Tempting The Best Man

Shannon sighed. “I’m not ready. And you may sign my paychecks, but you are not the boss of my love life.”

“Sorry. You’re right.” Mia hadn’t meant to push so hard, she just wanted to see her friend happy. “I won’t bring it up again, I promise. But one last general piece of advice? To get what you want, sometimes you have to step out of your comfort zone.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” said a masculine voice from behind them.

Daniel. Mia spun around, stunned to find him entering the office. Her mouth dropped open, but she couldn’t think of anything to say other than what the hell are you doing here? which was hardly a polite, professional greeting. She swallowed. “What the hell are you doing here?”

“Stepping out of my comfort zone.” He flashed a self-deprecating grin. “I thought maybe I could buy you dinner, if you’re not busy after work.”

Tempting. Dressed casually in well-worn jeans and a black sweater, he looked every bit as good as he had Friday night. Where’s your pride? The man had insinuated that she couldn’t hold a grown-up job. If she were a petty person intent on making a point, she’d name-drop wealthy Penelope Wainwright. But she didn’t care about Daniel’s opinion, she just wanted him to go away and take his assumptions with him.

“Actually, tonight I...” She sighed. Fibbing wasn’t in her nature. Besides, Shannon was watching with acute interest. After all of Mia’s encouragement to take some risks, wouldn’t dodging Daniel be hypocritical? “Dinner sounds—” confusing “—nice. But I have at least another hour’s worth of work to do here.”

“No problem.” He held up a briefcase. “I noticed on the building directory that there’s a café upstairs. I can grab a cup of coffee and get some work of my own done.” He wrote down his number so she could text him when she was ready. Then he was gone, leaving her bemused over the turn of events.

“Well.” Shannon leaned back in her chair, grinning. “At least one of us has a date.”

“I wouldn’t call it a date, at least not in the romantic sense. Just two former classmates catching up. Daniel and I went to college together.”

“And you never...?” Shannon waggled her eyebrows. “I mean, he’s not my type, but damn.”

Mia resisted the urge to fan herself. Damn, indeed. “Get your mind out of the gutter, Diaz.” There’s not room for both of us. Even back in college, when Mia had told herself she couldn’t like anyone as closed-minded as Daniel Keegan, she’d had more than her share of dirty thoughts about the man. Seeing him again stirred up each and every one of them.

Trying to look unfazed, she headed into her office. But she couldn’t focus on work. She didn’t know which was more difficult—wrapping her head around Daniel’s out-of-the-blue invitation to dinner or trying not to fantasize about dessert.

3

EVEN THOUGH THEY’D agreed Mia would text him, Daniel was still somewhat surprised when her message popped up on his phone. She hadn’t looked thrilled to see him when he’d appeared in her office earlier. On some level, he’d expected her to find a reason to cancel. Then again, Mia had never been the sort to make excuses. She meant what she said and said what she meant.

A decade ago, he’d found her bluntness abrasive. But after Felicity blindsided him, dumping him when he’d never realized she had reservations about their relationship, he had a greater appreciation for outspoken females. Mia might be opinionated, but a man would know where he stood with her.

Eager for her company, he hurriedly stuffed graded papers into his briefcase. Instead of waiting for the elevator, he took the stairs and met her in the lobby. She stood against the wall, studying her phone. Between her trench coat and the leather boots that went up almost to the hem of her skirt, she wasn’t showing any skin. But the way she carried herself made her as sexy as she had been in fishnet tights and a corset.

When she glanced up, her hazel eyes meeting his, awareness jolted through him. At that moment, asking her out felt like the best decision he’d made in months. “Thanks for agreeing to dinner,” he told her. “I hope my showing up in person didn’t make you feel obligated to say yes.”

Her eyes sparkled with amusement. “No worries on that score. My parents have tried to control me through a sense of obligation for years, with no success.”

He felt a stab of envy—would that he could shrug off his own family obligations so easily. “Glad to hear it.” Did that mean she wanted to go out with him?

She nodded toward his briefcase. “Get a lot of work done?”

No. He’d been too distracted by the prospect of going out with her. “Some.”

“What kind of career did you end up with, anyway?”

