Читать книгу Night After Night... - Kristin Gabriel, Linda Randall Wisdom - Страница 11

MIA HIT morning rush-hour traffic on her way home from the Longo estate, so she was already in a bad mood when she pulled into her driveway and saw Ian Brock’s shiny red pickup truck parked there.

In her haste this morning, she’d simply thrown on her clothes and left the Longo Research Center with her hair half-combed and no makeup. Not exactly the image to make Ian regret dumping her.

“About time you got here,” he said, as she climbed out of her Miata. “It’s almost nine.”

“I’m running a little late this morning.”

Ian walked with her to the front door, apparently unaffected by the awkwardness that made her drop her purse on the ground, the contents spilling out on the sidewalk.

Ian bent down to help her pick everything up, his hand finding her lip balm first. His mouth curved into a reminiscent smile.

“Strawberry Banana,” he said, reading the label. “That was always my favorite flavor on you.”

She remembered. Mia remembered everything about him, including how much it had shocked her when he’d dumped her for a younger woman. A nineteen-year-old model with bigger breasts and smaller hips. That had been bad enough, but even worse was how he’d treated her at the end. Brushing off her suspicions as paranoia. Making her doubt herself.

Until she’d caught him in the act. Then he’d had the gall to dump her before she could even react. That had been three months ago and his easy dismissal of her had hurt Mia to the core.

Now she wondered what she’d ever seen in the man. Compared to Nate, he was flashy and phony. Perfect hair. Perfect tan. Perfect clothes. She’d been so impressed with him and his skills as a carpenter that she’d failed to notice how impressed Ian was with himself.

Why hadn’t she seen it sooner?

“I think it’s past the expiration date,” she said, taking the lip balm from him and tossing it into the trash can sitting near the front stoop.

Ian’s brow crinkled, as if he just now noticed her disheveled appearance. “What happened to you?”

She walked briskly to the front door, the heavy tread of his work boots sounding on the sidewalk behind her. “What do you mean?”

“You look like hell.”

Indignation prickled her skin. How dare he suddenly show up in her life again and start insulting her. As if he’d done nothing wrong. Never deceived her. Never hurt her. She wished he hadn’t quit three months ago so she could fire him now.

Mia took a deep breath, determined not to show him that his opinion still mattered to her. And what better way than to make him think she’d found someone else.

She turned around and smiled at him. “Really? Nate seemed to like the way I looked this morning.”

His gaze narrowed. “Who’s Nate?”

“Nate Cafferty. A man I met last night.”

“You mean…?” Ian shook his head in disbelief. “No. Not you, Mia. You’re not a one-night-stand type of girl.”

“You haven’t seen me for almost three months, Ian,” she countered. “You have no clue as to what type of girl I am anymore.”

“So that’s why you’re late for work? That’s why you look like you just tumbled out of bed?” A flush of indignation mottled his cheeks. “Because you slept with some other guy?”

Mission accomplished.

“I’m afraid that’s none of your business anymore,” she said evenly. “Why are you waiting out here, anyway? Carleen could have let you in.”

“Nobody answered the door when I knocked,” he told her as she tried to turn the knob.

“That’s odd.” Mia fished through her purse for her house key. “Carleen always opens up the office by eight.”

“Maybe she got lucky last night, too,” he sneered.

“Maybe,” she said breezily, unlocking the door.