Too Wilde to Tame

Chapter Three

ONE minute Cameron was contemplating having sex with Mia, and the next he had her pushed up against the nearest wall with his mouth on hers like a man starved for the taste of her. And that's exactly how he felt… ravenous, greedy, demanding.

There was nothing gentle or sweet about this first, long overdue kiss, or the way the deep stroke of their tongues dueled for supremacy. She clenched her fingers in his hair and returned the sensual assault with abandon and equal hunger-not that he'd expect anything less from this woman who'd worn a shirt proclaiming she was too wild to tame.

Her heady, feminine scent seemed to be everywhere and infused every breath he managed to inhale. He could feel her breasts, warm and yielding, against his chest, and he had the overwhelming urge to touch her everywhere at once, to drown every one of his five senses with her essence and sensuality.

Keeping his mouth on hers, he slid his hands around to her ass and pulled her closer, fitting the hard ridge of his cock between her thighs. The soft, needy sound she made in the back of her throat, combined with the provocative way she rolled her hips against his, had his blood roaring in his ears and pure, unadulterated lust surging through his body.

That easily, she'd pushed him to this madness. And now that he'd let go, he'd lost the ability to slow down or stop. He couldn't stop, not even if his life depended on it. And at the moment, his life depended on kissing her, touching her, and feeling her hot and wet around him.

But Mia seemed to have other ideas, and true to her nature she took charge, becoming the aggressor. Breaking their kiss, she skimmed his shirt up and over his head, tossed it to the floor, and then pushed him toward the bed. He fell back onto the mattress, and she gave him only a handful of seconds to move upward before she crawled on top of him, hiked up the hem of her leopard print mini-skirt, and straddled his waist like the pagan she was. She stripped off her own damp top, leaving her clad in a see-through lace bra that was sexy as hell.

His fierce erection was nestled against her bottom, and he groaned when she leaned over him, braced her hands on either side of his head, and rocked sinuously against his thick, aching shaft. An inviting, wholly female smile played at the corners of mouth, and she closed her eyes, tossed her head back, and moaned her own enjoyment as she arched into him all over again.

Watching Mia in the throes of pleasure was an incredibly arousing sight, but Cameron wasn't about to let her be the only dominant one in this sexual encounter-as she no doubt expected to be. Reaching up, he dragged her bra straps down her arms and peeled away the flimsy fabric covering those twin mounds of flesh. Her breasts spilled out, full and firm and crowned with dark pink aureoles. He cupped the heavy, delicious weight of her breasts in his palms and scraped his thumbs across her rigid nipples, reveling in the soft warmth of her bare skin, the catch of her breath in the back of her throat, and how amazingly responsive she was to his touch.

He wanted to take her in his mouth. Wanted to circle her nipples with his tongue and suck on her breasts until she pleaded for him to stop. Oh, yeah, he'd enjoy hearing Mia beg for mercy for a change. He would love watching her ultimate surrender to him.

Before he could make that gratifying image a reality, she stole back the reins of control once again, distracting him with the soft press of her lips to his chest and the hot, damp trek of her lush mouth skimming its way down to his stomach as she moved lower and then lower still. Her slender, nimble fingers followed, stroking along his taut abs until she reached the waistband of his jeans.

She nuzzled his belly, and he felt a distinct tug as she deftly unfastened the top button on his pants. Then he heard the growl of his zipper as she drew it down over his huge, rock-hard erection. Before he could inhale his next ragged breath, she'd released his cock from the confines of his briefs and had her fingers wrapped tight around the straining length.

His entire body shuddered, and he clenched his fists into the bedcovers, realizing just how much power this woman actually had over him. Especially when she held him in the palm of her hand the way he'd fantasized for what had seemed like a lifetime.

He glanced down to where she was kneeling between his thighs and found her looking up at him with a come-hither smile on her lips and a sly, seductive I've got you right where I want you twinkle in her quicksilver eyes. The woman was a minx, and he realized she was keeping score on who had the upper hand. He was extremely pleased it was her at the moment.

