Mason: #6 (Allen Securities)

by Madison Stevens

  Red spread across her face as she looked down and mumbled something about dinner before bolting from the room.

  Mason took a moment to breathe in deeply.

  Damn. Two more seconds, and he might have actually leaned in for the kiss he’d been thinking about. Not exactly the kid-friendly version either.

  “Daddy, come play,” Lucy said and pulled on his hand as he pushed away his lustful thoughts. This wasn’t porn. He wasn’t banging the sitter.

  Chapter Three

  “Only if you’re good?” Victoria whispered. Her face heated from her own words.

  What the hell kind of game was she playing? Mason wasn’t interested in her. She was just fun to play with. She shook her head. Overthinking was her enemy.

  Not wanting to dwell on the embarrassing situation, Victoria pulled a piece off the meat and took a bite.

  Perfect.

  She went to place the other piece in her mouth but stopped when Mason placed his hand on her wrist and placed the meat to his mouth. He bit the meat, his lips brushing her fingers as he did. Victoria’s nipples tightened.

  He winked at her before letting her hand go.

  “Perfect,” he said and reached around her to grab the plates.

  It was nothing. Really. They always set the table together, and often she would have him taste the meal. Maybe not out of her fingers, but it really was no big deal.

  Or at least she thought.

  Mason placed the plates next to her as she cut off little pieces of meat for the children, and he scooped a few vegetables on their plate.

  He set it on the table in front of them.

  “How many carrots do I have to eat?” Tommy asked.

  “I don’t like the green things,” Lucy said.

  Mason sighed loudly.

  “You have two carrots, eat them both,” he said. “And the green is celery. It’s good for you.”

  Really, Victoria didn’t mind. Children were honest about what they didn’t like. Unlike adults, it wasn’t meant as a slight against the person making the meal.

  “Tori has been very nice to make us dinner,” Mason said as he poured water in four glasses. “Don’t you want her to keep cooking for us?”

  Victoria brought their two plates over and placed them on the table. The children sat across from one another, and she could tell he was worried she might be upset.

  She gave Mason a small smiled but stopped when Lucy launched herself from her chair.

  “You won’t leave us will you?” she cried. “I promise I’ll be a good girl and eat the gross green things.”

  Victoria smoothed down her hair and placed a kiss on top of her head.

  “I wouldn’t leave even if you didn’t,” she said and looked down at her. Large tears pooled in the girl’s pretty hazel eyes. “But it would be very nice if you tried to eat the celery.”

  Lucy nodded and walked back to her place at the table.

  Victoria looked over at Mason, who watched the children as they silently ate. She could see the guilt in his eyes. He hadn’t meant to scare them.

  They ate in silence, and when they were finished, she noticed that both had eaten everything on their plate.

  Tommy stopped on his way out of the kitchen and handed her his plate.

  “I don’t like carrots,” he said firmly. “But yours are good.”

  She had to stop herself from pulling him into a hard hug and squeezing all the pain and mistrust right out of him.

  Victoria watched as Mason took them into the other room for their evening bath. While the children splashed in the tub, she washed the dishes from the evening meal. She listened as he talked with them about their day.

  He quieted for a moment, then forced a smile. “How would you both like to see your mother?”

  Victoria dropped the dishes back into the sink and leaned forward to take deep breaths.

  Sarah was back?

  The children stared up at Mason with surprise, not that he could blame them. For the last year he had gone out of his way not to even mention her, and now here he was offering to take them to her.

  “Is Mommy coming home?” Lucy asked and stepped out of the water.

  He wrapped her in a warm towel and shook his head.

  Tommy was next to step out. He stared his father right in the eye as he spoke.

  “Good,” he said. “I don’t want her as Mommy anymore.”

  Mason grimaced. This was going about as well as could be expected.

  He wrapped the boy in a towel as well.

  “Well, Mommy still wants to see you,” he said as the children slipped into their pajamas. “She just had some things she needed to get ready, and now she wants you to come see her new place.”

  They both froze, the fear etched on their faces. He tugged on their hands and led them to their room.

  “Are we going to live with Mommy?” Lucy asked. Her eyes were wide with worry, and he hated to see it there.

  “No, baby,” he said and reached out for them both.

  They ran to his arms.

  “This will always be your home,” he said. “Mommy just wants you to visit her for a bit. She misses you.”

  Tommy spoke with his face still buried in Mason’s shoulder. “Then why didn’t she come sooner?”

  Mason sighed. He knew the question was going to be asked. It was one he’d asked many times before.

  “She was just busy,” he said, knowing it sounded as lame as it was.

  Tommy stiffened in his arms and pulled back, his face red.

  “Well, I’m not going,” he said. “I’m busy. Tori is going to take me back to the park.”

  Mason sighed.

  “Look, buddy,” he said. “Mommy is coming tomorrow, and you need to go with her. I promise that it will only be a month, and then you’ll be home to play with Tori all you want.”

  The boy stared hard at Mason. The child had obviously inherited his mother’s stubborn nature. He walked around his sister and father to the other side of his bed and climbed in.

