Mia's Choice

Chapter One Mia Harrington sighed contentedly and tipped her head back to allow the sun’s rays to bathe her face. Her blonde hair swished gently behind her in the sea breeze. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been so thoroughly relaxed. Sitting on the wooden deck of her bungalow with her bare feet dangling over the clear blue waters of the Indian Ocean was exactly what the doctor ordered. She snorted. Her surgeon boyfriend, Alex Cartwright, hadn’t even organised this trip, though she was sure he’d had some input. No, this supremely unconventional yet utterly perfect honeymoon was all the doing of her brand-new husband, Elias. It wasn’t the location that was unconventional—honeymooners probably flocked to these secluded islands in their droves to celebrate their nuptials. No, it was the fact Mia and her husband had three tagalongs—Alex, Thomas Walker, and Arjun Chaudary—each of whom she was in a romantic relationship with. And everyone involved was perfectly okay with it. Elias had even had the foresight to book five separate over-water bungalows—money was no object for her investment banker husband, after all—giving each of them the opportunity for their own space. Yes, the picturesque thatched huts were all in a row with a wooden walkway connecting them, but if any of the group wanted some alone time, they could easily get it. Essential, really, when five adults were living in each other’s pockets for three weeks on a tiny island, no matter how stunningly beautiful it was. They’d been on honeymoon for three days, and so far, it was working out well. Being together—or at least within shouting distance of one another—twenty-four seven was a little weird, and not even close to how things would be when they got back to England, but Mia figured it would be a good test of the strength of their relationships. If there were any cracks, they would definitely be showing by the end of the trip. But if they all got along, then it was a good sign for their quirky future as a fivesome. Quirky hardly covered it, if Mia was honest with herself. Her life had been nuts since the death of her father almost eight months previously. As an only child, and with her mother already dead, Mia stood to inherit her father’s estate—which included her beloved childhood home, a considerable fortune, the land and wider estate on which the house stood, and more besides. But, to her shock and dismay, her father had put a caveat in his will, requiring Mia to marry what he deemed to be a suitable husband in order to inherit. A husband who would be willing to not only take her last name, ensuring any offspring they had would continue the Harrington line, but to sign a prenuptial agreement stating that he wouldn’t get a penny if they divorced. Mia didn’t care about the money, but she did care deeply about her home, and the estate, which provided jobs for so many in the area—herself included. Added to that, if she didn’t marry, her worthless, money-grabbing cousin, Quinn, would get his hands on everything. Knowing perfectly well he wouldn’t give the house, the tenants, or the employees a second thought, Mia had resolved to find herself a husband—no matter how unimpressed she was about the idea. It was the only way to keep her home, protect the livelihoods of the estate workers, and prevent Quinn from squandering it all away. It had all happened a great deal faster than she’d been expecting, however, and with a bunch more variables thrown in. Which was how she’d ended up on honeymoon with her new husband and three other men—all of whom she adored, and who adored her right back. It was truly idyllic. Not just the location, but the situation. The company. She was with her four gorgeous guys on a private island with no prying eyes, no one to see or care what they were up to. The members of staff who kept things clean and tidy for them and provided their food packages were incredibly efficient and discreet, so she wasn’t worried about them gossiping. It was more than their jobs were worth, after all, and in this part of the world she imagined jobs were few and far between. Although part of her felt guilty they were having such a lazy, luxurious time while the locals worked so hard and probably earned very little for their efforts, another part of her was glad they were injecting money into the area. It likely relied on tourism to keep things going. Mia and her men had surrendered their phones and tablets on arrival, and the resultant lack of contact with the outside world meant none of their jobs or other responsibilities would encroach on their time in this island paradise—though they could be contacted in an absolute emergency. Even better, there