He stared at her, feeling his heart race in his chest as thoughts of that night crashed back in. He had worked nonstop since then to keep his mind off the look on Mia’s face as she walked away from him. He kept thinking things would get better, but it only got worse. Margie was right: He had turned into a monster, and he couldn’t seem to stop it. He looked at the woman who was more of a mother to him than his own and felt his anger start to fade away for the first time since Mia left. Running a hand through his hair, he admitted to Margie and to himself, “I fucked up royally and I don’t know if it can be fixed.”
“Oh, honey,” Margie said. “You know between you and me, we can fix anything. Just tell me what we’re dealing with and we’ll go from there.” Without further urging, he poured out the whole sordid mess and watched Margie flinch a few times before he was finished. She shook her head before dropping it onto the desk. He heard her blow out a breath before saying, “Shit, when you screw up, you don’t do it halfway. Geez, didn’t I warn you about Ashley? Where is she hiding out, by the way?”
Seth snorted. “Apparently, I even turned her off that night. She took off afterward and I haven’t heard from her since. I guess I’m too big of an ass for her.”
“Probably,” Margie agreed. “All right, let’s start at the beginning. Have you called Mia to apologize?”
When he shook his head no, he felt a paperclip bounce off his cheek. “Hey,” he protested, “I was in denial. People in denial don’t apologize.”
“Well, you’ve pulled your head out of your ass now, so that should be our first step. Give her a call and tell her you messed up. If she gives you long enough before slamming the phone down, try to explain.”
Seth gave her a disgusted look. “You’re really filling me with confidence here.”
With an exasperated snort, Margie said, “Honey, this would have been easier if you had just called her fat. I could have worked with that. You had a naked woman in your lap after you had strongly led Mia to believe you were waiting for her. You are going to have to do something that you aren’t used to doing: grovel.” Before he could answer, she added, “And I mean the lick-the-dirt kind. Now I’m going back to my desk and you are going to call her. Do you have her number?”
Rolling his eyes, he said, “Of course, I’m not completely incompetent.” He knew by the look on her face that she was dying to challenge that statement, but wisely, she continued on out the door. Before he could talk himself out of it, he pulled Mia’s cell number up in his contacts and clicked to connect the call. He was secretly relieved when it went straight to voicemail. He left her a message to call him and ended the call.
When Margie stuck her head in the door four hours later, he shook his head in disgust. After another five calls, Mia had neither answered nor called him back. He had already looked up the number for Danvers and was fixing to call there when Margie said, “She’s not at work, either. I . . . um . . . took the liberty of calling there and they said she’s on vacation this week. Her home number is unlisted and despite a considerable amount of charm on my part, they wouldn’t give me that number.”
Seth really wasn’t surprised that Margie had taken it upon herself to track Mia down. She never could resist a challenge and Mia was giving them both that. But, still, he was hanging onto the hope that she would return his call sometime before the day was over.
Mia had just finished emailing Hank and Nikki to let them know that her cell phone was dead and that she had left her charger at her condominium. They were really the only two people who would possibly try to reach her this week. She had planned to go home today, but with the surprising turn of events with her mother, she was curious enough to stay for a few more days. It wasn’t that their relationship had completely changed overnight, but they were trying. She had always thought she was just fine without the usual parental affection, but now that it was being offered, she found herself soaking it up, unable to get enough. Her mother was actually funny and just a tiny bit irreverent, which was completely shocking. She was still smiling when she rounded the corner to find her mother in a heated conversation on her phone. “Listen here, you had your chance, and you screwed up big time. You had better come up with something more impressive than a phone call if you want to fix this. I expected better from you. Don’t disappoint me again!” With those words, the phone call was ended without a goodbye.
“Mom?”
Her mother whirled around, surprise obvious on her face. “Oh, darling, I didn’t hear you.”
“Is everything okay?” Mia asked.
Her mother took a moment, choosing her words carefully. “Yes. It’s nothing really. Your father can just be so . . . thoughtless sometimes. Sometimes a man needs a good challenge so that he can rise to the occasion. I have no doubt that he will figure out a way to get back into my good graces. Now, how about we grab some lunch and spend the day on the beach?”
Mia could only shake her head at her mother’s lightning change of mood. Her poor father didn’t stand a chance against her. Whatever he had done, she hoped he was smart enough to make amends because it didn’t sound like something that flowers would take care of.
Seth threw his phone across his office in disgust. Margie had given him Mia’s mother’s number and he had just attempted to reach out to her for help. He gave Margie an incredulous look, saying, “She fucking told me off and hung up on me!”
Margie winced in sympathy. “I guess Mia told her what happened then.”
“You think?” he grumbled. “The way Mia spoke of her led me to believe that they didn’t have a close relationship.”
“Maybe she emailed her,” Margie added helpfully. When he gave her a nasty look, she held up her hands in surrender before saying, “Alright, that was a bad joke. I do have something that will make you happy, though.” She dangled a piece of paper from her fingertips. “I have Mia’s home address.”
He stood up and grabbed it from her hand. When he started for the door, she yelled, “You have a conference call with Ash and Dylan in an hour.”
“I’ll call Ash on my way and cancel it.” Without waiting for a reply, he took off out the door and to his car. Hopefully, this was what her mother had meant about doing better than a phone call.
Days had gone by and he was back in his car stalking Mia’s home. He wasn’t sure when his need to apologize had turned into desperation to make things up to her, regardless of the cost. Once he had finally admitted to himself that he wanted her, the floodgates had truly opened. His pride was definitely taking a beating from his brothers. His pursuit of Mia had Ash laughing his ass off every time they talked. He had suggested that when Seth finally located Mia, he spank her ass and show her who was in charge. He was pretty sure Ash wasn’t joking. He knew enough about his brother’s lifestyle to know that spankings were the norm for him. He didn’t think Mia would be receptive to it, either. He had called her mother countless times and the damned woman hadn’t answered or returned any of his calls. He had even found her address and attempted a drive-by, but was turned away at the security gate of the exclusive community. He continued to leave messages on Mia’s phone to no avail. It was Sunday evening. Surely, she would come home tonight. Didn’t she have to return to work tomorrow? He finally gave up at midnight and drove home to catch a few hours of sleep. Tomorrow he would go to Danvers and see if she showed up for work.
Chapter Thirteen
“Welcome back, kid.” Mia looked up as she stepped from her car smiling as Hank walked toward her.