Initiate Me (3 page)

Perfect. It would feel so perfect.

“Mia,” he said in a voice filled with raw desire at his unsuccessful attempt to push me away. “Don’t—”

I pressed my hand flat onto his chest, right over his heart, and felt it thumping rapidly. He wanted me. Milan was right; I just had to go for it. I couldn't back down. I wanted to seduce him. He just had to let go of his theory that we were completely off-limits to each other. Always had been, and always would be, in his eyes anyway.

My eyelids closed for a moment. With my hands still on his chest, I savoured this moment of intimacy with him. “Let's go outside, I'm hot after all that dancing.”

I needed some air and I also didn't want to look desperate. Oh, shit, maybe I was? It seemed so easy for Milan; she was never short of male companionship. At that moment, she was cozying up to Blake Ross, Max's newest employee. Then there was Jada who never even had to talk to them; they all flocked to her. The only time she was shy was around my brother Max. Damn, why couldn’t I be confident like those two?

It took a lot of courage and wine for me to look Zane straight in the eye and flirt with him. When Milan coached me on what to do and how to initiate a conversation with him, I thought she was mad. For years Zane had kept his distance, never saying so much as two words to me. He avoided me like the plague, which is why I was worried he wouldn't talk to me. I walked outside and he followed me.

I wanted to see if he would finally notice me and see that I was alive. I wanted him to see I wasn’t a little girl anymore with a silly teenage crush. I wanted him to see that I was a woman.

A woman who knows her own mind and knows exactly what she wants. And I want Zane!

"Why? Why are you asking me to stop?" I asked him, almost pouting. Something flared in his eyes when I leaned in a little closer and said,"Do you really want me to stop?" I ran my tongue over my bottom lip, wanting to cause his blood pressure to spike a few notches.

I wanted to get to him. I wanted him to want me so badly that he'd want to lock me up in a tower, just like a Disney fairy-tale.

“You deserve better,” he rasped. And yet, he couldn’t seem to make himself step away from me.

I cocked my head to the side and frowned at him just as I saw Milan walking toward me.

“There you are, Mia! I’ve been looking everywhere for you.” Milan skidded to a stop when she realised I wasn’t alone.

“Zane? What are you doing with—” Milan didn’t finish her question as she frowned, looking between the two of us. She quirked her eyebrows up at me.

What the hell was she up to?
First she tells me to flirt and proposition Zane and now she comes and interrupts my moment.
There was no way Milan could miss the fact I was standing really, really close to him with my hand still pressed to his chest. Her feign of surprise that I was with him was well masked.

Milan, Jada and I had always been so close. We were all so different but we'd protect one another with everything we had. If either one of us were ever in trouble or was down in the dumps, especially over a male, we would tear them limb from limb first and ask questions later.

“Jada is about to throw her bouquet,” Milan informed us both. “Everyone is wondering where you are, Mia, especially the bride.” She pinned Zane with a look so sharp it could have sliced right through him. “And you, too.”

Milan was hard core, nothing at all like her sister. Those two were the complete opposite. Where Jada was calm and eloquent, Milan was mouthy and reckless, but she had a heart of gold. She never used to be like that. Milan changed. I couldn't pinpoint exactly when but I was sure it started around the time we both started university.

“Okay,” I said in an overly bright voice. “Thanks for letting us know. We’ll be there in just a minute.”

But instead of leaving us alone, Milan put her hand around my forearm and pulled me away from Zane.

"How the hell did the two of you end up outside? The last I saw, you were both dancing on the dance floor,” Milan questioned. "You need to move away from him. Just look at your hair, Mia; it's a mess. You're the maid of honour; you can’t go back in there looking like this.” She ran her hands through my hair, fixing the mess I had made of it when I danced with Zane. Milan was inspecting my face, obviously looking for evidence of smudged lipstick or rumpled clothes.

"Seriously, you should get back there before your mother has a heart attack thinking some unruly loser of a best man was stupid enough to pull you off into the vineyards.”

I was silent for a moment. “You’re right. I don’t want anything to fall through the cracks today. It wouldn’t be fair to Max and Jada."

I reluctantly moved away from Zane. My mother would have a coronary. After what Jada and Max had been through, she wanted their wedding to be perfect.

