The Way the Story Goes Read online

  Reaching out, she squeezed his hand. “I think it’s incredibly sweet that you did this, and it’s something I probably never would have bothered doing for myself.”

  “If you’re sure. I don’t want to push you into doing something you don’t want to.”

  “Well…you’ve gotten me to try a lot of new stuff this week and I haven’t hated any of it, so I suppose I can trust you on this.”

  That seemed to make him relax a bit. “I know it’s not a big deal and obviously you’ve done just fine without knowing how to ride a bike, but…I don’t know…it just seemed like something you wanted to do. And if I can help with that, then it would make me happy.” He placed a soft kiss on the tip of her nose. “So what do you say? You ready to do this?”

  Was she? “I guess. But you have to promise not to laugh if I fall or make a mistake.”

  Austin leaned in close and kissed her until she was breathless. “I am not going to laugh at you. That’s a promise.” He positioned himself beside her and held onto the seat. “We’re going to take it nice and slow. I’ll walk beside you and hold you steady until you feel like it’s okay to let go.”

  She nodded even though her stomach fluttered with nerves. “Okay.”

  “Feet on the pedals,” he instructed, and when she was there, he said, “Okay, you can start pedaling.”

  The bike wobbled and shook and she felt like she was going to fall at least a dozen times before they got into a groove. Austin was starting to jog slowly beside her and Mia was too scared to confirm if his hand was still on the seat, but the whole time he kept talking softly to her —encouraging her and telling her she was doing a good job.

  “This is so much different from the exercise bike at the gym,” she said with a small laugh, but when she glanced to the side, he wasn’t there. “Austin?!” The bike started to lean and Mia immediately straightened, her grip tightening on the handles. And suddenly he was back beside her, jogging.

  And she could see both hands.

  “Wait…am I…?” A small laugh escaped. “Am I seriously doing this by myself?”

  He smiled from ear to ear. “You sure are!”

  “Oh, my goodness! I really am!” Another laugh was out, and it was as if she couldn’t hold in the joy she felt. “I know it’s silly. I mean, it’s just a bike, but…” Rather than say anything else, she let out a happy little squeal and pedaled a little faster.

  Beside her, Austin continued to jog. “Don’t get too cocky or try to go too fast. I want you to use the brakes to slow down and turn around toward your place, okay?”

  Biting her lip, she did as he instructed and as she turned around, there was a moment when it felt like she was definitely going to fall, but…she didn’t.

  “I’ll race you back to the house!” she cried, pedaling faster, and she could hear Austin laughing as he ran beside her. He had a great laugh and she couldn’t wait to get off the bike and kiss him.

  Coming to a stop just before hitting the garage door, Mia turned and smiled at Austin as he held the bike for her while she climbed off. Once she was off, she threw herself into his arms and kissed him. Behind her, she heard the bike crash to the pavement and didn’t care. He lifted her off her feet and she wrapped her legs around his waist. When she finally lifted her head, she found him looking a little dazed.

  “You okay?”

  She expected him to make a joke or at least laugh, but if anything, he looked more intense. His eyes had gone dark and there was a tic in his jaw. His hands were firmly gripping her bottom and before she could say anything, he was walking them into the garage and then into the elevator.

  “Um…Austin?”

  Once the doors shut, he pressed her against the wall and claimed her lips in a kiss that bordered on brutal. It was hot and needy and rather than shock her, it turned her on. In the back of her mind, it registered that he never hit the button for them to go upstairs.

  “Do you have any idea what you do to me?” he panted against her throat between nips and licks. “That was a completely harmless activity.” More bites. Her skin stung but it didn’t matter. His words were making her beyond crazy. “It was supposed to be fun. Not like this.” She was rubbing up against him, squirming in his arms, and from the way he was growling against her, she hoped he was getting that she was just as turned on as he was.

  “Hit the button,” she breathlessly demanded. “Let’s go upstairs so I can thank you properly for the lesson.”

