Page 49 of A Man for Mia

Mia examined herself in the hall mirror and bit her lip. Her stomach wouldn’t stop churning; it made her nauseous. This didn’t feel right. Nerves hadn’t plagued her during her dinner with Drew. Then again, she hadn’t planned nearly a week ahead of time with him. She hadn’t needed to dress up or build suspense. It had just happened, and it had been fun and casual and the most perfect evening she’d spent with anyone in a long time.

And if she didn’t quit thinking about it, she was going to be in big trouble. Drew was the past. Plus he was all wrong for her. Though she had to admit, his determination to help his sister was admirable; that was the exact reason she couldn’t see him anymore.

"Wow, you look nice. Are you seeing Drew again?"

Dreamy smile falling flat, she turned from the mirror. Piper stood paused in the doorway to her room, looking stunned as she scanned Mia’s dress. Her mouth was an O and her eyebrows raised.

"No," she answered. "I’m not seeing Drew. I’m meeting someone else at 808’s for a drink."

"Holy cow." Piper’s O turned from a lowercase to a capital. Hurrying forward, she took Mia’s hand and clutched it eagerly. "What happened to Drew? Who’s this new guy? I can’t believe this! It’s like my old Mi Mi’s returning."

Mia paused. Was she really turning into the old Mi Mi? Did she even want to be that woman again? Things had changed too much. She wanted to stop hurting, but she didn’t really care to go back to who she was before. She just wanted to be someone new.

"I’ve been out a lot these past few days, I know, but I can’t believe I missed this much," Piper ranted. "Now, spill it. Who’s the new guy? And what happened to Drew? I liked Drew."

Biting the inside of her lip, Mia wondered if Piper would like Drew so much if she knew he was J’s wife’s brother.

"Where have you been?" Mia asked changing the subject. Anything to divert the focus off her.

Piper wavered, looking suddenly reluctant. Glancing away, she motioned blindly. "Oh, here and there. Dating someone new."

Mia froze. "Really? That’s wonderful," she said with so much enthusiasm her roommate blinked in confusion. "I mean, I’m glad you’ve moved past … the married guy."

"Yeah," Piper admitted, sighing as she glanced away. "But enough about me. Who’s your new guy?"

"Oh." Right, new guy. Shoot, she’d forgotten his name. "Gary!" she exclaimed a moment later, snapping her fingers in relief. Gary. Don’t forget Gary. "Gary Davis."

Piper’s smile dropped flat. "Gary Davis?" she repeated. "I know Gary."

Mia frowned. "You do? How?"

"We dated the first year I moved here," Piper answered, shaking her head over the coincidence. "Shared a history class in college. He was working toward his bachelor’s in Electrical Engineering. Wow. That’s so funny you met him. What a small world."

Mia’s shoulders slumped. "He’s one of your exes?"

Piper rolled her eyes. "That was a long time ago, Mi Mi. I haven’t even talked to him in years. He was just a college football player back then. Kind of immature." Her eyes widened as soon as she admitted that. Reaching for Mia’s arm, she quickly reassured. "But that was a long time ago. I’m sure he’s grown up a lot since then."

Still. Mia wasn’t into

sharing with her roommate "How … how serious did you guys get?"

"Well," Piper looked momentarily uneasy. "It was a long time ago," she finally admitted.

Mia winced. "But you and he … were together?"

"Mia." Piper drew out a breath, sounding almost embarrassed, though she’d never been embarrassed before. "It was a long time ago."

"I don’t care," Mia said. "That’s just … "

Piper groaned and threw her hands in the air. "Great. You’re not going to go out with him now, are you?"

Mia wrinkled her nose. "Well, honestly, how can I? It’s so weird."

Her roommate sighed, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I knew it," she muttered. "I knew you’d come up with some reason not to go out. Yes, I dated Gary eons ago. So, what? He’s still a good guy. And what about Drew? What was the problem there? Why don’t you want to see him again?"

Glancing away, Mia gave a shrug. No way was she going to confess how Drew wanted to use her to discover Piper’s secrets. "You want to know what I think?" Piper went on when she didn’t answer. "I think you’re scared of him because he was the first guy to make you feel alive again after—"

"I don’t want to talk about it," Mia snapped before Piper could finish her sentence. She closed her eyes and lifted her hands. "I just can’t."

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