“I’ll be there in a minute," Milan said. “I need to talk to Zane first."

“Why? You are the one that encouraged me to flirt with him. You are not my mother, Milan! We only talked. You are always treating me like a child, so back off. As you can see, my makeup is still intact and my clothes are still on. If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous!" I told her, my expression stubborn as I faced her. "So you have absolutely nothing to talk about with Zane because I’ve told you everything you need to know. Move, let's go." I grabbed her by the hand, trying to shove her back inside before she embarrassed me even more.

Damn it. My moment was ruined.

***

ZANE

I
watched as Mia tried to usher a vocal Milan back to the reception. I must say I was impressed. Milan had a will strong enough to push most people around, and I'd always assumed Mia was the beta compared to her friend's alpha.

Had I assumed the wrong thing all those years? Did I make the mistake of underestimating Mia just because she didn’t feel the need to be the centre of attention?

“Oh, shit!" I heard Mia exclaim. “That little girl is going to topple over the chocolate fondue fountain." She quickly moved toward the long dessert table, leaving me alone with Milan.

If looks could kill, I would’ve been a dead man.

“What the hell was going on out here?” Milan narrowed her eyes and snarled. “You better not be playing games with her. I'm warning you!”

Here it comes...the wrath of Milan
. Damn, I wished I knew what the hell Mia was trying to pull. One moment, she was sweet and innocent...the next, she was trying to push herself into my arms.

It was wrong.

Yet nothing had ever felt more right.

Milan took a step closer, and I fought the urge to take a step back in retreat. “She is like a sister to me, so if you hurt her, I will hunt you down and take great pleasure in hurting you. Badly.” She smiled at me, her lips turned up as she issued her warning. "And you’d better believe I’ll keep you alive just so I can send her brothers over, one being your best friend, to finish you off.”

She cleared the expression of fury from her face before saying, “Now, let's walk back inside together and watch the throwing of the bouquet. You can even pretend to like me. I don't bite, you know.”

Milan slid her hand around my arm and pinched me. Hard.
This chick is a bloody nut job.
Like I needed a reminder to steer clear from Mia.

I watched the whole process of the bouquet throwing.

Oh, shit, I was in big trouble. If Mia caught the bouquet, she’d set her claws into me even more.

Please, please don’t catch it.

She caught it.

And she was grinning from ear-to-ear.

ZANE

I
continued to scowl at my drink. I scowled at everyone at the whole damn wedding. Why the hell did I agree to be Max's best man? Fuck, she just had to go and catch the bouquet, didn’t she? No fucking way I was going to be a part of catching the garter. They’d probably make me put it on the maid of honour! Wasn’t that the Italian tradition? The chair next to me squeaked as Marco sat down wearing a shit-eating grin.

"So, you see any piece of arse that tickles your fancy? All except Milan, of course; she's off-limits," Marco warned me. He had it bad for Jada's almost-identical younger sister, but Milan always gave Marco the brush off. I had no idea why; I was pretty certain she had the hots for Marco, too, but she avoided him like the plague and treated him like crap.

"Fuck off, Marco. You come here with a date and yet you ban me from one of the most gorgeous women here at the wedding. She's always
off-limits
, yet you never do anything about it. I’m interested in angel over there; she's always tickled my fancy."

Marco choked on his drink and splattered his beer all over himself. "My sister? Squirt? You mean Mia?"

"Well derr...you only have one fucking sister, don't you, dickhead?"

"No fucking way did I see that coming," Marco confessed. "Holy shit, Max will hang you by the balls if he knew you wanted to bang Mia."

"Oh, so it's okay with
you
if I bang Mia, but not okay with Max? Great big brother you are."

"Stop putting words into my mouth. I never said it was okay. You've just bowled me over with that admission and it’s taken me by surprise. You've never, ever expressed any interest in my sister in the past. And for the record, Zane, you’ve never mentioned anything about banging my fucking sister before, you arsehole!"

"Yeah? Well, guess what? I’m not asking for your permission or Max's for that matter. She's all grown up now and an adult. Mia can do what she wants."

My scotch stopped halfway to my mouth. All my attention wandered to Mia as she was swinging her hips on the dance floor.

