Dating Dr. Dreamy: A Small Town Second Chance Romance (Bliss River Book 1)

by Lili Valente

  “Ogling is such a dirty word,” I drawl, feeling lazy and delicious and so satisfied that if I were a cat I know I’d be purring. “Admiring is better. I’m admiring.”

  Mason stands with his hands on his hips, obviously not a bit troubled by his own nakedness. “Let me know when you’re done,” he says, executing an end-of-runway turn that should be hysterical, but isn’t because he’s just that perfect.

  “I’ve never seen anything like you,” I say with a sigh. “I mean, I knew you were gorgeous, but I had no idea.” I motion with one boneless hand up and down, including all of Mason’s delectable body. “I’m not sure I’m worthy.”

  His smile fades. “You’re more than worthy. You’re amazing.” He crawls onto the bed to lie beside me, curling his arm around my waist and pulling me close. “You’re everything I’ve ever wanted, more than I deserve, and that was the best damned sex in the history of sex.”

  I curl into him with a happy giggle. “I think maybe it was.”

  “So we should stick with each other from here on out,” he says, kissing my forehead. “It just makes sense, you know? When you’re this kick-ass together?”

  I look up at him, meeting his hopeful gaze. Suddenly, the jolt of fear I felt when he talked about buying me a rock for my ring finger seems ridiculous. Newly rediscovered, unexpected, or not, what we have is the real thing, the realest thing I’ve ever felt—in bed or out of it—and I’m not about to pretend I don’t want this to be for keeps.

  “It is the only thing that makes sense.” I shift in his arms until we’re face to face. “You’re mine. I call dibs.”

  Mason’s expression softens, and I know he understands what I mean. “Same. Dibs on every part. I want it all with you, woman. Forever, babies, matching rocking chairs on the front porch when we’re old.”

  “Speaking of getting old,” I say with a smile. “I’m not getting any younger. If we’re going to have a small herd of children, we should probably get started pretty soon.”

  Mason lets out a long breath. “I’m so happy to hear you say that.” He hugs me closer, arms shaking the slightest bit, making it clear this moment means as much to him as it does to me. “I can’t wait to start a family with you.”

  “Me either,” I say, fighting the urge to tear up, and losing. I sniff and Mason glances down.

  “Hey, don’t cry.” He cups my cheek in his warm hand. “You’re going to make me cry, and I’ll lose all the manly points I gained by making you come twice.”

  I arch a brow. “Manly points?”

  “Yes, manly points. One for each orgasm,” he says, squeezing my hip in a way that is both comforting and arousing at the same time. “I’m collecting them. I’m aiming for five by the end of the night.”

  “Five?” My skin begins to tingle all over again at the thought. “That’s a lofty goal.”

  “What can I say? I’m a lofty guy.” His hand wanders lower, coming to cup my breast. “Who is really, really into your body.”

  I sigh, but twist away before Mason can take things any further. I roll over and slip off the bed, heading for my purse.

  “Where are you going?” Mason asks, sounding so bereft I can’t help but laugh.

  “I’m going to call Aria and let her know I won’t be home tonight,” I say, rummaging through my purse. “I don’t want her or Melody to worry.”

  “I thought you told them you might be staying at your apartment tonight.”

  I peek over my shoulder, blushing when I see Mason sprawled at the end of the bed, staring at my bare bottom with a rapt expression. “Were you eavesdropping?”

  Mason grins, but doesn’t shift his gaze. “I couldn’t help overhearing while I was lingering close enough to the door to overhear.”

  I laugh. “Quit looking at my butt, you’re distracting me.”

  “No,” Mason says, eyes remaining exactly where they are. “I’ve never seen this view before. I’m memorizing it.”

  I sigh and turn back to my purse, finally emptying it out onto the desk.

  There’s still no sign of my phone.

  “I must have left it in the cup holder in the car,” I say.

  “Do you want me to run down and get it?” Mason asks. “I could throw my clothes on and be down and back in a few.”

  I turn to him, arms crossed beneath my bare breasts, feeling much less self-conscious in front of him than I assumed I’d be. “Clothes back on,” I echo, with a pout. “That doesn’t sound like very much fun.”

  Mason grins. “No, I don’t think so either, but I’m trying to be nice.”

  “You are nice. But you’re nicest when you’re naked and willing.”

