The Thousand Words We Spoke (A Novella)

Chapter Four

"Thank you for choosing this place," Adam spoke before taking a sip of his bourbon.

Mia had taken them to a swing club only a few blocks from her residence. It was the only place she went to without putting up a struggle and would end up here once a month with co-workers. The drinks were great, the atmosphere was chill, and the music was extraordinary.

Zoey was already on the dance floor but was so far out of her comfort zone, it was hysterical. She had no clue how to dance to this music, and it showed. Still, Zoey looked like she was having fun and she'd already found two men to dance with her.

"This is the only bar I go to where I'm not ready to leave as soon as I get here." She sipped her bay breeze through her straw, stealing a glance at Adam as she did so.

He was under-dressed for this club, but they had given little grief about letting him in. The closest thing he could find to go out in was a white button-up shirt they had to steam out in her shower to get out the wrinkles.

"So," she went on when he remained quiet. "When are you supposed to go see your parents?"

Adam leaned in just a little once the saxophone played. "If I told them I was coming back, they would have wanted me to fly into Madison to see them first. I knew it would take forever to get out of there to see you, so I didn't tell them. I'll surprise them next weekend if you don't mind putting up with me for a few more days."

It didn't occur to Mia until now that both their cities had airports and he could have flown into either, but marked hers as his destination when setting up his flight. She had to concede it was a great pleasure knowing that he wanted to see her before his family or friends.

"I don't at all. I'll be at work during the days, but I'll give you a spare key so you can let yourself in and out. If you wanted, I could go with you next weekend," Mia offered. "I could tell my family that I'm bringing a guy home with me."

"Then just show up with me?" Adam asked with a snort. "I'm not sure if you bringing a guy home with you is news enough to get everyone together."

That was true. It would be a biggish deal to her family if she said she was bringing a guy home since she'd never done it before, but getting both families together would need something more exciting. They had dinner together often, but her scheduling one would require a reason. "I could tell them I'm getting married."

Adam's laughter rose at her proposal. "I have to admit, it would be interesting to see how everyone would react, them thinking they're meeting your fiance and then I walk in."

"My dad would take a swing at you." There wasn't a doubt in Mia's mind about that one.

"My dad would ask how long I've really been in town for and ask if I knocked you up."

"My mom would just down her drink and say something like, 'Am I supposed to act surprised?'."

Adam tipped his head at her comment. "You don't think she would be?"

Her mom was the only person in both families who knew of Mia's feelings for Adam. She'd pieced it together after Adam left and Mia fell apart. They never talked about it because neither saw the reason. "Nah," Mia replied before lying her ass off. "She's always had a thing for forbidden love stories. She wouldn't be happy about it or anything, but she'd be the least pissed off out of all of them. How would your mom react?"

Adam looked ahead for a time before taking another drink. "If it were any other woman your age, she'd probably call you a gold digger and tell me to keep it wrapped up because she wouldn't want grand babies from a marriage that wasn't going to last a year." Then his eyes shifted to hers, his poker face as prominent as always. "But me and you? I honestly don't think she'd be all that surprised, either. Especially since you already told her we would get married someday."