She stroked his shaft, teasing him with light caresses and tormenting him with the promise of more. He closed his eyes and grit his teeth as she skimmed her thumb up over the tip of his penis and spread the slick drop of pre-come over the sensitive head. And if that wasn't enough for him to bear, he nearly died when she took every single hard inch of him into the silky, wet heat of her mouth. He groaned at the delicious friction she created with her lips and tongue and fingers as she slid up and down his throbbing shaft. She added suction, and his body tensed as he fought against the overwhelming urge to come.

Not like this.

He needed to get inside of her, now, and it was that urgent, desperate thought that drove him to reach for Mia and pull her back up. In a quick, lithe move, he had her flat on her back. Her eyes widened in startled surprise, and before her shock had a chance to dissipate, he shoved her skirt up and removed her wispy, barely there, G-string panties. Then he slipped off both of her high-heeled shoes so there was no chance she'd accidentally injure him with the sharp spikes when he wrapped her legs high around his waist.

Pushing her knees apart, he spread her wide and swept his hands down her smooth, supple thighs. His thumbs grazed the neatly trimmed thatch of dark hair on her mound; slid along her slick, glistening folds of her sex; and dipped into the moist, giving entrance of her body. She sucked in a sharp gasp as his fingers filled her and moaned loud and low when his thumb rubbed against her clit.

He was satisfied to discover that she was already incredibly wet and aroused. Unable to wait a moment longer to fuck her, he moved up and over her body and felt the head of his cock glide along her sex as he pinned her beneath him. Their eyes met and held, hers filled with dark desire, and he watched as she gasped and arched into him when he abruptly thrust into her, a seemingly endless journey as he drove himself to the hilt. She was snug around him, like slick, wet satin gripping his shaft, and the intensely erotic sensation made his head spin.

Her bare breasts were crushed against his chest, her knees bracketed his hips, and the urge to possess her in the most elemental way possible overwhelmed him. Tangling his fingers in Mia's soft, thick hair, he held her head in his hands and slanted his mouth across hers in a hot, deep, tongue-tangling kiss.

Then he began to move.

Her hands slid to his shoulders, and her fingers dug into his muscles as he surged into her, again and again, tearing a moan from the back of her throat. His strokes became faster, longer, ruthlessly demanding, and a whole lot primal. With each thrust he felt himself grow harder, thicker, until lust and need collided into white-hot heat and an all-consuming pleasure that threatened to engulf him.

Lost in the rush of sensation, lost in her, he wrenched his mouth from hers, tossed his head back in pure ecstasy, and arched into her one last time, high and hard and infinitely deep. A guttural growl tore from his chest, and his entire body shuddered as he came, harder and stronger than he could ever remember.

His scorching release seemed to go on and on, wringing him dry and leaving him weak and devastated, until he could do nothing else except collapse on top of Mia. He buried his face against her neck, and as he gradually recovered and his mind cleared, he became intimately aware of the woman beneath him-especially the fact that her body wasn't nearly as slack and relaxed as his own. Although he'd just experienced the most explosive orgasm of his life, Mia had not.

Swearing beneath his breath, he moved off her so he was laying by her side and no longer crushing her with his weight. Normally, he enjoyed foreplay. Loved every aspect of it, actually. Making a woman come was just as exciting and pleasurable to him as his own release. Except tonight, with Mia, he hadn't even given her the opportunity to reach her own orgasm. Hadn't even taken the time to make it good for her. He'd been so hot for her, so eager to finally end the sexual tension that had been building for months between them, that he hadn't been able to think beyond his own satisfaction.

Disgusted with himself, he zipped up his jeans and reluctantly glanced over at Mia, expecting to find her glaring at him for being such an insensitive, selfish cad-which was no less than he deserved. Instead, what he saw made him feel as though someone had just sucker punched him in the stomach.

