Page 46 of The Billionaire's Heart

“No. Not at all.”

She smiles. “Thanks. Did you need something?”

Snapping me back to our conversation. I can’t stop looking at her long legs or the fact that she’s not wearing a bra. “Um. Ah. No. I don’t. I was just making sure everything is okay since I saw your light was till on.”

“Oh, yeah. Well, I got excited about setting up my shop and lost track of time.” She points to her notebook that is opened on the table in the living room.

“What were you doing that got you so lost?” I ask, mostly because I don’t want her to close the door in my face, but also a bit because I’m just curious.

“Come on in. I’ll show you.” She opens the door wider for me to enter. “I’ll be right back.” She disappears into the bathroom.

I look down at her notebook and see that she’s designed her logo and has a rough draft of the layout of her website.

“What do you think about the logo and the website?” She asks as she comes back into the room with a robe on and her damp hair released from the towel. “I’ve always dreamed of the logo but was afraid to put it down on paper until today.”

“I like it. A lot. And the setup for your website is nice, too. Will brides be able to purchase the dresses online?”

“Better.” she says with excitement and then shuffles through her notebook to a page to show me. “They’ll be able to actually see themselves in the dress before ever having to try it on. See? They just upload a picture of themselves and then pick the dress they want to try on and they can see virtually how it will look.” Mia keeps flipping pages, showing me how she plans to set up the page.

“What’s this right here?” I stop her flipping on one page in her book.

“That’s where brides, if they choose to, can donate their wedding attire to an organization that helps people that don’t have the financial means to pay for a wedding.” She tries to move on to her other pages, but I stop her.

“Wait. You’re also setting up a non-profit?”

“Yeah. So?” She sounds defensive.

“Why would you do that, Mia, when you haven’t even set up your own business yet?”

She tries to clean up her papers and notebook and won’t even look at me when she replies, “Because there are girls out there, not unlike me, that think that they’re not good enough; that they’ll never be able to have a wedding. Not to mention being able to afford a dress. I just thought that if the bride or the bridal party wants to donate their dresses to Mia’s Corner, then I could help more people.”

I stop her hands and lift her chin so that she’s looking at me. “Mia, that’s just so…”

“Stupid? Idiotic? What?”

“Amazing. Thoughtful. Kind.” Her eyes look into mine and I can’t help myself. I lean in and kiss her. Softly. Her lips still taste of honey and before I know what I’m doing, I cradle her head in both of my hands and push her against the wall next to her.

Mia’s hands are on my arms as I hold her against the wall and kiss her again. I can’t help myself and I just want to get lost in all things Mia. She’s not fighting me or pushing me away. She’s kissing me back. Our kisses last for what seems like forever and a nanosecond.

“Ian.”

I can hear the ‘stop’ in her voice and so I just lean my forehead against hers while we catch our breath.

“What are we doing?” She asks, and I don’t have an answer for her, so I say nothing.

She taps my chest and pulls away and I let her go because I don’t know what the hell came over me. Mia walks to the other side of the room and grabs her discarded towel from earlier and wipes her forehead. “What was that for, Ian?”

“I’m sorry, Mia. I didn’t mean to assault you.”

“Assault? That’s a rather strong word to use, don’t you think?” Her eyebrows are raised. “I’m just as guilty as you are.”

I put my hands in my pocket and lean against the wall that I just had her pushed up against. “I don’t know what it is about you, Mia, but I want you. Badly.”

She nods and looks around the room. “Why?”

Her question takes me off guard. “What do you mean, why?”

“Just what I asked. Why do you want me? What is it about me that makes you want me, Ian?”

---