by Hazel Gower
I just nodded again, speechless as I was in heaven. Needing to show my gratitude I twirled and rose up and kissed a startled Mason. By the time he started getting really into it I pulled away. “Thank you. This is awesome.” I didn’t wait for his reply before I turned back and saw a smiling Sarah.
“I’ve started on the keys. Do you want to do some? Use the measure.” I watched as she showed me how to do them and then I tried myself. Sarah guided me and before long a timer went off. “That’s time with the cake done.” I looked at it and could see the shape of the piano. It was a huge cake.
Sarah went and put the cake in the fridge. While she did that I looked at Mason. He was being so good. I was sure he would be bored by now, especially since he did barely anything on the cake. He seemed happy enough, though, just watching me.
“Thanks for this. I really am enjoying this.”
He leaned down and brushed his lips over mine. “Don’t mention it. I love watching you in your element. I could watch you all day.”
He was so sweet, and not just because we were in a bakery. I loved this man. It was the easiest thing I’d ever done. “You’re the best.”
He chuckled and nibbled on my earlobe. “Remember you said that the next time you get cranky.”
Elbowing him, I smiled at Sarah as she came back with paper towels. “You can do whatever you want with this lot of cupcakes. I’ll show some icing techniques if you want but you can go wild with the cupcakes.”
“Yes, please, I’d love to know how to do the different flowers styles.”
“Sure. We need different ends for each style.” Sarah gathered a couple of different ends for the icing. “Mason, are you going to have a go at flower style icing?”
“I’ll give it a go. How hard can it be?”
Half an hour later I was laughing my arse off. Mason’s cupcakes looked like those funny nailed it videos where they do terrible jobs. Mason did genuinely try, but with his big beefy fingers and the fine detail it didn’t work. He was covered in pink, purple, green and peach colored icing and edible glitter. Most of mine looked good. Not in the same league as Sarah’s, but they were decent.
“Okay, the other cupcakes can be done with the candy and other things,” Sarah said between giggles.
“I don’t know why you two are laughing. I think I did an awesome job.” Mason pouted his full lips and pointed to his cupcakes. You couldn’t tell they’d tried to be flower cupcakes. One or two weren’t too bad, but most of them looked like blobs. He’d squeezed too hard, or not hard at all, and when he’d tried to fix his mistakes, he had smudged the other parts.
Knocking my hip against him, I smirked. “Sure, sugar. You did great.”
His grunt and rolled eyes had me laughing harder. “Come on, bear, stop making fun of me and help me finish these cupcakes. We only have a little under half an hour before we’re going to your next surprise.” He grinned down at me as he picked up the icing and squeezed it over a cupcake, grabbed a piece of Kit-Kat and stuck it in, then sprinkled M&Ms on it.
I was having a ball, but knew whatever he had planned next would be A.M.A.Z.I.N.G. I didn’t think the day could get any better, but boy, was I surprised.
“THIS IS THE LAST THING, bear, before we go home and get ready for our family get together,” Mason said as I took the blindfold off. We were out the front of a warehouse pet store that had everything.
Mason threaded his fingers with mine and we walked in. “You can have anything they have in stock. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“Is this a joke?” I whirled around, getting the best look I could of the pet shop. “You gave me four dogs already.”
Mason smirked at me and I felt like a kid in a candy store that had just been told they could have it all. Well, I had. “Nope. Go for it. Get whatever animal you want.” I let go of his hand. “I’m sure after today we’ll be able to start our own petting zoo.”
I didn’t even bother responding. I ran down towards where all the pets were. I already had four dogs, but one could never have enough pets. I went to the rescue animal section first.
She was the first one I noticed and I just knew I had to have her. She was the ugliest cat I’ve ever seen, with patches of fur missing and only one eye. In a way she kind of reminded me of myself when I first met Mason.
I turned to one of the waiting staff and pointed. “I want that one, please.”
Mason came up and his arms circled my waist. I spun to face him. “Are you sure, bear? She’s um . . . well, she’s . . . er . . . she’s ugly.”