She was lying next to him on her back, just the way he'd left her, with her head turned slightly away from him, eyes closed. If he didn't know better, he would have thought she was sleeping, but he instinctively knew she was giving herself a few private moments to recover from what had just happened between them. Her face was flushed, her breathing still choppy, and she'd draped one arm over her exposed breasts in a belated show of modesty-which was very telling considering she was half-dressed, with her bra bunched beneath her breasts and her skirt hiked around her hips.

It struck him as a pose of self-preservation, a way to protect herself-without even realizing she was doing so.

Finally, her lashes fluttered open and she slowly glanced his way. Her gaze was guarded and her expression was tentative, even a bit uncertain. She looked so damn vulnerable, and that was a term he never would have equated to this woman beside him. No, the sassy, impudent Mia he was familiar with would have shattered the silence with a smartass remark and brushed off the encounter as just another casual, one-night-stand affair.

But this Mia staring at him… oh, Lord, she had the ability to cripple his emotions and make him care. At the moment he had the strong urge to reach out and touch her, gently this time. To smooth away the silky strands of hair that had fallen across her soft cheek. To lean down and kiss her slowly, leisurely, and make love to her with only her needs in mind this time.

That thought reminded him once again of what a self-absorbed lover he'd been, fueling the need to make amends for being so thoughtless with her.

"Mia… I'm sorry," he said, his tone low and rough, though the words alone seemed inadequate.

She stiffened, her gaze suddenly flaring with rebellion. Abruptly, she sat up and tugged the hem of her skirt down her thighs and readjusted her bra so her breasts were covered again. That quickly, her entire demeanor shifted and changed. Gone was that glimpse of insecurity he'd witnessed, and in its place was a spark of defiance that put a wall between them and shut him out.

"You don't owe me an apology, or anything else for that matter," she said, her tone infused with a thread of sarcasm he immediately recognized as a defense tactic. "I'm a big girl, and what we just did was completely consensual."

She thought he was apologizing because he was feeling guilty about what just happened. Oddly enough, he had no regrets-and that was something he refused to analyze too closely at the moment, although he knew he'd eventually have to face that issue at some point. She'd also made it very clear in her comment that she wasn't the type of woman to develop expectations about them, or him, just because they'd slept together.

Now this was the Mia he'd come to know. He found it ironic that he was beginning to realize that her stubborn, too-confident attitude was an act of some kind-a possible way to protect herself and emotions when a situation became too intimate or personal.

As it just had with them.

Exhaling a deep, frustrating breath, he stood up, went to his dresser, and pulled out a clean T-shirt, which he handed to Mia so she didn't have to put her wet top back on. She slipped the shirt over her head and let it fall to her thighs, dwarfing her petite frame. He was just damn grateful it covered her adequately so he didn't have to look at her bare skin and lush curves, which had the potential to distract him from the conversation they needed to have.

She glanced up at him in silent thanks, and as soon as she met his gaze and he had her attention, he spoke what was on his mind. "I'm not apologizing because we had sex," he said, wanting to be sure she understood his stand on that score.

Her expression turned wary and confused. "Then what are you sorry for?"

There was no sugar-coating what he had to say, so he didn't even try. "I didn't exactly give you the chance to come."

Her brows rose in surprise and then the corner of her kiss-swollen mouth quirked in amusement. "I'll spare you your male pride," she said as she stepped around him to the other side of the bed. "I'm not one of those orgasmic kind of women, so don't let it keep you up tonight worrying and wondering. The fact that I didn't have an orgasm wasn't something you did or didn't do."

Stunned by her admission, he turned to stare at her as she picked up The Electric Blue T-shirt she'd worn earlier. "You mean to tell me you've never had an orgasm?"

"Oh, I've had plenty of orgasms, sugar," she drawled, resorting back to the sassy woman he was all too familiar with. "Just not with a guy or during sex."

That made him think of how she did achieve sexual satisfaction-all on her own. It wasn't difficult to imagine Mia pleasuring herself, with intimate caresses, the slow, sweeping strokes of her fingers and her soft, sweet moans. In fact, that particular fantasy dancing in his mind was downright erotic and made him hard all over again.

