As Mason lowered his head toward hers, she felt a moment of uncertainty. This was just supposed to be some fun and flirty banter. He wasn’t supposed to want to kiss her!
But man-oh-man did she want to kiss him.
Go big or go home, right?
And when his lips touched hers, Scarlett felt it all the way to her toes. His strong arms slowly banded around her to pull her in as close as could be and she responded in kind as her own arms slowly wound their way over his shoulders. He was so tall and broad that she almost had to get up on her tiptoes to accomplish that move.
Soft lips, strong arms, stubbled jaw…there wasn’t a thing about Mason she wasn’t suddenly drawn to and as the kiss went from curious to seeking to almost carnal, Scarlett cursed the fact that they were in the middle of a concession courtyard and how she had turned down his invitation to go out later.
He let out a soft moan–or maybe it was her–but it was hard to tell because basically they were sharing breath. In her entire life, she had never been so turned on by a kiss. She wasn’t a virgin and she wasn’t a prude; honestly, she loved sex. It had just been a long time since she’d had any. And unfortunately, after this one kiss, the bar was going to be seriously raised before she would consider sleeping with anyone again.
Because…wow.
Slowly, Mason broke the kiss. What was wild was now soft and as he sipped at her lips one last time, she heard him whisper, “Damn.”
Yeah. She felt the same way.
When he lifted his head, he looked down at her before one of his hands came up and caressed her cheek. She leaned into his touch and wished she had something witty or at least sophisticated to say. She knew that if she tried to open her mouth, the only things to come out would be small, one-syllable words.
And even they might be a stretch.
His hand dropped and he took a step back, his hands going to his pockets. Ducking his head, he looked…uncertain. He looked nothing at all like his usual confident self.
“I know you said you had plans later, but…if you change your mind, maybe meet me back here after the show,” he said quietly.
“Mason, I…”
One strong finger covered her lips. “You don’t have to say anything. I get it. Just…think about it.”
And then he turned and walked away. Leaving her a little dazed, confused, and turned on.
Three
Please be there. Please be there. Please be there.
Mason slowly made his way up the aisle after the show and did his best to make small talk with his cousins and the rest of his family, but his mind was elsewhere.
Scarlett Jones.
Holy. Shit.
In a million years he never thought he’d be so completely blown away by a kiss, but…here he was. And he’d be lying if he said he’d never thought about kissing Scarlett. Hell, she was always there in his peripheral ever since middle school, but they didn’t run in the same crowds and she gave a serious “back off” vibe.
Until tonight.
Yeah, holy…shit.
Impatiently, he stopped and scanned the crowd ahead of him. He was still in the aisle of the amphitheater so he couldn’t see out to the concession area and it was making him crazy. All around him, people were talking about how great the show was and how much fun it was to hang out, but all Mason wanted to do was shove his way to the top and find out if she was there or not.
For the most part, he was fairly certain she wouldn’t be. It didn’t take a genius to see she had a serious problem with him. Well, maybe not him specifically, but people like him. And yeah, he knew her situation–she grew up poor and most people felt sorry for her because of it. But he never saw her like that. To him, she was always just Scarlett–the pretty girl with the big dark eyes, curvy body, and the shy smile he knew she made people work for.
He now knew this personally and was more than willing to work as hard as she wanted.
The fact that he came on so strong probably didn’t work in his favor either. And the strangest part was that he normally didn’t. Did he flirt? Yes. Did he enjoy the chase? Yes. But for the most part, whenever a woman gave him the kind of attitude Scarlett did, he wished them a good night and moved on.
But with her, he couldn’t.
Hell, if she wasn’t up there waiting by the wall, Mason knew he’d want to find out where she was and who she was hanging out with. He already knew it was Courtney, but that didn’t help. It wasn’t like he was friends with her either. So would he start asking about her around town? Yes. And it wouldn’t be hard to find out. She’d lived here in Magnolia her entire life too and if there was one thing he could be certain of, it wouldn’t take long for him to talk to someone who knew her.
That wasn’t creepy, right?
The crowd moved slowly and he huffed loudly.
“Dude, what is your deal?” Beside him, his sister Peyton looked at him with mild interest. “Two thousand people are trying to exit through two entrances. How fast can they go?”
“Yeah, I get it, but we already hung back for a while and it’s like the damn line isn’t even trying to move!”
“What’s your rush? Hot date or something?”
If he were lucky…
His sister nudged him with her elbow–her bony elbow–and looked up at him with amusement. Her black hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail and she looked all of twelve to him–something he teased her about constantly.
“None of your business,” he teased, hoping he didn’t sound too annoyed.
She laughed–but not before elbowing him again. “Why are you such a jerk?”
“Why are your elbows so damn sharp?” he countered, but now they were both laughing.
“C’mon, what’s going on with you?” she asked as they slowly moved along. “You’ve been distracted all night. If you didn’t want to come to the show, why did you?”
He shrugged. “This is where everyone was going to be. I bet every place in town was empty tonight.”
“I guess…but still, you disappeared for a while.”
