Lucy eyed Mia with malice, her burning gazing lurking through the thick partition of her lashes.
A chill tunneled through Mia's skin to nestle deep inside her bones.
Yeah, she thought, it's realllly time to go.
"I was just leaving," she heard herself say over the pounding music. Or was that thrumming bass just her heartbeat?
A grin slashed across Lucy's goddess-like features. A model. Mia was willing to bet her left hand that Lucy was a model. She had a face meant for the spotlight. Or one of those beauty bloggers that Gigi was always squeaking about.
"I'm sure you were," Lucy said. Dear God, staring into those eyes was like staring down the barrel of a loaded gun.
"Lucy," Harlan snapped.
Mia jumped at the guttural voice. From all the mayhem of Lucy's wrath, she'd almost forgotten about Harlan.
Mia eyed the distance between him and the beautiful woman. The air simmering with heat from the hundreds of bodies around them. Made sense, was all she could think. The two of them were perfect for each other; with their matching sultry stares and lethal beauty.
Two cliches in a pod, she thought begrudgingly.
Of course he was taken. A guy like Harlan? Mia should have seen it coming.
Her shoulders sagged in defeat as humiliation washed over her, the cold waves pushing her back to reality. She so did not belong here: among all the glamour and beauty. Mia belonged far, far away in the recesses of all this perfection.
She should have stuck with her gut and left the second she dropped off the chips and dips. Maybe then she wouldn't feel like she'd just been slapped in the face.
"Don't be a bitch," Harlan growled at Lucy. Growled. If she'd been anywhere else, Mia would have swooned over that deep voice. And she hated that. Mia didn't swoon. That wasn't her.
But with Harlan...Mia never felt like herself. Or maybe she'd never felt more like herself around him.
The corners of Lucy's painted lips turned down, her eyes still flaming pools of venom. "I'm sorry, have I offended our guest?" she snapped, the S drawn out in a hiss like a snake.
The muscles along Harlan's jaw twitched, his lips pulled into a grim line. "You shouldn't be here, Lu," he warned.
Lucy chuckled. "Wow, you wasted no time finding a replacement then, huh?" Lucy demanded, her wild eyes flared. Lucy ran her stare over Mia like a predator assessing its prey. "A bit of a downgrade, Harlan. Lowered your standards I take it," she drawled with a grin.
Mia crossed her arms, shoulders sinking.
Harlan's eyes narrowed. "Get out," he told Lucy.
Lucy cocked her head to the side. She pushed out her chest with a sultry pout. If her shirt was any tighter her breasts would pop out like an X rated jack in the box. "Make me," she said.
Mia should slip away. It would be easy to fade into the shadows, tainted blue and purple from the strobe lights above. She could walk away and Harlan would be too wrapped up with Lucy to notice.
Before she could think, Mia bolted from the marble confines of the kitchen. She elbowed her way through the crowd and rushed down the winding corridors of the mansion.
She didn't look back, didn't even apologize to the people that she shoved out of her way. Not that anyone noticed. Between the loud music and the drugs no doubt flowing through their system, Mia was sure that the world could catch on fire and no one would notice.
Only once she burst through the double doors could she breathe. Panting, Mia choked down the clean air, pulling deep gulps of the icy breeze down her throat.
"Fray."
Mia jolted in alarm as Harlan appeared behind her, seemingly out of thin air.
Mia turned back and continued towards her car. Huh. So he had noticed she left after all.
"I thought you were staying?" he said as they wove through the maze of cars and motorcycles in his driveway.
Mia laughed. Her breath froze around her mouth in a cloud of icy air. "I think your girlfriend would have some issues with that," she snapped.
Harlan sunk his hands into the pockets of his black overcoat. "Lucy's not my girlfriend," he said calmly, a small smile tugging at his lips.
Mia's eyes flared. Was everything a joke to him? "Does she know that?" she countered.
"Lucy and I are complicated, Fray," he explained. "We always have been," he added.
Mia rolled her eyes with a harsh smile. "Well, in case you haven't noticed, I don't exactly have any room in my life for complicated right now." She took another step back. Mia felt ridiculous. What had she even been expecting? To be swept off her feet by Harlan like they were in some outdated romance novel. The Prince Charming to her Cinderella?
No. Her reality wasn't that simple, nor was it that nice.
At the end of the day, Mia didn't end up with guys like Harlan. And guys like Harlan certainly didn't end up with girls like Mia. The Harlans of the world got glamour and mansions and everything high society had to offer. Mia was used to a simpler life style that didn't involve parties and crazy 'complicated' girlfriends.
"Fray, just come back inside." Harlan clenched his jaw against the biting cold. "Please," he added gently. And damn. Some delusional part of her actually wanted to. The part that still fantasized about Harlan's lips over hers.
Mia wrapped her arms around herself. Her eyes focused on the mansion behind him. The air pulsed with strobe lights and the thumping bass from the music. She laughed harshly. She was soooo in over her head. They lived in different worlds. Meeting Harlan at that bar was a cosmic mistake.
A hiccup in the universe.
She was his assistant. Nothing more than that.
"We don't owe anything to each other. You have your life, and I have mine. Aside from work, we have absolutely nothing in common," she said. "We don't even know each other," Mia breathed softly.
Why did that make her heart twist into all kinds of ugly knots?
"Fray." Harlan reached out but Mia stepped away. "Is it really so crazy that I want to change that?" he asked. "That I actually want to know you?"
A big fat YES was the first thing that popped into Mia's head. She smiled sadly. "See you tomorrow, Mr. Veers," she said.
The clacking echo of her heels against the hard pavement was swallowed by the hollow thrumming of the music from the party. Once in her car, hands gripping the cold leather of the steering wheel, Mia looked back at the mansion. Back at Harlan.
She didn't know what was between Harlan and Lucy. It clearly wasn't nothing. And Mia knew she wanted no part in it. She leaned back in her seat as a small part of her, the ember that fantasized about Harlan wanting her, was snuffed out.
Her heart fluttered in defeat as Harlan turned away, an icy air trailing in his wake.
It was good, she told herself. Good to end whatever was between them before anyone got hurt. Before she got hurt, to be more accurate. Because who was she kidding? Mia was sure she'd only get hurt in the end. And it would be her fault. Like playing with fire and then crying when you got burnt.
Mia had enough drama in her life anyway.
She'd played with flames before and the sting in the end was never worth it.
Her head snapped to the cup holder as impotent vibrations reverberated along the plastic holder. She pulled her phone from the cup holder, instantly cursing when the shattered screen glowed to life.
Her brows pulled tight as she ran her eyes over the two texts from Lake:
'I miss you...it read in its glowing font. We really need to talk.'
Mia held the phone in her frozen hands, stunned. She couldn't think of anything he could possibly say to her that would make her hate him any less.
'I don't have anything to say to you,' she responded.
Her fingers were so frozen she had to press the send button twice before her phone registered her as a living human. She really should have blocked Lake by now.
But she hadn't. For some reason she didn't quite know.
She put the phone down, not expecting a response anytime soon.
To her surprise, Lake's response was lightening quick:
'I understand. I have words I need to get off my chest, M. You'll never have to see me again. Ever.'
Mia looked down at her phone with a laugh. She would ask him to make that a promise but it was clear Lake's word was worth next to nothing. Or whatever less than nothing was.
She didn't know what to say.
'Sugar Bowl,' she decided finally. 'In 30. If you're late, I'm leaving.'
'Thank you,' he replied. 'See you in 30.'