“And you agreed with that? Before this...disagreement?”
Kiah nodded, watching Mina’s expression, wondering where she was going with this entire conversation.
“It didn’t really matter to me, whether we had kids or not. I actually would have preferred not to. You know I’ve always said that between my father dying so young and my mom’s emotional instability, it’s probably better these genes don’t get passed on. My thoughts on that haven’t changed.”
“Even though you’ve been tested for the congenital condition your father had?”
He noticed she didn’t mention his mother and was glad. He didn’t want to discuss her if he could help it, nor talk about how much of her he sometimes saw in himself. Like the night he and Valerie got into it, and he’d said some truly hurtful things before walking away, knowing he desperately needed to cool off.
“It’s not worth the risk,” he said. “I didn’t plan on it, but I have Charm to take care of, and that’s enough for me.”
“Is it really?” She held up her hand, as though knowing his answer already. “Forget I said anything. It’s the rum talking. I worry about you, want you to be happy.”
“I am.” Even as he said it, he realized it was true, and a lot of his present happiness came from being there just then, with her. “And I want the same for you.”
Something changed in her expression. If he didn’t know her as well as he did, he’d have missed it, but even so, he couldn’t interpret the emotion that suddenly shadowed her eyes and fractionally tightened her lips.
When she reached out and trailed her fingers along his cheek, so lightly they could have been butterfly wings, he froze, startled by the surge of emotion engendered by her tender caress.
“Let me tell you a secret,” she said, leaning in so her face was close enough that he could have kissed her, if he dared. “Sometimes it’s far easier to accept your limitations than it is to fight against them and get your heart broken.”
Before he realized her intention, Mina closed the gap between them and placed her lips on his. Soft and sweet and warm, they teased his mouth, moving ever so slightly, and now he recognized what he was feeling.
Desire.
Need.
But this was Mina.
Mina!
And although he wanted to pull her closer, deepen the kiss into something carnal and fierce, he held himself as still as possible, hardly daring to breathe, lest she figure out what he was feeling.
She pulled back, her gaze searching his, then she turned away, fumbling with the handle of the car door, saying, “Dammit, Kiah. You got me drunk again, and now you won’t take me home to bed.”
“Lawd,” he groaned, hoping she would think he was just grousing and not wishing he could do just that—take her home to his bed, and make love to her all night long.
And he knew she’d interpreted it the way he hoped when she laughed, and would have tumbled headfirst into the car if he hadn’t had a firm hold on her arm.
CHAPTER EIGHT
MINA AWOKE ON the morning after Kiah had taken her to the club by the beach, and lay staring at the ceiling, trying to sort through what had happened the night before. It was a complete departure from her usual self, almost beyond comprehension.
Why’d she been jealous of Niesha monopolizing Kiah’s time and dancing so erotically with him? It wasn’t as though she’d never seen Kiah flirting and dancing with women before. Hell, she’d teased him about his amorous adventures since they were fourteen or fifteen.
But last night had been different. She’d seethed, wanting his attention for herself, not on the beautiful, bountiful Niesha.
And then, if that weren’t bad enough, when they were standing in the parking lot, she’d had the overwhelming urge to kiss him, and she had. The jolt of awareness and desire rocketing through her body when their lips touched had made her sudden physical attraction toward him abundantly clear.
Rolling over onto her side, she stared sightlessly at the window.
She wished she could put it down to the rum, but she knew that while she’d been a little tipsy, she was nowhere near drunk enough to use the alcohol as an excuse.
And there’d been no reaction from him to the kiss. Not that she’d expected him to grab her and ravage her on the spot. That would have been ludicrous and hysterical. But wouldn’t he have at least tried to kiss her back, if the thought had even fractionally crossed his mind? And when she’d seen his expression afterward, it had been blank, with perhaps a hint of a question in his eyes.
No interest or passion.
Not even a touch.
The entire situation was embarrassing. And confusing.
Where had these feelings even come from?
Sighing, she sat up, since she could clearly hear the rest of the household stirring. Hopefully, Kiah would think nothing of what had happened between them, and look at the kiss as one of their usual friendly salutes. If he brought it up with her, she had no idea how to react, or what to tell him.
Thankfully, he didn’t mention it, and everything seemed normal, except for her heightened awareness of his every move.
Kiah came into the kitchen, where she was helping Miss Pearl fix breakfast, and asked, “Hey, you want to go for a drive after breakfast?”
“Sure,” she replied, although wondering if it was a way to get her alone to talk about the night before. Then she turned to Charm. “You coming with us, kiddo?”
Besides the fact that she enjoyed Charm’s company, the little girl would be a good buffer between Kiah and herself, until Mina could figure out what was going on inside her own head.
“Yes,” was the reply, laced with more eagerness than she’d expected. Then she understood why. “It’ll be much better than staying here and reading my history book. I have to do an essay, but it’s so boring.”
“Wasn’t my favorite subject, either,” Mina confessed.
