If I Didn't Know Better (The Callaways #9)(48)

"We're good together."

"It did feel a little magical."

"I agree. You've put a spell on me."

"Or you've put a spell on me. I've never actually made love on the grass before."

"The bedroom wasn't even a thought. Too far away."

"So true. It's such a warm night. I don't even need clothes."

He laughed. "I like you without clothes."

She smiled down at him. "I'm not usually this uninhibited."

"You should be. You wear it well." He paused and let out a little sigh. "I really don't want to go home, but…" He raised his arm so he could look at his watch, then he groaned. "It's almost midnight. I told Mrs. Danbury I'd be back by twelve. I'm afraid I need to go."

"Then you should go." Reminded that reality was not as magical as the past few hours had been, she sat up and reached for her dress, pulling it over her head.

He grabbed his jeans and shirt and put them on. "I'd ask you to come over and spend the night with me, but I don't know if it would confuse Ashlyn."

"I understand," she said, not quite sure how to handle the sudden change in mood. Sometimes waking up from a dream took a moment.

He paused, a frown on his lips. "Do you understand? I feel like something just changed."

She saw the concern in his eyes and had to take it away. "Nothing changed. It's fine. We had a good time. We'll talk tomorrow."

"We will talk tomorrow," he promised, giving her a hard kiss, as if he needed her to feel him one last time.

Her lips burned as he walked out of the yard. If he thought she was in any danger of forgetting his kiss, he was very wrong. She blew out a breath, picked up her underwear, and headed into the house. It was a lot of fun to live in the moment. Unfortunately, the moment had passed, and she was back to real life.





Twelve

Mia didn't know when she'd expected to see Jeremy again, but it hadn't been at nine o'clock Thursday morning when she was tired, cranky, and needed a shower.

She hadn't slept well, a never-ending parade of images floating through her head, most of them amazingly good reminders of being with Jeremy. But the fact that she was sleeping alone and had no idea if there would ever be a repeat of those amazing images hadn't put her in the best of moods.

"Good morning, beautiful," he said with a smile.

She frowned. "It's too early for beautiful." She pulled her robe around her boxer short bottoms and clingy tank top.

He raised an eyebrow. "You're not a morning person? I thought you were pretty happy yesterday when I brought pancakes over."

"Well, that was later in the day, and I don't see any pancakes," she grumbled.

He leaned forward and stole a kiss. "I missed you, too, babe."

"I did not say I missed you."

"But you did." He gave her a pointed look.

"Maybe," she conceded, because his kiss had definitely brightened her day. "And I usually like mornings, but I didn't sleep well."

"Thinking about me?"

She had to smile at his cocky question. "Not at all. I have a lot of other things on my mind. So, what are you doing here? Where's Ashlyn?"

"She's at the house. She didn't have the greatest night, either."

His words distracted her from her own mood. "Really? What was wrong?"

"She has nightmares. I don't know if she's reliving what she saw the evening her mom was killed or what. Some nights seem to be worse than others. I try to comfort her, but she usually pushes me away. It's hard to watch her in so much pain and not be able to help."

"I'm sorry. Is there anything I can do?"

"I know you're busy with this house, but I wanted to do something fun with Ashlyn today, and, frankly, I think she'd enjoy it more if you were with us. I was thinking of taking her down to the beach. There's a sand castle competition starting at eleven. It's a pretty big event in Angel's Bay. I think the three of us could build an awesome castle."

"That sounds fun, but maybe it would be better if you and Ashlyn went on your own."

His brows knit together as he studied her face. "Are you saying no because of last night? Because we got too close, and now you need to push me away?"

Damn. Was he a mind reader?

"That's not it." She could see by the look in his eyes he didn't believe her. "Maybe that's a little bit it, but I also have a lot of work to finish around here."

"Ashlyn and I will help you clean stuff out this afternoon. You said you wanted to enjoy a little summer in Angel's Bay. Have you even been to the beach yet?"

"No, I haven't."

"Then you need to say yes." He gave her a smile that made refusing him pretty near impossible.

His words also reminded her that she'd already said yes last night.

But who was she kidding? Of course she wanted to go to the beach with him and Ashlyn. "Yes."

"Good. We'll leave in an hour."

"Do you want me to bring some lunch?"

"No, just bring yourself. We'll stop at the deli and pick up some food on the way to the beach." He paused, stepping forward in a deliberate way. "Now, that we've settled that…" He kissed her with a tender intimacy that took her right back to the night before.