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He guessed it was no more than twenty minutes later when she woke. Her body tensed as she became aware of their position, and almost immediately she began to disentangle herself. He tightened his fingers.
“How long have you been awake?” she asked, resisting his hold for several seconds before her muscles went limp once more.
He signed “twenty minutes” with his right hand and then placed his fingers beneath her chin to shift her head back. Their eyes met as he lowered his lips to hers.
She sighed into his mouth and he deepened the kiss, tracing her lips and teeth with his tongue until she let him in. His heart ached as her fingers stroked his cheek before latching on to his hair to pull him closer. She groaned against his mouth. Her morning kisses were sweet, with just a hint of sexy. Since he couldn’t tell her how amazing she tasted or how soft her lips were, he did his best to let her know with his fingers against her cheek and neck.
“I don’t think this is what the doctor ordered,” she half moaned as he worked his lips down her throat. With a breathless laugh, she ducked away from the hand he’d slipped beneath the hem of her pajama top and half rolled, half shimmied off the bed.
“I was told not to speak. He said nothing about sex.”
“I’m sure you were told not to exert yourself.”
Her color was already high and his wicked grin drove the brightness in her cheeks even higher. She caught her lip between her teeth and stared at his bare chest for a long moment before shaking her head.
“I’m going to make you some Throat Coat tea and order you a smoothie for breakfast.”
Nate watched her go before rolling out of bed and heading into the bathroom for a shower. When he came out, a bottle of water awaited him on the countertop by the sink. Mia was serious about keeping him hydrated. He dressed and headed into the living room, wondering how he was going to keep himself occupied and his hands off Mia for the next couple days. Idleness wasn’t something he did well. If he wasn’t working in the studio, he was writing music or promoting the band.
“I don’t suppose you want to share what you’ve been working on lately with me?” he signed after breakfast.
“I have a couple beats I recorded the other day. When Ivy decided she wanted to change things up a bit, I started playing with some synthpop sounds.” Mia frowned slightly. “Of course, that was before I learned she wants to record Melody’s music.”
“Let me hear.”
She pulled out her phone and scanned through until she found the track she was looking for. When she played it for him, his eyes widened. It was very different from anything Ivy had done. Perhaps a little too different for the pop princess?
“Has Ivy heard this?”
“I can read your mind,” Mia said with a self-conscious sigh. “I know it’s different from her usual stuff. And no, I haven’t played any of this for her.”
“I know a couple singers who might be interested in what you have there.” Nate paused and gave her a second to digest that. “I can give them a call. Or send them a text,” he amended.
“I’ll think about it. It’s all pretty rough at the moment.”
“Maybe when we get into the studio you can play around with it some more.”
“Maybe.” She gave a noncommittal shrug. “By the way, I mentioned to Melody that Ivy is interested in recording some of her music, so she can prepare.”
“I’m sure she appreciated the heads-up.”
Mia’s phone buzzed and she glanced at the screen. From her grimace, Nate assumed it was her sister calling. She got up and took the phone out to the small terrace.
“Hi, Ivy, what’s up?” Mia stood with her back to him, but it didn’t prevent her voice from carrying back into the suite. There was a pause, during which she paced from one end of the terrace to the other. “I can’t, because I’m out of town. I drove up the coast for a couple days.”
She turned in Nate’s direction so he signed at her.
“Liar.”
“Shut up.” And then she sat on one of the chairs and leaned her forehead on her hand. “Dad hasn’t talked to me about the direction for your new album.”
Nate wondered what it would take for Mia to come clean about their relationship. What was the harm in explaining that she’d spent last night helping him out after his surgery? The dynamic between the sisters continued to baffle him.
“Of course I understand that you want to work with Melody Caldwell. She’s incredibly talented.” A long pause, then, “No, I’m not upset. I just needed a break...from LA. Can we talk about this later?”
When Mia hung up with her sister, she blew out a big breath.
“What did she want?”