He shook his head, still trying to comprehend the fact that all her sexual encounters had lacked one crucial element. "I can't believe you've never climaxed during sex."

Her shoulders lifted in a nonchalant shrug as she slipped on her skimpy panties, as if she'd come to accept the way things were for her. "It just doesn't happen for me that way, and I'm not into faking an orgasm for the sake of a guy's ego, so don't give it a whole lot of thought."

How could he not? He wanted to be that guy who gave her an amazing sexual experience, complete with an earth-shattering orgasm while he was buried deep, deep inside her. He wanted to be the one who took the time to make it so good for her, she'd never settle for less than the ultimate pleasure her body was capable of feeling-pure, unadulterated ecstasy. And if he was lucky, she'd scream his name when she came.

Oh, yeah. Now mat was a fantasy he'd love to make a reality. Except he was certain his erotic daydream would never come to fruition, considering he had no intention of repeating what had happened between them tonight. To do so would be emotional suicide for him, not to mention all the other complications of having an affair with Mia. Mostly, having to explain to her brothers or cousin and his business partner, Steve, that he was having a hot, but temporary, affair with her.

That announcement would certainly go over like a lead balloon, and he'd probably end up castrated by the protective bunch for daring to touch Mia-the baby of the family. It didn't matter that she'd instigated tonight's sexual encounter-they'd expect him to show some restraint, to be the strong one, to resist the temptation Mia had been tossing his way for months. And if that control happened to slip, as it had tonight, they'd expect more out of him than a one-night stand with Mia. Except he didn't see a future with Mia and himself, not when she was so completely opposite of the kind of woman he was looking to spend his life with.

She was reckless, defiant, and trouble just waiting to happen. However, what Cameron couldn't erase from his mind was that unguarded, unplanned glimpse of a more vulnerable side to Mia he'd seen earlier. But he understood this woman well enough to know that she'd never admit to such a weakness.

He watched as she sat down on the edge of the bed to put her shoes back on, and an important thought struck him, one he couldn't dismiss. "Mia… there's something else we need to talk about."

She glanced at him hesitantly, and he couldn't blame her for being cautious after the discussion they'd just had about orgasms.

He pushed his hands into his front jeans pockets, calling himself a hundred kinds of fools for being so careless, but he'd completely lost his head with her and hadn't given a single thought to using a condom. No, that had been the very last thing on his mind. "We didn't use any protection."

She looked away and finished sliding her foot into her heeled shoe. "I appreciate the concern, but we're fine. I'm on the pill."

"Great." He was definitely relieved. The last thing he needed was to worry for the next few weeks about the possibility of Mia being pregnant. He couldn't imagine her settling down into domestic bliss and devoting her time to a husband and a baby, and he was certain such a fate would put a major crimp in her carefree lifestyle. That was obviously why she took her own precautions.

She stood and approached him. Her gaze met his steadily, her features giving nothing away as to what she was really thinking or feeling. "Since we've pretty much established that I'm not drunk, there's no reason for me to stay here and you can take me home."

With that, she walked out of the bedroom, head held high, leaving him to follow behind.

EARLY the next morning, Mia sat at the small drafting table she'd set up in the corner of her bedroom in the apartment she shared with Gina and absently sketched out a design for a new stained-glass project. After last night's escapade with Cameron, she'd woken up feeling tired, emotionally and physically, but mentally inspired, and she always followed her muse when it beckoned.

Besides, other than grocery shopping, she had nothing planned for the day, or the weekend for that matter, which gave her the perfect opportunity to develop the image in her mind on paper, then begin the creation process with stained glass.

During the week, she worked a normal nine-to-five grind as a secretary at the tile company her oldest brother, Scott, along with her other brother, Alex, now operated for their father. Her job at Nolan and Sons provided a steady and reliable paycheck, but this was her dream, and had been for years now.