were no interruptions, diary clashes, or physical distances between them. They could be themselves, spend quality time together, relax, have fun, and do whatever they wanted, whenever they wanted to. Up until now, they hadn’t done very much at all since they were getting over the long journey and the time zone change. Alex seemed to have recovered quickest—probably since he was used to working different shifts and insane hours at the hospital back home. He’d grown used to snatching hours or even minutes of sleep as and when he could. For Mia, Thomas, Elias, and Arjun, who all worked more regular hours, it had taken longer, but everyone finally seemed to be back on an even keel. The deck creaked: someone was coming. Mia didn’t turn; the staff had disappeared after clearing away their breakfast things, so it could only be one of her men, and she honestly didn’t mind which. Half the fun of having them all in the same place at the same time was not knowing what was going to happen next, or with whom. Her new life was unpredictable, but in a safe way, a status quo which suited Mia’s personality perfectly—she liked adventure and excitement, but not too much. If controlled chaos was a thing, that was what she was aiming for. A moment later she sensed a person right behind her, felt their body heat, and then gentle hands covered her eyes. A whiff of cologne reached her nostrils, telling her exactly who it was, but she kept quiet—she didn’t want to ruin the game. “Guess who?” came a voice, confirming it was indeed, Alex. “Err… I don’t know,” she played along. “Let me think. Is it… George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Johnny Depp?” Alex chuckled. “Younger. Much younger.” “Oh, right. Sorry.” She smiled, the lift of her cheeks making them push against Alex’s warm hands. “Maybe… Aidan Turner? Tom Hardy? Michael B. Jordan? Sam Heughan? Charlie Hunnam?” He snatched his hands away and sat down beside her, shaking his head, a glint of amusement in his blue-green eyes. She took the opportunity to drink in the sight of him, barefoot and clad in nothing but a pair of deep blue swimming shorts. A pair of sunglasses sat on top of his head, and his long legs dangled beside hers. He looked as relaxed as she felt. He also looked mouth-wateringly sexy, and she reluctantly dragged her gaze from his body back up to his face before she was tempted to spirit him away into her bungalow so they could mess up the sheets on her queen-sized bed. “All right, all right,” he said with mock irritation, “no need to list all your celebrity crushes. We could be here all year. I haven’t even heard of most of them. Besides,” he leaned in and gave her a playful nudge with his shoulder, “isn’t four men enough for you?” “Oh, I dunno,” she said breezily, trying hard to suppress a smile, “I think there’s probably room for a couple more in my harem.” They stared at each other, and Mia couldn’t hold back her mirth any longer as she spotted the flicker of surprise that crossed Alex’s face. She laughed, then took his hand, pulled it to her mouth, and kissed it. “Full disclosure—if any of the aforementioned gentlemen turn up at my door demanding to be let into the group, I will have to give it careful consideration. You lot will have to budge up and make room. But otherwise, I’m perfectly happy with things the way they are. I don’t see enough of you all as it is.” A thought occurred to her, something she’d wanted to discuss with Alex for a while. No time like the present. “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that.” He raised his eyebrows. “You did? I’m all ears.” She nodded. “I know because of your job it’s not always possible to keep commitments, and you sometimes don’t get much free time. So I was wondering how you felt about me coming into London more often? It’ll put me closer to you, and Elias of course—even Arjun, to an extent—so if it gives you and I the opportunity to spend more time together, I’m more than happy to do it. I can easily reorganise my workload to make it happen. As long as everything gets dealt with, it doesn’t matter if it’s done on a Monday or a Saturday, at 9 a.m. or 8 p.m. Seeing you is more important to me than keeping regular office hours.” Smiling softly, he put his arm around her and pulled her in for a hug, then kissed the top of her head. “I like the sound of that, but…” She frowned and stiffened in his embrace. “But what?” He released her and ran a hand through his hair. “I don’t know how to say this without sounding ungrateful or upsetting you.” Her heart thumped. “Say what?” “It’s just… most of the time, I get home from work and I’m totally knackered. I often get in, take a shower, grab something quick to