Most Likely To… Deny Love

MIA

Mia couldn’t concentrate for the rest of the day. She was meant to be setting up a training schedule for a new colleague and just couldn’t focus. What had just happened? Feeling like her body would hum from Jack’s touch for years to come, Mia couldn’t help but glance over at him every now and then. He was grinning like the cat that got the cream and she couldn’t help but do the same. He was gorgeous and he did things to her she’d never felt before.

Giving up on getting anything else done today, Mia clocked out and ignored the surprised looks of her team. She was usually the last one to leave.

“Have a nice evening,” Jack said as she walked past his desk. His politeness was underlined with a knowing look in his eye, and the ever-present mischievous glint.

“Thank you, I will. You too.” Her body was loose—her legs still a bit wobbly—and it surprised her to hear her voice was low. God, they were going to get busted if they kept this up.

Looking forward to a girls’ night in with her roommates, Mia rushed home, stopping at the supermarket to get a bottle of wine and some snacks. She had just had the most incredible orgasm of her life. At work. In the elevator. It was time to celebrate.

Mia got home before Emilia and Annie, so she was able to set everything up in the living room. It wasn’t very often that she had the house to herself—she was usually the first to leave and the last to arrive—so she put some music on to fill the silence. As she put the snacks on the table and opened the wine to let it breathe, Mia couldn’t help but grin over imagining the reactions of her closest friends.

Before long, Annie walked through the door, calling out a casual “hey” before making her way to her room. The time away from her in Charlotte had been hard. So hard that they’d moved in together as soon as Mia had come back home. And definitely made up for lost time.

“What’s all this?” Annie asked as she came into the living room. She’d changed out of her work clothes into yoga pants, a singlet-top and had pulled her tawny brown hair up into a messy bun. Her glasses were slightly crooked on her nose, as always, but she still managed to look stunning - as always.

“We’re celebrating,” Mia grinned.

“Oooooh, what are we celebrating?” Annie’s blue eyes lit up.

“I’ll tell you when Emilia comes home.”

As if on cue, Emilia walked through the front door. Unlike Annie, Emilia dumped her bag on the floor next to the couch and flopped down onto the sofa.

“I am pooped! Mia, can I get a ride tomorrow? I don’t have yoga and walking sucks. Oooh, what’s with the fancy snacks?”

“Apparently, we’re celebrating, and hello to you, too.” Annie said, smiling as she poured wine into three glasses.

“I know what we’re celebrating,” Emilia said, taking the wine and lifting her glass in a toast. “To Jack Sullivan’s amazing, amazing hands. And the glow in Mia’s cheeks they’ve caused.”

“Oh my God,” Mia felt the blood drain out of her face. “How did you know about the elevator?” Her heart was thudding in her chest. Had the entire office heard them?

“I… didn’t. I was talking about the other two times! Why? What happened in the elevator?”

Annie choked on the sip of wine she’d just taken, and Mia waited until she recovered before telling them the entire story; from the notes, to her taking off her bra, to coming in the elevator. She only left out the fine details as her friends sat, completely entranced.

“Honestly,” Annie said in her serious librarian voice. “That’s the hottest thing I’ve ever heard.”

“Right?” Mia said, smugly. It was the hottest. “I’m still not recovered.”

“I bet you’re not,” Emilia said, turning to Annie. “You should see the way he looks at her. It’s amazing. I’m so happy for you Mia. Living your best sex life, breaking the rules. It’s awesome. I think Jack is exactly what you need.”

“Well,” Mia squirmed. “We’ll see about all that. All I know is that sex with him is going to blow my head off.”

“Excellent,” Annie said as she popped a cheese cube in her mouth. “No point having half-assed sex. We’re nearly thirty, after all.”

Mia looked at her friends as they laughed, and the conversation turned to their worst sexual experiences. Something Emilia had said was niggling at her. Breaking the rules. She’d decided to take each day as it came, so she put her worries to the back of her mind. She was looking forward to the summer party. Annie and Emilia would help her get ready, she’d dance and laugh with Jack. Anything that happened afterwards… well, she’d cross that bridge when she came to it.

* * *

Entering the venue for the summer party, Mia scanned the crowd, eventually landing on Jack, standing casually at the bar, his gaze drawn to her. She smiled at him across the hall, heat pooling in her belly when he smiled back and gave a small wave. It was like everything else stopped existing.

“Well,” Emilia spoke next to her, looking between them. “Guess that’s my cue.” Patting her cousin on the shoulder, she stepped down and got lost in the crowd. Mia started making her way towards where Jack was standing, slightly aggravated at the amount of people who stopped her to say hello.

Finally, she was standing in front of him, unsure what to do in this new setting, so doing nothing. Mia’s fingers were itching to touch him, and apparently he felt the same, since he leaned in to give a quick, business-like kiss on the cheek, lingering a little too long as they breathed each other in.

“Hello,” they said at the same time, laughing awkwardly.