Try Me On for Size

by Stephanie Haefner

  Had she? Would she want this so badly if she hadn’t? Yeah, she was desperate to make love with him right in that moment, but there was more. Much more. Everything that had happened that day had proved it.

  Her hand brushed his stubbled cheek then made its way to the nape of his neck. “I have.”

  Oliver lowered his mouth back to hers, a kiss starting soft, his supple lips caressing hers. As the kiss gained intensity, he pushed himself into her.

  Oh, I missed this so much! Mia moved her hands to his behind, firm muscles tensing beneath her touch with every thrust. She met him, move for move, his eyes now on hers. He slowed down, and while the horny Mia would have begged him to give it to her fast and furious, this felt . . . different. She wanted to watch his face, share in the joy of ecstasy with him. She was no longer embarrassed to let him see such vulnerability in her.

  He hit her G-spot, vibrating her body, and laced his fingers with hers. He gave them a squeeze as he lowered to grace her lips with a soft kiss. Moving inside her, the pulses became more intense until she cried out in pleasure. All the while, she forced her gaze to stay on his, letting him see her, all of her. And when he erupted with his own orgasm, she held tight to him, watching the euphoria in his eyes.

  Oliver descended on her, exhaustion overcoming him, fingers still intertwined, his chest heaving on hers.

  “I could stay like this forever,” she murmured, in a state of bliss so deep she had no control over her thoughts. Normally she might have regretted letting them come out, but that moment, with Oliver, she didn’t.

  He pulled up, letting go of her hand, and rested on his elbows. He kissed her and moved a stray hair from her face. “I love you, Mia.”

  Her heart stopped. Her lungs stopped. The world sat still. Everything faded away but Oliver’s face. And the expectation in his eyes.

  Mia thought of Bryn and Johnny, the only authentic true love she’d ever witnessed. Bryn had taken the chance at love all those years ago, no clue what would happen. And even after all the tragedy, she still believed in love. Mia had thought she was crazy. Couldn’t understand how Bryn could encourage her to put herself in the position to possibly meet the same misery.

  But walking away now and never claiming Oliver’s love? Could she do that? She owed it to herself, to Bryn and all the true loves who’d found the same terrible fate as she, to push her fears aside.

  Mia’s heart started beating again. Her lungs filled with air. Eyes welling with tears, an uncontrollable smile stretched across her face. “I love you, too.”

  OLIVER WOKE with Mia in his arms, her bare back to his chest. He knew in that moment he’d do anything to make sure he’d wake that way every morning for the rest of his life.

  He nuzzled her neck and kissed it, a satisfied “mmm” emanating from her gorgeous throat.

  “I love you,” he whispered, an undeniable urge overcoming him. He just had to say the words again. And wanted to keep saying them. He’d never said them to Alexiana, not even once. And before that, there had only been one girl, in college.

  Mia turned to him, pressing her lips to his, and pulled away, eyes wide, her smile contagious. “I love you, too.”

  “What do you want to do today?” he asked, his hand stroking her satiny skin, then moving between her thighs.

  She followed suit and took hold of his already hard cock. “Well, after this, we can do anything you want to do.”

  “I’d like to go to the hospital, if that’s okay with you. I know my mom will be so happy to see us together.”

  “Absolutely.” She ran her tongue up his Adam’s apple and nibbled at his earlobe.

  It was getting real hard to continue the conversation. “After we get her settled at home, we can do something fun.”

  “This right here is perfect,” she said and moved on top of him, covering his hard on with her warmth. “We can do this all afternoon.”

  “If you insist.”

  AFTER TWO more take-your-breath-away orgasms, Mia flopped onto the bed next to Oliver, too spent to move.

  “What time do we need to leave?” she asked him.

  “Probably soon, since I have to go home and change. Though I could always wear what I had on yesterday. I know my mother would approve. It would confirm that I spent the night at your place. My dad, on the other hand, would have some kind of comment to make.”

  “And your place is kinda far from here, isn’t it?” She sat up. “We should probably get going.”

