Chapter Six
The last thing Ford had time for right now was a house-hunting trip to Seattle. His touring crew and management team were in Los Angeles preparing for his Sunday night show at The Staples Center. He’d had half a dozen major interviews scheduled for today, but when his lawyer had confirmed that Mia was available, he’d had his PR team reschedule everything. Despite his fame, he’d never been a particularly high-maintenance client, so they’d been happy to take care of it because they figured something important must have come up. Tonight and Saturday were going to be pretty rough without any breathing room between the extra interviews they’d had to cram in.
As he boarded his private plane to head down to Southern California, his brain, his body—hell, every last part of him—was wrapped up in Mia. Yes, she’d been angry with him for showing up unexpectedly. And there was no question at all that she was still furious about the way things had ended between them.
But even bigger than her anger and fury had been the intensity and the heat of the sparks between them. Whether they were talking or kissing—sweet Lord, that kiss had completely blown his mind—their connection was undeniable. He’d prayed that the kiss would melt the walls of ice around her heart enough for her to listen to him. Instead, it was what had finally made her snap...and tell him to get out of her life forever.
And, damn it, she’d been right. He had acted like an egotistical ass by setting up the anonymous showing. Somehow he needed to figure out how to convince her to spend more time with him so that he could make her see that he had changed…and so that he could actually get things right this time.
But how was he going to pull that off when she was so determined to keep her distance? And how could he do it without acting like a self-obsessed jerk who thought he ruled the world the way he had today?
His phone rang and if it had been anyone but his personal assistant, he would have let it go. Carol Vale had worked for a hugely famous British musician for several years before she’d decided she wanted to be back in the U.S. to be closer to her kids. She wasn’t impressed by money or fame...and she was a freakin’ genius with details.
“How was the house?”
The house? He’d walked through every room and over much of the grounds, but all he could really remember about it was Mia. How beautiful she’d looked standing in the tower with light streaming in over her hair. The gorgeous flush of her skin when she watched him lay down on the bed in the master suite. The surprise on her face when he’d talked about wanting kids someday.
Then again, she hadn’t been the only one surprised by that. Especially since they hadn’t just been empty words...he’d actually been able to visualize kids running around the house. Kids who looked like an exact cross between him and her.
Finally, he replied, “It’s a killer place.”
Efficient as ever, Carol went over his interview and sound-check schedule. But before she signed off, she said, “One other thing—you wanted to attend Nico’s wedding this weekend, is that correct?”
He’d always thought Nico—or Nicola, as the well-known pop star preferred that her friends call her—was a great girl. He had to turn down most wedding invitations for one reason or another, but the two of them had become friends over years of criss-crossing tours, and a handful of weeks where they’d even toured together a few years back.
“Right,” he confirmed, “but I thought we couldn’t get the schedule to work out?”
“While I still need to do a little more juggling,” Carol said, “it’s looking like you could at least make the vows. Just as long as you remember that you’re going to have a show that night, so you probably shouldn’t enjoy too much of Sullivan Winery’s finest while you’re in Napa.”
Wait a minute. “The wedding is at Sullivan Winery?”
“Nico is marrying the owner. I thought you knew that.”
He’d been so busy trying to figure out a way to sneak back into Mia’s life that he’d been blind to the opportunity that had been staring him in the face.
Namely, that Mia was a cousin of the guy who owned Sullivan Winery!
Just like that, the music that had started playing in his head when he saw Mia again was suddenly like an entire orchestra trying to get out.
“Thanks for making the arrangements, Carol. I’ll call Nicola to let her know I’ll be there.” But even as he placed the call, he was grabbing one of the guitars he kept on board his plane.
Finally, inspiration had come...and, yet again, it was all because of Mia.
* * *
Her date was six-two with blond hair. His muscles were big and his smile was sexy as he greeted Mia that evening with a kiss to her cheek, outside the wine bar two blocks down from her office.