She longed to set the artist within her completely free and make a name for herself with her unique, custom-made stained-glass designs. And if she was completely honest with the inner child still locked inside her, she ached to use this talent of hers to validate herself as more than just the baby of the Wilde family and to support herself on her own, without having to rely on her brothers or the family business for her income.

Unfortunately, everyone treated her stained-glass art strictly as a hobby and brushed it off as something she did in her spare time or out of boredom. She had to admit they'd never discouraged her artistic flair, but neither had they done anything to cultivate her confidence in marketing her work.

Her family, her father especially, had been relieved when she'd gone off to college. But instead of the business degree everyone had been expecting her to bring home, she'd stunned them all by graduating with a degree in 3D glass-work. Her father and stepmother wrote it off as yet another act of rebellion, one of many since her mother's death when she was five. But to Mia, that degree had been her proudest achievement-an accomplishment that was hers and hers alone and something no one could ever take away from her.

She sighed to herself, wishing all those college courses and techniques she'd learned had been put to better use than making gifts and holiday presents for friends. Foolishly, she'd harbored grand illusions of expanding the family business to incorporate her stained-glass designs in some of the bigger projects and restoration work Nolan and Sons took on, but Scott had shot down the idea. Gently, of course, and in a very placating manner, but the sting of that particular rejection still hurt.

Scott felt there just wasn't a big enough market for her custom stained-glass artwork, which included an array of abstract designs, mosaics, impressions, floral patterns, and Celtic reproductions. She'd made some gorgeous, one-of-a-kind pieces over the years, but obviously none of them had been good enough to elevate her status in the family business.

A small, private smile tugged at the corners of her mouth as she gazed down at her current drawing. Little did anyone know, but her stained-glass designs had recently evolved to include some very daring and head-turning pieces. Her family would be stunned speechless to learn she created erotic stained-glass art. At first glance, her patterns looked like vibrant abstracts, but upon closer inspection, the composite of colors meshed into a loving, committed couple entwined in intimate and sometimes shocking positions.

The images were highly seductive and shamelessly provocative, a bit of fantasy mixed with an inviting bit of reality. The erotic pictures depicted love and lust, desire and ecstasy. And each one she created held a piece of her soul and tapped into wistful longings and dreams of finding a love so rare and true.

Her pencil scratched across the thin paper as she continued to bring her vision to life. The process was usually accompanied by a spark of excitement as the images developed, and this time was no different. Except as the embracing couple took shape and form, her enthusiasm took a decidedly sensual and personal turn… because the man and woman making love in her drawing became Cameron and herself.

Her heart tripped in her chest, and the rest of her body followed suit. The tips of her breasts tingled, and the muscles in her belly tightened as she gazed at the way the woman held onto the man, with her legs wrapped securely around his waist. One of the man's hands clutched at her hip, and the other was buried in her tousled hair as they arched into one another in the throes of passion.

She'd managed to avoid thinking about last night's incredibly hot tryst with Cameron, so it shouldn't have come as a surprise to her that everything she'd suppressed manifested itself in her most recent design. Now, the memories proved much too strong and came rushing back in that moment, flooding her mind with vivid details and forcing her to recall every pleasurable, thrilling, and emotional sensation of having Cameron buried deep inside her body and the way he'd ultimately lost that staunch restraint of his with her.

It was the emotional part she had trouble dealing with, because she'd never, ever expected to feel so connected to Cameron in anything more man a physical way. Sex with him had been exceptional, hotter and better than she'd ever imagined, but it was what happened in the aftermath of their encounter that shook Mia to her very core.

She'd definitely anticipated that he'd regret his actions because he was a man who didn't lose control easily. When he'd offered up an apology, she'd countered it with a sarcastic reply to buffer her own vulnerable state… until he'd explained that he wasn't sorry for what they did, but that he felt bad because he hadn't given her the chance to come.

She laughed and shook her head at the absurdity of the situation. Her pleasure, or lack thereof, wasn't a conversation she'd had with any guy, mainly because none had ever given a second thought to whether or not she climaxed during fore-play or sex. But Cameron… he had to go and muddle things by caring about something that never should have caused him any concern or even a second thought. Add to that the glimmer of tenderness she'd seen in his gaze, and was it any wonder her heart was feeling a bit torn and confused?