  But he yanked her back to his warm embrace, both of them giggling. “I think I want to move. I lived there with Alexiana and all I see when I’m there is misery. And after being at your place and seeing how cool it is, my condo just seems boring. I want to live somewhere like this, with the exposed brick and the bay window.

  A thought popped into Mia’s brain, and right away she knew it was too impulsive, too crazy. They’d just started this relationship, barely twelve hours earlier. The thoughts spinning in her head were insane.

  But isn’t that how real love worked? Mia had known Oliver was special that first day meeting him, even though she thought he was Ryan, her first model interview. They’d had a connection.

  For once in your life, damn it, follow your heart and do something crazy! Maybe crazy was just what Mia needed in her life. It sure as hell had become a lot more interesting since she and Bryn had hatched their crazy idea months earlier. And a big part of it had been Oliver.

  Mia kissed him and ran her hand through his hair, resting it at the nape of his neck, playing with his fuzzy little hairs just how he liked. “Move in with me.”

  His eyes widened. “Are you serious?”

  She nodded. “Yes.”

  “I wasn’t hinting for you to ask that. You need to make sure this is really what you want.”

  Well, that didn’t sound like a guy who was happy he’d been asked to move in. “I am sure. But if you’re not, it’s okay.” She sat up again, trying to keep her voice as nonchalant as possible, even though she felt like she might burst into tears. “You don’t have to move in.”

  He sat up, too, and wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing the back of her neck. “No, I want to! I love you, Mia, and I want to spend every minute with you. I just don’t want you to regret asking.”

  She laced her fingers with his. “I already know I won’t.”

  A half second later, Mia was tackled onto the bed, laughter from her throat as Oliver covered her with kisses.

  “Is that a yes?”

  “You better believe it,” he said and covered her mouth with a steamy kiss that made her never want to get out of bed.

  “We should go,” Mia managed, breathless, as Oliver’s lips moved south on her body. She found it very hard to speak with such wonderful things going on. “So you . . . have time to . . . uh . . . change.”

  He paused to look up at her, nothing but mischief behind those baby blues. “Fuck what my dad thinks.”

  CHAPTER Thirty-Two

  Standing in line at the coffee shop, it took every ounce of restraint in Mia’s body to keep her hands at her side. All she wanted to do was touch Oliver, run her hands over his stomach, his ass, through his hair. Kiss his earlobe, his neck, the lovely path that ran between his abdominal muscles. But she’d have to be satisfied with her hand intertwined with his as they stood in a never-ending line to grab coffee and a couple of muffins before heading to the hospital.

  They ordered and Oliver paid, hating that he had to drop her hand to reach for his wallet. But when they moved to the side to wait for their order, she was able to face him and stand on tiptoes to plant a kiss on those luscious smiling lips.

  The wail of a baby pierced through the hum of conversation in the coffee shop, even above the gurgle of the espresso machine. Mia peeked over Oliver’s shoulder toward the noise, finding a very familiar looking head of dark curly hair atop a shirtles
s body and a momma with a very unhappy little boy in a carrier against her chest.

  “Oh no.” She broke away from Oliver.

  “Do you know her?” he asked.

  “It’s my sister. I’ll be right back.”

  Mia trotted over, grabbing Gianna as she jumped off a chair and ran around a table. Riley met her gaze, tears ready to roll down her flushed cheeks. “Thank you.”

  While Mia redressed her niece, Riley unhooked the carrier from her body and yanked a bottle from the diaper bag. She shoved the nipple into Nico’s mouth and sat down with a sigh. “This was a bad idea.”

  “Why are you here?”

  “Nico has a doctor’s appointment down the street. I got there and they told me his appointment wasn’t for another hour. I musta wrote it down wrong. So instead of staying there, I brought them here so I could get Gianna something to eat and I could get a caffeine fix. Clearly it was a dumb idea.”