“I teach.”

Lips quirked in a half smile, she studied him in a leisurely perusal that made his skin prickle with heat. He reached for the door, welcoming the January chill.

“You’re a professor,” she said, as they stepped outside.

“Good guess.”

“Well, I can’t picture you surrounded by small children. And college is so much more serious than high school.”

For a minute, he really wished that he taught teenagers so he could show her he wasn’t as predictable as she imagined. But you are. Depressing.

On the other hand, coming to see her this evening had been completely out of character. Who knew what other surprises might be in store? “And you’re an event planner,” he said, curious about the path she’d taken.

She turned to face him, walking backward down the sidewalk. “What would you have guessed? I mean, if we hadn’t run into each other and I happened to cross your mind for some reason, what would you have imagined me doing for a living?”

Daniel felt as if the question was a test. He had a history of unintentionally insulting her, which he didn’t want to do now, but she wasn’t the type of person who would appreciate a disingenuous answer, either. “No idea. But I could have pictured you as a lawyer. You always enjoyed arguing.”

Her laugh suggested she was not offended by this assessment. Instead, she winked at him. “I enjoy lots of things, Danny.”

His pulse pounded in his ears. He was suddenly very grateful Felicity hadn’t accepted his proposal. The fact that Mia’s mischievous smile seemed sexier than anything that had happened to him in the past six months proved there had definitely been something missing in his last relationship.

“Why did you come here today?” she blurted. “If it’s just because you feel like you owe me an apology for putting your foot in your mouth the other night, don’t worry about it. I was already cranky from that jackass trying to—”

“I’m here for fun.”

She raised an eyebrow, looking skeptical. He didn’t blame her. When was the last time he’d done anything for the sheer hell of it—because it made him smile, because he liked the exhilaration of not knowing what would happen next?

He held her gaze, feeling freer, lighter, than he had in a long time. “You said that if I had changed, we could have had fun together. Maybe I need a change.” He’d carefully planned his life, set short-and long-term goals and worked studiously toward them, yet where had his efforts landed him? Single, with a family that would drive him ever crazier as the fall election approached. And as much as he hoped the university’s board of regents granted him tenure, stressing about their answer wouldn’t improve his chances.

“Daniel Keegan having fun.” Mia’s tone was light and teasing. “There’s a mind-blowing concept.” They’d run out of sidewalk, and she paused at the edge of the parking lot. “So where to? Did you have a specific place in mind?”

No. He was officially making this up as he went along. The only place he wanted to be was alone with her, but that seemed like an odd thing to say to a woman he hadn’t seen in nearly a decade. “What are you in the mood for?”

“Ever had a plantain s’more?”

“A what, now?”

“Baked plantain, rolled in chocolate, marshmallow and graham cracker crumbs. There’s a restaurant about fifteen minutes away that does Latin American and Caribbean food. They shouldn’t be too crowded on a Monday. Excellent dessert menu.”

Her priorities amused him. “You always decide where to have dinner based on the desserts?”

“Yes.” Her husky tone was both challenge and invitation. “What’s wrong with enjoying the evening more because you know it’s leading up to something deliciously decadent?”

“I can’t argue with that.” The longer his gaze held hers, the more he wanted to hear about her ideas of decadence. He broke the connection, glancing toward his car. “I’m, ah, parked over there. Do you want me to follow you to the restaurant?”

“To be perfectly honest, I spent the afternoon in traffic and am in no hurry to get back behind the wheel. Do you mind driving? I can give you directions to the restaurant, then you can bring me back here. If that’s not taking you too far out of your way.”

“Not at all.” He might be out a little later than expected, but that might be a good thing. If he went to bed later than usual, would he stop waking up at three thirty or four in the morning, unable to fall back asleep?

He’d had insomnia since New Year’s. During that window of time when he tossed and turned, pretending he might actually fall back asleep, it wasn’t Felicity who haunted him so much as his family’s faces when he’d told them. Poor Daniel had hung in the air like suffocating smog. His two older brothers were both married and unquestionably successful. Had he imagined the hint of smugness in their condolences? Daniel’s birthday was in a few weeks, which meant the usual family dinner. God willing, he’d have tenure by then. He would not be the failure in the Keegan family.

