Worth the Wait (McKinney_Walker #1)(13)

“Don’t ask,” he said, backing her into the dark hallway. “It's the only thing that works.” His hard body pressed into hers. His head dipped to graze his lips over her cheek.

“I loved it.” She slid her fingers into his hair, sighing at the feel of it, then tugged until his mouth found hers.

She wasn’t halfway in love with Nick Walker. She was all the way gone.





Chapter 5





SIX WEEKS AFTER THAT first kiss, Nick stood waiting for Mia outside the science building. The shadows stretched long over the brick, the sun was warm, even though fall was upon them with a wild splash of color. Like Mia was his own personal splash of color. She’d come into his life and made everything better, brighter.

She knew things a teenage guy just didn’t: that fabric sheets in the dryer made bath towels softer and that the metal bar on the wall was actually to hang them on. And since she could get the twins to use a laundry basket with nothing more than a “please” and a smile, the whole damn place didn’t smell like a locker room. And their parents’ bedroom. Mia was able to do what they couldn’t.

She got him through those weeks, made him believe he’d made the right decision when he doubted himself. She told him he was doing a good job and that Hannah was lucky to have him, always when he needed to hear it most.

She helped all of them move forward. He’d once overheard her telling Zach, as his head hung, his eyes looking suspiciously like he’d been crying, that you couldn’t move any other way.

They all needed her, he thought, keeping watch down the concourse. And then there she was. His Mia. He rolled the words over in his head.

My Mia.

Even at fifty yards, he knew her. She moved down the red-brick path toward him, her sexy legs visible beneath a soft cotton skirt that swung around her knees. With it, she wore a long-sleeved tee and tennis shoes. Her hair flowed down around her like a black cape. Just the sight of her knocked him sideways. It always did.

She stopped in front of him, tipped her smiling face up to his. “Hi.”

His heart jumped. He slid his arms around her and kissed her nose. “Hi, yourself. How was it?”

Her arms went around his back. “Good. Easy.”

He gave her bottom a playful pat. “You know if the professor uses a curve, you’re killing it for everyone.”

She just smiled, lifted her shoulder. “Guess they should study more.”

“Says the girl with the photographic memory. Dallas is watching Hannah. I thought we could go to the waterfall.”

“The one you said I shouldn’t go to?”

“I said you shouldn’t go by yourself.” Seemed like he was always telling her that. Every time, he thought he sounded like his dad, but the girl was independence personified. Besides, sounding like his dad wasn’t such a bad thing. He took her hand and started toward his car. “This will probably be our last warm day. It’s supposed to get cold this weekend.”

“Then it’s the perfect day.”

Twenty minutes later, they were in the woods of the nearby state park, and it was perfect, a mix of soft and crunchy leaves under their feet and a crisp blue sky above. Surrounded by fall and the scent of decomposition in the air, they made their way down the steep incline to reach the boulders at the base of the falls. Shouts and yelps came from a handful of other students who’d had the same idea. He helped Mia up and over the rocks. His hands circled her tiny waist then lingered there when he lifted her down on the other side. They both knew she didn’t need the help.

To their right, water flowed nearly straight down a manmade wall of stacked blocks built to hold back the lake above. It poured over and pooled around the boulders below, leveling off to just a trickle that continued on their left and out of sight. They crossed at the nearest point he thought Mia could make it across without getting her feet wet. He went first, stepping carefully over nearly submerged rocks, holding her hand, prepared to step into the cold water if need be.

Once on the other side, he kept her hand in his and led her through the dense woods. It was embarrassing what just having her hand in his did to him.

“Have you ever brought Hannah here?”

“No.”

“You should. I bet she’d love it.”

“Mmm.” She was probably right, but his thoughts were not on his sister at that moment.

They walked along the opposite bank until they reached the falls, staying several feet back in the woods so they didn’t get wet from the blowing mist. He wrapped his arms around her from behind, hugged her close against him, and nibbled at the side of her neck. Her hands covered his, and her head fell back, giving him better access, and he took it. He kissed and nipped at her ear, then the side of her face. A couple of daredevils climbed the falls while two more taunted them from the top. Mia laughed at them, and Nick sighed inwardly. He hadn’t counted on the crowd.