Chapter 19
1162 Words
Adam narrowed his eyes, and went back to the boxing ring. Katie stalked towards the gym entrance and Nick was surprised that she looked about two seconds away from tears.
“Um,” Mia said to Nick. “I guess we’ll have to finish the rest of your interview some other time…”
“I guess so.”
Their eyes met, and they both started to laugh in hushed undertones.
“Wow,” Nick said. “I’m assuming those two won’t be best friends, huh?”
“Nope.”
“Do you think Katie’s OK?” Nick asked. “She looked pretty shaken up.”
“Katie is – well, she needs to be in control. It’s important to her.”
“Yeah. And I guess Adam is a bit of an Alpha male, you know… he likes to be the one calling the shots.”
She glanced around at all the men hitting things. “I imagine this place is full of Alpha males, huh?”
“Sometimes.”
Their smiled at each other, and Nick cleared his throat.
“OK, so. Do you want to come back here tomorrow for the interview? Or… maybe…” His voice trailed off.
“Maybe what?”
“Maybe you want to come to my place tomorrow morning? For coffee?”
Mia looked up at him. Is he asking me on kind of a date? Nah. I doubt it.
“Actually, Nick. I was thinking: maybe you could come to my place tomorrow night, for dinner. I’d like to thank you properly for what you did for me.”
“Mia. You don’t have to…”
“I know that I don’t. I want to.” She smiled. “You like Thai food?”
“I do.”
“Well, I make a mean Pad Thai, if you’re not allergic to shrimp.”
“I’m not.” He swallowed. “That sounds good, Mia.”
“OK, so… dinner at my place? Seven-thirty or so?”
“Yeah. OK.”
She scribbled her address on a piece of paper, and handed it to him. “So. Tomorrow.”
“Perfect. I’ll be there.”
Nick walked her to the door, and she turned to him. “Bye, Nick.”
“Bye.”
She gave him a kiss on his cheek, and it took everything he had not to turn his face to hers. He wanted nothing more than to kiss her and lick those gorgeous lips with his tongue. His skin tingled where her lips touched him, and his hands tingled where he touched her.
He watched her go to the car and he waved at Katie. He went back to the gym, went over to Adam.
“What the hell, man?”
“No kidding.” Adam shook his head. “Look, Mia is fantastic, one hundred percent. But that friend of hers? A b***h on wheels.”
“I wonder what she thinks about you.”
Adam glared. “I don’t give a good goddamn, Nick. I hope I never have to lay eyes on her ever again.”
****
“So, wait. Nick is coming here tonight? For dinner?”
“He is.” Mia smiled at her friends, trying not to show how nervous she was. “I'm making Thai food.”
Maggie Branson turned to Katie, her green eyes sparkling. “Tell us the truth now: exactly how hot is this guy?”
Katie grinned. “Smoking. Like, crazy, insane hot. I have photographic evidence.”
“Show! Show!” Reena Mackay clamored from Mia’s kitchen. She added milk to her coffee and came back into Mia’s bright living room.
Katie attached her camera card to Mia’s laptop, and the women gathered around to look at the photos. When Nick appeared on the screen, Mia felt lust and longing curling in her stomach.
“Wow,” Reena breathed. “He is amazing.”
“Ummm-hmmm.” Maggie blinked. “And you say that he took care of you?”
“Yeah,” Mia said. “He was a perfect gentleman.”
Three pairs of eyes stared at her.
“What?” Reena said, looking back at a picture of Nick in mid-kick, every large muscle taut and tight and etched perfectly in sharp relief. He was practically growling in the black-and-white photo, and he looked feral and dangerous. “This guy was a gentleman?”
“Well, that’s a damn shame,” Maggie said. “I can tell you – the last thing I’d want that guy to be in bed is a gentleman. Gimme wildman throwing me around the bedroom, please and thank you.”
“Mia was hurt,” Reena objected. “If he’d taken advantage of her, we’d all be screaming for his blood right now.”
“That’s true,” Katie said brightly. “But she’s not hurt now, and he’ll be here tonight. I hope that he sees no need to be a gentleman anymore. Unless you want him to be?”
Mia was silent.
“Mia?”
“I don’t really know what I want, guys.”
“Well, there’s only one way to find out,” Maggie said.
“What’s that?” Mia said.
Maggie shrugged. “See him again with your head on straight and drug-free, and when you're not in pain and upset. You’ll know what you want then, for sure. And if what you want is him? Honey, I say enjoy him.”
“Whoa, wait.” Reena was scrolling through the rest of the pictures. “Who is this?”
“Urgh,” Katie said rolling her eyes.
“‘Urgh’?" Maggie repeated. "Is that a first name or last name?"
“Both, as far as I'm concerned. That’s Adam.”
“Why ‘urgh’?” Reena said brushing her strawberry blonde hair out of her eyes. “The man is devastating. Look at all that tattooed muscle! And that ferocious glare! He makes me all shivery.”
“He’s an asshole.”
“He is not,” Mia said indignantly. “He's very nice, actually. Smart and funny and ambitious, too. But he and Katie had some… ummm… creative differences.”
Maggie and Reena looked at Katie.
“Ah,” Reena said.
“Yeah. He’s an asshole.” Katie looked at the photos, c****d her head. “But the pictures turned out great, huh? His body is a dream to photograph, I kid you not – look at those muscles and angles. Power and grace, all rolled up into a boxing machine. Amazing.”
She saw that they were looking at her with knowing smiles on their faces.
“Shut up,” Katie said to them.
“We didn’t say a word,” Maggie protested.
“You did too. I can hear you.”
She glared at them and they kept smirking. After a few seconds, all four of them burst into laughter.
- Writer
