Mia had spent most of the night making love with the most incredible man she’d ever met until they collapsed, exhausted, in each other’s arms and drifted into oblivion. Unfortunately, it didn’t matter how many times she changed her ringtone for the least annoying. When her cell rang, she shot from the bed like a cork from a bottle of champagne.
“You okay, sweetheart?” Havoc purred in her ear.
Never better. Mia sighed, smiled at his sleepy groan, rubbed her cheek against the smattering of dark chest hairs, lightly scratching her skin, and inhaled his musky scent. Mmm. Ten more minutes, a luxury, before she got her act together and went to the hospital. Ever since Kelly’s accident, Mia had visited every day. Except for yesterday. No matter how tempting it might be to stay in Havoc’s bed, she wouldn’t miss today.
She grumbled at the second shriek, but it wasn’t her phone. “Hey, I think someone’s at your door.” Havoc didn’t stir, so she tweaked his nipple. That ought to perk him up. She giggled.
“Ouch. Do that again. I swear I’ll be fully awake next time and show you what I’d like you to do with those wicked fingers.” Havoc flung his arm across her waist, pinning her to the bed.
“Sounds mighty fine to me, but the person with their finger glued to your doorbell has other ideas.”
“Huh? Oh shit! Wait right here.” Havoc kissed her neck, and that spot at the front of her pelvis tingled. The one he’d expertly tormented from the inside last night. The light from the hall spilled over his naked body as he dove for the clothes he’d dumped on the floor. Sadly, Havoc dressed as fast as he undressed.
“Don’t forget the coffee,” Mia mumbled, rolled onto her stomach, and pulled the pillow over her head.
Last night had been incredible. The best sex she’d ever had hummed inside her. Raising one arm, she sniffed her armpit. As much as she’d love to do as Havoc asked and wait, her body needed soap. Balanced on her good leg in his shower, the other hanging outside the door, she quickly bathed, wrapped the towel around her, and rifled through the drawers, hoping to find a spare toothbrush.
“Second one from the top.” Havoc stood a few feet away, arms crossed, his sinful smile hotter than the steam swirling over the tiled walls. And she hadn’t heard him open the door. “Massive pity. I’d love to carry you back to bed, but we have company.” His gaze locked on hers in the mirror. “Get dressed. There’s someone waiting to meet you.” He pushed against the wall and took a step toward her, a glint in his eye.
“Oh no, don’t you go there.” Mia laughed. “Out of here. Let me finish getting ready.”
Last night she’d behaved like a sex-starved nymph. Unlike her, but Havoc had tapped into a side of her she’d never experienced. A confident, sexually uninhibited, primal place she could get used to exploring.
After Havoc left, the temperature dropped at least ten degrees. Mia stared at her reflection. With a long sigh, she tried to psych herself up for Snake. Meeting new people made her uneasy at the best of times. As she slipped on the dress she’d worn last night, Mia remembered Havoc’s surprise at her lack of underwear and drew a smiley face on the mirror. She’d ask Havoc to take her to her place to change before they drove to the hospital.
Her hair hung in knots over her shoulders, but there wasn’t a lot she could do about the tangled mess until she got home, so she pulled it into a ponytail and grabbed the toothpaste and brush from the drawer.
Fingers crossed. This Snake guy had good news. She’d love to tell Kelly they had Barney and the other guy behind bars. Mia stepped out of the bedroom expecting to hear Havoc talking with his boss, but the voices coming from the living room weren’t male.
The minute Mia walked into the room, Havoc stalked over and snaked his arm around her waist. Usually, his touch calmed her. Right now, it made her uneasy. An older, attractive woman with the same huge brown eyes as Havoc’s sat on the sofa, bouncing a small boy on her knee.
“Mia, I’d like you to meet my mom.”
Her jaw dropped. Havoc squeezed her tighter. With a sense of dread, she wriggled out of his grasp and ignored his frown.
“And this is Charlie. He lives with me. When I’m working, Mom looks after him.” Havoc scooped the boy off the woman’s knee with his free arm.
Scrambling to think of what to say, Mia pressed her fist to her mouth and tried not to choke. “Hi, Charlie. Your kid, er, child?”
“Sorry, I should have mentioned him before.”
“You think? Why didn’t you?” Several swallows, but her voice was brittle.
“I would have, but I, we, don’t know each other very well, and…”
That’s the truth. Twenty-four hours, maybe? “Where’s your wife, Charlie’s mother?” she asked.
When Havoc didn’t answer, stood there looking as though she’d hit him over the head with one of his size fourteens, his mom cleared her throat and moved closer to her son. “Ben doesn’t have a wife.”
Run, get out of there. Now, before it gets worse.
“Nana, who ‘dis?” A chubby hand waved in front of her face.
At the end of the kid’s accusing finger, Mia shrank inside, to the size of the fly on the wall above his head. “Hello, I’m Mia. Pleased to meet you, Charlie.”
The child ignored her and snuggled into Havoc’s chest, and he buried his nose in the child’s hair. Neither of them game to look at her, and his mom’s pitying glance only added to the catastrophe.
“Oh dear, my son and his surprises.” She sighed. “Ben, Charlie and I will make breakfast while you and Mia have a chat.” She took the boy from Havoc’s arms.
“Thanks, Mom.” Havoc stepped toward her.
Mia dodged to his right. “No need. I should be going.” She needed a plan to stop from spinning out. One, visit Kelly, two, work up the courage to face her apartment. “A pleasure meeting you both.” Feeling like a complete idiot, she jiggled her fingers at the boy.
“Give us that minute, Mom.” Too quick for Mia this time, Havoc caught her wrist, pulled her into his bedroom, and closed the door. “Sorry.” He let go of her and gestured toward the bed where they’d made love. “Please. Sit. I owe you an explanation,” he said, his voice shaking.
“No. Forget it. I appreciate your help last night.” Hell, what a fool. Throwing herself at a man with a kid. Minor details he’d avoided sharing before they got naked.
She shrugged to show how much she didn’t care when she was busting to slap Havoc’s face. Tell him thanks for saving my life. I never imagined sex could be that great. But how could you? And kids…
“Look, I get it. You’re mad at me,” he said.
Try throat-cuttingly angry, but mostly hurt, and extremely confused. She could kick herself for imagining they might have been going somewhere other than his bed.
“I understand.” Havoc’s voice drifted further away. “But I can’t let you leave alone. It’s not safe. Please, Mia, let me explain.”
“No. I want to go to the hospital now. If your boss, this Snake guy, wants to talk to me, he can find me there.”
Havoc sighed. “Okay. If that’s what you want, stay while I call Trigger. He’ll take you to the hospital and wait with you.”