The closing of the front door startled Mia out of her thoughts and told her Gina was finally home after spending the night out-most likely at Ray's-a common occurrence on the weekends. Mia closed her sketch pad, and less than a minute later her friend knocked softly on Mia's half-closed bedroom door and poked her head inside. Finding Mia already awake, she tentatively entered.

"Hey there," Gina murmured, a slight smile tipping up one corner of her mouth.

Mia couldn't help but notice that the other side of Gina's bottom lip was swollen, and as her roommate came to a stop at her drafting table, she could clearly see that her lip had actually been split open about half an inch. Gina had tried to cover the gash with a colored gloss, but the bruise forming around the wound was too obvious for Mia to ignore.

Immediate anger welled up inside Mia, because she highly suspected Ray was the culprit for that laceration. But she also knew from experience that should she express that simmering outrage, Gina would totally shut her out. So she inhaled a calming breath and decided to tread carefully in addressing the issue.

"Gina, what happened to your lip?" she asked, her concerned toned masking her true feelings.

Her friend averted her gaze and shrugged, as she did whenever Mia asked one of these kinds of direct questions. "I opened Ray's car door too fast last night after we left The Electric Blue, and the corner accidentally hit my lip and split it open." She gingerly touched the swollen spot and laughed, but the sound was forced. "You know me. I can be so graceless sometimes."

Mia had to give Gina credit for being so innovative with her excuse, but she didn't believe her explanation for a second. Not when bruises and other marks on her body were appearing with alarming frequency.

Ray could be extremely charming when he wanted to be, but having been on the receiving end of his aggression, Mia knew he also had a darker side to his personality. She could easily see him crossing the line to abusive, but she had no real, solid proof and Gina wasn't offering up anything concrete, either.

Mia tipped her head and regarded her friend speculatively. "You know, you've gotten awfully clumsy since you started dating Ray." She managed to keep her tone light and even a bit teasing, but there was no mistaking the significance of her words.

Her comment made Gina stiffen, and those defensive walls of hers quickly went up. "Fine," she said curtly. "The truth is, things got a little out of control last night during sex."

If there was one thing Mia understood, it was "out-of-control" sex, because that's exactly what she'd experienced with Cameron last night. But for as wild and primitive as things had gotten, he'd never once hurt her, and he certainly hadn't left any bruises on her body. Their encounter had been driven by lust and passion… whereas she got the uneasy feeling that wasn't exactly the case between Gina and Ray.

"He didn't mean to split open my lip," Gina went on in her attempt to justify her boyfriend's actions. "And he apologized afterward for being so rough. It was an accident."

It didn't escape Mia's attention that Gina didn't say how Ray had cut her lip, and judging by her friend's uptight disposition, Mia didn't think she was going to find out, either.

"I'm not trying to make you upset," Mia said gently as she stared into Gina's soulful blue eyes. "I care about you, and I just want to be sure everything's okay."

As soon as Mia backed off, Gina's posture relaxed. "I'm fine," she insisted.

Reaching for Gina's hand, Mia gave it an affectionate squeeze. "Just please be more careful, okay?" Again, she infused a deeper meaning to her words, and all Mia could do was hope her friend heeded her advice. Then, she pasted on a smile and changed the subject, because she didn't want any further argument to come between them. "Have you had any breakfast this morning?"

"Just coffee." Gina adjusted her purse on her shoulder and offered another half-smile. "I wasn't hungry earlier."

"Well, you need to eat, and so do I." Mia stood and stretched the kinks from her shoulders and lower back from sitting at the drafting table for the past hour. "Let's go see what we've got left in the kitchen."

A few minutes later, after scouring the cupboards and refrigerator and coming up with one foil package containing two frosted strawberry Pop-Tarts for them to split, Gina declared, "We 50 need to go grocery shopping."

