Worth the Wait (McKinney_Walker #1)(43)
Nick had to give the man credit. His face had gone white, but he’d stood up to the facts. He’d also seen the dark hatred burning in Stephen’s eyes for the man who’d hurt Hannah. Nick appreciated that. And his sister obviously cared about him.
Nick still didn’t like the man just out of principle, but he did respect him for not backing away. Did he think for one second this guy would be around to watch out for his sister long term? Not at all.
But maybe everything didn’t have to be long term. Maybe Hannah needed to experience men, and dating, and, God help him, even heartbreak. The thought that he’d knowingly stand back and let that happen burned.
There was a brisk knock, and Mike stuck his head in Nick’s office. “Hey.”
“Hey.”
“Was that the guy you want to shoot?” Mike asked, gesturing out the door behind him.
“Yeah.”
“And you just let him walk out of here?”
“Seems my sister has different ideas.”
“Huh. Want me to have him followed?”
“Nah.”
Confused, Mike came in and sat on the corner of his desk. “You okay?”
Nick picked up a coffee mug, started to drink, then remembered how long it had been sitting there. “Yeah. Fine. What’s up?”
“Well, first off, I figured that was McKinney, and I wanted to make sure you weren’t calling out a hit squad.”
“No. Just about to do some yoga, breathing, you know.”
“No shit?”
“What? No. Man, I’m joking.” He searched his desk for a semifresh cup of liquid fuel. “What was the second thing?”
“I was just headed out. Something I wanted to ask you first.” Mike reached into a fast-food bag on his desk and pulled out a handful of day-old fries. Maybe two-day-old. He couldn’t remember. Mike ate them without comment.
“Okay. So… the wife thing. She’s still not talking to me. I tried flowers. She put them down the disposal. Damn, but my Teresa’s got a temper.” He grinned. “Come on, I know you must have some tricks, some shiny words to melt a woman’s heart.”
“Why in the hell would you think that?”
“Well, you’ve always got women on your tail.” Mike laughed his deep, bold laugh. “And you’ve got your sister. I figured you’d know what they like. How to make them happy.”
Nick stared at the papers on his desk, thinking of Mia outside the coffee shop yesterday. What had he said? It was the same? After ten years? Fuck. He’d meant… he didn’t know what the hell he’d meant. Falling into her eyes was the same? The feel of her cheek against his palm was the same?
Now he was convincing himself he wasn’t crazy after all. It was the same.
But it wasn’t.
“Shit, Mike. If you only knew how wrong you were.”
* * *
MIA WORKED AS LATE as she could on Friday, dreading the hours that would drag through the weekend. Maybe a movie tonight. A double feature. She stopped at a traffic light, considering going home to change or getting gas first. She chose the gas and stood in the warm evening air at the pump. The summer sun was just beginning its slow slide toward the horizon.
The thoughts of Savannah that used to fill every quiet moment were now joined by memories of Nick. Was that all she was meant to have of people she loved? Memories?
A shiny black sports car pulled up on the opposite side of the pump, and a nice-looking man got out. He made eye contact, smiled. Uninterested, she turned to face her car.
It wasn’t like she’d made a definitive decision against being intimate with anyone so much as it just hadn’t ever been right. If she knew it wasn’t right, knew it wasn’t a man she truly wanted, she saw no point. There’d been times she’d thought she might find another right person, but mostly, she’d always known she wouldn’t.
Did Nick smile at women at gas stations? The question came before she could stop it.
She pulled up the local movie app on her phone and scanned the list. If she went to two movies, could she get two popcorns? She’d have to if she wanted it to be fresh. Really, it was only fair to start each movie with its own fresh popcorn. Her first one could be considered dinner if she made the M&Ms peanut. Considering the peanut-to-chocolate ratio, they were really more protein than dessert.
The pump shut off, and she went through the series of buttons to finish. As soon as she started her car, her phone buzzed, signaling a missed call.
“Miss James, Larry Stamper. I got your message.”
Fifth message, Mia thought.
“I apologize for the delay. I did try to reach out to the biological parents through the adoption agency and found they no longer live at that address.”