If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(46)

"Sometimes you have to get far enough down the road to know if you're lost."

"That's true. I don't know what I'm going to do for a career, but there has to be some part of it that I love. I know it's unrealistic to think I'll love all of it, but there has to be something. My job can't just be about making a living."

"That's a good goal. How was your party tonight?"

"It was amazing. The coloring books were a huge hit. I had many great conversations with my aunt's friends, who all spoke so warmly of her. It was really touching. Kara and Charlotte and Lauren were super nice. They have such a great friendship. I feel like they'll be friends when they're in their nineties."

"Well, they have a long way to go."

"What about you? How was boys' night out?"

"Maybe a little too much fun," he admitted. "It was good to shoot pool, drink beer, and just be around men. My house has been pretty girly lately."

She laughed. "That's what happens when you're a single dad of a beautiful little girl. It was good you got out for a while. You have to take time for yourself."

"I agree. When the cab dropped me off, I wasn't ready to go inside. I saw your light on back here, and I couldn't stop myself from coming to see you."

"It's a beautiful night to be outside," she said lightly, but he could see her beginning to tense.

"You're what's beautiful," he told her. "Do you know how pretty you are in the moonlight?"

"I've always thought I looked better in the shadows."

"You don't see yourself the way I see you, Mia."

"Okay, I think a better question to ask might be how many drinks have you had?"

He moved closer to her, putting his hands on her waist, so she couldn't run away from him, not that she seemed that interested in running. "I've had a few drinks but not so many that I don't know what I'm saying or what I'm doing."

"And what are you doing?"

"I'm thinking about kissing you—maybe more. What are you thinking?"

"That we shouldn't kiss or…anything more," she said softly.

"I told you, Mia, that I don't like that word shouldn't. Didn't you just say tonight that you'd unlocked something inside you? The cage is open. The bird is free to fly."

"Not into your arms."

"Why not into my arms?" he challenged.

She took a breath, determination in her gaze. "I don't want to be with you, Jeremy."

He didn't believe that for a second. "Yes, you do. You can say no, but don't lie to me, Mia. We've been honest with each other since we met. Let's keep it that way."

She stared back at him, and the truth was in her eyes. "All right. I was lying. I'm tempted," she admitted. "I like you, and there's an undeniable attraction between us, but I don't want to make another mistake. I don’t want to move too fast."

"Did moving slowly make your ex any less of a mistake? Didn't you say you spent weeks getting to know him and he was still able to deceive you?"

"You're right. It wasn't the speed that made things go wrong."

"It was the lies. But we're not lying to each other. We're not making promises we can't keep. We're just living in the moment. Isn't that what you came to Angel's Bay to do? Be more like your aunt?"

She let out a sigh. "You are very persuasive, Jeremy Holt."

"I want you," he said simply.

"And you always get what you want?"

"Usually."

"You can't tell me that you don't think us being together wouldn't complicate things."

"Maybe I don't care."

"Oh, Jeremy, you're going to kill me," she said, giving him a helpless shake of her head. "It's hard enough to fight myself; I don't know if I can beat you, too."

"I don't want to kill you. I have other, more pleasurable activities in mind. All you have to do is say yes, Mia. One simple word."

"It's so not simple," she breathed, as he leaned over and took the kiss he'd been dreaming about all day.

Despite her previous words of rejection, Mia opened her mouth to his and let him take the kiss to a deeper level. Her hands slipped under his shirt and moved up his back, and her fingers on his skin brought more heat between them. His body hardened, and he wanted her hands all over him.

He pulled her closer, moved his head one way, then another, wanting, needing each taste, each kiss, to be better than the last. And Mia went along with him, all objections gone, nothing but desire raging between them.

She tugged at the hem of his shirt, and he fulfilled her need by pulling his shirt up and over his head and tossing it on the grass.

"Jeremy," she murmured, her gaze sweeping his broad chest as her hands came to rest on his shoulders.

"Like what you see?"

"Most of it, but not this…" She traced the long scar on his left shoulder, then her hand slipped down his chest to his abdomen where another raised scar ran below his rib cage. "Or this."

"They don't hurt anymore."

"Really? Not even deep inside?"