Page 48 of Question Everything

She looked into his eyes, smoldering with heat and realized what he meant.

“Are you serious? Won’t they come looking for us?”

“We can be quick, and we’ll need to be quiet…”

“Where?”

“Follow me.”

He grabbed her hand and pulled her down the hallway into his bedroom. He locked the door. Then he led her into the ensuite bathroom and repeated that precaution. Mia didn’t hesitate. She put her arms around him and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him. He unzipped her jeans, and she shimmied out of them. Then he lifted her onto the cold marble countertop, pulled her panties to one side, unzipped his fly and maneuvered himself inside of her with one fluid motion.

Mia gasped. The feeling was so intense, so full. Silently, they took from each other what they needed, climaxing together with a simultaneous shudder. She felt sated, even if only temporarily until he stepped back, breaking their connection.

“You are incredible, Mia. I want you all the time, any way I can have you. I can never have enough.” He ran the water in the sink and stuck a glass underneath, offering her a drink, which she accepted before passing it back to him.

“Same,” was all she said before jumping down on shaky legs. “I guess we have to go downstairs now, huh?”

“We do, but wow,” he replied, looking at the counter where she had just been sitting. “Are you okay to go deal with everyone, or do you need a minute? I can run interference, you know.”

“No. I’d rather go downstairs with you now. Just give me a chance to splash some water on my face.”

She ran the tap, made sure the water was cold and used a few handfuls to cool herself down. Kyle handed her a fluffy towel, she dried off, looked in the mirror and hoped that everyone would think the flush in her cheeks was a result of breastfeeding Daisy – or maybe they wouldn’t notice it at all.Ugh.

Once done, she passed the towel back to Kyle and said, “Ready as I’ll ever be, let’s go.” She reached for his hand, and they headed downstairs.

Thirty minutes later,Mia wondered why she had been worried. She instantly loved Millie who was a younger version of Colleen – a bundle of energy and warmth. Sibby was sitting at the counter with her lists, organizing the feast for the next day, shouting out orders to the rest of her family.

“You know, Sibby, I can make dinner rolls and a dessert. I’ve remembered a few recipes and have some sweet treats stored in the downstairs freezer. I’m sure we have all the ingredients I need to make some yeast based rolls.”

“Well, that would be lovely, Mia. The kitchen should be all yours after tonight’s meal of…” She consulted one of the multiple sheets of paper in front of her. “…beef chili.”

“Um, sounds good. I’ll get to work when dinner is over.” In her mind she questioned what “chili” was but decided it would be better not to ask.

“I’d be happy to help you, Mia,” Kyle offered.

“Great!” she replied. “Just be ready to roll up your sleeves. There will be kneading involved.”

He gave her a knowing look as if to say whatever it was, he was elbow-deep in it with her.

CHAPTER 27

Mia searched through the bathroom cabinet for some sort of cure for indigestion. The few bites she had at dinner of Sibby’s spicy chili almost did her in. It wasn’t something she’d ever eaten before, and she was grateful for the plain rice and cornbread that had been served alongside it. She moved the Advil to one side and found a bottle of pink antacids. She opened it and chewed two of them slowly, hoping they would do the trick. Then she went back down the kitchen to work on preparing the dough for dinner rolls; she’d bake them off tomorrow before the big meal.

She was in the pantry, pulling out the ingredients she needed when she heard Kyle talking to his sister Millie. She froze in place.

“I really like her, Kyle,” Millie said. “But you and I know that when the pieces of a story don’t add up, either someone is lying or…”

“Millie, I hear you. But I know that Mia doesn’t remember anything. I’ve been living with her for a while now and…”

“Kyle. You’re just about to get your life back. I’m worried for you, brother. Do you really need more trouble? Sibby told methat you’re you’re being handed back your badge and gun on the first.”

“It’s too late, Millie. I don’t care about my badge and gun as much as I care about what happens to Mia. She ran from something, from somewhere, and it must have been bad. I have a gut feeling about her and I’m going with my instincts on this. Once we get the DNA test back it will at least put the biggest question to rest. Daisy is Mia’s daughter. She’s not lying about that. I believe that she’s telling the truth about not remembering anything of her past.”

“Okay. If you do, I’m with you. I just don’t want to see you get hurt.”

“And I love you for that,” he said.

“I’m going up. It’s been a long day, and you know that Sibby will put us all to work tomorrow,” Millie said.

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