Total pages in book: 118
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112892 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 452(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
I couldn’t imagine a more perfect beginning to the start of this week with such amazing men.
32
MIA
Waking up next to Aaron was a heady experience. I’d never spent a whole night sleeping next to a man. Especially not one I liked so much. He was an unusual combination of sexy and considerate. We shared a very thorough good-morning kiss, but then he was very careful to look the other way when I pulled on a robe and padded to the bathroom.
He even seemed to know that I’d feel a little awkward facing Diego and Cody after that, so he kept us on a tight schedule. We spent the morning working on our individual work in a gorgeous library he drove us to. It wasn’t very crowded, being the day before Thanksgiving, and we all had room to spread out. Then it was lunch at a coffee shop, fortunately one where I didn’t have to serve anything. Then Aaron turned the floor over to me, and I conducted the first official Team Mia meeting for my video presentation. That took up so much of my focus that I forgot to be nervous.
At least until late that evening when it was time to join Cody in his room.
He was wearing black boxer briefs and leaning against the headboard. His headphones were on, and he tapped on a tablet while I lay at his side, reading from my phone. Tonight, I had on another new outfit. This one was also a two-piece, but there were no shorts involved.
The main piece was like a slip dress, or a chemise. The satiny material was teal, and it made my skin look pale, but not in a bad way, as far as I could tell. There was a matching robe that I’d shyly discarded before climbing into bed. Beneath the nightie were matching panties that were barely more than a small triangle in front, a slightly larger one in back, and straps on the sides.
I was facing Cody, my head on the pillow, my phone propped up in front of me. But I kept looking at him rather than the screen.
He was just so damn gorgeous. Sometimes I forgot that because it could be a little hard to know how to deal with him. What to say and what to do. But at other times, when I just stopped and looked at him, I was taken aback by how damn handsome he was.
It was impossible to forget now that he had his shirt off, with only the boxers and a sheet covering his lower half. His skin looked so warm and smooth as it showcased his muscles. Not bulky, oversized ones. Just muscles that spoke of strength and grace, if that was the right word.
Too late, I realized that he’d gone still. No nodding his head along to the music. No fingers moving as if playing an instrument.
Hastily, I lifted my gaze to his face. Those pale blue eyes were staring straight at me.
I flushed, mortified at having been caught checking him out. Except… he didn’t appear to have noticed.
“Cody?”
His gaze sharpened, and I realized it had been unfocused a moment ago. Thank god. He removed his headphones, setting them down, and I didn’t hear any faint music echoing from them.
Which was a first.
“Are you okay?”
He nodded, though he appeared to be thinking it through.
“Are you… do you… do you want some space?” I didn’t know what else to ask. Now that I thought about it, I realized he’d been moody at dinner tonight. I hadn’t really registered it because I’d been so excited about being with him tonight.
Finally, he spoke. “I’m trying to figure out how to… talk to you.”
I pulled the sheet up against my chest, bringing my knees up and curling up. I had the sense that he didn’t just mean in general. He had trouble talking to everyone in general. He meant right now. “You can tell me anything.”
He gave a faint but somehow bitter smile. “I think I’ve proven that I can’t.”
Again, I knew what he meant… he wasn’t saying that in the way some other man might, like there were certain topics he felt he couldn’t discuss with me. He meant he couldn’t always tell me the things he wanted to.
“Could you just… try? I can be a good listener. I can even be patient if I’m well fed.” That last part had been an attempt to make him smile. We’d all had a large dinner, at a steakhouse this time. “Would it be easier with the lights out?”
He shook his head sharply at that. “I don’t like to talk in the dark.”
That seemed like a bit of an odd thing to say, but this was Cody, after all.
“All right.” I reached out, patting his thigh lightly. “I’m here. I’m listening. So you can talk if you want, or not. It’s up to you.”