“Exactly. Who’s going to take and love her if everyone thinks like you?” I poked his chest. “Me. I’ll love her so much, she won’t remember being abandoned. I’ll be the only owner she’ll ever want.”
He tilted my chin up and came down to take my lips in a kiss that took my breath away and left me panting and forgetting where we were. “You’re one of a kind, Alexa Jennings, and I’m one lucky man.”
Feeling the heat on my skin, I knew I was blushing like the virgin I was. Turning back to the employee I smiled at her as she brought out the cat.
“This here is Tabby. She’s three years old and was brought in over three months ago. We were worried no one was going to adopt her. She’s very funny with who she likes though. She gets on with all the other animals, just not many humans. She lets me and one other employee come near her. Her skin is healing as you can see, and the fur is growing back.”
I nodded and hesitantly let her smell me before I patted her. She leaned into my touch and I just knew we would be fine. After a while the woman handed her over to me. “Hello, Tabby. You’re coming home with us.” I snuggled her close and she let me. The lady seemed surprised.
Mason stared at the cat. “She seems taken with you just as much as you are with her. I’m not sure what the staff is talking about. In your embrace she’s a baby.” He leaned in and said, “You’re just a big softie.” He reached out to pat her and I giggled as Tabby hissed at him.
“Tabby, I love you already. I think you just gave him his first ever rejection.”
“Ha, ha, very funny, bear.” He went to touch me and Tabby hissed at him again and added a paw swipe. My giggle turned into a full-blown belly laugh. This day was awesome.
By the time we left I was the proud owner of one cat, three kittens, two rabbits, four gold fish, six tropical fish, and three guinea pigs.
Best birthday ever.
MY AUNT’S HOUSE WAS NOW a zoo. Alexa had gotten pretty much every pet she could, but she had cringed from the reptiles, mice, and rats. She broke my heart when she whispered, “Those were what I could never get used to, being homeless. The mice crawled over me, but the rats were worse. They nibbled any open wounds and bit.” I had been speechless. My anger rose that she’d known those things, but I didn’t know what I could say, so I held her to me and kissed her forehead and made a promise that she would never have to go through anything like that ever again.
When we arrived back at the house my sister-in-law and cousin’s wife and friends were at the house with bags full of presents and clothes. Divinity had dragged Alexa up to our rooms telling her they were going to help her get ready. Alexa had no idea we were going to Richard’s club, Here and Now. It was the best for security and large enough for everything that I wanted for her party. Richard had made it a private party night, and to compensate had reduced the entry fee into three of his other clubs.
We were now just entering the club and I wanted to see her face when she saw who I’d found and invited. My security team had been working hard the last couple of weeks finishing up background checks.
I moved to be in front of her and guided her in. Alexa looked stunning. Her hair was done in an elaborate half up, half down around her face do. Her eyes were a smoky pink that matched her shining lips and sparkly skin. Her dark pink dress was corset style at the top and flared out to her knees in a classy fifties style. Her cardigan was silver and glistened with the sparkle of her silver, rhinestone-covere
d shoes. She looked like a fairy. Since she’d walked down the stairs and met me at the door to leave, I’d had a permanent hard on.
As the doors opened I moved to the side for her to move as everyone yelled, “Surprise!”
Alexa’s gaze widened and then tears slid down her cheeks and a sob left her. “Oh, God. Oh. My. God,” she gasped out. Her gaze caught mine and my whole body stiffened as she cried out. “I love you. I love you so much.” She ran at me and I caught her before she fell in her high heels. “I love you. I love you. Oh, I love you,” she repeated over and over.
I held her to me and searched with my gaze for help. This was not the reaction I thought I would get finding all her old friends and her parents’ closest friends and her singing coach too. My mother came to my rescue, but the look she gave me wasn’t a nice one as she gathered Alexa to her.
“Grr, go see your father before I strangle you,” she growled.
I had no idea what I’d done, but I knew with that look that I was going to my dad and would find out.
As I walked away I got death glares from other people, too and tried to figure out what the hell I had done. My dad was at the bar and as I approached he shook his head in disappointment. He came to me and dragged me to the staff area and into Richard’s office.
