Page 9 of Claimed By my Frenemy

The fourth woman, a woman with dark hair and glasses, blinks quickly but doesn’t join in.

I raise an eyebrow at Mia, wiggling my eyebrows playfully. “You heard them, Mia. What do you say? Should we kiss and make up? No hard feelings?”

Mia looks like she wants to murder me, but there’s a spark of something else in her eyes. She steps closer, and I can feel the heat between us.

“You’re insane,” she mutters, but there’s a challenge in her voice.

Without giving her a chance to back out, I lean in and press my lips to hers. Her lips don’t yield at first, but then I can feel her giving in. Her lips become softer. They part slightly, and the air around us suddenly feels very hot. I can barely breathe as I taste Mia’s kiss on my lips and feel her body pressed against mine.

I pull away slightly, so she won’t feel my erection pressing against her. I don’t want her to know how hard she makes me.

Her friends’ cheers and laughter seem distant as we kiss. Mia’s hands find their way to my shoulders, and I want to slip my hand up her shirt. But I don’t. I find some bit of self-control in me and stop myself.

Just as quickly as it started, Mia pushes me away, her breath coming in short gasps. “That was… You’re still a jerk.”

I grin, wiping a smudge of lipstick from the corner of my mouth. “Maybe so, but you can’t deny the chemistry.”

Mia rolls her eyes, but there’s a hint of a smile tugging at her lips. “Don’t think this changes anything, Theo. I’m still not selling.”

I back away so a good amount of space is between us. My body needs to cool down, and standing close to her won’t allow that to happen. “Fair enough. But maybe we can talk about it over another drink sometime. You know where to find me.”

I walk back to the bar, feeling the eyes of Mia and her friends on me. Leo raises an eyebrow as I sit down on a recently vacated bar stool, but he doesn’t say anything. He just slides another drink my way.

I take a long sip, savoring the taste. This battle with Mia is far from over, but it just got a lot more interesting. The fact that I could see her inviting me into her house and us exploring each other’s bodies makes it hard to focus on the business aspect of things. I can’t lose sight of my goal here. I have to remain firm.

5

MIA

I can still feelTheo’s presence even after I plop back into my chair at the table with my friends.

They are chattering, patting me on the arm, and laughing, then they move on to other topics. But I can’t move on. I’m stuck back in that moment where Theo kissed me.

Because his kiss was nothing like the awkward fumbles we experienced when we were fourteen years old. It was deep and sexy, and it stirred something within me.

“Mia, you still with us?” Madison asks.

I smile at her and nod, but I have no idea what they’ve just been talking about. I can barely focus on what’s going on in front of me.

My mind is spinning. How did a simple confrontation turn into a kiss in front of my friends? And why did I let it happen? I can still feel the lingering warmth of his lips on mine, the way his hands felt on my hips.

But even worse than that, I can feel how much I wanted him. Some strange desire took over my body when I started kissing him, encouraging me to open my mouth, to press myselfagainst him. And then, it was like common sense kicked in, and I remembered where I was and who I was with.

It’s been a couple of minutes since Madison checked on me, and now it’s Stella who’s waving her hand in front of my face. “Earth to Mia. You’re totally zoned out. Come on, what’s up?”

I glance around Leo’s Tiki Bar, searching for Theo. He’s gone, but my eyes don’t believe it. They do another quick search just to make sure. But sure enough, those teasing brown eyes are gone.

“Sorry, I’m just... I think I need some air. I think I’m going to take a little walk on the beach. I’ll see you guys later.” I grab my bag, but I can see that all of them are watching me with concern. None of them believe that I suddenly “need air.”

“Are you sure? We just got here.” Zoey is always the one who is concerned for all of us. She’s the more cautious, careful one, but she also keeps up from making stupid decisions sometimes.

I wish I could tell her, but I can just imagine Aurora rolling her eyes and telling me it was just a kiss. I shouldn’t get so worked up. I don’t need their judgment. I need to figure things out for myself.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I just need to clear my head. We’ll catch up again later. Let me know when you ladies are free again.” I try to keep my tone light, but Zoey’s concerned eyes tell me that she doesn’t believe me.

She starts to stand, but I motion for her to sit back down. “Sit. Sit. We’ll catch up some more next time.” It takes all my effort to remain cheerful.

With one last look around to make sure Theo isn’t hiding somewhere, I shoulder my purse and walk as calmly down the pier as I can until I pass through the fishy-smelling store and into the parking lot.

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