by Nina Lane
“Yes, but… uh, my car is making a rattling noise,” she invented. “I’m not sure it’s safe to drive.”
“Luke or Polly will give you a ride.”
“But they’re having such a good time I don’t want to bother them.”
“So ask one of the other Stones.”
“Same thing. Good time. Don’t want to interrupt.”
Though his eyes hardened to the consistency of granite, he yanked open the front door and ushered her out. Mia grabbed her purse from the foyer table and hurried to the driveway before he could think of some other way for her to get home.
They got into his SUV. Mia texted Polly and Luke, apologizing for the sudden departure and assuring them everything was fine. Tense silence simmered between her and Gavin as he drove to her apartment, his hands so tight on the steering wheel his knuckles turned white. He pulled into a space in her building parking lot, braking hard.
As she’d expected, he exited the SUV to walk her to her door. Mia fished in her purse for her keys, her heartbeat suddenly increasing as she unlocked the door. Though she’d witnessed more of Gavin’s angles and layers than she’d ever imagined he possessed, she had no idea how to help him contend with his past trauma. Maybe it was arrogant to even think she could.
“All right.” He stepped aside when she entered her apartment. “I’m going back to work.”
“Wait.” Her hand tightened on the door handle. “Come inside for a while.”
He shook his head, but his gaze slanted past her to the frilly, warm interior.
“Gavin.” She didn’t reach for him again out of fear he might pull away, but she held open the door in invitation and gave him her best beseeching look. “Please come in. Just for a few minutes.”
He dragged a hand through his hair with a sigh, but followed her in. Mia closed and locked the door behind him with a surge of triumph. He didn’t want anyone, least of all her, to acknowledge his weaknesses so she’d have to tread carefully.
“Sit down.” She gestured to the sofa.
He sat, the tense lines of his body easing slightly. Mia went into the kitchen and opened the cupboards. She didn’t have any of the hard liquor he favored, so she poured a glass of wine and brought it to him.
He eyed the glass with suspicion. “What’s this?”
“Wine.”
“It’s pink.”
“It’s rosé.” When he looked blank, she added, “A combination of red and white.”
“I know what rosé is.”
“So drink it, tough guy.”
He scowled, but took a swallow before setting the glass on the coffee table. Maybe she should have offered him ice cream instead. She pulled an ottoman closer to him and sat, resting her elbows on her knees.
“Can I get you anything else?” she asked.
He shook his head. Frustration nudged at her. He took care of her so well, like he didn’t even have to think to know what would make her feel better, and yet when the tables were turned all she could manage to give him was a glass of pink wine.
She leaned down to take off his shoes and lifted his feet onto the ottoman. When she knelt beside him on the sofa, a gleam of interest replaced the scowly, suspicious look in his eyes.
“We’re not doing that.” She pushed him backward so he was sitting against the sofa pillows.
Any other man would have looked ridiculous against the frilly heart-shaped pillows and stuffed animals, but Gavin was even more masculine than usual—if that was possible—his dark hair and hard-edged features a striking contrast to the feminine background.
Mia took off his suit jacket and loosened his belt. She purposely avoided brushing against the bulge in his trousers, even when he tried to lift up her skirt.
“Stop that.” She swatted his hand away.
“Are you wearing underwear?”
“Good lord. I’d never go commando in a skirt this short. What kind of girl do you think I am?”
“The sugar, spice, and everything nice kind.” He ran his hand over her bare thigh.
“Stop that.” She wiggled off the sofa, picking up the glass of rosé before returning to the kitchen. She made a cup of hot cocoa, added multicolored marshmallows, and brought it to Gavin.
He frowned. Of course he frowned. He’d probably never had a nice hot cup of cocoa in his life, poor man. Probably he didn’t even know what it was.
“It’s much better than pink wine,” Mia assured him, setting the mug on the table beside him. “You just sit right there and relax.”
“Are you going to do a striptease?”