He led Mia to his car and opened the passenger door for her, which earned him a bemused smile.

“The polished manners of gallant Daniel Keegan,” she said softly.

“Is that a roundabout way of saying I’m old-fashioned?” His own friends called him stuffy. To a free spirit like Mia, he must seem downright rigid.

“It’s a roundabout way of saying I’m surprised you’re voluntarily spending time with me. I’m not known for demure refinement...as you pointed out more than once when we went to school together.”

He flinched. In retrospect, he’d been a bit of a self-righteous ass when he was younger. Luckily, the longer he’d been out of his parents’ house, the less he judged others through the Keegans’ narrow worldview. When he’d met Mia, he’d found her both fascinating and discomfiting. He’d been raised not to steal attention from his brothers, who were clearly Going Places, raised never to do anything controversial or scandalous. His job was to blend, to be polite and unobtrusively charming.

Mia Hayes did not blend.

When he climbed in on his side of the car, he told her, “I’m sorry if there were times I was a sanctimonious jerk.”

“If?” But she smiled, looking pleased by his apology.

“You were so different from most of the girls I’d known.” And not because he’d rarely seen tattoos and turquoise-streaked hair at his parents’ country club. “You seemed to thrive on friction.”

“Under the right circumstances, friction can feel pretty damn good.”

His brain lit up with images of bodies rubbing against each other, and it was on the tip of his tongue to say to hell with the restaurant and ask her back to his apartment.

But then she instructed, “Make a left at the intersection,” and he shifted his focus to driving. More or less.

As they waited at the red light, he told her, “I know we were never friends in college, but I did admire you. I respected your smarts—”

“Even when I got a higher grade than you did?” she needled.

The gallant response would be yes. “On two projects, Hayes.” He’d busted his ass to earn an impressive GPA. “As I recall, I finished with a higher final score in both classes we had together.”

“Because you were teacher’s pet, dutifully regurgitating what the professors told us instead of exploring more divisive interpretations.”

“Arguing a premise out of sheer reflex is habit, not proof of intellectual superiority.”

“And I suppose when you grade essays and exams, you reward students who mindlessly parrot what you’ve told them?”

“Of course,” he snapped. “For I am an academic god with no patience for mere mortals who think for themselves.”

She laughed aloud at his sarcasm. “Good thing we’re mature now and finally get along, huh?”

He couldn’t believe that she’d provoked him so easily, yet sparring with her was perversely refreshing. “I was trying to pay you a compliment.”

“Next time, I’ll handle the flattery with more grace.”

“Pfft. What makes you think there will be a next time?”

“Run out of nice things to say about me already, Professor?”

You’re audacious and funny and so fucking sexy I can barely keep my eyes on the road. “I don’t think ‘nice’ applies to you.”

“You’d be surprised.” Her grin was wicked. “I can be very nice when I want to be.”

When she smiled like that, there wasn’t enough air in the car. His chest constricted. His body tightened with lust, and he gripped the steering wheel harder to keep from reaching for her. If he could’ve found his voice in that moment, he would have asked what it took to coax her to be nice.

But he was starting to think maybe nice wasn’t what he wanted.

* * *

DINNER WITH DANIEL was a revelation. Mia couldn’t remember the last time she’d had so much fun on a date. Is this a date? she asked herself as the waitress set dessert on the table. Daniel’s explanation for asking her out hadn’t been a burning desire for her company, simply that he needed “a change.”

Still, his impersonal reasoning aside, their evening had the hallmarks of a date. Since Daniel had never been to the restaurant before, they’d decided to sample tapas plates instead of ordering entrées, sliding close together in the curved booth to share food. While enjoying yucca fries, miniature empanadas and grilled beef served with flavorful chimichurri, they’d had a lively conversation, discussing literature-based movies and arguing about which format was more successful for each story. Most date-like of all, there was palpable chemistry between her and her smoking-hot companion.

