Initiate Me(28)

Marco took one last sip of his coffee, set the cup on the table, and then stood. “Thanks for the coffee.” He leaned down to peck me on the cheek.

“‘Bout time you left,” Zane growled, his voice a cold bite of steel. “And you can quit with the innuendos about Brandon and Mia. It ain’t ever happening.”

“You should know Marco by now; he is always teasing. I wouldn’t take anything he says seriously,” Milan announced. She turned to Marco and said, “If you’re leaving, you may as well walk me to my car.”

“What, you trust me to walk you to your car?” A look of shock spread across Marco’s face.

“Just hurry up,” Milan scolded him.

Marco held out his hand and in a too-chipper voice teased, “It’s been a very interesting visit, Mia. I’m glad you’ve got Grumble Bum to look out for you.”

I wanted to throttle him if he didn’t leave soon. As soon as I shut the door behind Milan and Marco, I looked over at Zane and knew he was still angry. “Milan was right, you know. Marco was exaggerating about Brandon. There’s no need to look so pissed about it all.” But it was too late; Marco’s comments had gotten under Zane’s skin.

“And you should know this, angel,” Zane warned me. He stood and towered over me. “Paybacks are hell, sweetheart.”

Why his words of warning gave me a delicious shiver, I had no idea.

But they did.

***

ZANE

I stared at Mia as she closed and locked the door. Finally, we were alone again, just the way it should be. But first I had to know the truth. “You sure there is nothing going on with Brandon?” I asked. “Because you sure like to tease.”

She pointed at me. “You are too territorial. I don’t belong to you, so stop acting like I do.”

I moved toward her, watching closely as she stepped around me. She did that a lot whenever I was near her. Always putting distance between us.

“Maybe not yet, but you can’t say my touch doesn’t affect you.” She grabbed the empty bottle of beer, glasses and cups and went to the kitchen. I followed her and when she turned toward me, I saw a vulnerability I’d never seen before. I was suddenly reminded of how young she was. The women I went out with were much closer to me in age, around thirty, thirty-five. I shouldn’t even be here, alone with her in the Brunetti house, much less planning a decadent three days with her. While my mind knew the right thing to do, my body didn’t really give a shit.

“So it affected me,” she finally admitted. “That doesn’t mean you get to act all jealous around my family and friends, like we are lovers.”

“I’m in unfamiliar territory here, sweetheart. I’m not your lover, not your friend. What the hell am I then?”

“You are my boss.”

I dragged my fingers through my hair and counted to ten. “I’m more than your boss, angel; you better admit that much at least.”

Mia bit her lip and stared at the floor. “You’re more than my boss.”

Holy fuck! I felt like shouting it from the rooftops. It was about damn time, too. “Tell me you want me.”

She made an irritated sound. ”You just don’t give up, do you?”

I moved closer until our bodies were only a few feet apart. “Hell, I probably have no right being here. I’m way too damned old for you. And your entire family would skin me alive if they knew what I was thinking right now, but I’m not giving up. Not until you tell me straight out you aren’t attracted to me. If you can say that with total honesty, then I’ll leave you alone. I won’t bother you again. You have my word.”

I only prayed I could keep it.

“No,” she blurted and paused for a few seconds. “I don’t want you to leave me alone,” she whispered. It was so faint I barely heard her. I started forward, but she shook her head.

“But I need time. I’m still hurt over you rejecting me the night of the wedding.”

“Fuck, angel, I didn’t reject you. I let you go; there’s a difference!” I yelled. A crazy thought struck me: was she scared of being intimate with me because she was a virgin? She seemed fine that night, but then again she was tipsy.

“Well, I don’t see it as having much difference.” Her voice wobbled as she spoke.

“Are you really that scared of me, sweetheart, because you are a virgin?” Her cheeks turned pink.

“No! Geez!”

I grinned. “Well, that’s good to know. A guy likes to know these things ahead of time.”

“Can we please change the subject now?”

I thought of the reason as to why I’d come here in the first place. “Actually, I came here to ask you something.”