“Save that thought for another day.” She smirked at him. “I’m actually going to give you my granny’s brand of medicine. She always made me a cup of hot cocoa when I was having a bad day.”
As she’d expected, the mention of Granny extinguished the brewing lust in Gavin’s eyes. He picked up the mug and studied the melting marshmallows before taking a sip. He grunted a noise of approval.
“Right?” Mia said proudly. “Made from scratch with real cocoa powder and a touch of cinnamon.”
She turned her music player to a new-age station with slow, peaceful sounds of echoing waterfalls and ocean waves. She fetched a box and a lap desk from the bookshelf and returned to sit beside him. “So like I told you, Granny was an artist. One of the things she did was illustrate coloring books for grown-ups.”
“Why do grown-ups need coloring books?”
“You haven’t heard of the phenomenon? Coloring is excellent for stress relief and meditation, so tons of people are doing it now. Granny’s books were all about enchanted forests and lands where elves and fairies live. She’d always ask me to test drive her illustrations before publication by coloring them in so she could see if she wanted to make any changes. Some of my best memories are sitting in the kitchen with her, drinking hot cocoa and coloring the pictures she’d drawn.”
Feeling his gaze on her, curious and intent, Mia lifted the lid of the box and took out several of Granny’s paperback coloring books. A set of fine-point markers rested at the bottom of the box. She bustled around for a minute, setting the desk on Gavin’s lap and selecting a double-page spread of a forest grove of hollow trees surrounding a lantern-lit elven village.
“What am I supposed to do with this?” He frowned, getting scowly again.
“Color it, genius.” Mia placed the markers into a pouch at the side of the desk. “Come on, I’ll do it with you. You take that page, and I’ll take this one.”
She eased closer to him, edging the desk partway onto her lap and trying not to be distracted by the sensation of his muscular thigh pressing against hers and the delicious scent of his shaving cream drifting to her nose.
She cleared her throat and tried to focus. “Granny would always write a story accompanying the illustrations, but she never included it in the coloring books since she wanted people to create their own narrative. If you look carefully, though, you can see the story in the pictures. This one is about an elf girl of humble origins who enlists the help of woodland creatures to help her find a magic pendant that will save the forest from destruction.”
She plucked the cap from a marker and started coloring the heart-shaped leaves of a tree. Gavin watched her and drank his hot cocoa, and for a few minutes she thought there was no way he’d actually color. Then he set the mug down and picked up a marker.
Mia wanted to cheer. She settled against the pillows, relieved he was not only making an effort but hadn’t scoffed and left her apartment to go back to work. She switched her marker for a light green and continued coloring the tree, glancing over only occasionally to check Gavin’s progress.
Of course his technique was intensely precise and inside the lines, but he was coloring a mushroom cluster with purple, then filling in the little dots with bright yellow.
As they worked for the next hour, he colored his half of the forest with all shades of blue, lavender, peach, orange, and coral. He gave the elven girls rainbow skirts and polka-dot shir
ts, and he turned the sky into an expanse of cotton candy with fluffy pink clouds.
Mia was enchanted, especially as she’d expected him to infuse the forest with realistic browns and dark green—if he colored at all. And not only was he coloring, he was creating a vivid, lovely dreamland that would have made Granny very happy.
“Why are you smiling?” He glanced sideways at her from behind his glasses, but the lines of stress had faded from his face.
“I like it.” She tilted her head to the illustration. “It’s whimsical. I didn’t think you did whimsical.”
“I don’t.” He squinted and filled in the twigs of a bird’s nest with alternating purple and fuchsia. “This is for you.”
Her insides did a little flip. “What do you mean, it’s for me?”
He took out a blue marker to color the bird, his expression grave with concentration. “It’s the kind of forest you’d live in, my little fairy girl.”
Mia hadn’t known until that moment that it was possible for her heart to smile from ear to ear.
“Aw.” She nudged his hip with hers. “That’s really sweet.”
“I know.” He colored each individual feather of the bird’s wings.