“Son, I can see from your face you have no idea what you’ve done.”
I shrugged. “I didn’t think she would cry like that. Is that it?”
He whacked me upside the head and muttered, “Idiot boy.” I eased away from my dad and resisted the urge to rub my head. “That girl just told you she loves you. Not only did she say it once, but over and over in front of everyone she knows and loves and what did you do?” I opened my mouth, but he waved me quiet. “You stood there like an idiot and didn’t even say a fucking word.” He sighed and scrubbed his face. “What the hell is wrong with you?”
I tried to think of a reply that didn’t make me sound like even more of an idiot, but nothing came to me. “Argh, I was in shock at her reaction to the party. I mean. . .” I shook my head trying to shake something to say into it. “I love her. I do, but well, this all seems so surreal. I’ve been falling for her from the moment I laid eyes on her. No, then I’d just felt sorry for her, but at the hospital she’d started talking, and as I got to know her she became easier and easier to fall for, but this . . . well, I just froze. I’d told her I was falling for her and she had told me she loves me before, but never in front of so many people. I didn’t expect her to say it when she had so many guests. It’s her birthday. Oh shit.” I realized what had happened. My woman had just confessed she loved me in front of everyone on her special day and I hadn’t said it back or even said a word. “Oh Fuck.” I turned to go out to her and tell her but my dad grabbed my arm and stopped me.
“Not now son. If you say it now it will look forced, like we made you say it. You need to say after tonight, now. In its own time. You have groveling to do. Hopefully she was so overwhelmed with everything that she will forget that you didn’t reply.
I nodded and felt my stomach sink and my shoulders drop.
EVEN THOUGH I’D BOTCHED THE start of the party, it was going off without a hitch now. Alexa was buzzing around all the people she knew like a busy bee. The beaming smile on her face hadn’t left since I’d come back to the party and found her talking to her singing coach.
Now though, a very drunk Alexa was dancing on the dancefloor and receiving a lot of attention from the opposite sex. I hadn’t invited many, as I didn’t want any close to my woman.
One of the guys, Randell Stuart, if I remember correctly was getting closer and closer to Alexa as she danced, shaking her arse. When she turned on him and gave him her sunshine smile, I growled and stalked over to her only to be held back by my brothers Richard and Zeck.
“About fucking time the curse hit you like it did me,” Richard yelled over the music.
“I hope I have it as easy as you’ve had it,” Zeck added. “So, don’t fuck it up now by going all he-man. She told you she loves you tonight.” Zeck jerked his head to the guy too close to Alexa for my comfort. “I highly doubt she’s going to jump his bones.”
My whole body was tight as I held back from going over and punching the kid. He moved so he was a hairsbreadth away from Alexa. I watched transfixed as she danced with clear glee on her face, her eyes shining.
“This.” My dad came up beside me and nodded his head towards Alexa. “Is why you did today. I know you’re fighting yourself right now, but what your brothers said is true. You’ve had it easy. I think the gypsies’ gift hasn’t walloped you because Alexa needed you, so much so that she has barely left your side.”
I nodded, but didn’t even turn to look at my dad. My gaze didn’t leave Alexa. I smiled when she inched away from Randell and closer to her friend Emma.
My mother came up beside me and rubbed my back. “It’s time for cake. Why don’t you go get Alexa while I get a mic to tell people to head over to the desert corner? I have the cake up on a little stage for you two on a table. The knife and candle will be in front of you hidden from everyone by the cake. Okay?”
“Thanks, mum.” I leaned down and kissed her cheek before I made my way to my woman.
Without a thought about the guests around me, I went to Alexa, circled her waist and lifted her up. “Hey, Mason put me down.” Smacking her arse, I couldn’t help the grin that spread over my face as I walked over to the dessert tables. “Argh, it’s my birthday. You can’t smack my butt, you . . . you . . . you dick.”
Chuckling at her version of a swear word, I carefully placed her down in front of me and before her birthday cake. I knew as soon as she noticed the cake because her whole body shook. She turned and wrapped her arms around me and jumped up and down.