eat, and veg out in front of the TV, or with a book if I think I’ll be able to concentrate on it. God,” he gave a wry chuckle, “the amount of times I’ve fallen asleep with a book on my face doesn’t bear thinking about.” “And what’s wrong with that? The getting home knackered part, I mean, not the book on your face.” Now it was Alex’s turn to frown. “Well, it’s not very exciting, is it? I’d really like to show you a good time, not force you to sit around watching TV or reading books.” Mia rolled her eyes, then gave him a gentle smile. “Alex,” she kissed his stubbled cheek—she didn’t think he’d shaved since the morning of the wedding, and she really liked his more casual appearance, “I’m not saying I want to sit around watching TV or reading all the time, but I understand that if you’re exhausted, you’re exhausted, and the last thing you want after a busy day is to go out again. That’s absolutely fine. What I do want is to figure out a way to spend more time with you. If that means chilling out indoors, that’s not a problem. I’d be perfectly content snuggled up on the sofa with you. I’d much rather do that than not see you at all. I thought we could see how things go. I’ll stay at my place in Holland Park more often, and we’ll play it by ear. If you’re free, you’re free, and if you’re not, you’re not. If that’s okay with you, that is? I don’t want to force my company on you.” He chuckled. “Are you kidding? I really would love to spend more time with you—I just don’t want to bore you to tears, that’s all. If you can find a way to come to London more often that’s not too inconvenient for you, then I would be delighted. We’ll have to be careful if we go out in public—since as far as the outside world is concerned you’re Elias’s wife—but I’m sure we can find some fun stuff to do. Elias said something about you wanting to do more touristy things in London. I’m definitely up for that. Just to warn you, it probably won’t work out all the time in terms of my shifts at the hospital—but even snatched moments with you are better than nothing.” He paused, then shifted his gaze out to the horizon, as though thinking. After a moment, he bit his lip, then turned back to her. “I, uh, could give you a key to my place, if you like, so you can let yourself in.” Mia’s heart skipped. She wasn’t sure why, but Alex’s offer came across as both incredibly important and a big commitment. And she couldn’t have been more delighted about it. She’d been looking for a way to deepen their bond, and this appeared to be it. It didn’t come close to the level of commitment she and Elias had signed up for, and there was no legal way of replicating that with him or any of the others anyway, but she was eager to cement her relationships with all her men so nobody felt more or less important than anyone else, or worried she might have favourites. Each of them brought something different to her life, and she couldn’t imagine a future without all of them in it. But at the moment, she had no idea how to get them onto an equal footing. “Mia?” She pulled herself out of her thoughts to find Alex staring at her, his eyes wide with concern. “For God’s sake, sweetheart, would you say something? You look happy, but you haven’t answered me. You’re seriously leaving me hanging here.” “Oh, s**t. Sorry, Alex, I didn’t mean to! I was just thinking…” God, how much should she tell him? Their holiday was supposed to be about chilling out and enjoying themselves, not worrying about things like this. No, she’d keep her concerns to herself for now. She might not be able to stop her brain from thinking them, but it didn’t mean she had to let what was going on inside her head affect the others. “Thinking what?” he prompted, gripping the edge of the decking on which they sat and squeezing until his knuckles went white. “I was thinking how awesome it would be to have a key to your place. Obviously it’s for convenience, not cohabitation, but it still represents a certain amount of commitment…” My God, that’s it! Excitement flooded her veins as she realised she may have, however inadvertently, come up with the solution to her problem. I can give them all keys to the house. Despite the excitement of her brainwave, she still didn’t want to burden Alex with it yet, so she continued hurriedly, “and I’m absolutely thrilled at the idea. It would be amazing to be able to pop in and see you, or maybe even wait for you to get home from work, if that’s not too much of an imposition?” Alex shook his head. “Not at all. It’d be fantastic not to walk into an empty flat—even if it’s only once in a while. Nothing would make me happier than seeing your beautiful face as soon as I got home.” “That settles it then, I guess. I’d