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Grant wasn’t going to barge into the middle of a date, for fuck’s sake.
She looked just as beautiful as he’d remembered, and he’d been sure that he’d exaggerated her in his mind. He hadn’t, though. Her hairstyle was different, but he would have known here anywhere. He could have picked her out of a crowd in a football stadium. She was that indelibly printed into his psyche.
She’d stared at him, and although he couldn’t see her exact expression, well, it didn’t appear that she was smiling and happy to see him. She’d looked…horrified. As if he was the last person in the world she wanted to see.
But…as happy - and shocked - as he was to see her, he was also furious. She appeared to be fine. Happy and safe if his eyes were to be believed. He’d worried about her for a long time after she’d fled, and apparently, he’d been wasting his time.
Deciding that he needed some fresh air to clear his mind, he’d made a lame excuse to his friend about having to make a phone call he’d just remembered so he was going to step outside where it was quieter.
He’d barely made it three feet out of the door when he saw Mia standing at the corner of the building, her gaze darting right and left as if she was searching for an escape hatch. When she saw him, he thought he could see her feet begin to run, but then she stood still. He didn’t hesitate, striding up so that he could see her expression more closely.
Fear. Sadness. Anxiety. Mostly anxiety.
He hadn’t meant to her make her feel that way, but he also hadn’t meant to run into her today. That was the universe at work, and he’d always believed that things had a way of coming around again if you didn’t deal with them up front.
“Mia.”
“Grant.”
His name was sort of a sigh, but her anxiety had turned to something far calmer. She was smiling slightly, a warmth in her gaze as she looked up at him.
“I’m surprised to see you today,” he said, making sure to keep his tone casual although inside his heart slammed against his ribs. “It’s good to see that you’re okay.”
“I am okay.”
Her reply was soft, and she didn’t elaborate. It was strange and awkward, and Grant suddenly wished he hadn’t come down to Naples this weekend and stayed home instead.
“That’s good.” He paused for a moment, telling himself to just let it go, but his mouth had a mind of its own. “I worried about you for a long time.”
Her gaze jerked away, and her arms wrapped around herself as if needing some sort of armor. He hadn’t raised his voice or even sounded bothered, but she had to have felt his disappointment in her actions.
“I’m sorry about that. I should have let you know that I got to my friend’s place safely.”
“Yes, you should have.”
Grant didn’t know how he was supposed to feel at this moment. He was so fucking happy to see Mia, but he was mad as well. She should have let him know, even if it hadn’t been right away. But eventually… When she was safe and settled. Even just a quick message would have gone a long way to assuage the worry he’d carried for a damn long time.
“I am sorry.” She exhaled a ragged breath, finally looking back at him. “All I can say was that I was confused and scared. I wasn’t thinking straight. And then later, when I was, I was so embarrassed by it all that I didn’t reach out. I should have, and I regret my actions.”
He couldn’t seem to stop his next question, either.
“All of your actions?”
They both knew what he was talking about. Their night together.
“I was being selfish,” she explained. “And that wasn’t right. I pulled you into the mess of my life, and you didn’t deserve to have my problems become your problems. My leaving was to save you all of that.”
“I would have helped you, Mia. I wanted to.”
“I know,” she said, the words choked with emotion. “But none of it was your issue. It was mine. I was thinking of you.”
He had a feeling that Mia put other people’s feelings ahead of her own on a regular basis. Or at least she had. He didn’t know how she behaved now.
“I heard your ex was put in prison.”
Her eyes widened in surprise and her mouth fell open.
“How on earth did you know that? I only knew because my friends down here were helping me to keep tabs on Kevin.”