Mia laughed in agreement as she grabbed the last two bottles of water from the fridge and handed one to Gina. "I know. Let's go shopping together, and maybe we can catch a movie today, too."

Enthusiasm lit up Gina's pretty features. "Yeah, I'd like that."

"Then consider it a date," Mia said, and bit into her Pop-Tart. Yes, she'd planned on working on her new stained-glass project, but that could wait. She didn't get much girl-time with Gina these days, not since Ray had come into the picture, and she'd take whatever time with her friend she could get.

"Speaking of dates…" Gina opened her purse and pulled out a familiar piece of clothing. "You left something behind at The Electric Blue."

Mia stared at the Too Wild to Tame top she'd worn last night-before her stint in the wet T-shirt contest. "Ummm, I guess I did."

Gina draped it over the back of the chair Mia was sitting in. "I asked the manager for it after you left with your date."

Mia rolled her eyes at that but refrained from issuing a reply to her friend's comment.

Unfortunately, Gina had no problem prying. "So that was the infamous Cameron Sinclair, huh?"

"Yes." Mia finished off her Pop-Tart and washed it down with a drink of water. "I take it Carrie told you who he was?" Gina knew of Cameron's existence but had never seen him before last night.

Gina nodded as she picked at the edges of her breakfast pastry. "Yep. God, Mia, you didn't tell me he's so… everything."

Unable to help herself, Mia laughed. "So everything?" she repeated, amused by Gina's choice of word to describe Cameron.

"Hot. Gorgeous. Sexy." Gina sighed appreciatively. "The full package."

The man definitely had a full package, and then some, Mia thought, remembering how the hard, thick length of him had felt in her hands and stroking deep within her. Heat rose to her cheeks, and she doused the rush of warmth with a long, cool drink of water.

Luckily, Gina didn't seem to notice her reaction. "So where did he drag you off to?" she asked.

"His place. He thought I was drunk, and he was trying to keep me from causing a scandal that would get back to my brothers."

"And?" Gina prompted, wide-eyed and curious.

"And what?" Mia replied casually, not wanting to encourage any further discussion on the matter.

Gina puffed out an exasperated breath of air. "And what happened at his place?"

Mia wasn't emotionally ready to discuss her intimate night with Cameron with anyone, maybe not ever. What had transpired between them was personal and private, and because it wasn't going to happen again, there was no point in making an issue of her one-night stand with Cameron.

"Nothing happened," Mia said and dismissed the pang of guilt she felt for not confiding in Gina when just minutes ago she'd wanted that same trust from her friend. She justified that this situation was different, that her relationship in no way threatened her physical state. Her heart, she feared, was another matter altogether. "Once I set him straight on the fact that I wasn't drunk, he brought me back home. End of story."

Gina was staring at her too intently, as if she suspected there were at least a few more chapters to that story, and Mia quickly changed the subject before her friend could say anything else.

"By the way, what was up with Carrie last night?" Mia asked. She and Gina had met Carrie at the gym about six months ago, and they'd all become friends-mostly Carrie's doing, as she'd been the one to pursue the friendship. They hung out together occasionally, but lately Carrie had been acting strange and distant, and last night her attitude had not only been cool, but even a bit abrasive.

A confused look passed across Gina's features. "What do you mean?"

"She snapped at me a few times for no real reason I could figure out." She shrugged. "She just seemed on edge, and it didn't take much to set her off."

"Sounds like a classic case of PMS to me," Gina said and laughed.

Mia thought about Gina's explanation for Carrie's odd behavior, and she supposed it was completely plausible. "Yeah, I guess so."

Gina stood and walked over to the kitchen sink, a light spring in her step Mia hadn't seen in a long while. "So can we go see a chick-flick today? I've been dying to see that new Richard Gere movie."

The enthusiasm in Gina's voice made Mia smile. Besides, who could resist gazing for two hours at one the best-looking actors in the business? "Richard Gere it is."

She had a feeling the distraction would do them both good.