Neighbors with Benefits (Anderson Brothers, #2)(23)

Taking her bottom lip between his teeth, he ran his hand up her neck and into her hair. “More,” he said, pulling her ponytail just hard enough to tilt her head further. “Give me more, Mia.”

Yes. No. No. No.

He was her fake fiancé for a friend’s wedding. She was his unwanted guest who doubled as his dog sitter at night.

It was a business arrangement, and making out on a bridge in public was bad business.

“No,” she whispered.

He stilled, rapid breaths fanning across her neck.

Releasing her arms from around him, she inhaled slowly, willing her hammering heart to slow. “I’m sorry. This is not…”

He pulled back enough to look into her eyes, which made rejecting him even harder.

“This is not what I need,” she finished.

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before straightening up completely, hands still on the rail on either side of her. Then he opened his eyes and nodded. “Okay.”

“Not that it wasn’t nice.”

“Nice…” He gave a half laugh and took a step back.

She gave a hopeless shrug. “Okay. That sounded stupid. I say stupid stuff all the time. Your kisses are more than nice; they’re spectacular. So hot, I forget who and where I am. Look at me. I’m a trembling mess.”

“So, why no?”

She noticed he was trembling, too. “Because although I am forgetful and scatterbrained, I learn from mistakes. And believe me, I’ve made some doozies.”

“Sleeping with me wouldn’t be a mistake.”

“You can’t give me what I need.”

He grinned, and his dimples made an appearance. “I can give you everything you need and more.”

“I’m not talking about sex.”

The dimples disappeared.

“And you are,” she continued. “I’ve tried sex-first relationships. They fail for me. Guys say they want me, but they don’t. It’s just sex. There’s a big difference.”

He ran a hand through his perfectly trimmed hair and stared over the water.

“I deserve someone who appreciates me as a person. Sex doesn’t lead to love. You know that as well as anyone. I mean, I’ve drowned you out with bad music multiple times, and even if some of those were repeat performances, you can’t tell me you really cared for any of those women, or else you’d be with one of them now.”

Still looking out over the water, he nodded. He was quiet for several moments, and she wished his control would crack enough for her to read his expression. Finally he spoke. “You’re right. I can’t give you what you need.” He turned his attention to her and smiled. “But, I can give you the second half of your carriage ride.” He pointed to where Lee was waiting on the road to the bridge.

She smiled. “So, back to business as usual.”

“Business as usual.”

“No more kissing.”

“No more kissing,” he repeated.

Clancy yanked on the leash as he barked at a duck below and she stooped over to pick up the ice cream wrapper she’d dropped when he took her in his arms. “Okay,” she said. “We’ll just consider this little incident research to benefit our fake engagement next weekend.”

“If you ever want to conduct more research… for the sake of believability, you know, I’m always available.”

She gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. “Stop it. You’re supposed to be all stuffy and serious.”

“I’m completely serious.”

And even though she’d shared her last kiss with Michael Anderson, a tiny thrill trickled down her spine at the tempting door he’d left open just a crack.

It was going to be a long week.

…

File in lap, Michael sat transfixed, his ability to hyper-focus in full effect.

“Don’t you have work to do or something?” Mia asked, voice tantalizingly breathy.

“I’m doing it.”

She punched a button on the remote and the music stopped. “No, you’re not. You’re watching me work out.”

“I’m multi-tasking.” He pointed to the open file in his lap. “See? Do you work out like this every day?”

“Yes.” She grabbed a towel she’d thrown over the arm of one of the chairs and wiped her face and neck. “I just don’t do it before the sun comes up, like you do.” She was wearing the blue and pink skin-tight affair again, and he liked it even more than he did the first time he saw it. Completely at ease, nearly unclothed, and covered in a fine sheen of perspiration, she rubbed down her bare belly. “Well, I try to work out every day. Sometimes, I get distracted.”

“Hmmm.” He flipped a page of the file, oblivious to what was on it. He had a mission: Mia in his bed, and he was going to get her there. And it would be her idea. Lee had said he could read people. Well, that’s how Michael made his living. And he was absolutely certain, after observing her closely for the last week, this woman was as on fire for him as he was for her. The key was the real motivation behind her rejection of him.

He couldn’t believe he was working so hard for this. But it was worth it. Everything about her appealed to him—well, except maybe what she was doing to his apartment.