Chapter 10

Mia was in her room listening to one of her favourite pop groups, Dreamline while reading a cheesy romance novel she had picked up on her way home from work the week before. It was her way of relaxing after a long, tiring week at work.

As she was singing along to her favourite song, she heard a 'ping' from her phone to see that her grandfather had messaged her.

Grandfather: Hi darling, I hope you're enjoying your weekend off. I want to have dinner with you, there are things we need to talk about. When are you free?

Mia: Hi! I'm free tonight if that's okay with you, grandpa. What do you want to talk about?

Grandfather: Tonight is just fine. We just need to talk about some important business things so don't be late! I'll meet you at the new Mexican restaurant at 7 pm tonight.

Mia: Okay, I'll see you then.

She closed the messaging app with a look of confusion on her face. Important business? Could this be about her future position as Chief? She shrugged the feeling off before she continued reading the chapter that she was busy with before.

It was about an ordinary girl who loved solving puzzles, along with her best friend, who was clearly in love with her. He was always trying to get her attention but she always rejected him, thinking it was all a joke.

Mia was frustrated with the girl because of her lack of ability to see that the friend really, truly liked her. She wished that she could travel into their world and knock some sense into that clueless girl.

So, instead of throwing the book against the wall in frustration, she decided to begin to get ready for dinner with her grandfather since it was already almost four in the afternoon.

Her routine was simple and when she was done she applied only the bare minimum makeup. After all, she was going to see her grandfather not going on a date.

When she finished getting ready, she looked at her watch to see that it was already half past six. So, she put on her shoes, grabbed her keys and made her way to her car.

After about ten minutes of driving, she pulled up to the outside of the restaurant, where she saw lots of people as they entered and exited the building.

After she looked through the big windows, she saw her grandfather sitting at a small table in the back of the crowded restaurant. She quickly made her way inside, told the hostess at the entrance that someone was waiting on her and walked over to her grandfather.

"Hi, grandpa!" She greeted her grandfather before she gave him a big hug. "Mia! How have you been my dear? I don't see much of you nowadays. It's a shame," Her grandfather replied whilst he shook his head.

"Well as the future Chief, you have to do what you have to do, right? So, how have you been?" Mia asked before she sat down on the comfortable chair across from her smiling grandfather.

"Just don't overwork yourself, Mia. You're a smart girl and you already have the position of future Chief in the bag, so you don't have to go to such great lengths to prove yourself anymore. That you've already done. I've been well, you know some aches and pains here and there, but I guess that comes with being an old man. So, tell me, my dear, how are you and your boyfriend? I hope he is treating you well," Her grandfather warned playfully.

Mia raised her brow. "Boyfriend? What are you talking about?" Mia asked in a very confused tone. "Oh, come on dear, don't try to beat around the bush. I know you and that charming partner of yours have something cooking," Her grandfather said with a smirk, as he teasingly wiggled his eyebrows at her.

Her grandfather definitely wasn't any normal old person. You see, he was the one who usually had silly boy talks with his granddaughter, almost like those that you usually had with your friends. He was the origin of her foul brain and much, much more. He was more like a cool friend than a real grandfather.

Not that he wasn't a reliable grandfather when she needed him to be. He could be one scary old man when Mia was being threatened and naturally, he was her greatest role model.

That's why she developed an interest in crime and mystery. She inherited her curious mind from her grandfather and so when they started to work together, they just clicked and started to grow closer than they already were.

However now, her grandfather was being everything but a great grandpa. He sometimes reminded her so much of herself, that she even got irritated with the idea of it.

"Jake? Uh, no! I'm sorry grandfather but you are very much mistaken," Mia denied, crossing her arms over her chest in protest.

"Oh, I'm sorry dear, are you two not together anymore?" Her grandfather asked, his sarcasm causing Mia to glare at the old man. "There is nothing to apologize for because nothing is going on between us!" Mia almost screamed.

"But then why would he always refer to you as his girlfriend? Are you sure nothing is going on between the two of you? Because you sure talk about him a lot," Her grandfather teased, Mia's cheeks burning crimson at his words.

"I'm not discussing this subject any further, I'll go see where our food is," Mia said as she stood up to go and see what was stalling the food that her grandfather had ordered before she arrived, but it was merely a way to get away from her grandfather's teasing.

She looked around to try and find the male waiter who took their order when she bumped into a person in front of her. She looked up ready to apologise when she saw the familiar face of Robert Grey in front of her.