Oh, yeah, I'd bang her in a fucking heartbeat. I didn't need permission from Marco or Max. Holy hell, her legs went on forever. My gaze started at the bottom of her high-heeled silver stilettos, gradually travelling up along the sexy line of those shapely legs, ending at her luscious arse barely hidden beneath an extremely short, red chiffon garment you
could
call a bridesmaid dress. Who the fuck picks bridesmaid dresses that short? I will never understand women. When she twirled around, I caught a glimpse of a scrap of lace and satin.

Lust overcame me and hit me in the gut. I'd been so busy checking out her arse I hadn’t noticed she was dancing with some guy. Her backside faced me—not that I was complaining. Her tanned arms were entwined around the wide shoulders of the lucky bastard as she sashayed closer to grind her pelvis against his. Fuck! He clamped his hands on her arse in a dirty dancing move, and a burst of jealousy hit me full-bore.

Nonchalantly, I asked, “Marco, who’s that bloke Mia's dancing with?"

"You jealous, Zane?"

I squinted and sneered at him.

"Fine, don't get your dick in a twist. It's some young guy who works under Blake Ross, the head winemaker of the Sinclair Winery. Max hired him when we took over the winery."

"Are they seeing each other?" I asked, curious as to why she'd flirt with me one minute and go dancing off with another guy the next.

“Nah, are you kidding me? I’ve never known Mia to date anyone. She’s as sweet as pie, you know that. How Milan hasn’t corrupted her yet is beyond me," Marco said, exasperated, his eyes feasting on Milan as she laughed and danced with Blake.

"Yeah, that Milan sure is wild. When are you planning on taming that one?"

"I'll break her eventually. It's just a matter of time. I'm warning you, though; Mia may not be as wild as Milan, but she's got plenty of admirers to take her for a walk on the wild side. I better go check on my date. Keep your dick in your pants while I'm gone, Mitchell."

Walk?
Hell, I'd take her for a ride on the wild side. Trapping her mile-long legs around my waist and driving into her hard and fast. Or even better, I'd drape those sexy thighs over my shoulders as she rode my face and I feasted on her.

Jesus, I need to get a grip. It feels like an ice age since I've had a woman. Especially someone like Mia.
A woman like her could lead a man straight into temptation with her delicious curves. I nursed my scotch, my eyes never straying from her. Mia threw back her head and laughed, and her sultry, dark-brown eyes locked with mine. The come-hither look she aimed at me nearly knocked me off my chair.

Where’d she learn that
fuck me now
stare? She was too damn innocent to know that. Or was she? She'd tempted me earlier and I wanted her. I wanted her badly. Our eyes met again, but that time, she licked her lips and smiled seductively at me.

Oh, shit, another wave of lust heated my balls. I wondered if the flirtatious little minx I danced the Tarantella with earlier had been a result of one too many wines.

As I questioned myself, Mia strolled over and stood in front of me. Lord, she was hot and sexy in that dress and high heels. And up close, she looked good enough to eat.

“Looks like you're having fun, huh, angel?” I asked her.

“Absolutely. Weddings are always fun, aren’t they?” she smiled.

I bit back a smart retort and swigged another mouthful of scotch. I glanced over to see Max and his wife Jada dancing, entwined together, oblivious to everyone else and totally fixated on one another. A feeling close to jealousy tightened my stomach.

No way was I jealous of what they had. I didn't want to be tied down to one woman. Did I? Fuck, Mia was playing with my mind.
I've got to get a grip
.

“So, why haven't
you
taken the plunge yet?”

I didn't answer; I had no response to that question. I wanted to know where she was taking it. What was she getting at?

“You could have a little fun with me; there’s no need to take the plunge.” Her gaze locked with mine as she angled her head and gave me a feather-light kiss on my lips. “Just to let you know, if there was anyone I'd want to have fun with, it would be you.” With that, she sauntered off in a cloud of chiffon and pure temptation.

***

MIA

"S
hit. Shit. Shit. I'm so drunk it's not funny!" I groaned.

"Oh, get real, Mia," Milan reprimanded me. "You've only had two wines, girl. You are such a cheap drunk; admit it. You loved flirting with Zane, right? You were reeling him in. He wants you, Mia; it's so obvious. Don't you dare stop now. You are so close to getting him where you want."