Page 47 of Not So Fast
“I don’t know. Your smarts seem like they’ve treated you well.” The teakettle whistled and Xander turned off the burner, then poured hot water into the mugs.
“In some ways, being smart has been more trouble than anything. I got teased a lot for it, especially when I was a kid.”
Xander was struck by an image of little Mia being teased for her beautiful brain, and he immediately wanted to pound on all those who’d participated. “Why would anyone do that?”
“I skipped two grades in elementary school. I was just so much smaller and younger than everyone else. And I still kicked everyone’s ass academically, especially when it counted, like in high school. Nobody likes getting outsmarted, but especially not by someone who isn’t tall enough to reach the top shelf of their locker.”
Xander’s heart ached at the thought of her troubles. “No growth spurt by the time you were in high school?”
Mia cast a look in his direction then turned to him and pointed at her glorious chest. “Aside from these two, no.”
He smiled and wrapped his hands around her rib cage, placing each of his thumbs beneath one of her breasts. “I approve. Greatly.” He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her collarbone.
“Thanks. I picked up on that.” Mia dug her fingers into his hair, keeping his head in place for a moment. How he longed to stay right there.
“Do you mind if I ask you a question?” He straightened and leaned against the counter again, watching her return to their breakfast. He loved how they were so comfortable with each other already. This was effortless. Everything else in his life required so much work…but being with Mia? It was like a vacation.
“Fire away.”
“Why the podcast? It sounds like you could do anything you want. Be a physicist or an astronaut or a surgeon. Absolutely anything at all.”
“You sound like my mom.”
“Does she not approve?”
“She’s warming to it, but it’s a struggle. She would’ve preferred I chose something safe and normal like a job with a newspaper.”
He nodded. “I get it. My mum hates the racing. She and my whole family support me in it, of course, but she gets so nervous.”
“Of course she does. You’re her son. And people have died doing what you do.”
“I know. I just don’t take the time to think about the dangers.”
Mia reached for the pepper grinder. “As for me and the podcast, it was supposed to be a side hustle. My best friend, Jasmine, suggested it because she knew I was such a huge fan of the sport. And it ended up striking a chord. It’s the only time I’ve ever been successful at something.”
“I find that hard to believe.”
“It’s the truth. Which is part of the reason why I’m so devoted to it. I built it on my own. It’s not like I went to someone and asked them to give me a job or hire me. I hired myself. And that’s pretty damn satisfying. Plus, it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. I don’t think I’ve come close to reaching the limits of what it can do.”
“Something worth sticking to.”
“Exactly.” Mia presented their breakfast, artfully plated and looking absolutely amazing.
“I haven’t even taken a bite and this is already so much better than anything I could make.” He placed her steaming mug of tea in front of a place at the kitchen island and pulled out a bar stool. “But I did do all right with the cuppa.”
“And I thank you for it. Now, you’ll have to excuse me if I’m not able to climb up here in a particularly ladylike fashion.” She hoisted herself up onto the seat, wiggling her hips back and forth until she was settled.
“I could’ve helped you up.”
“You already carried me to the bedroom. That was real romance hero stuff, you know.”
He smiled, thinking back on that moment. It wasn’t romance—he’d been too damn impatient. Too much blood flowing to lower parts of his body coupled with too much eagerness to give himself over to nothing but Mia and pleasure.
She took a generous bite of her toast. “Damn. I did well.”
He tucked in, too. She’d done better than well. It was fantastic. “Why is this so good?”
“Salt. The answer to that question is salt.”