She burst out in laughter when she saw who the male in front of her was. "Hey! Rob, what are you doing here and when did you dye your hair?", She asked the now raven-haired male.

A clear bunny tooth smile appeared on the male's face as he looked down at Mia.

Mia raised a brow and cracked a smile at the younger man in front of her. He stood in front of her with two hands clasping a bunch of churros. When she looked into his eyes, her heart skipped a small beat as she fell into his big blue eyes.

Coloured contact lenses look amazing on him, Mia thought to herself as she unknowingly stared into his eyes. "Hey! It's good to see you!" Robert said with a smile.

"I'm glad I ran into you now. How is everything going?" Robert asked, as he still stood with the dozen churros in his hands.

"Everything is fine," She said as she looked at the churros. "Um, churro craving?" She asked as she bit back a chuckle.

Robert gave a small chuckle as he looked at the desserts in his hands. "Yeah, you could say that. My brothers were craving some and like the good little brother I am, I volunteered to go and get us some and here we are now," He said as he showed off his bunny-like grin again.

"By volunteered to, do you mean Damon told you to do it?", Mia said with laughter lacing her voice. "Hey," Robert whined, as his cheeks flushed red. "I should really be going, my grandfather may be worried about where I am," Mia said as she stepped aside, to let other people pass her.

"Hehe yeah," Robert said, as he chuckled nervously before he stepped out of the way with Mia, who saw their waiter with their food heading over to her grandfather.

"I need to go too, my brothers must be getting hangry right about now. We should do this again sometime," Robert playfully said, as he smiled at Mia as he made his way out of the restaurant.

Mia chuckled to herself and she made her way towards her grandfather. She sat down, feeling joyful after her quick talk with Rob. "What took you so long? I'm starving over here!" Her grandfather playfully scolded her. "Sorry, I saw a friend and we talked a bit," She apologized to her grandfather as she dug into her food.

"A friend?", her grandfather asked with a raised brow as he placed a spoonful of food to his lips. "Yeah, he is one of the Grey brothers whose case you put me on," Mia explained to her grandfather.

"You know Mia, I have always known you to be a responsible, mature young woman, but take a piece of advice from your old man, don't trust the people you meet while working on a case, especially not the Grey's," He said seriously.

"Why?", Mia asked, confused over her grandpa's sudden seriousness. "Let's just say, I know from experience, so please, don't get attached," Her grandfather said before he took another bite.

Mia decided to change the subject and their night ended quickly after. As Mia pulled up into her driveway, the thoughts about what her grandfather said back in the restaurant, still clouded her mind.

What did he mean by "experience"?

It seemed like a touchy subject though, and even though her grandfather loved to share, she did not think he was going to share that particular story with her, at least not yet.

She sighed as she entered her house. She walked upstairs to gather her towel and bath bombs. All she needed now, was to clear her head, with a relaxing bath without any distractions.

Before she could get into the bath though, her phone rang and when she checked the caller ID it showed that her grandfather was calling her. She answered quickly to hear her grandfather's voice on the other end.

"Hello Mia, I was just calling to ask you a favour," Her grandfather said with a mischievous chuckle. "A favour? Sure what do you need?", Mia asked. "Well, one of your fellow workmates was kicked out of their apartment and I thought, well you have a large enough house for two people, what if the person could maybe stay with you for a few days? Just until they can find another place," Her grandfather asked in a  pleading tone. She hesitated but she could never say no to him.

"That's sucks, sure they can, as long as they let me bathe in peace I'm happy," Mia said with a chuckle. "Thank you, dear, I appreciate it very much. He will be here later tonight," Her grandfather said quickly before hanging up on Mia.

What just happened? A guy? Why would her grandfather send a guy to live with her temporarily? Who was this mystery man? All good questions to have asked before she agreed.

Not even 20 minutes after the weird call with her grandfather, the doorbell rang.

She groaned and went to open the door.

When she opened the door she was greeted with the face that she hoped so hard it would not be. The flirty smirk on his face was like he was ready to annoy her.

"Hello Mia, thanks for letting me stay here love," Jake said, as the smirk on his face grew even bigger when he saw Mia's reaction towards him.

This was the perfect opportunity to seduce her. How? Jake wasn't sure yet. However, would he try everything to get her attention? Absolutely!

"How about we go in, it's getting cold out here, and I don't want you to get sick," Jake said in a cheerful tone. Let the games begin, Jake thought to himself as he stepped his way inside Mia's warm house.