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Teddy was right. Putting my foot down, setting boundaries wasn’t too difficult. My parents took my rantings well. It made me miss him even more. “I do, Mama. I love you both. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to go try to fix my messed up life.” I squeezed their necks and planted kisses on their cheeks. “Go back out to the porch swing. You looked so happy out there. Go. Go.”
The situation proved cathartic, like a huge, heavy tail fell off that I’d been dragging around for a long time. Although it still hurt around the edges, as if the connections were still there.
Driving home, I turned instead to park at the bar. Diego needed to know what had happened so he would have a heads up. Mama and Papa would call him for another of their little emergencies—probably sooner than he thought. And I needed a drink after all.
I stepped into the bar, and holy hell. The conversation with my brother would have to wait. The gorgeous, sexy man I loved sat on a barstool holding a beer. And he was talking to Dean Perez.
20
TEDDY
The best thing about roses, other than the smiles they brought to people’s faces, was watching them bloom. One petal at a time, each one unglued from the tight bud. Once fully opened, the petals revealed their inner beauty, and together, their strength.
The moment Mia arrived at the bar, I knew. She’d blossomed. Her smile glowed with confidence. So fucking attractive. I had to know why. Before any other man approached her.
She hadn’t moved from the doorway since our eyes locked. I fumbled my way over, searching my words for the best opening. “Can I buy you a drink?” I immediately cringed inside, while attempting not to show it.
“Yes, that would be nice. Thank you! Oh, unless I’m interrupting something?” Her digit pointed to Dean Perez.
“Ah, yes. I’ll explain while we walk to the bar.” I held out my elbow with an anxious breath, and relaxed when she took it. “Apparently, she was to meet a blind date here. But the jerk never showed. I felt bad for her so I’ve been talking with her about the dating scene. Seems she left a long-term boyfriend a couple of years ago and just now getting back out there. Between you and me, I think she’s getting tipsy. It might be time to call for a car service soon to take her home.”
As we neared her barstool, the dean turned to us. The sinking of my heart killed me when Mia dropped her hand from my elbow. How disappointing to be back to secrecy, and hiding our relationship?
On this side of everything we’d been through, I wasn’t sure I could live in a loving relationship where I couldn’t show my love freely. I’d given Mia my speech about boundaries. Maybe I needed to take my advice.
I couldn’t give up on us. I had to believe there was a time and place perfect for our love to exist. Before I could wallow in misery again, the dean spoke up.
“Relax, Mia. I’ve run into the two of you together enough this semester to get wind of what was going on. You’re obviously in a relationship. It’ll be our little secret.” She winked and reached out for our hands, joining Mia’s with mine. I never would have guessed at her reaction like this. I glanced at Mia and squeezed her hand. She appeared a little awestruck.
“Wow, I always thought you were a by-the-book person. What about the college’s rule regarding professors not dating students?”
“Let’s go sit at a table, the three of us, hm? We can chat more there.”
Our future hung in the balance, and the dean didn’t know how her response might change everything for us. Still hand in hand, we followed her and settled in. But dropped hands again when we sat too far apart.
“If you two had simply come to me and said something like, This is my old friend and we’re adults now and we want to date, I’d have been fine with it. I would have wanted you to keep it somewhat on the down low. You know, no public displays of affection in front of students, etc. That rule is primarily directed towards mature adult professors hitting on the typical eighteen to twenty-one-year-old young people on campus, if you get my drift.”
I adjusted my chair closer to Mia, resting my arm along her back. My fingertips tested the waters, caressing her shoulder. She didn’t flinch. A good sign. “Thanks. I wish we had come to you early on.”
At first, Mia was silent, and I wondered if too much ice had frozen between us, too much to melt now, too heavy to chip away and find our way back to where we once were. Finally, her hand found a place on my thigh and squeezed. “Thank you, Dean Perez.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Actually, it’s President Perez. After being in the role of interim college president the past year, the board offered me the position this morning. But let’s do away with the formalities. Call me Serena, okay?”
“That’s brilliant. Congratulations,” Mia finally popped a smile and her shoulders loosened up.
Diego, on point as always, appeared at the right time. “We have a lot to celebrate. Champagne all around on me,” I ordered.
He leaned a hand against Serena’s chair. “Oh yeah? What are we celebrating?”
“Dean, er, Serena is the new college president,” Mia gestured. “By the way, have you two met? This is my brother. He’s the owner of Mi Casa, and also the best bartender around. And this is my boss, Serena Perez,” she made the introductions.
Diego peered down and sent Serena a smoldering smile. “Hey.”
“Hey,” she purred back. “It’s nice to meet you. I’m a fan of a good bartender who knows how to give excellent customer service.” The corner of Diego’s mouth curled up. I wondered what sexy thought played through his mind.
“Three flutes of my finest champagne coming right up.” As he marched back to the bar, Serena watched with particular interest, especially when he turned halfway and peeked back over his shoulder at her.
Holy shit, I doubted Mia caught the fire hiding between the two of them, but I couldn’t miss it. I’d have to ask him about it later.
