She followed him into the shop where he had laid out some of the prime pieces. They would be the cabinet doors, the most visible part of the kitchen, and he wanted her okay before he made any cuts.
“Oh, this is beautiful,” she said, setting her small purse to the side and running her hand down the smooth surface of one of the pieces.
He envied that wood. Deeply.
She looked up at him with a small smile. “The quality is just amazing.” She looked at the rest of the pieces, her smile widening with each one. He could almost see her designs coming to life in her eyes. “Perfect,” she said, standing up after a careful inspection.
He had to agree. But about her. “I’m glad you approve,” he said, taking a step closer.
She didn’t move away, but his closeness made her cross her arms timidly. She seemed nervous, he wanted to know why. “Will you get all of the walnut from this supplier?” she finally asked.
“They’re the best,” he said matter-of-factly. “And I only work with the best.”
She seemed pleased with his answer and gave him a nod to prove it. After a moment she said, “This is going to sound strange, but can I look around your shop?”
He grinned at her. “Worried about the quality of my machines?”
“No,” she assured him, smiling just a little, “I just love workshops; my dad had one growing up. I love the sounds, the feel, the ...” She paused and took a deep breath. “Smell. I love the smell. Does that sound weird?”
“Not at all,” he answered, ignoring the violent tug her words had on his entire being. His heart felt strange in his chest. “I love it too, I always have. My dad is actually the one that taught me how to build in the first place.”
She smiled at him truly for the first time, and the space between them seemed to ignite and burst into flame. “Was he as good as you?”
“At building?” He laughed. “He was terrible, actually, but a good teacher, and once I surpassed his abilities, he found every way possible to nurture my interest.”
“He sounds amazing,” she said.
“He was,” he answered softly. His father had been everything to him; he missed him every second of every day.
“Oh, Mason, I’m sorry, I didn’t know.”
“It’s okay,” he assured her, the tenderness in her voice and baby blue eyes made his heart kick back to life. He wanted more of it. “You had no way of knowing.”
She offered a smile, but it wasn’t full of pity like most people when they found out about his father, but of understanding. He wanted to know more, but he knew it wasn’t the time to pry.
“Well, come on, I’ll show you around.”
Her eyes brightened, and his cock tugged hungrily when he caught the faint scent of her perfume as he passed her. Heaven help him, this woman was going to send him to an early grave.
He showed her all the different rooms and machines, introduced her to Jim and Michael, who both gave him a wide-eyed stare when they saw her. He could only shrug in return. The woman simply didn’t seem to know how stunningly beautiful she was, and seemed so genuinely happy to meet his employees.
Damn it. There wasn’t a single unappealing thing about her. And if she kept showing up in workout tights, it wasn’t going to be long before his interest was there for everyone to see.
The last room he showed her was the storage area. It was full of long shelves with wood carefully sorted into type, size, and thickness. It was his favorite room in the world. The room he had dreamed about since childhood. It was a playground.
“Oh, wow,” she breathed. “I didn’t realize you had this much stock on hand.”
He shrugged. “I can’t seem to stop buying when I find a good source or a rare cut.”
“Well,” she said cutely, “I suppose there are worse habits,” and then disappeared around one of the shelves.
He shook his head. Dead. She was going to kill him dead. But he would enjoy it.
With that in mind, he followed her down the aisle just far enough back to really enjoy the sway of her backside. It was a fucking knock-out. No, scratch that, she was a fucking knock-out.
“Are you looking for something in particular?” he finally asked. They were getting close to a dead-end, and she had been scanning the shelves pretty carefully.
“Zebrawood,” she answered sheepishly. “I just wondered if you had more pieces like that coffee table.”
“I have a few,” he said, his voice taking on a darker, definitely more sultry tone. “But nothing is quite like that one.”
He could see the flush start to climb her neck at the change in his voice, and she turned toward him with wide eyes. “I’m sure.”
He had forgotten what they were talking about and just kept moving toward her. She backed up a step but had nowhere to go with her back against the shelves. Her flush was in full force and her eyes darted to him and then focused on his mouth.
Stopping just short of her, he let his eyes roll over her luscious lips, the curve of her neck, the valley between her breasts. “Gabi,” he said, his voice was seductive and dark, and he could feel the intake of her breath as he leaned toward her. His skin buzzed knowing she wanted to kiss him just as much as he wanted to kiss her.
“Gabi,” he said again. Her eyes met his and were filled with so much desire he couldn’t see straight.
Without thinking, he slid a hand up her neck, cradled her cheek, and brought his lips closer.
Hers parted.
And then her phone rang, startling them both.
She fumbled for her phone, her flush deeper than ever as a ridiculous electronic version of “Whip It” filled the space between them.
“It’s my dad,” she said sheepishly and slipped away from him.
He groaned inwardly as her footsteps carried her down the aisle. He heard her greet her father with a strained voice, and then she disappeared from the shop taking all the warmth with her.
He dropped his head to the shelf she had just been leaning against and took a steadying breath. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck! He had been so close to finally tasting her. His cock was going to be hard for hours.
