Falling Fast (Falling Fast #1) - Tina Wainscott Page 0,31
so focused, checking the engine, tweaking, checking again, making it just right. Hearing something I sure couldn’t. And you needed to work full-time; you were living on your own. Don’t be so hard on yourself.”
Warmth spilled into his heart the same way the sunlight slid between the blinds in the mornings. “You always did see more in me than I did.”
“And you always saw less than you are.” Was there a tiny bit of admonition in her voice? If so, she breezed right past it by saying, “Besides, that ex-con thing works for the ladies, you said.”
“Pfft. Not any kind of lady I’d want to be with.” He tore the cellophane from the painter’s tape and handed it to her. “Run this along the baseboard so we don’t drip on it.”
She unfurled a long stretch of it, knelt down, and started pressing it along the ridges of the baseboard. “Are you dating anyone these days?”
He made the pfft sound again as he opened another roll and stepped onto the short ladder to tape the ceiling seam. “With my schedule? I barely have time to sleep.”
Mia murmured a “Hmm,” as she tore off another section of blue tape. Had she been fishing? Or merely curious? The truth was, he didn’t want a long-term relationship. He and Pax sometimes headed up to Panama City Beach and blew off some steam. It never took long before they were chatting up a couple of party girls out for a weekend of drinking and casual sex. He never even promised to stay in touch when they parted, having no desire for anything deep.
He watched Mia stretch to press the tape into the corner, and now—now—that desire flickered to life. Shit. Her ass wiggled in jean shorts. Her legs seemed even longer than before, but shapelier now. He could see faint scarring along the side of her right leg.
He forced himself to focus on his own task before she turned and caught him again. “How about you?”
She popped up, bracing her hands on her thighs. “What, Nancy didn’t tell you all about my flourishing love life?”
Damn, he actually felt the words like a rock thrown up by the car ahead and chipping his hood. “No, she must have forgotten to mention that.”
Had that come out as tight as it sounded?
Mia grabbed for the roll. “It was hard to even keep a straight face when I said ‘flourishing love life.’ ” She pointed to her smile. “See? Did you believe me?”
Yeah, it obviously had sounded tight. And, obviously, his discomfort showed on his face as well. Great. Because he really had no right to be jealous. “Why not?”
She gestured toward her face. “Look at me.”
“I am. You’re beautiful.”
Now she made that scoffing sound. “Yeah, right.”
Then he remembered that she’d never believed she was beautiful, even before the burns. When he told her, she’d always kid, “You just want to get in my pants.”
He had, but that wasn’t why he’d said it. Ever.
“You are beautiful, Mia. And, no, it’s not because I want to get in your pants.” He smiled, hoping she remembered it. Because otherwise he’d sound like a dipshit.
Her smile said she did. “You only see me with my makeup on. It’s the kind actors wear, heavy and thick.”
“Let me see you without it, then.”
She shook her head so hard that her hair broke free of the clip. She dropped the roll and fixed it, though he wished she would let it stay loose. He’d loved her hair, silky and thick, and he would love it even more now that it was long enough to wind around his fingers as he—
Stop that.
He set his roll down. “Tell me what happened after the crash. I never knew exactly what you went through.”
“Why? So you can beat yourself up with it?”
He had to think about that. “Maybe that’s part of it. But it’s more—”
“Curiosity?”
“Yeah, but not in a morbid way. I just need to know. But only if it’s not too painful.”
“Like you telling me about the crash?”
“Yeah. I guess it’s not fair for me to ask.”
She settled back on her heels. “I was in a coma for a week. The next few weeks were hazy. They treated me for the burns, scraping off the dead skin cells, treating the new skin.”
He searched the right side of her body. “Where were you burned? How badly?”
She hovered her open hand down the side of her face, her arm, and waved it over her waist, hip, and thigh. “I had second-