  Lifting his head, Austin gave her the sexiest grin she had ever seen as he shook his head. “It’s too far away,” he said, his voice low and gruff. And before his words could even register, his hands were moving to the waistband of her leggings.

  Oh.

  Oh…

  It was awkward and exciting, and she’d never felt so sexy and…and…vital to someone.

  It was a heady realization.

  Her own hands got in on the action and Mia couldn’t help but giggle.

  That made Austin sober.

  He stilled and looked up at her. “Oh, God…what am I doing?” When he pulled back and started to let her go, she tightened her legs around him.

  “Don’t you dare stop,” she demanded.

  “But…” he groaned. “I shouldn’t…I mean…we should go upstairs and…”

  “Austin Coleman, if you don’t take me right here, right now in this elevator, I will never speak to you again!”

  His eyes went wide before he relaxed, his hands going to the button of his jeans. “You know, you’re a bossy little thing.”

  Pushing his hand aside, she finished unzipping his jeans for him. “And don’t you forget it.”

  And within minutes, Mia knew she was never going to forget this moment and how incredibly powerful and sexy he made her feel.

  A few nights later, Austin walked into Mia’s bedroom and found her sitting on the bed typing on her laptop. Her hair was up in a messy bun and she had on her reading glasses and looked like a sexy librarian.

  Such a cliché but damn if it wasn’t true.

  He had just gotten out of the shower and was still dressed in only a towel. He hated to disturb her, but…he got a call earlier that he wanted to discuss with her. Softly, he cleared his throat and waited for her to look up.

  Smiling, she asked, “Everything okay?”

  “Um…yeah,” he replied, coming to sit beside her.

  “You sure about that? You don’t look like you’re okay. What’s going on?”

  Letting out a long breath, he met her concerned gaze. “So my cousin Mason called today.”

  “And…?”

  “And he invited me to his son’s birthday party this weekend. Asher’s going to be two. It’s a family thing.”

  “Oh. Okay.” Her smile faded a little. “It’s not a big deal. We can go to the battleship another time. Maybe I’ll call Sydney and…oh, wait…Mason’s wife is Kyle’s sister, right?”

  He nodded.

  She waved him off. “Either way, not a big deal. I am perfectly capable of being home alone, Austin. You go and have fun with your family.”

  Frowning, he took one of her hands in his. “That wasn’t what I was going to say at all. I was going to ask you to come with me.”

  Her eyes went a little wide. “Really?”

  “Yeah, really. Why wouldn’t I?”

  “Um…”

  “Look, I know we haven’t really…you know…talked about this, but…we’re dating,” he said firmly. “We’re involved. In a relationship or whatever you want to call it. And that means we do things together, right?”

  She nodded.

  “We went out with Sydney and Kyle and had fun, right?”

  Another nod.

  “And you’ve met my mother, and that wasn’t painful or anything, was it?”

  Her lips twitched slightly. “It was not.”

  “Okay then. I’d really like it if you came with me to Mason and Scarlett’s on Saturday for this party. It’s probably going to be a little over the top
because Mason’s family is…well…over the top.”

  “Wait, if he’s your cousin, wouldn’t his family be your family?”

  Groaning, Austin fell back against the mattress. “Kind of.”

  Placing her laptop to the side, Mia leaned over and kissed his forehead. “Yeah, I’m going to need more than that.”

  Carefully, he rolled onto his side, careful to keep his towel in place. “My father and Mason’s mother are cousins and all part of the Coleman family—who were the founding family of Magnolia Sound.” When she nodded, he continued. “They weren’t raised as these uber-wealthy people, but…they certainly didn’t struggle when they were growing up. My great-grandfather always made sure his family was taken care of, but it didn’t mean they got something for nothing. He believed in working for what you had and making your own way in the world.”

  “He sounds like he was truly a wonderful man.”

