Free Mia Like Crazy by Nina Cordoba

to reserve my strength to make myself walk out the door, all I could manage was a “Goodbye Drew,” as I started toward the stairs. I made the mistake of looking up at him when I said those words and my plan was almost thwarted by his bereft expression, but I had my game face on. No, I was a soldier, and I was following orders from my brain, not my heart.
    I reached the bottom of the stairs and started across the living room. The goal was in sight. I was going to do this. Then, I would be free.
    But before I reached the door, my purse fell off my shoulder, causing me to stop and reorganize my belongings. I felt him move past me. When I looked up again, he had his back against the front door and was facing me.
    “Move, Drew.”
    “Look Medina—” His use of my last name, considering the emotions I felt for him, infuriated me.
    I set my bags down on the floor. “Do I have to fight my way out?”
    His voice was harsh again, like the first time we’d met. “You’d have to be crazy to throw three million dollars away—”
    “And I guess you’d know about crazy. I don’t want to talk about money. Let me out.”
    He took a deep breath and began again in a calmer tone. “Okay, look, after you started bawling your eyes out—” He must have seen the anger flash in my eyes. He began again. “After you went upstairs, I called Meri, and she told me how I screwed everything up and I’m…sorry.”
    Although I could see the effort it took him to get the last word out, I was determined. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve thought it through. Being here with you…” I couldn’t finish the sentence. “Look, Drew,” I finally blurted out. “I’m not, normally, this crazed emotional basket case you see in front of you. I’ve always prided myself on my logic and self-control. Did you know I hadn’t cried since I was seven years old? But since I met you, it’s like I’m falling apart at the seams.”
    “Yeah, I guess I have that effect on people,” he said somberly.
    “I’ve been having dreams, nightmares, migraines—”
    “Are you afraid of me, Mia?”
    It was the first time he’d called me by my given name. He looked so deeply into my eyes, it was as if he was trying to peer into my very soul for the answer. Now, I could see the family resemblance, since his expression was identical to the one Meridith wore at the diner, when she’d asked me to give Drew another chance. And it was having the same effect, but I couldn’t let myself stay, could I?
    After several seconds of silence, he let go of the knob he’d been holding with his left hand and pushed himself off the door. He stepped a safe distance away from me. “This is probably pretty scary,” he said. “I guess I kidnapped you from your hotel, and I know I don’t act normal. Then, there’s the fact that I’m a convicted—”
    “Drew,” I couldn’t let him finish, and I couldn’t leave him here, believing I was running away because I thought I would be the infamous Drew Larson’s next victim. I closed the distance between us, looked up at him, and touched the lapel of his jacket. “I’m not afraid of you.”
    He stared into my face for what felt like a long while. I tried to identify the emotions I saw there—the distrust of a child who’d been hurt too many times, the hopefulness of a man who wants a woman to—
    I mentally shook myself and tried to bring my thoughts back to the reality of the situation. If I stayed here with him, regardless of his feelings for me, could he give me what I now knew I desperately needed—kindness, caring, emotional and physical intimacy, trust…? The list went on and on, and my heart sank with each item on it because I knew he was even more ill-equipped for that kind of relationship than I was.
    When I’d thought about it, I had always imagined ending up with someone from a big loving family who could show me how normal people maintained normal relationships. In the rare instances I’d allowed myself these