“He’s got someone on their way now, but…” Mia lifts her head, her sweet blue eyes peering into mine. “Would you stay here tonight? Not because of the break-in, but because I want you to stay.”
“Of course, I will.” I press a kiss to her forehead. “Mia, you’re going to have to force me on that plane to Florida tomorrow night.”
She breathes out a small laugh. “I don’t think I want?—”
Another knock comes to her door.
She quirks an eyebrow. “Could be the building manager?”
Letting her go, I answer her door, finding three other fucking teenagers with a different officer. They all go wide-eyed and a ramble starts from all three of the boys.
“We want to apologize.”
“Can we get an autograph?”
“Can we get a picture?”
Mia bursts out laughing again, but I shut the door in their faces.
“Adam, those poor fans,” Mia says, still laughing.
“No, not poor fans. Fucking panty thieves that are lucky my beautiful girlfriend has such a great sense of humor.”
Chapter 9
Mia
“You know, it’s not the fancy Italian place,” I start, tossing my pizza crust in the box, “but this was a pretty amazing pizza.”
“I have to agree.” Adam wipes his hands on a napkin then takes our empty box back to the kitchen. “Not to mention another pretty memorable date…breaking and entering and us being awkwardly stared at the entire time we ate by the guy fixing your lock.”
I snort a laugh. “I think he was trying to place you. You should have just told him who you are.”
Adam shakes his head, making his way back to the couch. “He was probably trying to figure out why in the world you’re with me.”
“Oh, smooth,” I say snarkily. “That’s bound to be one of the most unoriginal cheesy lines in the book.”
Adam laughs then reaches for my calves, bringing my legs from casually being propped up on the coffee table to his lap. “One could argue it’s a classic.”
I mumble ahumph.I’m a little too busy appreciating the feel of his hands on my skin.
Once the pizza arrived, Adam unbuttoned a few of the buttons on his shirt and rolled up his sleeves. He looks downright edible.
“I have a question for you,” Adam says, taking his hands off my legs. My knee-jerk reaction to tell him I’ll only answer if he puts his hands back is stopped when he grabs my framed napkin on my side table. “What’s this?”
I can’t and don’t want to contain the grin on my face. “That’s my ten-year plan that I wrote with my grandfather. We did it on my twenty-first birthday at Winedown.”
One of Adam’s hands finds my leg and for that I get tingles lighting up through my body, but then he starts to read off the plan. “Graduate with a bachelor’s degree.”
“Did that the very next semester. Top of my class, might I add, but we kept the napkin plan pretty basic. I started my master’s that fall, where I did the same two years later. Achievements weren’t exactly held to this high standard with him, it was more the dedication and passion he admired.”
This odd look of hurt flashes across Adam’s face, but in the blink of an eye it disappears. “Yeah, but he had you as a granddaughter so I think he knew the high bar wasn’t exactly a hurdle for you.”
“I had my moments. It’s not always a walk in the park for me on things. I may have the high IQ and a stellar personality?—”
“Really humble, too.”
“But!” I scoff. “I hold myself to a higher standard than anyone. The idea of disappointing my parents—or then my grandparents—does make me feel nauseous, but I hate the idea of being disappointed in myself more.”