Another shrug. “Went to use the restroom and there was a line.”
“Hmm…”
“Look,” he began, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Hanging out with the folks on a Friday night is not my idea of a good time–even if it is for a concert. I just finally got settled in the new place and it was a little too soon to have to play happy family.”
“I get it,” she said with a sigh. “So how is it?”
“Awesome,” he said with a grin, happy to see they were almost through the entrance gate to the concession area. “I’m finally all unpacked and it feels great to have a place to myself.”
“You should have done it a long time ago, bro. Seriously, you never should have moved back in after graduation.”
“Yeah, I know. Sam and I have had that discussion more than once.”
“Trust me, we all have.”
“All?”
“Well, not mom and dad, but everyone else.”
It was hard to be annoyed when it was simply the truth. Everyone had seen it but him. Lesson learned.
They walked through the gate and Mason frantically began to look around even as his sister continued to chatter on about how lucky he was, how she couldn’t wait to come over, blah, blah, blah.
There she is.
His heart kicked hard in his chest and anticipation began to hum through him.
She’s really here.
At that moment, Scarlett looked in his direction and caught his gaze.
And then spotted Peyton beside him.
Her gaze narrowed and she immediately turned and began to walk away. Panic hit him and he gently shoved his sister away with a murmured apology as he went after Scarlett. Moving quickly through the crowd, he jumped up every once in a while when he lost sight of her. Luckily, she didn’t go far and he caught up to her at one of the gates that led to the parking lot.
“Hey!” he called, reaching out and touching her arm. She spun a
nd gave him a bored look. “What happened back there? I…I thought you were waiting for me.”
The look she gave him spoke volumes and no doubt she was going to deny she was waiting at all.
“You thought wrong.”
Sometimes being right sucked.
She looked just beyond him as if searching for someone and he figured she was looking for her friends. Taking a step back, he felt utterly foolish and completely out of his element while Scarlett’s expression was…disappointed.
With a curt nod, Mason turned to walk away. He wasn’t going to beg her to change her mind and clearly he was the only one who was affected by their kiss.
“I’m sure your friend with the dark hair will be more than happy to hang out with you,” she quipped as soon as his back was turned.
Friend with the dark hair?
A slow smile crept across his face and he had to fight the urge to high-five himself.
She was jealous.
Turning back toward her, he took a tentative step forward. “You mean the petite one with blue eyes and hair in a ponytail?”
Scarlett crossed her arms over her chest and snorted with disgust. “I didn’t see her eyes from that distance, but…yeah. Her. I’m surprised she wasn’t running after you.”
Another step.
“Well, to be honest, she has in the past and she probably will again…”
“Ugh…you are the worst, Bishop,” she murmured but didn’t move.
It wasn’t until he was toe to toe with her that he leaned in close and said, “But considering she’s my younger sister, I’d say that’s normal behavior, wouldn’t you?”
Those dark eyes of hers went wide, her mouth formed a perfect “O”, and it took every ounce of strength to keep from kissing her.
The way he saw it, they could stand here and make awkward conversation about her mistake, or they could simply pretend this was where they were supposed to meet up and plan on where they would go next.
“Are you hungry?” he asked. “I was thinking of grabbing a burger at the Sand Bar. What do you think?”
“I ate there last night,” she replied. “And so did you.” Her hands instantly flew to her mouth at her admission and Mason thought it was cute as hell.
And her blush only added to all the things he was finding attractive about her.
“True,” he said casually, “but they do have the best burgers in town.” Then he paused. “But I’m sure they’ll be one of the most crowded now that the show is over. No doubt everyone’s going to go out for drinks and a bite to eat.”
She nodded but wouldn’t look directly at him and Mason took it as a good sign that she hadn’t turned him down.
In a perfect world, they wouldn’t go out for burgers or drinks at all. He’d take her home where they could be alone and they could get to know each other, where he could kiss her without any distractions.
Now she was nibbling on her bottom lip as if contemplating something and he knew he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious as to what she was thinking about.
“Want to go to my place?” she blurted out and Mason seriously almost choked.
“Um…what?”
Nodding quickly without making eye contact, she went on, “I’m not really hungry and, like you said, most places around town are going to be crowded so…”
As amazing as her offer sounded, he could do her one better. Closing the small distance between them, he captured both her hands in his. “Come to my place,” he said thickly. “I just moved in and the thought of taking you there after the show has been on my mind ever since I went back to my seat.”
Okay, he hadn’t meant to admit that, but his mouth completely got ahead of him. Now he was practically holding his breath waiting to hear her response. Would she think of reasons why she couldn’t or push to have him go to her place or maybe…?
“Okay,” Scarlett said, finally looking at him. “Tell me your address and I’ll meet you there.”
He eyed her warily. She agreed way too quickly.
Then something hit him–she was probably going to ditch him. There was no way he could say with any great certainty, but right now Scarlett Jones seemed like a flight risk. He didn’t doubt she wanted him just as much as he wanted her, but for some reason she wasn’t fully comfortable with it.
“Where are you parked?” he asked.
