Mr. Big: A Billionaire Romance (9 page)

He seemed to sense that she was at a complete loss and he gave her a nod and a smile and reached for her champagne glass. “Besides… we have this perfect afternoon here together, and I haven’t seen a more beautiful day yet this year. We are so lucky to be in this place with each other, sharing this right now. I wouldn’t be anywhere but right here with you, right now.” He grinned and offered her the glass of golden bubbles.

The magic of the day around her seemed to pull her from her amazed state and she looked down at the glass and then took it into her hands. “Thank you,” she said as she lifted the glass to her lips and sipped in the tiny bouncing bubbles. He was right, she realized. It was the most perfect day that Manhattan had seen that whole year and they were in the park together drinking champagne, picnicking, kissing, and enjoying each other. She drew in a breath and sighed slowly, letting her tension go as she looked up at him.

“You’re right. This is an incredible day and I have had such a wonderful time with you. Thank you,” she said, raising her glass to him. He toasted her and they both took a long drink from their glasses as the moment and the mood shifted and everything between them relaxed once more.

The remainder of the afternoon was quiet and pleasant for them as they talked about a wide array of things, and though there was a little more distance between them, he still held her hand, touched her arm or her back here and there, and they both enjoyed the rest of their time together.

When he took her home late that afternoon, he walked her to her door where he wrapped her in a warm embrace and kissed her tenderly, taking his time to savor her in his arms, and she knew as their kiss grew heated just before he pulled away, that he was holding himself back as much as he could, and she found herself respecting him for it, much to her surprise.

She stepped into her apartment and watched him as he walked away. She closed the door and sighed as she rested her back against it and looked up at her ceiling, trying to make some sense of what was happening between them, what she wanted to happen, what she didn’t want to happen, and why even being with him had such a powerful effect on her.

The tangle of thoughts in her mind was only going to be put out of her mind one way, she decided, and that was with a very long, very hot bubble bath. Twenty minutes later, she was up to her ears in thick bubbles and the only parts of her that were not immersed in steaming water were her head and hands, which were holding a novel she hoped to lose herself in.

***

Cocktails at Carly’s two days later came as both a relief and an anxiety for Mia. Part of her wanted to commiserate with her friends about her thus far failed attempts at seducing Alexander, and part of her didn’t want to face them with her failed attempts, but their love and loyalty toward her outweighed the disappointment she had in herself and she arrived just as they were all ordering drinks. She sank into her seat and gave the waiter her drink order and he disappeared into the dim light of the restaurant. All eyes were on her again, as they had been for the last visit, and she gave them a halfhearted smile and shrugged.

“That does not look like the smile of a woman who has been tangled in the sheets with a man of possibly enormous endowment,” Liam said gently as he reached a hand to her shoulder. “Care to talk?” he asked hopefully.

Ava gave her a sympathetic pout and Maddie offered an encouraging smile and a warm hand to cover Mia’s.

Mia sighed. “Well, we went out on this incredible date on Saturday… he took me to Central Park and it was a beautiful day and he rowed me out onto the lake. We drank champagne and had a picnic on the grass under this gorgeous blossoming tree, and we kissed…” She trailed off quietly.

Liam blinked as he waited and gave a shake of his head when he realized she was stopping. “…you kissed and what?”

Mia frowned. “We kissed and it was phenomenal, but then that was it. There wasn’t anything else,” she said in a low voice.

Maddie’s frown matched Mia’s. “What do you mean there wasn’t anything else?” she asked as her brows knitted sharply.

Mia shrugged. “I told him I wanted him to come back to the apartment with me and said that he wants to wait for us to be intimate. He said he wants it as much as I do, but he just wants to wait until we know each other better.”

Her three friends stared at her. Ava blinked in astonishment. “He wants to wait? What does that mean? Why does it matter if you know each other better?”

Liam pursed his lips and nodded in comprehension as he turned from Mia’s dejected face to look at Ava. “It turns out that Alexander is a bit of a deep thinker. He isn’t really one to jump into anything without a close look at it. That makes perfect sense that he’d want to wait with Mia. I didn’t know him well enough to understand that about him when we put her up to this challenge, but now that I’ve been working with him a little while, I have seen it firsthand. He won’t be rushed about anything.”

Ava’s eyes were wide in amazement. Maddie sighed and reached for the drink that the waiter handed her before he passed the rest of the drinks around the table and vanished again.

Soft jazz played in the background and filled in the silence at the table for a moment before Liam turned back to Mia.

“Honey, this really is a good thing. I’m sure it’s going to be mind-blowing sex when it happens, and I’m sure it will happen. If he wasn’t interested in you, he wouldn’t kiss you at all. You’re making progress,” he assured her, patting her arm.

She stared at the wine in her glass. “I guess so. It’s just taking so long and….” She stopped herself short. She had almost said that she was having a harder time keeping him off of her mind and out of her emotions, but she managed to keep that from escaping her just in time, although Liam’s sharp eyes took in everything about her hesitation.

Maddie lifted her chin and looked at Mia. “So, you stick it out just a little longer and then you’ll get laid and then you’ll go to Italy. You’re close, it just isn’t a freebie, I guess. Not a big deal. You’re getting some good dates in the meantime, and that’s always nice. How’s the kissing?” she asked with a sly wink and a half smile.

“It’s beyond hot,” Mia said with a small grin and a touch of a shy look up at all three of them. “That man sets me on fire.” She turned her eyes to Liam. “I have a feeling you’re right about how it will be when we’re finally together. I think he’s going to rock my little world, and I can’t wait for it, and I can’t wait to get to Italy!” she said with firmness, reaching for her wine and tipping the glass back at her lips.

