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“I’ll go find someone and get it fixed.” Mia was glad for the chance to escape. “Be right back.”
With the mixes disguising the taste of the liquor, Mia doubted whether Ivy could distinguish one type of vodka from another. Most often she made demands to remind everyone that she was the celebrity. Mia was probably one of the few people who recognized she did it out of insecurity.
And Ivy was feeling all too anxious at the moment. She was fighting the direction Nate wanted for her album and the stress had sent her running for the comfortable fog of prescription meds. This meant Mia needed to be more vigilant than ever. She just needed to get Ivy through the album and then her sister would calm down.
Mia headed to the first floor in search of a waitress and cleared up the vodka situation. She was standing on the edge of the dance floor, wondering if it would be possible to locate Nate in the crowd, when an arm came around her waist, startling her. Mia tensed, intending on twisting away, when a familiar cologne danced past her nostrils. She glanced down as Nate’s hands moved.
“Relax. I’ve got you.”
A thousand butterflies took flight in her stomach as he drew her into the crowd on the dance floor. Twisting, grinding bodies surrounded them, driving Mia against Nate so they had no choice but to touch. He turned her so her back rested against his chest and his hands could roam over her.
“I can’t.” But her words were lost to a groan as his lips trailed along her neck and his hot breath spilled across her skin. “Ivy and her friends are just...over...” She sucked in a jagged breath as his thumb grazed her nipple.
“Damn, I’ve missed you.”
Me, too. She didn’t bother with the words. Her muscles trembled as he grazed his hands up her sides and over her ribs, telling him everything he needed to know.
Earlier the music and crowd had bothered her. But away from Ivy and her friends, Mia wanted to get lost on the dance floor for an hour or two, gyrating with the rest of the crowd to the bass-heavy music until her feet had blisters on top of blisters and she was drenched with sweat. How long had it been since she’d done something fun or crazy just for herself?
Two days.
She shut her eyes, blocking out the million-dollar light show, and whisked back in time to the hotel suite and Nate’s naked body sliding against her skin as they made love. Placing her hands over his, heat blazing in her cheeks, she pressed him closer.
His familiar scent wrapped around her and she filled her lungs until her chest ached. Nate’s body aligned with hers was perfection. It banished her loneliness, stripped away her inhibitions and demolished her dependability until she became someone else. Someone who excited her. Someone filled with poignant emotions of such perfect joy that they terrified her.
That was why she’d broken off with Nate when the tour ended. She couldn’t be two people. She had to choose. In the end, she’d shied away from embracing the daring, impulsive woman she became around Nate and retreated back into the familiar territory of being Ivy’s highly efficient, but mostly ignored PA.
Hips swaying in sync, Mia and Nate rocked to the music pouring over them, but all she could hear was the sound of her heart crying in joy. Nothing made her happier than being with Nate. But her life had never been about being happy. It had been about obligation, selflessness and patience.
Sleeping with Nate while in LA had been foolish and reckless, but she wouldn’t trade it for anything.
Against her side, her purse buzzed, jolting Mia back to responsibility. She offered up a huge sigh and tugged Nate’s hands away from her body. Turning, she signed.
“I have to go.”
She made a fist with her right hand to form the letter A and then circled it clockwise against her chest twice. Her apology did little to ease the irritation that tightened his lips into a relentless line. Green and amber lights played over his face, highlighting his unhappy expression as he signed a rude response.
“Ivy will wonder where I am.”
“I don’t care.”
“I know.”
She grabbed his wrist and dragged him off the dance floor. She thought to leave him near the bar and return to Ivy, but he was on her heels as she ascended the stairs to the VIP section. At the top, Nate was hailed by a pair of tall men, Kyle Tailor, the third partner in Club T’s, and Hunter Graves. In the last five years Hunter had become increasingly in demand as a DJ and a producer.
“You have company.” Mia indicated the two tall men heading their way. “I should get back to Ivy.”
“In a second. Come translate for me.”
Before she could refuse, Nate caught her hand and towed her to meet the two men. Mia had never been formally introduced to either of them, but thanks to Melody she knew the story behind Kyle’s annoyed frown.
Kyle was the first to speak. “Hey, Nate.”
Hunter Graves stuck out his hand with a broad grin. “Good to see you. Kyle was just showing me around. This place is great.”
Kyle checked his phone. “I have to take care of something,” he said, sending a meaningful glance Nate’s way, obviously eager to get away from the DJ. “You don’t mind taking over for me, do you?”
As Kyle retreated down the stairs, Nate shook Hunter’s hand and glanced at Mia as he indicated his throat.
