Page 81 of Regards, Mia

“I hear you! A little too many signature cocktails last night?”

Without asking, he settles himself in the lounger beside me. “You doing any of the activities today?” he asks.

I flip the page even though I haven’t read a single word. “Nope.”

“I just got done with horseback riding. I’ve got ten minutes to suck these drinks down before I have to be at the cooking class.”

“Good luck with that.”

He sucks noisily on his straw. “Aren’t you hot in that shirt?”

“I’m good.” I reach down and grab my phone and my room key. “I’ll catch you later.”

“Holy crap,” he says. “Now there’s a sight for sore eyes. Too many good-looking women to decide where to look.”

I glance down the beach to where Craig is pointing with his cup. The bride and her attendants are standing ankle deep in the turquoise surf, posing for a photographer.

There are five gorgeous women, but Mia is the only one I see.

She is a head shorter than everyone else, but what she lacks in height she makes up for in curves.

“Chelsea’s boobs are worth every cent she paid for them, but that Mia is a hot little piece of….”

Craig doesn’t finish his sentence because I’m standing over him, my bulk blocking his view of the women.

“Don’t even think about looking in Mia’s direction again, or you’re gonna be eating your fucking teeth.” I loom over him, barely restraining myself from following through with my threat.

“She’s in a swimsuit,” Craig says, shading his eyes with his hand as he looks up at me. “This is a beach. You better get used to people looking at your woman. She’s asking for it with a body like that.”

My fist clenches, and I force myself to breathe deeply. “You better go, or you’re gonna miss that cooking class.”

Craig scrambles up, and hurries off in the direction of the hotel without a glance back at me or the beach. When he’s a safe distance away, I turn my attention back to the photo shoot.

Mia is nearly naked in that tiny swimsuit. Memories of last night cloud my mind. Everything had been so good between us. Then this morning, she’d treated me like shit.

My pride still stings from her rejection, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting her. Wishing there was a way to make it work between us, against all the odds keeping us apart.

Mia tosses her hair off her face and catches me staring. She freezes, and I swear I can feel the emotion in her gaze from across the beach before she turns away and smiles for the camera.

When the photoshoot is over, she says something to theothers, then heads my way. She sits on the chair Craig just vacated and laces her fingers together. “We should talk.”

My heart leaps into my throat. This sounds suspiciously like a break up preamble. But we aren’t really together, so there’s no breaking up to do.

“Why?” I adjust my sunglasses and lean back in my chair. “I think you made everything crystal clear.”

“As did you.” She clears her throat, lowering her voice. “The thing is, we only have one more night. Maybe we should try to make the most of it. Remember the swings on the playground? This is supposed to be fun.”

The swings had been my brilliant idea. But instead of keeping things light and fun, I’d gone and fallen for Mia.

That wasn’t her fault.

“Last night was fun,” I say.

To my surprise, Mia laughs. The sound sneaks up on me and wraps a fist around my heart. Squeezes.

“Well, I liked that thing you did with your tongue,” she says. “That was definitely fun.”

Desire flares, heating my blood. Mia in that tiny bikini talking about what we did in bed last night makes mealmostforget the things she said this morning. Almost.

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