Page 66 of Army
“I’ve seen it many times in the last couple of weeks. I don’t know who he is or why he’d be following me.”
“It’s a flashy car, so I’m not surprised you’ve seen it around. The city’s not that big.”
“Even so, I don’t want whomever it is to know where I live.”
He glanced again in the mirror. “He just turned left.”
Mia looked over her shoulder. The car was gone. “I just think it’s odd that he was in front of the salon last week.”
“Are you sure it was the same person? I couldn’t even tell what he really looked like.”
“Maybe you’re right.” She stared straight ahead, a niggling doubt still in the back of her mind.
Noe put his hand on her thigh and squeezed a bit too much. “Next time you see it, get the plate number and give it to me. I’ll check it out, okay?”
“All right,” she said, shifting her body.
Noe pulled his hand away and pounded it on the steering wheel, cussing under his breath. Mia counted the minutes until they’d arrive at her house.
“We can do breakfast tomorrow morning before I leave.” Noe put the car in Park.
“Sorry, but I have a private customer tomorrow morning. Have a great trip back, and I really hope that your dad feels better.”
“He won’t. He’s got a fuckin’ progressive disease.” His voice was hard like steel.
Mia opened the door. “Then, I hope he’s at least comfortable. I know how hard it must be for you.”
“You really don’t. You don’t know jack shit about loving a parent. Shark tells me you rarely call your mom. That’s not being a good daughter, is it? Raye always complains to Shark about not hearing from you.”
Her body tensed and she turned to look at him, her chin held up high. “First off, my mom has a phone, too, and theonlytime she’d ever called me since I moved away was a couple of weeks ago to tell me about Finn. Any other rare time I hear from her is when I go home orIcall her. That’s the way it’s been for the past six years, so where the fuck do you get off telling me about my mom?”
“Of course, you’re mad and defensive. Telling someone the truth always brings about that kind of reaction.”
With her temper flaring, she rushed out of the car then slammed the door.
“Mia, get the fuck back over here.”
Anger and contempt burned behind her eyelids, red and hot. She stalked up the walkway, not turning around when she heard Noe yell, “You can be a real bitch!” followed by tires screeching as he sped away.Howdarehe tell me about Mom! And Shark’s an asshole for saying that shit about me. He knows how Mom is with me.Grinding her teeth, she bent her head down and kicked the dried leaves littering the path. “Why the hell don’t they sweep the sidewalks? I pay a hefty HOA,” she fumed under her breath.
She took out her keys then looked up and saw a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a glass vase with a deep purple ribbon and bow around it. Staring at it, her anger intensified. Fuck! Why can’t Jorge catch on that it’s over? This is my day for assholes!She bent down and picked up the vase and tucked her arm around it while she opened the front door. Pumpkin and Snickers came running over, and she went into the living room and placed the flowers on the coffee table then bent down and petted the cats. “I had a shitty time,” she said to them as they nuzzled their faces against her cheeks. “Are you hungry?” She stood up and went into the kitchen.
After she fed them, she changed into one of her favorite fleece nightshirts she wore for lounging around, and sat on the couch staring at the vibrantly colored flowers. Spotting a small white envelope, she debated about reading the crap Jorge had written, but curiosity got the better of her, and she leaned over and snagged the note:Hey, babe. Army.Straightening up, she reread the note again as her anger melted away and the glow of happiness radiated through her. “I can’t fucking believe it!” she cried out loud, startling both her cats.
Her mood, which had been foul just moments before, was bright and jovial, and she thought she would burst from shock and joy and sheer giddiness. Mia stood up and bent over to smell them. “How did you know I love sunflowers?” she murmured under her breath.
The last person she would’ve thought of as romantic was Army, yet the unexpected bouquet proved her wrong. Mia was no stranger to receiving flowers from men, and when she’d dated Jorge, it seemed like he sent them every week, but none of the bouquets or arrangements she’d received meant as much to her as the one right in front of her. Threads of desire wove through her as she stared at the most beautiful flowers she’d ever seen while vivid pornographic images of Army played in her head.
The phone humming on the table invaded her erotic reverie and she reached over and picked it up, hoping it wasn’t Noe going in for round number two. Ronica’s name flashed across the screen, and she pushed the button and held the phone to her ear.
“Hi, Ronica.”
“Mia. You sound … bubbly, and that’s not a word I thought I’d ever use to describe you. Did you finally screw your hottie?”
She giggled. “No, and he’s notmyanything, but he did do something totally unexpected and terribly romantic.” She paused for dramatic effect, laughing when Ronica kept asking what it was that he did.
“I swear I’m going to hang up if you don’t tell me right now, Mia.”
“He sent me a huge bouquet of flowers.” Mia stared at them as she spoke, the thrill of his gesture still sparking inside her.