“Far left side of lot three,” she replied simply. “But I have to wait for Courtney. We came together.”
“You drove?”
Shaking her head, she said, “No, she did.”
“Any chance you can text her and tell her you’re leaving with me?”
Nibbling her bottom lip again, Scarlett seemed to consider his suggestion and he had to wonder if she had been waiting for him, what had she already told her friend? He was about to ask when she pulled out her phone and quickly typed out a text. When she was done, she slipped the phone back into her purse and looked up at him. “Done.”
For a moment, he was too stunned to speak. Then his brain finally caught up and he took her by the hand. “Cool. Let’s go.”
It didn’t seem at all strange that Scarlett was walking through the massive crowd while holding Mason’s hand. They each waved to people they knew but they didn’t stop to talk to any of them.
Hell, they barely spoke to each other.
Mason seemed determined to get to his car as fast as possible and she was completely on board with that.
When she had gone back to her seat earlier, Courtney took one look at her and knew something was up. It would have been pointless to deny it and the concert wasn’t a big enough distraction to keep her friend from grilling her.
After she had briefly described her own apprehension about meeting up with him after the show–he was too rich, she was too poor, they didn’t make sense, there’s no purpose to even entertain such a thing–Courtney smacked her in the head and told her to stop being ridiculous.
And a few other choice names.
“Oh my God! Why are you even back here?” Courtney had cried. “You should have left with him already! You know this concert isn’t going to be nearly as exciting as being alone with Mason Bishop! What is wrong with you?”
Okay, that had totally been the wrong thing to say because Scarlett had instantly gone into defensive mode and reminded her friend of all the times she had hooked up with guys who weren’t worth it.
Then Courtney got defensive.
And all this unfolded while the band played on and the big dude beside her continued to try to dance.
“Look, I get that this sort of thing gets you all excited, but we both know that out of the two of us, you’re way more comfortable flirting with guys,” Scarlett explained. “This totally isn’t me!”
“But it could be! I’ve seen you laugh and flirt and relax around guys before, but normally you’re looking for some intellectual type you can have some decent conversation with.” She shuddered. “Personally, I don’t get it, but whatever.”
“Court…”
“No, I’m being serious here. I think if Mason wasn’t Mason, you wouldn’t think twice about leaving with him.”
“What does that mean?”
“You’re insecure and you’re all up in your own head right now and you need to stop it.”
It was pointless to pretend she didn’t know what she was referring to.
When Scarlett was silent, Courtney continued, “Aren’t you the least bit curious? I mean, what if you’ve been wrong all this time? And FYI, I think you have.”
“Hey!”
“Hey, nothing! Just go and put all your preconceived notions and snobbery aside and have some fun! Hang out and get to know him and if, at the end of the night, he’s a total tool, then all you’ve wasted is a couple of hours of your time. You’ve been out with worse…”
The thing was, she was right. Scarlett had to get out of her old mindset and move on. Plus, this was just about hanging out with him for tonight. It wasn’t as if she were ent
ertaining thoughts of this going anywhere beyond that.
Maybe.
Now they were darting through the crowds and she had to laugh. It really didn’t matter how fast they got to his car; the traffic was moving slowly and it would take a while for them to make it out of the lot
She wished she had brought one of the motorcycles from her father’s garage. If she had, they could have maneuvered through the line of cars and gotten out much faster.
Just the image of the two of them on a bike together made her laugh out loud. Mason looked over his shoulder at her. “What’s so funny?”
Shaking her head, she explained. “I was just thinking of how much faster we’d be out of here if I brought one of my bikes.”
His brows furrowed. “Bikes?”
“Yeah, I’ve got a couple of Harleys in the shop that I’ve been restoring. We could have zipped through the line and been on the road by now.”
He didn’t look like he believed her–or maybe he just thought she was crazy for even suggesting such a thing–and Scarlett wanted to kick herself for sharing her thoughts. A guy like Mason Bishop probably had no idea what to do with a woman who not only worked on motorcycles, but rode them too.
Hopefully he didn’t come up with some lame excuse to drop her off at home as soon as they were off the amphitheater property.
Because that would seriously suck.
She had felt so brave walking out to meet him. And by brave she meant she’d left her seat five minutes before the show ended so she could beat the crowd and be sure not to miss him. Either way, there had been excitement and confidence and a whole lot of anticipation right up until she had seen him walking out with his arm around another woman. Sure, it turned out to be one of his sisters, but for a few minutes there, she had mentally called herself every name in the book for thinking Mason could seriously be interested in someone like her.
Judging by the firm grip of his hand on hers and his determined stride, she wouldn’t doubt herself again.
They stopped next to a new model Jeep and for some reason, Scarlett was a little surprised. She expected him to drive some sort of sleek sports car, but she had a feeling this might be the first of many surprises where Mason was concerned. He opened the passenger side door for her and waited until she was settled before closing the door. Once he was seated beside her, she expected them to pull out of the spot and join the throng of cars inching toward the exit–after all, that’s what they were rushing for, right?
In Case You Didn’t Know Page 4