Daniel might spend a lot of his time teaching classes and publishing academic papers, but it was clear from his muscular build and lithe grace that he didn’t overlook physical recreation. He’d mentioned weekly basketball games with Eli and jogging the paths around the Chattahoochee River in warmer weather. It was difficult to decide which was sexier—his toned, masculine body or the gleam in his silvery eyes when he teased her. She was discovering he had a much better sense of humor than she would’ve anticipated. Daniel Keegan in a playful mood was nearly irresistible.

Mia tried not to get bogged down by regrets, but for the first time she wondered what their earlier relationship would have been like if she hadn’t had a chip on her shoulder when they’d met. She’d gone off to college angry with her father and her stepmother, wounded at their lack of support when she’d needed it most and betrayed by their attempts to remake her in the image of her oh-so-proper stepsister. Never gonna happen.

“Hey.” Daniel lightly poked her shoulder. “Did I lose you somewhere? I could understand if I’d been droning on about Renaissance literature, but I was sharing a quality childhood anecdote from my limited supply. I can count on one hand the number of times my brothers and I indulged in humorous shenanigans.”

“Then we have that in common.”

“Really? I would have thought your youth was full of shenanigans.”

Far fewer than he imagined, and none with her stepsister. “Patience and I didn’t have a whimsical relationship.”

“Patience being your sister?” He reached for a chocolate-coated slice of plantain.

“Step. It was just me and Dad for years. He remarried the summer before I started high school, and, boom, suddenly I had an older sibling. We’re only a year apart in age, but Patience...” Mia couldn’t think of a way to describe her that didn’t sound petulant.

“Is she bossy? I have lifelong experience being the youngest sibling.”

“Patience is shy and soft-spoken. She wouldn’t be able to boss around the world’s most accommodating personal assistant, much less me. We couldn’t be less alike.” Much to their parents’ dismay.

Even now, years after the fact, the memory of her father’s words were a raw wound. I’m not saying that it was your fault, but I can’t imagine the same thing would have happened if Patience had been in your situation.

“I don’t want to talk about my family,” she said abruptly.

Daniel nodded, unfazed by her harsh tone. Perhaps he’d heard it often enough in college to be used to it. “How did you decide you wanted to be an event planner?”

“By accident. I was interning for a horrible woman who used to pawn off her personal errands on me, everything from picking up her dry cleaning to emptying her cat’s litter box—which I firmly refused to do. But then she put me in charge of her parents’ anniversary party, and it was more fun than work. I mean, who doesn’t love a party?”

He gave her a sheepish look, silently admitting parties weren’t his favorite place to be.

But Mia had never been one to back down from a challenge. “I bet I could plan you the perfect party.” A successful event meant different things to different guests. One person’s backyard kegger was another person’s museum wine-tasting. She’d coordinated myriad events, everything from painting parties to bar mitzvahs to themed scavenger hunts.

“My birthday’s in early February,” he told her, sliding the dessert plate toward her so she could take the last piece. “It’s tempting to hire you to plan a celebration instead of going to my parents’. Breaking tradition would probably get me disowned, but...” He hitched a shoulder in a half shrug, suggesting family exile might not be the end of the world.

“My mom hosted my favorite birthday party of all time.” It was one of the few vivid memories she had of her mother. “It was for our dog, Sasha.”

He grinned. “You had birthday parties for the dog?”

“Not every year. Just that once. It had been a hot-as-hell summer, and I was antsy to start kindergarten.” She knew those details more from hearing her dad repeat the story than from her own recollections. “To help me pass the time—and probably for her own entertainment, since I had to be driving her crazy—Mom said we should have a party for the dog. She told me Sasha was turning one, but I have no idea if the dog’s birthday was even in July. Mom invited other puppies from around the neighborhood. She organized games and baked a cake for me and my friends in the shape of a giant bone. I still have the picture she snapped in the ten seconds when all the dogs were actually wearing their party hats.” Less than six months later, her mother had been killed in a car accident.

Daniel was smiling at her story. “Maybe, subconsciously, you decided then that you wanted to be a party planner.”

She tried unsuccessfully to smile back. Her face felt stiff, and her throat was tight. She was glad when the waitress interrupted, bringing their check. Mia offered to pay half, but Daniel insisted that since dinner had been his idea, he should pay.

