Page 43 of Hello Quarterback

And maybe she was, but my heart was still racing like I’d just run a mile at full speed. Mia and I had to kiss. We had to make it look real while faking it inside.

Mia looked up at me. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. I—I understand kissing me isn’t every man’s idea of a good time.”

My eyebrows drew together. “What does that mean?”

Tallie looked really busy examining her fingernails while Mia said, “Ford, look. Most men I’ve met since becoming CEO are interested in me for what I can do for them, not for who Iam. I know I’m not everyone’s cup of tea, and I’m okay with that. But Iwould really rather not kiss you when you’re having such a hard time forcing yourself to kiss me.”

“Mia...” I began.

She looked down, a hint of vulnerability in her features before she covered it up with a determined look.

And fuck if it didn’t make me feel like an asshole. How could I tell her that all I’d been doing is forcing my feelings down before they could grow out of control? This would just be one step closer to completely falling for her, and I knew nothing good waited for me at the bottom.

“It’s okay,” she repeated. “We’ll hold hands. It will have to be good enough.”

Tallie looked like she wanted to protest, but I held my finger up to her. I wanted Mia to hear me. “Mia, you’re beautiful. And you’re strong. There are men who want a weak woman—they feel like they can’t be strong unless it’s by comparison. Real men know better, because a strong woman can thrive without you but thinks her life is better with you in it.”

Her lips parted in surprise, letting me see all the emotions crossing her face. And before she could erase her feelings, I leaned in to kiss her. To show her there was nothing wrong with her. That I wanted her, no matter that I shouldn’t.

She was beautiful, strong, cunning, and incredibly successful, which made her irresistible.

I let myself give in to her pull, cupping her face in my hand and drawing her closer until our lips touched, hers pillowy soft against mine.

And instead of holding herself strong, distant, like I thought she might, she tilted her head—just slightly—to let me in.

Forgetting Tallie was watching, fuck, forgetting we were riding in the limo at all, I took every ounce of affection she was willing to give me.

That was the problem with gasoline. It only needed a spark to create a blaze that could destroy everything in its path, including my self-control.

Recklessly, I deepened our kiss, touching my tongue to hers, tasting her mouth, letting my racing heart beat for somethinggood. Something purely for my enjoyment. Not to reach a goal.

I could have kissed her forever, but she pulled back, making me instantly grieve her touch.

Her eyes blinked open hazily as she looked at me, lips a darker pink than before. It took all I had not to kiss her again.

And then I heard clapping. Tallie grinned at us and said, “Exactlylike that.”

But I couldn’t be any less excited because I knew—I had lost control with Mia. There was no coming back from a kiss like that.

25

MIA

Ford didnotreactto that kiss like I did. My whole body had come alive and fallen apart in his hands. I had lost myself in his touch, in his lips, and when I realized how strongly I reacted, I had to pull back.

But Ford?

He lookedpissed.

His features were drawn, jaw muscle ticking like a bomb, seconds from detonating. I wanted to ask him why he looked so upset, but I knew better than to ask questions I couldn't handle the answer to. Even if a million worse possibilities were whirling in my mind.

What if he was upset for how much I enjoyed it? Surely, he could tell. A part of me had thought he had liked it too, but maybe he really was just a great actor.What if he regretted kissing me?

My thoughts were in all sorts of tangles as Zeke pulled up to the convention center where we were having the team dinner. But one emotion started to take over all the others.

Indignant rage.

Who was Ford to be upset about kissing me? He might have thousands of groupies, but I was a catch too. Anyonewould be lucky to kiss someone like me. And his reaction? It was humiliating. For both of us. It showed his poor taste and my stupidity at entering into this agreement. Not to mention my publicist had seen the whole interaction and was now busy looking at her folders—anything to avoid looking at the train wreck happening in front of her.

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