Neighbors with Benefits (Anderson Brothers, #2)(43)

Were they not on a public beach, there would have been no way she could avoid breaking her own code… But now that she considered it, maybe it wouldn’t be a breach of rules; no sex-first relationships didn’t really apply to him. Since that day in the park, they’d actually become close. And he’d certainly gone beyond the call of duty with this fake fiancé thing. Heck, she could almost believe it herself.

She could sleep with this man and not break her code—only her heart. As she stared into his eyes, sparkling like the sea behind him, she realized it would be worth it. Every ounce of pleasure and pain.

…

Fascinated, Michael watched as Mia took another sip from her water bottle. She’d sampled everything he’d brought and was windblown, relaxed, and sexy beyond endurance.

“How did the girls’ outing go?” he asked, more to take his mind off her lips on the bottle than any interest in her answer.

“As expected. I was interrogated from the moment we left the hotel.” She twisted the top onto the bottle. “I like Kelli. I’d expected to hate her.”

Because she had Jason. A twinge of jealousy flared, but he pushed it back before it registered on his face. “Do you still have feelings for Jason, Mia?” He was pretty sure he knew the answer, but needed to hear it from her.

“No!” Her response was immediate and heartfelt. “I never really did. He was just the first guy in a long time who stuck around…or who I stuck around.”

A gull squawked and dove for something at the shore. “He still has feelings for you.”

She crushed her napkin and shoved it into one of the empty containers. “Jason cares for Jason. I feel sorry for Kelli. She’s onto him, though.”

He lay back on the blanket and laced his fingers behind his head. “Did she tell you that?”

“In so many words. When you and I started making racket he got angry and left the room. She was pretty upset.”

Something dark and pitiful in him rejoiced at making Jason upset. And as for Kelli, maybe they’d done her a favor.

“How about the guys? Did you get interrogated, too?”

A cloud the shape of a rocket ship floated overhead, and he was reminded of when he and his brothers used to go to the beach, before he started spending every weekend at the office with his dad. “Mark only asked what Sue had told him to ask—when we met, our living arrangements, that kind of thing.”

Her voice was tentative. “And Jason?”

He rolled on his side to face her. “Jason asked pointed sexual questions about you and he’s lucky I didn’t kick his ass.”

For a moment, her eyes widened, then she smiled and lay down on the blanket facing him, Clancy and the empty food containers between them. “Watch out. Your emotions are showing.”

So they were. Best to take it back to familiar territory. “Black.”

“Black what?”

“Undergarments.”

Immediately, she looked down at her chest, then back at him, eyes narrowing.

“I saw the strap when you took off your jacket.”

She delivered a playful punch to his shoulder. “Cheater.”

They said nothing for a while, simply enjoying the sounds of the waves and the birds, and he marveled at how comfortable he felt with her.

“Thanks for coming to the wedding with me. It would have been awful without you.” Her voice was so low, it almost was as if she were talking to herself.

“Why are we here? Are you that close to Sue, really?”

She sighed and rolled on her back. “I’m pitiful, but Sue’s downright pathetic. She’s a military brat and an only child. Never stayed in one place long enough to make friends, so she never tried. Hates big gatherings with lots of people.”

Hence the tiny wedding with only family and friends. It made more sense to him now and it made Jason even more a prick for trying to get Mia to back out when she was Sue’s only friend. He hadn’t really nailed down the guy’s motives, but right then, he didn’t even care.

With her inky hair blowing around her face, she looked wild and free. It took everything in him not to touch her. Fascinated, he watched as she continued. “Sue’s father died and her mother bought a permanent home and got three dogs, which is how we met.”

“You were the dog sitter. Yes, I remember.”

“Sue felt like she had a real home, finally, and risked a friendship with me during my housesitting gig in her neighborhood. She set me up with Jason and when that didn’t work out after a year, we both felt awkward and guilty.” She smiled over at him. “I think we’re good now, though.”

He propped up on an elbow. “How about us? Are we good?” He hadn’t planned this turn in the conversation. It was like his subconscious had taken over and blurted out what he’d been wondering all afternoon. Maybe Dr. Whittelsey’s dog therapy was really working.

“Wow.” She sat up, legs folded under her. “You are full of surprises. Is there an us?”

There it was. In a business deal, this was the pivotal moment in which the arrangement was defined and agreed upon. At the negotiation table, he would dress it up and say what the other party wanted to hear, as long as it was truthful and forwarded the transaction. In this case, raw, unembellished honesty would have to do. “I don’t know.” He met her eyes directly. “I want there to be.”