  “He was the best,” Austin gruffly replied. “Aunt Georgia—Mason’s mother—married into another wealthy family. Very powerful and influential. She’s the epitome of the country club set, if you know what I mean.”

  “I do.”

  “Then there was my father. He was rebellious and not really interested in continuing the Coleman tradition here in Magnolia.” He snorted with disgust. “But not before he married my mom and had three sons. No. That would have been too much to ask. Something happened—like he just decided that he’d had enough and left.” Austin knew he’d touched on this with Mia already, but…there was always something more to say. “Anyway, there were the Bishops—Aunt Georgia and Uncle Beau—who didn’t have a care in the world, and then there was us. My mom worked so hard and my great-grandfather helped out some, but it was obvious we were the poor ones—the black sheep of the family.”

  “I doubt your great-grandfather felt that way.”

  “He didn’t, but whenever we were around the rest of the family, it was obvious. My aunt isn’t exactly known for keeping her distaste a secret. It was like she figured that since my father was gone, the rest of us should go away too—like we were no longer family.”

  “That’s horrible!”

  “That’s Aunt Georgia for you.”

  “So she’ll be there this weekend? This…aunt person?”

  Austin nodded. “But…it’ll be okay. I saw her a few weeks ago at my Aunt Susannah’s birthday party and I just kept my distance. The point I was trying to make—poorly, I guess—was that they have a lot of money and being that Asher is the first grandchild, they tend to make a big deal out of him.”

  “How over the top can a second birthday party really be?”

  “I heard last year they had pony rides and a carousel put up in the yard. You know, in case you couldn’t decide if you wanted to ride a real or fake horse.”

  “Wow.”

  “I know.” Sighing, he caressed her hand. “Still want to go with me?”

  “Of course I do,” she said, leaning in again with another kiss. “Plus, I’d love to meet this snooty bitch and give her a piece of my mind.”

  Wrapping his arms around her, Austin pulled her close and maneuvered them until she was under him. “Easy there, Killer. No need to break out the potty mouth. I’m sure she’ll be on her best behavior and barely acknowledge our presence. Or…mine, at least. You’re famous so she’ll probably be anxious to meet you and gush all over you.”

  “Yeah, well…I’ll crush that real quick. Don’t worry.”

  “Mia…”

  “Oh, hush. You know I’ll end up being ridiculously polite because that’s just who I am and then give her the side-eye all afternoon. For now, can’t you just let me pretend I’m a badass who stands up to bullies?”

  Grinning down at her, he nodded. “Sure thing. And for the record, you can kick anyone’s ass that you want to.”

  “Thank you!” she cried with a laugh before reaching up and guiding him down for a more thorough kiss.

  For a few minutes, they simply sank into the kiss and enjoyed each other, but then Austin remembered that he had interrupted her while she was working on something. Reluctantly, he lifted his head and rested his forehead against hers. “What were you working on?”

  “When?”

  “When I came out here. You were typing and I really should have just left you alone, but…” He rolled off of her and sat up before completely standing up and retying his towel.

  “Oh,” she said, sitting back against the pillows. “I was just doing a little writing. Nothing important.”

  “Mia, writing is what you do for a living, so if you were writing something, I’m sure it’s important.”

  She blushed and fussed with her hair but wouldn’t look at him, which seemed a little odd.

  “Is it a new book or something?” he prompted.

  “No,” she said quickly and then looked up at him and frowned. “Not really.”

  He didn’t want to push because it was obvious she didn’t want to talk about it, but he couldn’t deny that he was curious why she was being so secretive about it. “If you’re not comfortable talking about it…”

  She sighed loudly and put the laptop to the side again. “Okay, when I was dealing with the writer’s block, I started writing something else just because…well…inspiration struck.”

  “That sounds like a good thing—like you got a jumpstart on your next book.” It seemed fairly logical, so why didn’t she look pleased?

  “Um…this isn’t something I plan on publishing.”

  “Then why are you still working on it?”