Still smiling, Mia settled back in to coloring her side of the forest. With the soothing music drifting through the air alongside the smell of chocolate, and Gavin’s body so strong and solid beside hers, she couldn’t help imagining what it would be like to spend all of her evenings like this.
Well, some of her evenings, between seeking out new, cozy little restaurants where she and Gavin could have dinner, or going to the movies with him, or meeting him at one of her favorite haunts for a drink, or picking up Indian takeout for them on the way home, or strolling hand-in-hand along the beach at sunset…
Longing filled her, a rush so hard and fast it almost took her breath away.
“You okay?” Gavin peered at her, as if he’d sensed the sudden shift in her.
Of course he had. He was so attuned to her he noticed every subtle change in her mood. But did he know that she was falling in love with him?
A wild combination of joy and apprehension filled her. She set her marker down and snuggled up against his side, resting her head on his shoulder.
“What’s going on?” He settled his hand on her thigh.
“Nothing.” She rubbed her cheek against his shoulder. “I just have it bad for you, Gavin Knight. I’ve had it bad for you for over a year.”
“Hmm.” His voice rumbled in his chest. “I don’t feel the same way.”
The smile faded from her heart. “You don’t?”
“No.” He slipped his hand under her chin, lifting her face to look at him.
Behind his glasses, his eyes were warm and tender—whatever past trauma or fear he’d experienced at the barbeque was gone. Mia took some comfort in the fact that her brand of medicine had worked—hot cocoa and coloring had soothed his pain.
“I don’t have it bad for you, Mia Donovan.” He brushed his thumb across her cheek. “But I do have it good for you. Better than I could ever have imagined.”
He lowered his mouth to hers. And in that moment, she believed it was true, that her world of cupcakes and pink lace was a perfect match for his world of strict security and control. Because right between those two worlds, like the overlapping circles of a Venn diagram, was the enchanted forest where they both could live.
Together.
Chapter
SIXTEEN
“Oh, Polly.” Mia pressed a hand to her chest. “You’re beautiful.”
Polly smiled. Beautiful wasn’t the right word. She was radiant in her antique lace sheath dress with cap sleeves and a sweetheart neckline, her hair falling in glossy curls around her face.
Despite the high profile nature of the wedding, Polly and Mia had ensured plenty of bohemian touches, from the wildflower bouquets to the rustic place settings. But the gown was the most exquisite, fitting Polly’s figure to perfection and enhanced by the embroidered veil and the silver pendant that had once belonged to her mother.
“I still can hardly believe it,” Polly confessed. “Me? Marrying the CEO of Sugar Rush?”
“Actually, it’s the CEO of Sugar Rush marrying you,” Mia corrected. “He’s the one who shouldn’t believe his luck.”
Polly turned from the mirror. For now, the two of them were alone in the upstairs bedroom of the villa. Afternoon sunlight gleamed through the wrought-iron windows that overlooked the courtyard where the seats were arranged in a semi-circle around the terrace where Luke would be waiting for Polly.
“I’m going to do a final check before the guests arrive.” Mia adjusted the short train of Polly’s gown. “And I’m guessing Julia will be here any minute to do some last-minute fussing of your hair and makeup.”
Polly turned, capturing Mia’s hand in hers. “You’re the best friend I could ever have hoped for. I don’t feel like I’ve told you that enough, but everything you’ve done for me… I wouldn’t have met Luke if it hadn’t been for you.”
“Yes, you would have,” Mia said. “Destiny can’t be thwarted.”
“What about your destiny?” Polly lifted an eyebrow.
Mia turned away so her friend wouldn’t see the flush rising over her cheeks. “What about it?”
“Does it involve Gavin Knight?”
Oh, how Mia hoped that it did. But her feelings for Gavin were bursting through her like shooting stars, so brilliant that she couldn’t put them into words.
“Hey.” Polly squeezed Mia’s hand. “I may be a bridezilla, but I’ve seen the way he looks at you. And at the barbeque, I thought you two were going to go up in flames right there on the dance floor. So you need to tell me if he’s everything you’ve been hoping he would be.”
