Her Sexiest Mistake

Her car was parked in the middle of the field. And sitting on the hood was her soon-to-be dead niece, and a-oh, hell no, a boy. Next to them stood a man, who even from here she recognized. She had a feeling she'd recognize that body from a hundred miles, much less a hundred yards.

'Save me from idiots,' Mia muttered and stepped onto the grass, her one good heel sinking in. Perfect.

Kevin turned and watched her hobble toward him, and if she wasn't mistaken, his mouth curved.

When she got close enough, she spoke directly to Hope. 'What the hell is wrong with you? You looking to get arrested in this state, too? I nearly called the police and reported the car missing!'

Hope opened her mouth but Mia lifted up her hand. 'No. No excuses. Get off the hood, get the hell off my hood-' She spared a scathing glare at the teenage boy sitting next to Hope, and then started around the car for the driver's door.

Kevin shifted, and as a result she bumped right into him. 'Out of my way, Ace.'

He didn't, just studied her while he rubbed his jaw. The at least two-day growth there rasped in the morning air and scraped low at her belly.

She knew what that growth felt like against her jaw, her breasts… between her thighs.

''Sometimes things aren't as they seem,' he said quietly, for her ears only. 'And yelling isn't going to get you anywhere. Patience-'

'Do I look like I have an ounce of patience?'

Instead of answering that, he lifted a hand toward her face.

She pulled back.

'You have a-' He waggled a finger at her cheek.

She put her hand there. 'What?'

'Here.' His warm fingers brushed her skin and her nipples reacted again. Very annoying.

Then she realized he was showing her what he had. A piece of confetti. 'Go ahead,' he said. 'You can finish blistering my hide now.'

She was certain steam was corning out of her ears as she pushed past him and got into the car. Hope had already gotten into the passenger seat and was staring sullenly straight ahead.

Kevin poked his head in the driver's side, his face incredibly close to hers.

Again her body reacted.

Bad body.

'Hope,' he said, looking past Mia to the girl. 'It was nice that you stopped and talked to Cole. I think he needed a friend.'

Hope nodded, and Kevin smiled again and said, 'See you tomorrow.' Then he pulled back and, without so much as even glancing at Mia, turned to the presumed Cole. He put a hand on the boy's shoulder, guiding him across the field toward the school.

Mia turned to Hope. 'Well?'

Hope slid farther into her seat.

'Nothing? Really? Not even an 'I'm sorry, Mia'? An T screwed up, Mia'?'

'You said don't let anything happen to the Audi. And nothing did.'

Mia felt her mouth fall open. 'You're kidding me, right?'

Hope crossed her arms over her skinny chest and turned forward, going the silent route.

Mia shook her head. She couldn't believe it, but Hope was seething with resentment and hurt when Mia was the injured party here! 'I don't have time for this.' She threw the car into gear and drove them off the field and onto the street, heading toward the freeway as fast as she could without running anything over. The entire drive from Glendale Hills into the LA forest of high-rises, Hope stared out the window, her eyes full of antagonism. She kept her silence until they pulled into the parking structure of Mia's downtown building.

'You were gone more than a minute.'

Mia looked over at her. 'What?'

'You were gone like ten minutes. You get a quickie in his office or something?'

'No, I didn't get a- You know what?' She shook her head. Forced a laugh. 'You are not going to make this my fault. You came to me, Hope. I let you stay in my house, eat my food-'

'You don't have any food.'

'-rattle my windows, and then I ask you for one thing. To wait in the car for a minute-'

'Ten.'

Mia could actually feel brain cells exploding. She glanced at the teen, with her stringy black hair, black gloss, black eyeliner that looked painted on, and still had no trouble reading loud and clear the antipathy coming off her in waves. Nothing was going to be enough to break that, or her years of pent-up anger.

Just as nothing was going to cut through the years it had taken Mia to put a shine and polish on her lowly early existence.

There was no middle ground here.

She turned off the engine and got out of the car, walking to her trunk where she kept a spare pair of shoes. Teardrop Jimmy Choo slides, and though the color was just a little off for her outfit, that was the least of her worries. 'Remember, this is a professional place of business,' she told Hope. 'No funny stuff, no loud music, and especially no sticky fingers.'

'Gee, Aunt Apple Pie,' Hope said in a slow, exaggerated drawl, cocking her head slightly to the side as if maybe she wasn't the sharpest crayon in the box. 'Whatever will I do with myself if I can't square dance or steal stuff?'

Mia stopped short and turned to face her. 'And don't even think about calling me that again.'

'Ma'am, yes, ma'am.' She snapped to attention, mockingly saluting her.

Oh, yeah. It was going to be a helluva day.

They entered the building. Mia had long ago stopped gawking at the gorgeous architecture of the glass and steel all around her, at the shiny marble flooring of the foyer bigger than her entire hometown. There was a flower cart, a donut shop where she bought Hope breakfast, an expensive jewelry shop, the glass elevators that rose so high into the sky they practically vanished, all surrounded by lush green tropical plant life cultivated throughout the bottom floor.

Hope hadn't even seen anything like it before, and she totally gawked, her hard, cynical face softening as it tipped back to catch all that she could.

'Pretty amazing, huh?' Mia showed her badge to the doorman to get into the elevators.

Hope closed her mouth and her expression and lifted that careless shoulder. 'It's okay.'

Mia shook her head, and they took the elevator in silence, even when the high-speed electronics whirled them up at a dizzying speed.

Hope merely clutched at the handrail, her face practically glued to the glass.

On Mia's floor, they entered a set of brass and glass double doors and stepped into the organized chaos that was Mia's entire world. Phones rang, well-dressed people hurried back and forth carrying files and laptops, talking, laughing, more talking…

Gen, behind the huge reception desk, covered the mic near her mouth and said to Mia, 'They just got here.'

Mia nodded and pulled Hope around a corner, where Tess sat at her large L-shaped desk. She also wore a headset and was talking into it. 'No, that's unacceptable. That's right, but we're nothing if not flexible. How ‘bout we meet you halfway?' She began handing over a stack of phone messages and another stack of files to Mia while she continued her phone conversation. 'That's great, uh huh, gotcha. Buh-bye now.' She looked at Mia. 'I've given them coffee and donuts and set them up in the conference room. You've also got that Danville account meeting right after this one, and they've called to confirm. Steven, Dillon, Janice, and Tami are all planning on being there with the artwork and presentation. And later the fire marshal is coming back to interview. Oh, and then a staff meeting where you-know-who is going to be hailing you with questions, so I've made a list-'