Too Sweet (Hayes Brothers #3)(56)

Her cheeks heat again, but she fights embarrassment, toying with a thick tangle of hair at the back of my head. “I bet I won’t want you to leave. I waited a long time for you.”

So am I. She’s a blank canvas. The first time I claim her body will lay the grounds for our sex life. I want her to be comfortable in her own skin, focused on her pleasure, and courageous enough to ask for what she needs.

Happy, at ease, confident.

That’s the goal.

“I’ve wanted you since I met you,” she says quietly.

“You have me, baby. You had me before I saw your face.” I scuff my thumb across her lower lip. I don’t want to scare you, but I’m already fucking crazy about you.”

“I don’t want to scare you, but so am I.”

I peck her head, pull the comforter aside, and pat the mattress. “Hop in. It’s late.”

We get under the sheets, and Mia starts busying her hands by pinching the comforter, a nervous ritual. “Um... will it be a problem if I put a nightlamp on? I’m—” She trips over the words, inhaling deeply. “I don’t like darkness.”

It takes me two heartbeats to understand what she said. My only response is, “Why?”

“It won’t be bright, I promise. It’s not really a night lamp, it’s a projector, and I can dim—”

“You’re evading, Mia. If you don’t want to tell me, say so. Don’t pretend you didn’t hear me. Put the light on.”

She leans out, turns on the projector, then flips the overhead lights off. It feels like I’ve stepped out of the space station. The ceilings and walls are covered in constellations, stars, and planets.

“I was bullied in school,” she admits, curving into my side. “Kids used to lock me in the janitorial closet for hours after school, gagged and tied. It was pitch dark in there.”

“Bullied? Why were you bullied?”

“Why is anyone bullied?” She kisses the underside of my chin. “This isn’t a conversation I want to have the first night I get to fall asleep next to you. Let’s save it for a rainy day, okay?”

I let out all air from my lungs. “Yeah, okay, but we’re not spending that rainy day soaking wet on the beach.”

TWENTY-ONE
Nico

“SO...” Toby starts when I stumble into the kitchen early Sunday morning after the restaurant manager woke me up.

It’s for the best. Theo, Logan, and Shawn decided we should start golfing again now that we own the Country Club and Logan’s no longer tending to his pregnant, bedridden wife-to-be.

“You and Mia, huh? Just so you know, I called it when she was getting her tattoo done.”

“Based on what?”

He shrugs, grinning behind a cup of coffee. “You didn’t take your eyes off her for a second, man. And you acted out of character, cautious... like you were afraid she’d disappear if you made one false move.”

I was. Mia makes a baby-deer first impression. Tiny little thing that needs tiptoeing around. It’s not really the case, though. Now that I got to know her, I realized that, despite her unapologetic femininity, she doesn’t need to be handled like a China doll.

Not that it’ll stop me.

Mia’s delicacy is what draws me in most. She’s not a princess waiting for the prince to rescue her from the tower. She wants him to lock her in there and never let anyone touch her.

“My mother used to say people who are meant to be together are like two halves of the same apple, but...” Toby muses, blowing steam off his cup. “Mia’s half a ripe raspberry, and you’re—”

“I’m a blackberry.”

A derisive snort flies past his lips. “If it’s rotting, then sure, you’re a blackberry.”

I’d flip him off if I weren’t holding two coffees and walking toward Mia’s bedroom. She’s not in bed anymore. The comforter is kicked aside, and the en suite opens seconds later.

“Morning,” she says, crossing the room barefoot and smelling like peppermint. “When did you get up?”

She hasn’t changed out of her night dress or brushed her hair, and I fucking love she feels comfortable enough around me to let me see her like this. She’s effortlessly gorgeous, and the I-woke-up-like-this look doesn’t diminish it in any way.

“About ten minutes ago.” I grip her waist, lay her on the bed, and sink into her minty mouth for a kiss. “I hope you weren’t about to come looking for me wearing this.” I tug the frilly hem, covering her ass as much as the short fabric allows. “Tell me you don’t parade the house dressed like this when Toby’s here.”

“Um... I do, but I also wear my swimsuit when he’s here. I’d say this covers more.”

I rest my forehead against hers, taking a few deep breaths to rein in my flaring temper. Just thinking about anyone seeing her in this has my psyche sputtering like a defective neon.

It’s toxic. I know it is. I’ve been trying to suffocate that flaw for years with little success.

“It upsets you to think he sees me like this...” she whispers, speaking her mind out loud, then wiggles out from under me, getting to her feet to tie a matching sky-blue silk robe around her middle. “Better?” She twirls around.

“Much better,” I agree, pulling her back on the bed. “Don’t let me get away with things like that, Mia. I’ll get it under control.”