Chapter 9
Gabi
Gabi put her head on the steering wheel of her car once she was safely out of Mason’s shop. She was shaking from desire, from the realization that she had been about to let him kiss her right there in the stockroom.
What was she, sixteen?
Still, he was just so large, so sexy, so everything male that she couldn’t really blame herself. Dear God, he did things to her she had never felt before, and they hadn’t even officially touched. What would it be like to have him inside her? Moving over her?
“Gaaah,” she said aloud, and then put the car in reverse. She needed to get out of here before she went back in and begged for more. She would have to thank her father for saving her at some point.
He was coming into town in a few days, so she tried to focus her thoughts on that. She had purchased tickets to the Friday evening game and planned to take him all over Chicago. She couldn’t wait; she missed her father so much.
When she got back to the apartment, she went straight to Kylie’s door and pounded furiously. She still hadn’t heard about her date with Grant, and all she really knew was that she got home around three a.m.
“Oh my God,” Kylie whined as she whipped open the door. “Why are you so evil?”
“Why haven’t you texted any details?” she demanded.
Kylie shrugged indifferently and went back to the sofa where she had clearly been camped out all day. “I guess because they’re not that interesting.”
“Oh, noooo,” she said and sat down on the couch next to her. “What happened? Tell me everything.” Distract me, is what she really wanted to say, please, anything.
“Well, dinner was amazing,” she said, pulling her legs up under her. She was wearing a purple unicorn T-shirt and sweatpants that were probably eight years old. Her hair was gathered in a haphazard ponytail that clearly hadn’t be
en brushed all day. “Worth the waitlist.”
“But Grant?”
She shrugged again. “He was very sweet, don’t get me wrong. And so hot.”
“Yeah, I saw.”
“But he’s boring. I mean, I want to hear about his work and what he does, but that’s not all I want to talk about. I felt like he was expecting me to take notes. And Gabs, you know how much I hate school.”
Gabi giggled. “Really? It was that bad?”
She groaned. “Whatever you’re imagining, it was worse. Way worse. And he didn’t even ask me anything about my life. I don’t need to talk about myself all the time, but this was ridiculous. I tried to tell him about our business and he just stared at me like I was rude to interrupt.”
“Oh, God, that’s awful.”
“You’re telling me.” She sighed and put her feet on Gabi’s lap. “So, obviously, that’s going nowhere. He might have fantastic eyebrows, but that’s not enough for me.”
She giggled again. “I’m sorry, Ky, I know you were super excited about this one.”
“Eh, I’ll get over it.”
She wished she was even an eighth as elastic as her friend.
“Anyway, tell me about you, where have you been today?”
“Spin class,” she answered but could feel her traitorous flush start creeping its way up her neck. Her tank top was not going to do her any favors hiding it.
Kylie spotted it instantly. “Spin class does not usually give you the reds, Gabs.” She eyed her suspiciously. “Where else did you go?”
She let out a sigh. “AdamsMade.”
Kylie pushed herself up, suddenly filled with interest. “What? Why?”
She shrugged and tried to look like she didn’t care. “Mason asked me to come okay the walnut samples for the cabinet doors. So I did.”
“What?” Kylie pressed. “He wanted you to okay the samples?”
“Yeah, why?”
Her smile started spreading. “The most talented furniture designer I’ve ever seen needed Gabi Turner to okay wood samples?”
Gabi’s eyes widened. Oh, God. She hadn’t thought of that. Mason didn’t need her approval for anything. He was the expert. Her flush finished its journey to her hairline in record time. Had he tricked her?
Kylie laughed. “Sounds like Mason just wanted to see you.”
“Oh, God,” she said, dropping her head into her hands.
“And you fell for it.” She laughed and laughed, falling back into the sofa. “This is amazing, and you went dressed in that?”
“Well, I didn’t want him to think I’d get all gussied up for him.”
She shook her head. “Oh, Gabi, if you were trying to turn him off, this is the worst possible way.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, your ass looks amazing, your skin is glowing. You probably gave him a hard-on for the rest of his life. Oh, that poor man.”
Great. And then she nearly went and let him kiss her. That was staying her secret.
“He’s clearly into you, Gabs. Why not just let it happen?”
She took a breath. “Because it’s taken three years of divorce to undo what Matt did to me, and I just don’t want to ever put my happiness, my wellness, on hold for a man again. What if I fall for Mason and he’s just the same? And then suddenly I’m married but alone and so verbally beaten that I can barely get myself in the shower. I don’t want that again.”
“Mason isn’t like that,” Kylie said softly.
“Matt wasn’t when I met him, either.”
She just smiled understandingly, reached out to squeeze her hand, and changed the subject. “Well, anyway, Georgie’s coming this week, right?”
Kylie loved Gabi’s father, she hadn’t had much of her own growing up. She grinned. “He flies in on Thursday; he’ll be here through the weekend.”
She clapped her hands together. “I can’t wait. We have to take him everywhere.”
“That’s the plan. You’re still on for the game Friday, right?”
