Perfectly Imperfect

Made love. Yeah, that was without a doubt what we had shared earlier. The intensity of it was like nothing I’ve ever known possible. It was worth every day of foreplay that we had built toward that moment. We shared everything I had never known to dream of between us, and I’m still feeling the aftershocks of it.

Wrapping the towel around my body, I open the bathroom door and walk into the bedroom. Kane turns toward me and gives my body a long, leisurely inspection before I get his dimple and handsome smile. He’s pulled his jeans back on, but besides that, he’s still bare for my eyes.

He walks over and leans down to give me a kiss. I can hear the feminine voice through the phone pressed to his ear and wait to see whom he is speaking to. He seems off from his normal, calm self. He’s moving like Kane, giving me the attention I have become used to, but something in the way his body is pulled tight has me on edge.

“No, Mia, we leave tomorrow. Late flight so we can finish getting Willow’s things settled with the movers.”

Ah, Mia.

I actually really like Mia, even though I tried hard not to in the beginning. We’ve been able to form a friendship over the last month and a half. The first time I spoke to her was weird. It was awkward because I know there is something Kane hasn’t told me about her—about their relationship. I believed him when he told me that they were just friends, but it still bothered me that he held something back. But he asked me to trust him, so I have.

That first phone call was clipped and hesitant on my end until she laughed in my ear and gave me what I needed to let go of that hesitancy I felt toward her. Her words, and I quote, were, ‘I can hear you worrying, but let me address the rumors that are out there about Kane and my relationship. He’s always treated me like a little sister. He’s always been protective and because of that, and our friendship, the media’s always had it in their ass about us having something more.’

Hearing it from her, even though I believed Kane when he told me the same, helped to ease my mind. Sure, it wasn’t an emphatic no, but it was a denial. Since then, we’ve talked on the phone a few times. I wouldn’t say I’m going to start inviting her to girls’ night, but I enjoy the chats we do have. She makes it hard not to like her.

“All right, I’ll tell Willow, but I know we’re going to be busy when we get in. There isn’t much time between our arrival and our first day on set. There’s more work than not at this point since Willow is still getting everything that Sam hadn’t completed in order. Why don’t you let us settle in for a day or two and then we can talk?”

He lets out a soft rumble of laughter, his eyes darting to mine before he rolls them dramatically. Something within his gaze makes a chill run down my spine. I can’t put my finger on it, but just as quickly as it was there, it vanished.

“Yeah, I can guarantee that if you tried that shit, you wouldn’t be successful. At all. Trust me, not even the promise of a lifetime supply of Tim Tams is going to get me to agree to dinner that early.” He turns away from me, and I watch the muscles in his back tense. “A few days, Mia. There’s just too much going on.”

I turn from him and try to ignore the feeling and move about the room, grabbing my clothes and pulling them on. He starts to end his call and makes plans to call her in four days, Friday at the latest.

I ignore the little bit of nerves I have over seeing Mia for the first time in person in just a few days. What did he say? Friday at the latest? That gives me four days to prepare myself. We have today and some of tomorrow left here before I leave New York behind, and I know Kane meant every word about us being busy when we get to California. Not just because I have to get unpacked and all that comes with moving homes, but also to catch up on the work we’re missing while we’re here.

“What time are Kirby and Eddie coming?” Kane asks, his voice interrupting my mental checklist for his upcoming appearances and interviews. He pulls my back to his front, wrapping his arms around my body, and drops a kiss on my shoulder.

Just like that, everything that had been on my mind just seconds before drops from my thoughts and concerns. My mind only cares about Kane. Clearly, this is something I need to work on. I don’t need to start slipping on the job because my infatuation with him consumes me.

My arms come up and I fold them over the corded muscles in his arms, just below my chest. “I think we have about an hour? I wasn’t really sure when I talked to Eddie. He kept going on and on about someone he met in London, so it was hard to follow the conversation.”

Kane chuckles. “He sounds like an interesting man. I’m looking forward to finally meeting him.”

“You say that now.” I snort with a laugh. “You have no idea what you’re in for.”

I swat his hands away when he tries to fondle my breasts, and when I turn to face him, I burst out with the hilarity of his pouting when I see his face. “Keep your hands to yourself, Mr. Masters. I’m sore, and my friends will be here soon. I need to get ready, and you need to prepare yourself for everything that comes with a girls’ night with those two.”

“I’m thinking, my love, that we need a new title for this night of shenanigans.”

I smile and ignore him, walking into my living room. The mess I had left earlier when I got in the shower is completely gone. The boxes that the movers will come for tomorrow are neatly lined up behind the kitchen table, and everything else looks like my normal, tidy home, just void of all personal touches.

“I needed something to do to keep from barging into your bathroom. I figured I might as well get the packing finished so we have tomorrow free to do whatever you want before we fly out.”

At the mention of tomorrow, my last day here, I remember I needed to talk to him about something that I’ve been thinking about a lot over the last couple of weeks. “Hey, can I run something by you?”

“Of course,” he responds and takes a seat on my couch, reaching out and pulling me down into his lap.

“There’s something I need to do tomorrow, and I’m not sure how you’re going to take it. Well, not it, but what I need from you.”

His brows furrow and a look of adorable confusion takes over his expression.

“Hear me out, okay?” I wait for his nod, the confusion taking on a hint of apprehension. I reach out and rub my finger over the tense pull of skin between his thick brows and smile when he relaxes. “I need to go to the Logan Agency.”