  Experiencing the cold shoulder of a child was the worst.

  “You’ll feel better about it in the morning,” he said. At least he hoped that was true.

  Lucy climbed into her bed, and he shut off the light.

  “Goodnight,” he said.

  Lucy sighed. “Night.”

  Tommy flipped over to the other side. Professional-level silent treatment.

  Mason shook his head and stepped out of the room before shutting the door.

  When he entered the living room, he found Tori picking up her things from around the house. Guilt spread through him. The kids weren’t the only ones who were upset.

  “You heard?” he asked.

  Tori looked over to him from the door and nodded.

  “They’ll be gone a month,” he said.

  She nodded again.

  “Will you come by tomorrow?”

  Her gaze darted to the hallway leading to the bedroom before she nodded again.

  Tori opened the front door and paused, her back still to him.

  “Night,” she said stiffly.

  Mason sighed. “Night.”

  She was out the door before he’d even gotten the words out. She hurried to her car, and he watched as the headlights drifted off around the corner. All his happy thoughts from before had vanished.

  Chapter Four

  Her fitful sleep haunted Victoria as she drove toward Mason’s home the following afternoon. The whole drive she kept replaying the previous evening’s events in her head.

  She stifled a yawn, wondering if she should have handled leaving Mason’s house better. Maybe that would have helped her get some decent sleep.

  Mason wanted her. There was no way she’d been mistaken about the desire in his eyes. What that meant, she couldn’t really say, especially with the children going off to their mother’s.

  Her heart ached at the thought of them with Sarah. She’d heard nothing but bad things about the woman. Not only had she
left Mason with a broken heart, but she’d had no problem running off to pursue her acting career, leaving her sweet children behind like an afterthought. The very idea of it made her gag. Those kids deserved more than that.

  They deserved someone who cared.

  It had been chance that had led her to start watching them. After she’d broken her leg during the chase by the Los Malos bikers, she had received so many surgeries.

  The procedures had helped her regain full use of the leg, but there was no chance for her to finish school on time. She’d had to take a year off in order to heal and get the therapy she needed.

  Jess, her sister, and Taylor had been worried for her. She wasn’t like them. She couldn’t bounce back from what had happened so easily. It was not like she was used to dealing with being shot at and running through the forest for her life.

  She was going to be a grade-school teacher for crying out loud. She was more worried about kids clogging toilets or taking a tumble from the monkey bars.

  So she found herself adrift, not sure what she wanted to do in the meantime. When the chance to watch Mason’s two kids had come up, her friends pushed her to take it.

  It wasn’t that she hadn’t wanted the job. She loved the times she’d been able to play with the kids at the Allen family home, but there was still a large part of her that was afraid, and not of what lurked in the dark. It had been months since she’d even thought about the dangerous biker gang. No, she was more afraid of her own feelings.

  There was no question Mason was attractive. He had the sort of carefree boy-next-door look that weakened her knees, but he had two children and was split from his wife. She was certain a final divorce was on the way, but Mason didn’t seem interested in anything. Aside from last night, he’d never given any hint he was over Sarah.

  Victoria looked down at her simple black leggings and t-shirt. Dowdy was the only word that came to mind.

  She shook her head. It didn’t matter in the end. She wasn’t driving to Mason’s house to go on a date. She’d say goodbye to the children and then head on to her physical therapy. As it was, she was cutting things close by even stopping by, but she just had to see them before they left.

  Victoria pulled up behind a shiny red Porsche outside the house.

  She swallowed hard at the extravagance and quickly made her way up to the house.

  Before she could even knock, Mason opened the door. His face looked pinched, and for a moment, she wondered if she shouldn’t have stayed away.

  He stared at her for a moment, his eyes following the length of her body. Her face flamed.

  “I have therapy,” she said. His eyes came back up to hers, and for a moment, she wondered if she saw the same heat from last night.

  “Tori!” Lucy shouted and pushed past her father to grab Victoria’s hand and pulled her inside.

  Victoria brushed past Mason. Her face heated once again as his comfortable scent of mint and soap washed over her.

  “Mommy has a new friend,” Lucy said excitedly. “He’s taking us to meet movie stars.”

  Mason grunted in irritation, and Victoria could guess his thoughts on the subject.

  Unsurprisingly, Sarah was stunning as always. She wore tanned flowing pants that Victoria knew only from fashion magazines to be palazzo pants and a shear gold sequined top. The woman screamed glamor, and next to her, Victoria felt about as small as the look on Sarah’s face suggested she felt about her.

  Victoria held out her hand and smiled. “Your children are amazing.”

  Sarah wrinkled her nose and looked like she’d rather eat rotten eggs than shake her hand.

  A warm, soft hand slipped into hers.

  “It’s nice to meet you.”

  She stared in surprise at the man standing next to Sarah. He was quite a bit older than her. Gray was already starting to show through the dark brown hair around his temples. Still, she smiled back at him. His welcome was far more charming than Sarah’s.

