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Ivy would freak if she ever found out Mia and Nate were i
nvolved. Especially now that she had some crazy idea that she and Nate were destined for each other. Mia wasn’t ready for the upheaval it would cause for her family.
“How’s your throat?” She cleared away his tray and brought him some gelato.
“It’s great.”
But she could tell from the tension in his facial muscles that wasn’t true. “Where are your pain meds?”
“I don’t want to take them.”
Mia was torn. As much as she hated seeing him endure the pain, she had selfish reasons for being glad he’d refused to take the drugs. “Let me get you some water. Everything I’ve read advises staying hydrated.”
She handed him a full water bottle and he signed his thanks. For no good reason, Mia’s eyes prickled with sudden tears. Damn this man for turning her into a sappy mess with a simple thank-you. Not trusting her voice, and since saying “you’re welcome” wasn’t done in American Sign Language, she responded by signing “no problem” before turning away.
Despite his short nap earlier, Nate seemed tired, so after watching television together for an hour, she shooed him toward the bedroom. He caught her hand and, before she knew what he intended, dropped a kiss in her palm.
“Are you going to stay?” he signed, his lips curved into a hopeful smile.
The entreaty in his gray eyes messed with her pulse. She’d come prepared to spend the night, but hadn’t intended on forcing her presence on him.
“I can.”
He wrapped his arm around her waist and drew her against his solid body. Lean muscle shifted beneath her fingertips as she put her hand on his upper abdomen to keep a little space between them.
“On the couch,” she added with a shaky laugh.
He shook his head and then tipped it to the side and put his free hand against his cheek to sign “bed.” Her toes curled at the thought of lying beside him while he slept, listening to his even breathing, tormented by his powerful frame mere inches away. If they shared a bed there was no way she was going to get any sleep tonight.
Every time she shut her eyes she relived that night in Sydney. Sneaking kisses in out-of-the-way places during the early stages of their secret tour romance had been wildly exciting, but nothing had prepared her for the intensity of his mouth on her breasts or the surprising way his muscles shivered beneath her questing fingers.
The memory of making love with him hadn’t grown the least bit fuzzy with each week that passed. Nor had her feelings for him dulled. For the last month and a half she’d thrown herself into everything that could take her mind off Nate for even a fraction of a second. Sticking close to Ivy made this pretty easy. And late at night Mia wrote music. Heartbreaking songs of love and loss that belonged on a country music album. They weren’t the pop styling of Ivy Bliss.
“Go to bed. I’ll be in after I call Melody and let her know you’re okay. I sent her a text while you napped earlier, but she’ll want some details.”
He kissed the top of her head and stepped back. “Don’t be long.”
“Tyrant.”
“This is nothing. Wait until you see me in the control booth.”
Mia called Melody and gave her an update on how Nate was doing, and shared that she’d be translating for him for the next month so he could keep his production schedule.
“What a great idea. I know Nate signs because his mother is deaf. How did you learn?”
“My older sister, Eva, lost her hearing when she was two.” While Mia and her mother were fluent, Ivy and their father never learned to sign beyond some basic words.
“You haven’t talked about her much. Does she live in California?”
“Chicago. She’s a psychiatrist and a lot of her patients are hearing impaired.” Talking about Eva made sadness swell inside Mia. With her sister so far away and both of them so busy, she didn’t get a chance to see her as often as she’d like.
“How did Nate know you could sign?” Melody jumped in and answered her own question before Mia could say a word. “That’s how you two communicated when Ivy was around.”
Heat crept into Mia’s cheeks. “Sometimes.”
“I never did understand why you and Nate were so determined to keep your relationship a secret.”
“Things like that get complicated around my sister.”