“You look gorgeous,” he said, his words echoing what she could see in his eyes. It was almost exactly what Ford had said to her that morning. Only when Ford said it, every cell in her body had leapt to life, as if no other words had ever meant so much. Whereas, the compliment from her date was having no impact on her cells whatsoever. They simply stayed right where they were as if lying in wait for her real date to arrive.
Mia gave herself a little mental shake as she made herself focus on the man standing in front of her, rather than the one who had driven her crazy all morning.
Her date was incredibly handsome. And clearly successful at the financial firm he worked in, given the cut of his suit and the watch on his wrist. Mia should have been all over him.
Only, instead of her pulse racing, or her skin heating up, every instinct in her wanted to move away from him. As if she were already taken.
No! What was she thinking? Worse, what was she feeling way down deep in her heart?
She most definitely was not taken. On the contrary, she was perfectly free to do exactly what she pleased with whomever she wanted to do it. And wouldn’t it serve Ford right if he found out that after she left him today she’d shared an intimate evening with another man? Oh yes, that would be the perfect way to end her horrible day, the only way to truly make sure that she’d blanked out Ford and everything he’d made her feel despite knowing better.
But when she looked up into her date’s eyes, for a moment she couldn’t remember his name. The blank hole in her brain widened for a few moments before she could fill it.
“James,” she finally said in too-obvious relief.
He looked bemused by her strange greeting, before smiling down at her again and speaking her name back at her in the same tone. “Mia.”
She laughed then, glad that the moment when she felt absolutely nothing at all for her date had finally passed.
When he held out his arm, she put her hand in the crook of his elbow and let him take her inside to an empty booth in a somewhat private corner of the busy wine bar. This was one of her usual stomping grounds with the girls and a safe place for a first date. The bartenders and cocktail waitresses knew her so well that one signal from her was enough for them to come and extricate her from anyone with whom she didn’t feel safe.
If only, she thought with a small sigh, she could have had some help extricating herself from Ford this morning.
Ugh. Why was she still thinking about him?
Until tonight, she’d been looking forward to this date with James. They’d met last weekend jogging around Green Lake Park, and she’d been inspired to run just a little faster than usual to keep up with his excellent form. She’d planned to get to know that “form” of his a little better tonight. A lot better, even, if it felt right. Only, here she was about to plead a headache just so she could get out of there...and do what? Brood over Ford? About the way he’d tricked her into seeing him again? Or worse, about all the stupidly traitorous feelings that had risen inside of her as though five years had never passed?
No, damn it, there had to be something between her and James, at least a little of that spark she’d felt last weekend when they were jogging together. Because if there wasn’t—if it turned out that it was all gone due to one arrogant and infuriating rock star’s unwelcome reappearance in her life—then she was going to have yet one more reason to be mad at Ford.
And how could she manage to remain emotionless about Ford, and make sure he meant less than nothing to her from here until eternity, if she was constantly getting angry with him?
“So,” she said to James with a bright smile that she hoped didn’t look as forced as it felt, “have you been on any good runs this week?”
“None as good as ours together last Sunday.” His eyes darkened slightly as he reached for her hand and rubbed his thumb over her palm. “I’ve been thinking about you all week, Mia. Tonight couldn’t come soon enough.”
It was exactly the right thing to say, exactly the right way to touch her. Or rather, it should have been. She should have been drooling all over him, should have been thanking her lucky stars that they’d both been out on the running path last weekend.
Instead, she was wondering why the cocktail waitress couldn’t get over to their table quicker so that she could have a drink to hold instead of James’s hand.
“I thought about you, too,” she made herself say, and it was true—she really had thought about James during the week. She’d told her friends about him, had even texted them a sneaky picture she’d taken of him running before he’d noticed she was behind him.
It was only since the moment she’d set eyes on Ford in the tower that all thoughts of other men, including James, had fled like racehorses in the Kentucky Derby.