“This is the best birthday ever. That’s the cake I helped make?” Alexa screamed in my ear.
Kissing her forehead, I turned her back to the cake and leaned down to her ear. “Yes. You like?”
“Do you even need to ask? This piano cake is amazing and I helped make it. You’re too good for me.”
I barely caught the last of what she said, but I never wanted her to think that. “No. Don’t ever think that. You are my sunshine. The light of my day. Before I met you, I didn’t know what I was missing. The joy you show from simple things that I take for granted, like new clothes, an animal, safety of family. You’re my wonder.”
She leaned back against me and sniffled. “I’m so lucky. My family must be looking out for me. They had to have sent you to me. Thanks.”
I didn’t get to respond as my mother had found a mic. “Hello? Hello. Could I have everyone’s attention please? If you could all move over to the far left near the dessert tables, we are going to cut the cake and sing Happy Birthday.”
Mum handed me the mic and I stared at it for a moment before mother gave me the death glare to end all death glares. “Hi. I’m Mason, Alexa’s . . . ” I want to say something more than just boyfriend. That word felt so dull for what we had, but it sucked because as much as I could say she was mine, she didn’t have anything to show for it. Sure I’d given her the necklace, but no one else knew she was mine. Alexa was the love of my life. She was my soulmate, not just a girlfriend. On a growl of frustration, I searched for someone in the crowd and then snarled at Randell. “Boyfriend. You were invited tonight to celebrate this amazing woman’s eighteenth birthday.” I stepped to the side, got the lighter and lit all the candles. “If you could all help me sing Happy Birthday, I’d appreciate that. Trust me, I don’t have a singing voice at all.” I took a deep breath in and turned to Alexa and started singing the Happy Birthday song. Once we were all done I leaned over, and gently and quickly dashed away her tears. “Happy birthday, my bear,” I whispered in her ear. “Blow out your candles and make a wish.”
Flashes from cameras went off as she blew out her candles and laughed when there was the one stubborn candle that wouldn’t go out. When all the candles were out I gave her the knife.
She beamed bright with her happiness.
Wanting a taste, I leaned down, twisted her to me and captured her lips in a kiss of pure possession. Her arms came straight around me and she opened her mouth, eager for more. Cheering, jeering and laughter followed our show, but Alexa didn’t care and I certainly didn’t. I held her tighter to me, my hands coming down to cup her arse.
“Mason,” my mother snapped. “It’s a party not a porn show.”
I eased away and Alexa giggled. She was drunk and tasted like the fruity cocktails she’d been downing like water. Leaning down, I kissed her forehead. “Go have fun. Mum and I will hand out cake.”
Her eyes were not just glazed with drunkenness, they still held a hint of passion and need. “Mmm, but I want some cake, too.” Mum handed me a cake and I held it out to her. She grinned up at me. “Wanna share?”
I knew what the little minx was trying to do. “You heard what my mother said. You trying to get me in trouble?”
Her pout, which I’m sure was supposed to entice me, was just too cute. I brushed my lips over her pouted ones. “Go have fun. I had you all to myself all day. I get to have you whenever I want.”
I watched her shiver and I knew it was from what I just said. Alexa studied me for a moment, looked down at the cake, glanced behind me and then sighed. “Fine.” She stomped over to her friends and I chuckled at her dramatics. My woman always made me laugh. I was lucky.
Two hours later as I carried a passed-out Alexa to our room, I still felt lucky, but I also felt the most sexually frustrated I have ever been in my whole life. I knew that jacking off wasn’t going to help. I needed the woman in my arms. I hoped she was ready very soon, because I was done holding back.
I WAS SEDUCING MASON TONIGHT. Last night had been amazing and I’d had the best birthday ever, but I passed out before I could get what I wanted. I had felt like shit this morning, but my sleep had helped so much and now I was ready and raring. Nobody was home, well the security was but they never left so I didn’t count them. I’d also learned to ignore Sam when he was in on-duty mode. I was ready. I knew what I wanted and it was Mason.