Her friends laughed a bit and told her that they knew she would succeed soon, and the conversation drifted to other things. Liam waited with her at the end of the night again after Ava and Maddie left Carly’s, and they sat there together, just the two of them, finishing their drinks.

“So, have you two set another date yet?” he asked curiously, looking out of the corner of his eye at her.

She shook her head. “No, nothing yet.”

He ran his fingers over his glass thoughtfully. “Well, give it another date and see what happens. He’s not one to give up on something he wants, and if he is moving further along with you each time, that’s progress, no matter how slow the progress is in your eyes, it’s still going in the right direction. Don’t miss out on a good thing because you were impatient,” he said quietly, looking at her earnestly.

She nodded thoughtfully and looked back at him. “I think you’re right, but it’s just so hard waiting. I mean, there’s so much chemistry, and he’s so hot, and I want to win the challenge…” she drifted off again quietly.

Liam listened quietly and when she stopped he added, “…and you like him now.”

Mia looked up at him sharply and drew in a breath quickly. “No! I mean… he’s a really great guy and I… um… he’s incredible, but I don’t like him like that,” she denied adamantly.

Liam chuckled and looked sidelong at her. “You don’t? Oh… my mistake then. I was just sure that I saw some changes in you that have never been there before, but I’m just your best friend, so what do I know. You’re probably right. How could you ever like a guy like that? Rich, handsome, moral, thoughtful, romantic, intelligent… hot… I don’t know what you’d ever see in him.”

She gaped at him for a moment and then smacked his arm playfully before turning from him slightly and reaching for her wine. “Shut up,” she said with a low laugh.

Liam leaned close to her and said softly, “You know, you’ve liked worse men. This would be a step up for you, if you decided to step up like that.”

Mia sighed and shook her head. “All I’m thinking about is Italy,” she replied firmly, lifting the last of her wine to her mouth.

“Uh huh,” Liam said casually as he finished his martini and reached for her hand. He kissed the back of her fingers and stood up, pulling her chair out for her as she stood up. “Well, we’ll see how you feel after he makes love with you for the first time.”

She felt a white-hot shiver twist through her at the sound of the words Liam had spoken. Their meaning had a visceral effect on her body, and she tensed from head to toe at the idea of him making love with her. She had thought about it countless times, but it hadn’t really been said the way that Liam had spoken it, and hearing it like that made it all the more real.

If she waited, there would be a time when Alexander would make love with her, and the idea of it arrested everything in her, setting her on fire deep inside. Liam saw her react to his words, and he smiled and chuckled to himself and said nothing more as he walked her out of the restaurant.

***

Another agonizing week passed with no word from Alexander, and Mia’s frustration with him grew to new bounds. More than once she seriously considered dropping the challenge just to regain her sanity and control of her emotions and dreams. She felt like she was losing herself to Alexander, and he wasn’t even around to appreciate it.

Her thoughts and dreams became more consumed with him; fantasies and memories mixed, and she caught herself thinking about him far more than she cared to. Each time he came to her mind, she tried to push him out and think of anything else, but he returned to her mind over and over, and she wondered in aggravation if he was thinking about her half as much as she was thinking about him. It was maddening to her. She refused to contact him. She felt that if he was going to keep putting off her requests to sleep with her, he didn’t deserve calls from her. He’d have to make that move and call her first if he wanted more with her.

Just about the time she was ready to throw in the towel, her phone rang and she saw that it was him. For one vindictive moment she wanted to ignore the call and make him call back a second time, but then her desire got the better of her and she reached for it and answered it at the last moment.

“Hello?” she asked casually.

“Good morning, Mia, how are you doing?” he asked with unmistakable excitement.

The happiness in his voice brought a smug smile to her face. He had missed her. He was glad to hear from her, and it was not something that he could hide, nor was he trying to keep it from her.

“I’m fantastic, thank you; how are you?” she returned smoothly. Her heart might be pounding in her chest and her blood might be racing as the sound of his voice filled every part of her with hunger, but she wasn’t about to let him know it.

“Very well, thank you. It’s good to hear your voice,” he said softly. She heard a little sigh escape him. “I’m sorry it’s been so long between calls; I’ve been really busy here at the office. I’d like to see you soon. I was hoping you would have some time for dinner tomorrow night.”

She didn’t know whether it was an excuse or if he was intentionally trying to make her crazy missing him or if he was really busy at the office, but she thought about the character of the man she had gotten to know and she decided that he was in earnest and had just been busy.

Opting to take the high road, she shrugged and leaned back in her chair, looking out of the window. “Oh how thoughtful of you!” she paused a long moment as she made him wait. “Let me have a quick look in my calendar…” she said as she sat there and gazed out of the window. She knew full well that her night was free the following evening, but she wanted to make him wait just a little longer as reciprocity for making her wait a week to hear from him.

“It looks like I’m free after six,” she said a moment later as a smile spread over her face. She ignored the rush of excitement at hearing from him, and the knowledge that she was going to see him and hopefully be in his arms again.

“Perfect!” he exclaimed happily. “I’ll pick you up at six-thirty if that works.”

A little laugh escaped her and she held the phone a little tighter in her hand. “That works. I’ll see you then, and thank you. I’m looking forward to it,” she admitted honestly.

“As am I, much more than I can say,” he answered, and her eyes widened, wondering what he meant by his admission.

They said goodbye and she hung up and closed her eyes, squealing happily and drawing in a deep breath. He had called her again, finally, and it was like an enormous release to her. Every bit of irritation and annoyance and worry was gone from her; evaporated with the sound of his voice and his sweet kind words. She was elated again, so quickly, so simply, and there was nothing that could bring her down from it. Mia was on a natural high that lasted all through that day into the next, and the closer it got to the moment he would be standing at her door, the happier she grew.