A Million Dreams (Wish 3)

5 - Unforgettable

"Mia meet Teddy." Sage bounced with excitement.

He looked at her without giving away they had already met. She didn't see a reason for secrecy. "I've met Mr. Calhoun."

He glared at her with thin lips. She wasn't sure if his issue was she knew his last name or she mentioned they had met.

"You must have met Teddy through Celia."

"Celia?" Teddy asked Sage with a confused tone.

"Mia works for Celia. She's the foundation's CFO."

"Really?" His tone showed her job title surprised him.

"Surprised I actually have a brain?"

His chilly response to her presence set her off. She couldn't believe she dreamed of his kiss for six years. He was an arrogant jerk.

"Not at all. I was rude. We've met because Mia is renting from me."

She couldn't help it, but she felt her heart skip at the sound of him saying her name. She longed to hear it, but in a different scenario.

"That's quite a coincidence." Aidan smiled.

"We are neighbors." She nodded.

How could her landlord be Edward Calhoun? Wasn't he supposed to live in an enormous house with servants and not a renovated Victorian — a renovation he was doing himself. She glanced at his hands. They were large and clean, but not well manicured. Even her brother's hands looked better kept than Edward or Teddy, as Sage called him. It was all very confusing. Her memories were of soft hands on her face and back.

Aidan poured a glass of wine for her and she drank it hoping to calm her nerves. She hadn't been uncomfortable before she knew he was Edward Calhoun. Now she couldn't separate the man from the garden with the man beside her. How had she not known it was him? Perhaps the old clothes and paint smudges convinced her otherwise.

Sage interrupted her thoughts. "Have you met before? At my house or Celia's ball?"

Mia inhaled her wine wrong at the question and began to choke. Teddy who was beside her pounded on her back. She wanted to tell him she was fine, but she looked up and saw Derek at the hostess stand.

Gaining her ability to speak she croaked. "Derek!"

Sage who had little tact contrary to her upbringing turned her head. "Who's the woman?"

He was with a woman who was the opposite of Mia. She was blonde and a C cup would be obscenely too small. Mia wasn't certain if she could call her beautiful. She looked severe which some interpreted as beauty while Mia could only be referred to as cute with her freckles and hazel eyes. She always felt like her eyes were too large for her face. When she was a baby it was adorable, but most adults didn't have large orbs for irises, but at least her eyelashes were naturally long and thick.

"My prettier replacement, I assume."

Embarrassed by what she had just admitted out loud she looked at her landlord out of the corner of her eye and he had an unpleasant look on his face. She was certain he didn't want to be drawn into her little soap opera.

She watched as Derek began walking in the direction of their table and almost jumped when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She wasn't sure if her jitters were because it was unexpected or because the light touch put her nervous system in disarray. To add to her surprise, she felt his warm breath on her ear. "Laugh like I'm saying something funny."

She attempted a giggle but was too concerned with the blush she knew was covering her face, not to mention his scent. It was exactly as she remembered sans the mingling fragrance of flowers. If she had smelled him during one of their previous terse encounters, she would have instantly known who he was.