“Besides,” he added, grabbing a couple of mints as they exited, “I owe you. This place is fantastic, and without you, I never would have known it existed.”

The restaurant was small and family-owned, on a lot so tiny that parking was several blocks away. “It’s true they don’t do much advertising.” Mia was constantly telling people about the hidden gem, doing her part to keep the place in business. “I’m not even sure they have a website. Thank goodness for repeat customers and word-of-mouth recommendations.”

“Word-of-mouth and networking must be important for your business, too. Eli said Bex met you at some friend-of-a-friend event?”

“She was actually a guest at two completely unrelated functions I handled—a baby shower for one of her former sorority sisters and a bachelor auction benefiting the hospital. We hit it off, and she asked me to do their wedding, even though it’s not my area of expertise. Theirs will bring me up to half a dozen.”

“Seems to me that opportunities for expansion are a sign of a successful company. I’m impressed you’ve managed to thrive in a customer-based field.”

Mia stopped dead on the sidewalk, narrowing her eyes. “Your surprised tone is ever so flattering.” Was the man always going to underestimate her?

“Sorry. There was meant to be a compliment in that.”

“Must have missed it,” she said.

“It’s impossible to make everyone happy, right?” He unlocked his car with the key remote as they approached. “I’ve had more than one student drop my class or complain to the department chair about a grade—although so far, he’s upheld all my decisions. In order for you to build clientele, there’s a certain amount of people-pleasing inherent in your job. But there must be times you’d rather verbally skewer someone.” He opened her door for her, his expression darkening. “Like with that jerk who grabbed you at Eli’s party.”

He was far from the first. She sighed. “Since he’ll also be a wedding guest, I suppose I could have tried to handle that with more diplomacy, but—No, screw that. He didn’t deserve tact. Getting groped in college by idiot fraternity guys who considered it flirting was bad enough. But he was a grown-ass man who should know better. Hopefully, he’ll think twice next time before making a move on some poor bartender or waitress.” Or babysitter. Mia clenched her hands, her fingernails digging into her palms as Daniel crossed to the driver’s side.

He turned the key in the ignition, his posture tense. “You got groped a lot in college?” Maybe she wasn’t the only one with anger issues; from his tone, he sounded like he wanted to go back in time and dole out some fist-based justice.

“Probably less than the average female university student.” She’d gained a reputation after pepper-spraying a guy who had trouble processing no. “I like sex.”

The car jerked unsteadily as they backed out of the parking spot.

“But that doesn’t mean I’m willing to have it with just anyone,” she continued. “Nor am I required to defend my decision not to have it. I told Shannon earlier today that I respect men who are direct, who aren’t afraid to make their attraction known. I’ve never been mad at a man for showing interest. But when the interest isn’t mutual, it’s time to back the hell off. Too many guys willfully lie to themselves about what constitutes encouragement. A woman inhaling and exhaling is not a sign of burning lust.” And a teenager wearing a tank top and shorts on a humid, hundred-degree day was not a sign that she wanted to be pawed at by a man twice her age.

Daniel was quiet as he turned onto the street leading back to her office, and Mia realized she’d been ranting. She hadn’t meant to sound so hostile; Daniel hadn’t done anything wrong. He’s one of the good ones. She was pretty sure she’d had the situation at the bachelor party under control, but she appreciated his coming to her aid. Chivalry might be on the endangered species list, but it wasn’t extinct.

“So, what should a guy look for as real signs of interest?” he asked, changing lanes.

She eyed him, trying to decide if he was making light of her tirade.

“I just got out of a long-term relationship with a woman I’d been seeing on-and-off since middle school,” he told her.

“You’re kidding.”

“Nope. Our families convinced us to go to the eighth-grade formal together.”

Ugh. Mia couldn’t imagine dating anyone handpicked by her parents. No doubt they would have tried to find someone who would be a “good influence” on her.

“My flirting skills are rusty.” Daniel parked next to her car, one of the few left in the lot. “Assuming I ever had any in the first place.”

“If not skill, per se, definitely potential.” Sure, he used to annoy the crap out of her, but did he know there’d also been times when he’d made her knees weak and her stomach quiver? “I fantasized about you once or twice during Dr. Leonard’s lectures.”