Mia’s throat tightened as she turned to look into her friend’s earnest brown eyes. “Polly, he’s so much more than I hoped for. So much more than I ever dreamed.”
Polly smiled, but before she could say anything else, Mia reached up to adjust her veil.
“However,” she said firmly, “today is about you and Luke.”
“That doesn’t change the fact that I want you to be happy.”
“I am. Especially for you.” Because both she and Polly were starting to get a little teary-eyed, Mia added, “After all, mawidge and wuv, true wuv, is what bwings us todeger today.”
Polly laughed and reached for a tissue. They exchanged an embrace, and Mia left before either one of them got even weepier and ruined their mascara. The bridesmaids were busy getting ready in the adjoining room, and the groom’s party was in the opposite wing of the villa. Luke’s five brothers were all serving as his groomsmen, with Evan as best man, and their sister Hailey would be one of Polly’s bridesmaids.
Mia went downstairs to ensure everything was running smoothly. Although Lorraine, the villa manager, would be handling the logistics, Mia couldn’t help herself from doing a final check.
She started toward the courtyard just as Gavin rounded the corner, looking magnificent in a charcoal gray suit and silk tie, his dark hair brushed away from his forehead and his glasses emphasizing the strong lines of his face.
Mia’s knees weakened at the sight of him. He caught her eye and sent her a solemn wink, then slipped his gaze appreciatively over her body clad in the royal blue silk-and-lace maid of honor gown.
She glanced around quickly to ensure no one else was nearby. Then she hurried toward him and slipped her arms around his waist.
“It’s going to be perfect,” she whispered.
He smiled, lowering his head to press a kiss against her lips. “You’re perfect. But I can’t look at you again or you’ll distract me from my job.”
“I’ll save you a dance.”
“I’m on duty until the entire event is over and everyone is safe at home.” He stepped back and took her hands, giving her a quick, spinning twirl. “But save me a dance for tomorrow, beautiful.”
He spun her again, bringing her hand to his l
ips before letting her go. He crossed the room to the side door, one hand on his earpiece.
All a-tingle, Mia completed one survey of the various rooms. The reception hall was stunning—wildflower arrangements hung from the ceiling over round tables draped with blue linen. Silver bowls of Sugar Rush candy sat in various places, and the Wild Child cake glowed like a jewel at the cake table.
As the sun set, candles and strings of tree lights and lanterns would illuminate the foyer and courtyard. Ceramic pots of colorful flowers lined the entrance to the villa, and trees surrounded the terrace. It was rustic, lovely, and decidedly intimate despite the fact that over three hundred guests were already starting to arrive.
She started back to the stairs just as Lorraine came in the front door, her worried expression fading at the sight of Mia.
“Oh, I’m glad you’re here,” she said. “Some of the guests are arriving with gifts, and I don’t know where to put them.”
“Gifts? There aren’t supposed to be any gifts. Polly and Luke specifically asked for charity donations instead.”
“Well, security is confiscating a bunch of gift-wrapped packages with silver ribbon, and the guests are getting a little upset,” Lorraine said. “One of the security guys is piling them over by the trucks, which isn’t exactly considerate. I know they won’t let packages into the villa, but we can’t just let them leave wedding presents outside.”
“Have you talked to Mr. Knight?” Mia asked.
“I wanted to, but the security guy said he went to supervise the access control at the gate.”
Mia sighed. “Let’s put them in the front room, I guess. It’s not being used for the event, and no, it’s not right to leave wedding presents outside. One of the men will let Gavin know when he gets back.”
She and Lorraine hurried to transfer the gifts to the front room before Mia realized the ceremony was scheduled to start in less than half an hour. She went back upstairs to help the other bridesmaids and Polly finish getting ready. As it turned out, she needn’t have bothered since Julia Bennett was overseeing the women with the aplomb of an orchestra conductor.
