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“If it was something that happened because of my family’s mismanagement of the West Coast label, I would be happy to set the record straight.”
“No.” Mia added a head shake for emphasis. “It would cause too much upheaval. My family would never forgive me if word got out.”
Trent nodded. “If anyone understands how complicated family and business can be it’s me. You have my word that this stays here.”
“Thank you.”
Mia gave Trent a wobbly smile and it hit Nate hard. He wanted badly to be able to make everything right for her, but she’d never let him. The best he could hope would be to get her away from Ivy so that her future looked brighter.
They dined on the fresh catch of the day and went through several bottles of wine. Trent, Savannah and Mia carried the conversation. Nate enjoyed his forced muteness and spent most of the dinner watching Mia’s confidence bloom beneath his friends’ attention.
“Dessert?” Nate asked as the waiter cleared the plates. He wanted to prolong the night as long as possible.
Savannah looked regretful. “I wish we could, but we promised the sitter we’d get home by ten.”
Nate turned to Mia, but she was shaking her head. “How about a walk on the beach?”
She glanced out the window at the dark water. He knew she loved the ocean. They’d sneaked off to the beach a couple times while touring Australia. He would’ve liked to steal her away for some snorkeling along the Great Barrier Reef, but the schedule had been too tight for that sort of excursion.
“A short one. If I’m too late Ivy will wonder why.”
After settling the bill the two couples separated in the parking lot. Mia maintained her smile as she stripped off her sandals and put them in the car. The temperature had dipped into the upper fifties, but the breeze blowing off the Pacific was light.
Nate took her hand and they made their way toward the sand. As they crossed the broad expanse, he revisited how easy it was to be with Mia. She had an ability to stay tranquil no matter how crazy the people around her became. No doubt it was a trait she’d cultivated in dealing with her sister’s demanding ways.
Mia didn’t expect conversation or feel compelled to fill silences with chatter.
Even before his surgery, they’d spent long silent hours enjoying each other’s company, physically connected by the touch of her foot on his thigh or his shoulder against hers, or at opposite ends of a room, content to occupy the same space.
If it weren’t for Mia’s peculiar attachment to being her sister’s assistant, he could’ve delighted in having found the perfect woman. Instead his patience was worn to the thinness of onion skin by his constant need to resist the craving to pull Mia into his arms and kiss her. He was tired of pretending his interest in her was professional.
Fingers knitted together, they walked at the water’s edge, heading away from the bright lights of the Santa Monica pier. The quarter moon gave them enough light to see by. Nate stopped and used Mia’s momentum to turn her into his arms. Sliding his hand into her hair, he cupped her cheek and brought his lips to hers.
She tasted of the peppermint candy she’d snagged on the way out of the restaurant. When he licked at her lips, they parted for him, and he swept his tongue against hers, stealing her breath and the last bit of the candy disk. He’d always been good with words when it came to writing music, but this rush of emotion that hit him whenever he put his arms around her smothered his ability to form cohesive thought.
“I have a few more hours before Ivy will be home,” she murmured against his cheek as he grazed his lips down her neck. She trembled as he nipped her skin. “Feel like going back to your hotel? I’m dying to be alone with you.”
* * *
Nate didn’t bother signing his answer. He grabbed her by the hand and pulled her toward the car. Mia laughed at his eagerness. It matched the impatience burning in her chest. Why hadn’t she said something sooner? They’d wasted fifteen minutes on this walk.
Nate had one hand on the steering wheel and caressed her shoulder with the other while he drove. There was little conversation on the trip back into the city. It gave Mia time to think about what was to come and to work herself into a fine state of frenzied anticipation.
At the hotel, Nate turned his car over to the valet. When he would’ve put his arm around Mia for the walk through the hotel lobby, she shook her head.
“We can’t be seen together like that,” she cautioned, thinking what would happen if a picture got out of the two of them linked romantically. “I don’t want to show up on social media and invite speculation.”
“I think you overestimate my star power.”
Mia rolled her eyes. The man had no idea how incredible he was. “I think you underestimate it.”
“I’m pretty low-key off tour. And I don’t really have one of those faces that everybody knows.”
“Are you kidding? You’re gorgeous.” She covered her mouth with her hand and laughed self-consciously. “I don’t know why I’m embarrassed admitting that to you. You already know how I feel.”
“I’m not really sure I do.” Nate frowned down at her for a long moment.
They joined several other hotel guests in the elevator and got out on the twelfth floor. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. The way he watched her turned her bones to mush. She spent so much time hiding how he made her feel. It was a relief to let her emotions shine.