love to have a key—thank you.” “I will put that at the very top of my to-do list when we get home.” His face transformed into a heart-melting grin, which had that precise effect on Mia, and he took her hand. Then he leaned in and kissed her. It was light at first—and possibly that was all he’d intended it to be—but the moment she slipped her free hand around the back of his neck and responded, things quickly heated up. They opened their mouths, and their tongues entered the fray, briefly slipping against each other, then beginning to tease and explore. Within seconds her n*****s had peaked and were pressing against her bikini top, and the dampness between her thighs was nothing to do with the balmy air temperature. Perhaps she would drag him into bed for a while. Wasn’t that what honeymoons were for? Plentiful shagging and messing up of sheets? She and Elias had shared her bungalow on the first night after arriving on the island, and had made sweet, sensual love despite their travel weariness, then fallen into the deep sleep of the utterly exhausted. She’d spent the previous night alone, however, which she actually hadn’t minded—day two of their break had been taxing on her mind and her body. Especially as they were still trying to fight their jetlag. The five of them had explored their surroundings, figuring out what they’d like to see and do while they were here, and generally chilling out together. It was the first time they’d been in a situation where they could all be themselves and not have to hide the true nature of their relationships. It had given her a taste of how amazing things could be, but also how problematic if not managed carefully, which was why she’d vowed to herself to figure out a way she could make all her men feel wanted and valued equally. She didn’t want any of them to butt heads—literally or figuratively. Now, though, she was feeling refreshed and positive, and thoroughly ready to take advantage of one of the most obvious perks of having four gorgeous men close by—s*x on tap. She broke their kiss and had just opened her mouth to suggest they take things into the bedroom, when footsteps came again on the deck, and Arjun appeared around the corner of the bungalow. He was dressed similarly to Alex—only his swim shorts were white, the bright colour striking against his caramel skin. “Oh, sorry,” he said, stopping in his tracks as he spotted them, “I didn’t mean to interrupt—only Elias has been in touch with a local who can rent us some jet skis and he wants to know how many we need.” He pushed his sunglasses up on top of his head and looked between Mia and Alex. “So, are you two up for it?” Mia nodded. “Yes, I am. Sounds great. Alex?” “Absolutely. Are you guys down on the beach?” “Yes,” Arjun replied. “Great. We’ll meet you there in a minute, all right?” Arjun inclined his head, then slipped his sunglasses back into place and turned to leave. His footsteps gradually died away. “What’s up?” Mia asked the moment Arjun was out of earshot. Alex had sounded incredibly enthusiastic about a jet ski ride, but hadn’t moved a muscle. “Nothing. I just didn’t particularly want to jump up and show this,” he indicated the sizeable erection tenting his shorts, “off to Arjun. I didn’t think he’d appreciate it very much.” Mia giggled, then clapped a hand over her mouth. “No, I suppose he wouldn’t. I would, though.” She winked and kissed him, then murmured, “To be continued, yes?” “Yes. And sooner, rather than later, if that’s all right with you. Come on, then,” he got to his feet and helped her up, “better get to the beach before they send a search party for us. Hopefully my c**k will have settled down by then.” With a heavily-exaggerated sigh, she replied, “Four gorgeous men, and all I’m getting between my thighs this morning is a throbbing engine. If I weren’t so fond of jet skis, I’d say there was something seriously wrong here!” Alex chuckled and slapped her bottom playfully. “You can be very dirty at times, Mia Harrington.” She scooped up her sunglasses and put them on. “You love it.” He grinned and slipped an arm around her waist, then pulled her against his side as they strode towards the walkway connecting their bungalows and leading down to the beach. “Yes, I do. I love you. Everything about you—occasionally dirty mind and all.” “And I love you, Alex Cartwright. Now stop being so bloody gorgeous and adorable before I change my mind and pick up where we left off instead of heading to the beach.” “Ugh, I wish you would. Stupid Elias. Stupid jet skis.” She smirked. “Later. I promise. This afternoon, I’m all yours.” He arched an eyebrow and gave her an assessing look. “In that case, this afternoon can’t come soon enough.”