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If he told too many more lies, he was really going to struggle keeping them all straight.
“No, I had some new warning lights come on, decided not to chance it. Thankfully, an old friend from college lives near where it happened and has been letting me crash at her place until everything opens tomorrow.” There, that sounded semi-legit. “Did Mom really not tell you any of this?”
There was a short pause on the other end of the line. “No, but she’s been gone most of the weekend, helping with the Lions Club charity event. Maybe she tried to tell me last night when she came to bed but didn’t realize I had already fallen asleep.”
Alex chuckled. That was so like his father—out the minute that man’s head hit the pillow. “Well, sorry to make you worry. Next time I know I won’t make it back for dinner, I’ll call you both.”
They talked shop for a few minutes, Alex giving a quick overview of the stops he planned to make this week, before the topic of Christmas came up.
“We’d like you to join us in Florida for the holidays this year,” his father said. “We’ve already booked the condo on Siesta Key. Say you’ll come.”
Alex ran his hand along the desk’s surface, noting the many marker bleed-throughs and paint splotches. “I don’t know, Dad. I was kinda thinking of staying north this year and seeing all that I usually miss.”
“You’ll see snow for months after Christmas. What else could you possibly miss by coming south with us?”
Mia. Alex grinned. “Let’s just say my attention has recently been diverted.”
“Oh? Well, bring whoever she is along. There’s plenty of room.”
He looked to the door. “Not sure that’s an option, but I’ll keep it in mind.”
His father badgered him a few minutes more before telling him to think about it and disconnecting. Nathaniel Wellington had never been an easy man to tell no—that’s how he’d gotten to be where he was in the trucking industry. It didn’t mean Alex bowed to his father’s every wish, though. That wasn’t how future CEOs operated.
He shifted his attention to editing after that, making his way through a chapter and a half before a knock at his door pulled him from his work. Eleven o’clock? Where had the time gone? Relieved to find the pain in his foot mostly gone, Alex made his way to the door and found Mia there with milk and cookies in hand.
“I thought you could use a late-night snack.”
“Wow, thank you,” he said, accepting the gifts. “Careful now, you keep doing things like this and I’m not going to want to go back home.”
She grinned, lingering just inside the doorway. “Maybe I’m just trying to convince you to make good on your offer to come back again sometime.”
“You don’t think I will?”
Mia shrugged. “You’re a busy guy.”
“Ah, but smart busy guys know there are times when they need to be unbusy.”
She laughed. “Wow, if you’ve figured out that age-old mystery, feel free to clue me in. I always seem to have too many plates spinning at once.”
Alex gently pulled her to him, nuzzling beneath her ear. “Maybe you just haven’t had enough unbusy time lately.”
“Oh, there’s no maybe about it,” Mia said, her voice breathy. Needy.
Alex hadn’t planned to take things any further with her tonight, but who was he to not help a woman in need? He nipped her earlobe. “We can fix that, you know.”
“We can?”
Alex traded talking for showing. He kissed his way to her lips and gave them a small nip. When hers parted in surprise, he deepened the kiss. Her fingers curled into his shirt, pulling him closer as a needy mewl escaped her. Alex ran one hand into her hair and the other to the small of her back, holding her in place as he devoured her. He’d planned only to take care of her, but maybe if they kept things quiet—
“Hey, Mom?”
Mia’s eyelids flew open. She cleared her throat and turned her face toward the door. “Be there in a minute!”
Her fingers released his shirt, and a blush pinked her cheeks as Mia tried smoothing the fabric. “Sorry, I got a little carried away.”
“I rather like it when you get carried away.”
“But I shouldn’t, not when I’m on Mom duty.”