Forcing herself to lean in a little closer, rather than away, she said, “I want to know everything about you.”
“How about we start with the basics and then later,” he said with a charming pause, “I’ll give you more if you still want it.”
Seriously, could this guy be any greater? But even as she had the thought, when the cocktail waitress stepped up to their table with a “What can I get you?” Mia took the opportunity to slide her hand out of his and put a few precious inches of space between them in a booth that suddenly seemed much too small. Next time she’d have to remember to have a first date in a bowling alley, or somewhere similarly less intimate.
They gave their orders, and Mia prayed that the drink would arrive quickly so that she could begin to dull all the cray-cray thoughts about Ford that wouldn’t leave her alone.
“I already know you’re gorgeous and sweet,” she said to James, though she hated feeling like she was leading him on. “What else can you tell me?”
“I’m thirty-five. Never been married. I’m a VP at Anderson Financial.”
Mia worked to make all of the appropriate responses. “I always thought it would be fun to play with other people’s money,” she said after taking a much-needed drink (or three) of her dirty martini. “Are those all the basics you’re going to give me tonight?”
His smile should have set her blood on fire. “How about one more for our first round, and then it’s your turn.” When she nodded with what she hoped looked like anticipation, he said, “I’ve also got a major thing for intelligent women who run their own businesses.”
James was looking at her with an interest that she could see went above and beyond just wanting to do her. Unlike Ford, who had been deep into his one-track I-want-you-and-won’t-stop-until-I-have-you caveman act this morning. When he’d kissed her, she’d stupidly felt her heart stir at least as much as her body had...even though she’d known he was simply playing with her like a cat carelessly would with a ball of yarn, until it was bored with the game.
Mia had never been a particularly big drinker, but tonight she could have tossed back another couple already. “I grew up in Seattle. I love selling houses. And, don’t freak out when I tell you this next bit, okay?” His eyebrows rose as she said, “I have four older brothers.”
“How’s this for not freaking out?” he said, and then the next thing she knew, he was lowering his mouth to hers.
Panic rose in her chest, but she forced herself to push it down and let his lips touch hers. His kiss was warm and soft. She leaned in closer and let him take it deeper, his tongue stroking over hers.
And that was when Mia finally had to admit complete and utter defeat. There was no use in continuing with this farce of a date. Because if she wasn’t feeling James’s kiss, she was well and truly done for.
Splaying her hands on his chest, instead of gripping his shirt to pull him closer the way she had with Ford, she firmly pushed him back.
“You’re great, James,” she said in a gentle voice, “and I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but—”
“We were just getting warmed up, Mia. Let me kiss you again.”
God, this date with James should have been so hot. But nothing about being with him felt right. Not his arms around her. Not his mouth on hers. Not even the way he looked at her, like he was hoping she would let him inside her head and heart, instead of already knowing all of her deepest secrets before she said so much as a word.
It took no effort whatsoever to say, “I’m sorry, but I can’t,” and slide completely out of his arms. Not the way it had nearly killed her to walk away from Ford this morning after one kiss.
Especially when one kiss from Ford had never, ever been enough...
It figured that one of Ford’s hits would start playing right then. No matter how hard she tried, how was she ever going to get away from her memories of him?
“It’s someone else, isn’t it?”
James’s question pulled her back to the bar, making her notice the way the edge of the wooden stool was digging into her hip and the sounds of flirting and laughter all around them.
She tried to shake her head, tried to deny it, but before she could pull that off, James said, “If you ever get over him, give me a call.”
She could see the regret in James’s eyes before he put a twenty on the table, slipped his jacket on, and headed for the door. A half-dozen single girls in the bar watched him go, and when they looked back and saw Mia sitting alone in the booth, she could read the clear question in their eyes. How could you have screwed that up?
Mia pulled out her phone and texted her two best friends: EMERGENCY DRINKS NEEDED @ K WINE BAR.