“Don’t know yet. Somewhere big and busy and where everybody doesn’t know my business.”
“Maybe I’ll make you stay. Make you see that this is the town for you,” Rafferty professed. He was sure she wouldn’t remember any of this come morning anyway.
“Not going to work. This town is no fun. I want to live somewhere fun and exciting.” She was slurring more of the words.
“I think I should get you home.” Getting up, he reached a hand out to her. She grabbed it, and he pulled her to her feet.
Without a word, he kept her hand in his and led her out of the bar, down the street for a block, and into the building where she lived. How long he had known where she lived, he didn’t know, but it seemed like one of the first things he had found out when he moved back to town.
Mia was the one who got away. They were never on the same page. Now he wanted to stay here forever, and she was ready to bolt. Pulling her up the stairs into the hallway, he asked what door was hers. She dropped his hand and reached into her pocket and pulled out a key, opening the door on the end.
The door swung open on the tiny apartment with a small kitchen, a small living room, and two bedrooms. But beyond the size, it was decorated as only Mia could. Bold colors, and old furniture that had been painted or had slipcovers on them.
When they had made it in the door, she put her key on the table and shut the door behind them. Kicking off her shoes, she grabbed his hand and started to pull him toward the bedroom. “Now I’m going to have sex with you, Rafferty Brooks.”
Following, he wondered when she was going to pass out. She had to be close. He would see how far he could get before that happened. Not that he would actually have sex with her in this condition, but he would make out with her forever like this.
The bedroom was cozy and comfortable, just like the Mia he knew was under that purple hair. She had let go of his hand and was in the process of stripping out of her clothes. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged out of his jacket and tie, opening the first few buttons of his shirt. By the time he was getting to the last button she was on him, ripping the shirt open.
Buttons flying across the room.
Laughing as he fell back on the bed, taking her with him, he rolled her on her back so that he was above her. That’s when he noticed she was completely naked underneath him. When had she had time to get everything off? Reaching between them, she caressed his cock through layers of clothing.
His thoughts stopped as she pulled his head to hers and kissed him. Her tongue was in his mouth before he could process it. She was in charge of this. She tasted the same as she had at sixteen, and it had taken him years to forget that taste. But tonight it all came rushing back. She held his head as she deepened the kiss even more. Their breaths were ragged, and they couldn’t get enough of each other.
As the kiss grew heated, he took her breasts in his hands, not letting himself miss this opportunity. They were perfect. Pulling his lips from hers, she whimpered a little until the whimper turned into a moan as he took a nipple deep in his mouth and suckled it, circling it with his tongue, loving it. Then he turned to the other and did the same thing.
He let his hands roam over her body, trying to imprint every dip and curve in his memory. Her body writhed under his caress.
“Touch me, Raff,” she begged as her hips surged up, welcoming his touch.
Suckling her breasts, his fingers slid over her mound and across her core, causing a groan to escape. His fingers continued circling her clit, which caused her hands to fist into the quilt on the bed and her breathing to turn heavy. Her body writhed beneath his hands, and when she came, she called his name in the mostly dark room.
Smiling, he slid his hand back to her hip, caressing the smooth skin as she brought herself back to earth. He wondered if she was still drunk or if she had recovered her faculties enough to have sex with him. That answer came when he looked at her face; though she was smiling, she was also passed out. Mia had come in his hand, then proceeded to pass out cold.
Getting up, he pulled the blanket back and put her in the bed with her head on the pillow. Covering her beautiful body was hard, but she would get cold in the chilly winter night if he didn’t. Going through her apartment, he found some aspirin and filled a glass of water, and placed them on the nightstand next to her bed. Everything would be ready for the morning when she woke up.
With a chuckle, he went to the kitchen and wrote a note and brought it back to the bedroom, placing it under the glass of water. He took out his wallet, grabbed a condom package, and opened it. He placed the empty package by the glass on top of the paper also. Taking the condom into the bathroom, he unrolled it and looked around the room. Finding a container of hair gel, he squirted a little into the condom and took it back to the room. Casually, he tossed it on the floor near the bed.
Leaning down, he kissed her forehead and ran his hand over her purple hair, then kissed her forehead again. Because he could.
“Good night, Mia. I’m going to spend the next eleven months making damn sure that you want to stay here forever.” he promised as he headed out the door. He knew she would be pissed at him, but he couldn’t stop himself from the prank.
CHAPTER5
In the weeks that followed,book club had actually taken shape, different from the original. It had been the third meeting at Ruth’s great apartment where Natalie had suggested they record their conversation and turn them into a podcast. This week was going to be the first one they recorded. Mia was a little nervous, but also a little excited.
Since the night she got wasted at the bar, she had avoided Rafferty as best she could. He still came into the café more days than not. But she had avoided talking to him completely. Even if he sat in her area in the café, she had the other waitresses take his table, or she just took off for lunch then.
So far, he hadn’t said anything about what had happened that night. And to her mortification, she had no idea what she had done. Based on the evidence around the room, they’d had sex. Even her body said they had sex, but her mind couldn’t remember it. Just a few images of stripping out of her clothes, kissing him when she was naked, and the feeling of coming while looking into his smiling blue eyes. Then nothing.
But today she was going to kick him right out of her mind. The temperature had hit the big zero, and there was going to be a party. For years, when the temperature finally warmed up to above zero, Joe Jordan had a bomb fire to celebrate. Winter was far from over, but they had gotten past the coldest days, and that was worth a party.
With excitement, she hurried over to the insurance office. Ruth would love the party, she was sure of it. Shoving into the office and barreling out of the cold, she felt something was up. There was something going on, but her friend was pouring coffee and Anderson was just talking to her. Looked like nothing, but it felt like a lot. Maybe Ruth and Anderson needed to go to this party even more than her.
“Mia,” Ruth exclaimed, greeting her a little too excitedly.
“Hey guys, what’s going on?”