“No problem.”
Her voice is so soft, just as I imagine her skin feels. Soft and warm, and I bet she’s really tight…
“I like dogs,” she adds. “All animals, in fact. They’re a whole lot nicer than people.”
There’s a sudden sadness to her voice, and I can’t help but look at her.
Her lips are downturn, and I notice she’s still wearing those god-awful sunglasses.
“You can take the sunglasses off, you know. There’s only us here, and I’ve already seen what you’re hiding behind them.”
Her whole body stiffens.
There’s a long pause where she does absolutely nothing. I’m not actually sure that she’s still breathing. I wonder if I’ve said the wrong thing. Gone about this the wrong way?
I don’t want to upset her.
Why? I’m not actually sure. It’s not like I’m usually concerned with a woman’s emotional goings on. But with her, something is just … different.
She lifts her hand to her face and slowly slides the sunglasses off.
I watch her slender fingers tremble as she turns the arms of the sunglasses in and sets them on her lap, hands covering them.
Then I notice that she has these sore looking calluses on the knuckle of her right hand. I notice them because they look out of place with the rest of her soft, flawless skin.
Maybe she has eczema or something.
I lift my eyes to her face.
Her eyes are closed. The bruise so very evident.
Anger pulses inside me again, so fucking fierce that I could punch a hole in the wall and still not feel clear.
I clench my hands in my lap. “The asshole that did that to you…?”
She bites her lip and looks away.
The caveman inside me is beating his chest right now, ready to beat the shit out of the asshole that did this to her. No woman should ever go through that. Especially not her. Definitely not her.
“I can hurt him, Mia. Just say the word and it’s done.”
I hear her sharp intake of breath. Wide, blue eyes meet mine.
Jesus, she’s breathtaking. Even with the black eye.
Her eyes are as stunning as I knew they would be. They’re the color of the water of a caldera.
After high school, I went traveling with some buddies—it was before my mom got sick, and I had to come back home. We were in Lombok, an island in Indonesia, and we had trekked out to Mount Rinjani. There was a caldera there. The water stays hot permanently, due to the volcanic activity, and is so purely blue. All filtering shades rippling together to make the most amazing shade of blue you will ever see.
Mia’s eyes are the exact shade of blue as that water.
Breaking our stare, she begins examining the sunglasses in hand with her eyes and fingers as if her life depends on it.
I don’t think she’s going to say anything, and I have no clue what else to say.
“No one did this to me. It was just an accident.”
Her words are softly spoken, but I feel like they’ve just punched me in my chest.
I shake my head. “People don’t hide accidents like you’re hiding that black eye. And the very fact you said it was an accident just confirms to me that someone did this to you.”
Her eyes snap up to mine. There’s an unexpected fire in them. I like it. Means there is some fight in her.
“So what if someone hurt me. What business is it of yours?”
Wow, that stung. Why did that sting?
I grit my teeth and lean back in my seat. “You’re right. It’s not my business.”
Her anger instantly disappears. So quick, it surprises me.
“God, I’m so sorry. That sounded—I don’t—” She shifts in her seat, her fingers pulling on that plump lower lip. “I don’t mean to come off like a bitch. I really appreciate your offer, but hurting … him … it’s not necessary.”
I turn my head and stare her straight in the eyes. “It looks necessary from where I’m sitting.”
Her hand drops back to her lap. “Violence never solves violence.”
This asshole blacks her eye, yet she thinks that way. She’s either a fucking angel, or really stupid. From what I’ve already seen of her, I’m going with angel. I hope she doesn’t prove me wrong on this.
“Maybe not.” I notice her eyes are on my mouth, so I swipe my lower lip with my tongue. “But trust me, it’s the only language that scum, like the bastard who did that to you, understand. And it’d make me feel a whole lot better knowing that me teaching him some manners would mean he’d keep his fuckin’ hands off you.”
Seriously, once I was done with him, he wouldn’t even breathe in her direction again. I want to hurt this asshole badly. About as badly as I want to be situated between her thighs.