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
Mason
“Good morning, Mason,” Veronica greeted him as she and Cruz breezed through the door Monday morning. She was dressed in a demure pair of pants that covered her ankle bracelet and a stylish blouse that went a long way to make her look professional. The best part is that she looked excited—he hadn’t seen that light in her eyes since she was probably twelve and she had just figured out how to do a rail stand on her skateboard.
“Good morning, Veronica, you look very professional.”
She beamed.
“She’d better,” Cruz muttered. “That get-up was not cheap.”
Veronica ignored him and pushed her straight black hair off her shoulder. “So, what do I do?”
Cruz slapped him on the back. “Good luck, man, you’re on your own,” and then disappeared into the back.
Mason started by giving her a tour of the facilities while explaining what her role would be, and then ended with showing her how the phones and online ordering system worked. She was a quick study and seemed genuinely pleased to be there, so after just an hour of orientation, he felt confident he could leave her to the front desk by herself.
Cruz seemed surprised to see him so soon. He was working on hand-sanding the legs of Mrs. Finch’s dining room table. “How’d it go?”
“Easy,” he replied, pulling out the designs for the cabinets. “She’s really smart, you know.”
He shook his head. “Mentiroso, you should see her grades.”
“No, I mean it.” It made sense to him. “Maybe she gets into so much trouble because she’s bored at school. Maybe she needs to be in some honor programs her senior year.”
Cruz considered it. “Maybe. Might be hard to convince her, but, yeah, you’re probably right.”
“How was your weekend otherwise?”
He let out a sigh and pointed toward the showroom. “Pretty boring, it’s hard to go out when I’m babysitting the world’s biggest toddler. It’s so bad that I was actually glad to take her to the mall just to get out of the house.”
Mason laughed.
“What about you?” he asked, his voice turning playful.
Mason braced for what was coming. “Nothing interesting, actually.”
Cruz stood from his work and eyed Mason. “That’s not what I heard.”
“Is that so?” He turned away from his friend under the guise of searching for more papers. There were none.
“Yeah, the guys told me you had your redhead in here on Saturday morning. To okay some samples?”
Mason groaned inwardly and turned back around. He should have known this would happen. “This is an important job for all of us, I wanted to make sure she was happy before I cut.”
“Right,” he said, laughing. “I never thought I’d see the day when Mason Adams couldn’t make a woman fall for him in the first five minutes. Must be torture.”
It was. Christ almighty, it was absolutely fucking torture. “Say what you want, I’m just trying to make sure this company does its best work.” Wow, he was bad at lying.
Cruz just laughed. “Well, while you’re busy trying to bag this chick, will you please get me a date with Kylie?”
“I’ll put in a good word,” he said. He didn’t know how far it would go, he could barely get Gabi to like him. “But I can’t guarantee anything.”
His friend shook his head. “The world must be ending. Veronica is smart”—he used finger quotes—“and you can’t get a girl.”
Mumbling to himself, he grabbed the designs and started measuring out the walnut for the cabinet doors. He honestly couldn’t remember the last time he had trouble getting a girl to go home with him, much less smile at him.
Was he losing his touch? Because this was a bad time for that.
The more he thought about not being able to “get” Gabi, the more determined he became to do just that. He would just have to turn his charm up. And he’d make a point to see if he could get any in
fo from Kylie. If he could get her on his side, it might help. It was a long shot, but when he remembered Gabi’s flushed cheeks and the slight intake of her breath when he nearly kissed her, he decided he’d rather die than not try.
Chapter 10
Gabi
“Yes,” Mrs. Finch said, looking at the master suite design. They were sitting in the small but stylish G&K office finalizing a few textiles.
“Yes?” Gabi asked, her heart thundered. Was she finally going to give the go-ahead on her favorite room?
Mrs. Finch uncrossed her linen-draped legs and leaned forward. “Yes,” she said, setting the design back on the desk. She looked at Gabi with a rare smile. “This is my favorite room you’ve shown me, Miss Turner.”
She stifled the urge to squeal and instead said, “Thank you, I’m so glad you like it.”
“I do, especially the feature wall. I expect you to have Mason build it, of course.”
Her toes curled in her shoes at the tender way the woman said his name. “Of course. I’ve seen the walnut samples he’s using for the kitchen cabinets, they’re absolutely gorgeous.”
Mrs. Finch smiled. “I’m sure they are, not as gorgeous as him but close, I’m sure.”
Gabi laughed politely at the joke, but her stomach pulled when her brain took her back to the almost kiss in the stockroom.
“If I were ten years younger ...” She trailed off, clearly indulging in X-rated thoughts of Mason.
She bit back the urge to suggest that twenty years might be more realistic.
“Anyway ...” Mrs. Finch cleared her thoughts and gathered her expensive purse. “Go ahead with textile orders and start working with Mason on this.” She pointed toward the master suite design and stood up, uncurling her lithe, stylishly clad body. “And, Gabi, good work.”
Gabi beamed and stood up with her to walk her to the door.
After she had left and there was no one around, Gabi did the dance she’d been holding back, adding an ear-splitting squeal to get the full effect.
She pulled out her phone to text Kylie the good news, but her good mood instantly vanished the second she saw UNKNOWN repeatedly on her text log.
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