  “No. Not dumb, just a little difficult.” Mia sat Gianna on her lap and handed over her cell phone with a kids’ app she’d downloaded awhile back when she was baby-sitting Bryn’s kids. She noticed the wide-eyed expression on Riley’s face. “Relax. It’s only for five minutes while you drink your coffee in peace. Her brain won’t explode.”

  Riley let a minuscule smile bow her lips as she said a quiet, “Thank you,” then sipped her coffee.

  “So, I . . . uh . . . ” Mia knew what she had to say, but damn was it hard. “I’m sorry I haven’t been the sister you’ve needed me to be.”

  Tears welled in Riley’s eyes again.

  “Bryn and I are close, yes, but I shouldn’t have let our friendship come between you and me. I love you and I’m making some big changes in my life. One of them is to make sure you know that.”

  “Really?” A tear trailed down Riley’s cheek.

  “Yes. And I’m going to make changes with our family, too. I want to get back to how we used to be. Before everything changed. I think we can do that. Don’t you?”

  Seeing what Oliver was going through with his mother made her appreciate her own family so much more. One of them could be on their deathbed at any moment. She didn’t want to waste any more time with animosity between them.

  “Yes. A big happy family. That’s all I ever wanted.”

  Mia hadn’t realized it, but she wanted that, too. Now that she knew the truth about her father and him having no part in the sabotage of her business, they could work on mending their relationship.

  “So, you’re gonna take the job with Daddy?”

  Mia hated to erase Riley’s excitement. “No. But he told me he wants our family back. That he’s done asking me to work for him. I didn’t believe him at first, but I do now. He’s even started hiring new people.”

  “Really?” The excitement was back.

  “Yeah. I think things are gonna be much different. In a real good way.”

  Mia and Riley smiled at each other, Gianna content on Mia’s lap, Nico suckling away at his bottle. It felt good to make peace with her sister. Her dad, well, that was another story. It would be tough, but she knew she could do it.

  “Hey. There you are,” Oliver said and sat down next to Mia, two beverages and a bag of muffins.

  “Hey.” Mia looked from Oliver to Riley, who had a smirk on her face, an eyebrow raised. “This is Oliver.” She turned back to him. “Oliver, this is my sister. And Baby Nico. And this little miss is Gianna.”

  Oliver stuck out his hand to Riley. “Nice to finally meet you.”

  “Likewise.” Riley turned to Mia, voice low, and winked. “Mmm. Nice. I may not have been at the party long, but I did see the”—she lowered her voice to a whisper—“toys.”

  Mia’s cheeks blazed and she noticed Oliver was blushing, too.

  “Um. Thanks. I think,” Mia said.

  Riley checked her watch. “We gotta go.” She strapped the baby against her, sound asleep in a postbottle coma. She gave a little wave as she took Gianna’s hand and said, “See ya later.”

  Mia’s cheeks hurt from how big her smile was. Everything was working out.

  OLIVER REACHED for Mia’s hand as they walked to the street, letting go only when he had to walk around to his side of the car, reconnecting with her the second they took off. He looked down at his wrinkled clothes. Not the best first impression for meeting Mia’s sister, and surely his father would lecture him about his attire, but he didn’t care. The smile he’d see on his mother’s face would far outshine any negativity his father could throw.

  When they approached the hospital room, Dr. Campbell stood outside with his father.

  “How is she today?” Oliver asked.

  The doctor responded first. “Good. Ready to go home. She seems pretty anxious.”

  “I think this is a ridiculous idea,” his father remarked. “She’ll get far better care here in the hospital.”

  “Lucky for her, it doesn’t matter what you think,” Oliver said. “She wants to die at home and I will not let you deny her that. I’ve set it up and Dr. Campbell has signed off on it. I’ve arranged for constant nurse care and the doctor will be in to see her several times a day.”

  The glare from his father could have burned down the entire hospital. “If this ends badly, it’s on your head. Remember that.” He looked him up and down. “You look like you slept in your clothes. Couldn’t you make yourself presentable for your mother?”

  “Trust me, she’ll be ecstatic when she sees me.”

  Mr. Christiansen shook his head and stalked away, the doctor excusing himself to check on another patient.