  “I’m Sam. I’ve been working with Sarah on the set of my film,” he said. The lines around his face creased as he smiled. “And you must be Tori. The children have told us all about you.”

  Tommy pushed between them, forcing their hands to separate. He pulled her back until she was standing next to Mason.

  She glanced over to Mason, but his eyes remained fixed on Sarah. Victoria felt her heart fall a little.

  “So now that the kids have seen the babysitter,” Sarah said, “I think we can go.”

  She stepped over to the door like she knew the whole room was watching. Something about the way she spoke filled Victoria with irritation.

  The children walked quietly to the door and followed their mother out.

  Victoria stood there for a few moments, unsure what to do.

  Surprise passed over her when Mason placed a hand at her waist to guide her to the door. His thumb rubbed against her shirt in a comforting way she couldn’t help but love.

  They made their way to the car and stopped just outside.

  Sarah stood frozen near the Porsche, glaring at them, or more specifically Mason’s hand on her. Her piercing brown eyes narrowed when she looked over to Victoria. Hatred filled her face, a hatred Victoria didn’t even know she could elicit.

  After all, when she’d got caught up with the Los Malos, that had simply been about being in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it was not like she’d personally done something to earn their wrath.

  Mason cleared his throat when Sarah’s piercing gaze slid over to him. His hand dropped away.

  Not wanting to look at him, Victoria swallowed the lump that had formed in her throat. She had to get out of there quickly before the tears started to fall.

  “The children said they won’t leave until she hugs them,” Sarah said, her tone full of barely concealed contempt.

  Victoria hesitated before then heading over to hug both the children as tightly as she could. She kissed each on the cheek and could feel her tears starting to well up for a totally different reason. She sniffed loudly and tried to ignore the huff that Sarah let out.

  Lucy stepped in and placed her hands on each cheek. The little girl stared hard at her.

  “It’s only for a few weeks,” she said, her voice as serious as if she’d just heard the same speech elsewhere. “Then we’ll be back to have fun.”

  Victoria gave a choked laugh and nodded. She stood and looked down at Tommy, who watched her with concern. It was clear he still distrusted the situation.

  “Have fun,” Victoria said with a smile.

  He gave a solemn nod and then glanced over to his father before speaking.

  “Take care of Daddy,” he said.

  That seemed to be all Sarah could take.

  “Time to go,” she said and gave them a firm push toward the car.

  The children climbed in, getting secure in their seats with a bit of help from Sam, who climbed into the driver’s seat after that and closed his door. Sarah remained outside the car still, her face awash in irritation.

  Victoria glanced over to Mason, who was once again fixed on Sarah. She shook her head.

  “Goodbye,” Victoria said quietly before racing to her car.

  Mason watched as Tori drove away and hated that she’d been so upset. The whole situation was bullshit. Having to play nice with she-beast was torture and even more so when she kept making little comments.

  “Really?” Sarah said, her arms crossed over her chest as she watched Tori drive away.

  He frowned. “Really what?”

  She gave a little snicker and shook her head.

  “Banging the babysitter?”

  Mason glanced at the car to make sure the kids were inside with the windows closed and couldn’t hear them. He glared at Sarah. She always did seem to know when he found a woman attractive.

  “It’s not exactly like she’s a child,” he said, the words were out before he could even stop them. Why hadn’t he just told her they weren’t involved?

  Sarah’s fac
e pinched up, making her already sharp features even more so.

  “You always did like the sweet ones,” she said and stepped a little closer. “But dirty was always way more fun.”

  He nearly laughed at her husky voice. The thought she still has some sort of power over him was laughable.

  He rolled his eyes and stepped back. This was childish. He wasn’t going to fight with her over this when she’d been the one to bail on their relationship and family. Their relationship had been over for years if he were being honest. She only forced the truth of it when she left.

  “Looks like now I’ve got best of both worlds,” he said.

  Sarah huffed loudly and swung open the passenger-side door. The back window rolled down, and he hugged each of his children and kissed them on their chubby cheeks.

  “Be good,” he whispered. “And I’ll call as much as I can.”

  Sarah snorted from the front seat.

  “We’re going to have so much fun we won’t even think about Daddy,” she said.

  Tommy frowned at her and looked like he wanted to say something but didn’t.

  Sam turned in his seat and handed him a card.

  “This has the home phone on it,” he said. “Call when you can.”

  Mason nodded. He never would have thought the new boyfriend would be someone he liked. He almost felt sorry for the guy.

  He pulled back from the car and closed the door. His heart squeezed as he watched his children’s little faces in the back of the car as they drove off.

  A whole month without them. He still didn’t know where to start.

  Mason shook himself. He’d just stick to the plan of throwing himself into work until they were back where they belonged.

  Chapter Five

  It didn’t take Mason long to head back to the Allen facility. Without the kids, silence ruled the house. More than an hour alone was torture.

  Now, as he sat at a table in the conference room, he had time to reflect on how much things had changed.

  He’d forgotten what it was like before with Sarah, how little noise the children made and how often they walked on egg shells around her.