he heard. This was no assertion that Mica wanted to be put on a pedestal or some silly test of his affections. This was a real request from a woman who had back bone.
“Why didn’t you say so in the restaurant?”
“I didn’t want to make a scene.”
“Would you have screamed at me?” He asked recalling Karen’s raised voice and theatrics.
“That is not my MO.” Mica’s breathing had evened out. Her eyes had lost that glazed look.
The phone rang. The elevator began to move and the doors opened when it stopped a short time later. Cam was going to have to take a look at the elevator but first he was going to make sure Mica was safely in her apartment and things were okay between them.
Mica let him walk her to the door. Her hands shook as she tried to unlock it.
“Do you mind if I do it?”
She gave him a watery smile. “Thanks for asking I was going to ask.”
He took the keys, his fingers brushing her delicate ones and lust flooded his body. It was all he could do not to pick her up and have his way with her on the couch. Especially when she blushed and looked down only to look at him through her lashes.
Mica dropped her purse on the tiny island and immediately lost a few inches when she kicked off her shoes. Cam felt as if he was drawn along in her wake, and when she sat on the couch, he crouched in front of her.
“I’ve got to go see about the elevator.”
“What happened?”
“I’ll find out.” Cam took her hands in his. “I want another date and yes I’m taking advantage of you when you’re likely to say yes.”
Mica chuckled as he’d hoped. “Yes. I think tonight needs a mulligan. I’ll speak up if you do something I don’t like.”
Cam smiled in relief and leaned in for a kiss that she met halfway. Another win for him. His hands closed on her hips as he drew her closer. Mica took him by surprise when she was the one to take control of the kiss. Her hands slipped along his shoulders making him wish for bare skin. One curved around his neck she pulled him closer to deepened the kiss. Her soft tongue against his. Her soft body melded to his. Her scent filled his head as her body filled his hands. Full of Mica.
He was breat
hing hard as was she when she pulled away. Mica licked her lips and he had to remind himself that he was taking this slow. Mica was turning out to be someone he wanted to see more of in more ways than one and if it wasn’t for the vibrating phone in his pocket he would have probably pushed her too fast.
CHAPTER SIX
A few days later Mica found herself on a lunch date with Cam and it went much better. So much so when he pulled her closer in the elevator and kissed her, she didn’t resist. Mica had been longing to taste Cam again and he’d teased her all lunch long. Now, in the relative privacy of the elevator, she was up on her tiptoes as he bent his head to hers and his big body was pressed up against hers.
The doors opened and Mica dropped back to her feet. “You are a really good distraction.”
“I aim to please.”
Mica burst out laughing. He’d made her laugh so much during lunch her sides hurt. He’d glossed over why he’d made the decision to choose her wine for her, but listening to him talk about his life clued her in. Here she was a graduate of a small liberal arts college with a degree in art history from an upper middle class family and he was elevator repair technician.
The only people in the world it would matter to were her parents. Mica pulled Cam down the hallway and skidded to a halt when she spotted her mother outside her door.
“Mica?” Cam had spotted her as well.
Mica swallowed and walked forward. Her mother’s eagle eyes had already spotted her hand in Cam’s. She wasn’t going to make him feel inferior. Mica took a deep breath and stepped forward Cam’s hand in hers.
“Mother.”
Cherise Saint Aubin nee Lawson stood with what looked like a polite smile on her face. Only those who knew her well and the highly sensitive would be aware of the absolute disapproval in that smile.
“Mica, darling. I came to see how you were doing.”
“Mother, Let me introduce Cam Munroe.”
Cam stepped up to her side and stretched out a hand. Mica held her breath because for a tenth of her second she could tell that her mother considered being impolite. No one would ever live up to Jonathan in her mother’s eyes and Cam was the interloper. Mica breathed again when her mother shook Cam’s hand.