  “Ready?” Oliver asked Mia, squeezing her hand.

  She nodded, and he led her into the room. They barely made it two steps before his mother smiled the widest he’d ever seen.

  “You went to see her.” She paused to catch her breath. “Just like you promised.”

  “I did. And I told her I love her.”

  Her eyes begged for the rest.

  “And she loves me, too.”

  Ginny’s face lit up even more, her eyes clouded with moisture, and held her hands to them. “I knew it.”

  Oliver took one hand, and Mia the other, a happy little circle. “And after we get you settled at home, I’m moving my things into Mia’s place.”

  “That’s so wonderful.” Her breaths seeming a bit more ragged.

  “Why don’t you rest now? All this excitement is wearing you out.”

  She shook her head, her hand squeezing his, albeit weakly. Her words came out barely above a whisper. “Nothing is more important than love. It’s all I’ve ever wanted for you.”

  He smiled at her. “I know. I’m happy, Mom. Happier than I’ve ever been. Now, will you please rest?”

  She nodded and folded her hands on her chest. A smile still on her face, she let her eyes close. Oliver pulled two chairs next to the bed and he and Mia sat.

  “Her smile means so much to me.”

  Mia looked to Ginny, then back to Oliver. “She’s a wonderful lady.”

  “She is. My whole life, all she did was take care of me. Make sure I was happy. I can only hope I was worthy of that.”

  “I think that’s the proof of a great mom. She takes joy in seeing her child happy. That’s all any parent wants, even if it takes them awhile to figure it out.”

  “So, will I get to meet your famous father soon?”

  “Yeah. I think things are going to be very different with my family now, thanks to you.”

  Oliver leaned over and kissed her, just a soft little kiss. But it was interrupted by Dr. Campbell and a nurse, rushing in. “Is something wrong?”

  The doctor observed the machines and quickly put his stethoscope to Ginny’s chest. After a moment he looked up. And Oliver knew.

  “No. She was just talking to us. It couldn’t have happened that fast.” His eyes fill
ed with tears. How could she be there one minute and gone the next? “The alarms on the machines didn’t even go off.”

  “She asked me to turn them off. She didn’t want them to alert everyone that she had passed. You know she had a DNR. She didn’t want to be resuscitated and wanted to go peacefully.”

  Oliver nodded. He’d known all this for months. He’d known exactly how she’d wanted her end to be. And it had almost played out exactly as she’d planned. But she’d died in the hospital. She’d wanted to die at home, surrounded by her things, the things she loved.

  Mia wrapped her arms around him, squeezing tight. “I’m so sorry.”

  He gripped her body, clinging to her in fear of collapsing. He’d failed his mother at the very end of her life.

  Dr. Campbell came to Oliver. “I’m sorry, Mr. Christensen. Would you like to stay with her while I track down your father?”

  He nodded and the doctor left. He took his mother’s hand and sat. It still felt warm. How could she be gone? He brought it to his lips, his tears falling, no way to control them.

  Mia’s hand rubbed circles across his back. “Is there anything I can do?”

  “Tell me how I can live the rest of my life knowing I didn’t fulfill her last wish.”

  “But I think you did.”

  He turned, already so comfortable with her he didn’t care that she’d see his face a mess, tears streaming down. “How? She died in a sterile hospital room, surrounded by white walls.”

  “But you were here with her. And you’d just told her you were happier than you’ve ever been. Maybe that’s all she really needed.”

  Oliver thought back to his last few meetings with his mother. All she’d talked about was him, and if he was happy. Maybe Mia was right. Maybe his mother had seen how happy he was and knew it was okay for her to leave. She knew he’d be all right.

  “Thank you.” He reached for her hand. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

  MIA LEFT the hospital with Oliver. His father had requested some time alone with his wife before they took her body from the room. They drove to his parents’ house. If she’d thought the Montanari homestead was big, that was nothing. Oliver opened the door to the mansion and they were met by a housekeeper. Just the look on Oliver’s face was enough to tell the woman everything.