  With a shrug, she pulled at an imaginary thread on the comforter. “I just wanted to finish it. I hate leaving a story hanging.”

  “That makes sense.” Walking back over to the bed beside her, he smiled down at her. “Then why do you look so miserable about it? This all makes sense and it’s not a big deal. I’m not asking to read it or anything and I’m certainly not going to tell anyone about it, so…”

  Groaning, Mia threw her head back. “I have a confession to make.”

  Now he was really curious because this all seemed a little dramatic for a project that wasn’t going to go anywhere.

  “O-kay…”

  “The first week I was here and you were so damn noisy, I couldn’t write a thing.”

  “Yeah. I know. We’ve talked about this.”

  She sat up again and twisted to face him a bit. “Sometimes an idea for a story will come out of nowhere. Like one minute I’ve got nothing and I’m not even thinking about a book and the next it’s like…BAM! Story!”

  He nodded because there wasn’t really anything he could say.

  “So when you were being so loud, I sort of…you know…decided to turn that into a story.” Then she looked up at him with a sad smile. “I was going to kill off the inconsiderate contractor.”

  It took a minute for her words to sink in.

  “So…wait. You killed me off in a book?” he said loudly before he could even stop himself.

  “Yes.” Then she was up on her knees, her hands on his shoulders. “It was before I met you and…and…I was just so frustrated and angry and annoyed and…ugh! It was a way to vent and to get myself to put words down on the page! And then I met you and the story started to change and…” She hung her head and shook it. “I don’t even know why I’m telling you this. You probably think I’m a horrible person now, right?”

  “Are you kidding me?” Austin said with a laugh. When she looked up at him with disbelief, he grinned. “I’m a character in a Mia Kingsley book! Do you have any idea how freaking awesome that is?”

  She looked at him like he had lost his mind.

  “So how do I get murdered? Who kills me? Do they make me suffer?” He started to pace and think about all the scenarios she could have used. “Am I killed with my own power tools? Bludgeoned? Stabbed? Poisoned? Ooh…I know, I’m killed and then they bury my body on the job site, right?”

  Mia slid off the bed and faced him. Hands on her hips, she said, “Y
ou know, it is extremely weird how much you’re enjoying this! I just confess that I put you in a book and then killed you and you’re happy about it? What is wrong with you?”

  Unable to help himself, Austin wrapped her in his arms and spun her around as he laughed. “Wrong with me? Sweetheart, you’re the one who hated me so much that you killed me in a book. Maybe I should be asking what’s wrong with you.”

  “Austin…”

  “Can I read it?” he asked as he put her back down on her feet.

  “What? No! And you just said you weren’t going to ask to read it!”

  “That was before I knew I was the star of the book!”

  “I never said you were the star…”

  “Please, I’m the guy who got killed because he was a pain in the ass. Trust me, I’m the star.”

  She groaned and shook her head again. “I never should have said anything.”

  “But you did and now I’m going to want details.”

  Rather than give in, she crossed her arms over her chest and did her best to look defiant. “Sorry. No one gets any details or reads my books until they are completely done and edited, so you’re out of luck.”

  Laughing was definitely the wrong response, and yet he couldn’t seem to help himself.

  He laughed.

  Hard.

  Like doubled over.

  “You are suck a jerk!” Mia cried as she walked past him, shoving him hard. She stormed out of the room.

  It took a moment for Austin to catch his breath, but when he did, he went after her. She was in the kitchen grabbing a bottle of water for herself. When she turned and spotted him, she growled with frustration.

  Hands up, he said, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have laughed. That was completely wrong of me.”

  “Yes, it was,” she said with more than a hint of sarcasm. “And don’t you ever get dressed? Sheesh! How hard is it to put clothes on?”

  Put clothes on? What the…?

  When she went to walk past him again, he reached out and gently grasped her upper arm. “Hey, what is going on? I said I was sorry. I thought we were joking around. Can we just…you know…relax?”

  Wrong. Thing. To. Say.