  Mason’s grin turns into a delighted smile. “When it comes to you, I’m always willing.” He lies back on the pillows with his arms crossed behind his head, the stirring between his legs supporting his claim.

  “Good.” I pad toward him on tiptoe, appreciating his beautiful naked self. “Because this time I think I’d like to be on top.”

  Mason’s eyes grow hooded. “I think that sounds like a wonderful idea.”

  And it is. And later, as we lay exhausted in bed, still twined together, breathing in perfect sync, I let myself imagine waking up this way every morning. I hold the dream close as I drift off to sleep in Mason’s arms, promising myself that if he doesn’t pop the question in the next few weeks, then I’ll do it myself.

  I’ve waited long enough for this kind of happiness.

  I’m ready to get started on ever after with the man I love.

  Chapter 22

  Lark

  Date Six

  The moment I check my text messages, I know something is wrong.

  I know something is really wrong when I call Aria on the way out of the city, and my sister refuses to tell me what’s happening over the phone.

  “Just come home,” Aria says. “We can talk about it when you get here.”

  “But I won’t be home for at least an hour. We spent the night in Atlanta,” I say, my heart racing with worry. “I’m going to drive myself crazy by then. Are Mom and Dad okay?”

  “Mom and Dad are fine.”

  “What about the baby? And Melody? Are they—”

  “Everyone’s okay. Or at least no one is hurt. It’s…something else.” She lowers her voice. “Something I think we’re better off discussing in person. Without Mason around.”

  I pause, a burning sensation flooding through my chest. “Why without Mason?” I ask, not caring if he hears. “Mason and I are together now, Aria. Anything you can say to me, you can say to him.”

  Aria sighs, a long, sad sigh that does nothing to calm my nerves. “Just come home, okay? I’ll be waiting when you get here. Melody took Felicity out to Brian’s place to feed the ducks and pet the horses, so we should have the house to ourselves.”

  “All right.” I hang up without saying goodbye, too frustrated for good phone manners.

  “What was that about?” Mason asks as he pulls onto the highway, aiming us back toward Bliss River.

  I shake my head. “I don’t know. Aria said she has bad news, but she won’t tell me what it is over the phone.”

  “Or with me around,” Mason adds, clearly having overheard.

  I reach out and take his free hand in mine. “You heard what I had to say about that. It’s you and me, and she’s going to have to get used to it.”

  Mason gives my fingers a light squeeze. “Don’t worry. Whatever it is, I’ll help. We’ll get through it.”

  Together, doesn’t need to be said aloud. I can feel it in the air between us, a fact of life as undeniable as the truth that everything tastes better with bacon.

  From the second I opened my eyes to find Mason watching me sleep with a smile on his face, I felt the change in our relationship. There is no more doubt, no more fear, only a deep gratitude and a feeling of…lightness. Our love is lifting us up and carrying us along, making every step, every breath, easier than it was before.

  We are truly Mason an
d Lark again, but even more deeply connected than we were before. Now, we know exactly what a precious thing we have to lose, and we’re both determined to hold tighter, love harder, and protect our future together at all costs.

  I’m sure of it.

  I remain sure all the way home to Bliss River and up the walk to my parents’ house. I hold tight to Mason’s hand as Aria leads us to the picnic table behind the house where a blue folder is waiting atop the freshly stained wood.

  It’s a harmless looking thing, that folder, but my pulse races anyway. Aria hasn’t been in the best mood lately, but she’s not the kind to create drama where there isn’t any. If she thinks I’m going to be upset about the contents of the folder, then she’s probably right.

  “Since you wanted to look at it with Mason, I brought it out here,” Aria says, motioning to the folder, refusing to meet my gaze. She hasn’t looked up from the ground since she met me at the door. “I’ll go inside and give you two some privacy.”

  “Aria, can’t you just tell me what’s going on?” I ask, not wanting my sister to leave for some strange reason. I was angry with her on the way home, but now I want as many people who love me around as possible.

  Aria pauses by the back door, casting a sad glance over her shoulder. “I think it’s better that you and Mason do this alone.”

  And then she’s gone and there’s nothing left to do but cross to the picnic table and pick up the folder. So I do, my hands shaking as I flip it open and pull out a bunch of papers stapled together at the upper left hand corner.

  “What is it?” Mason asks from across the table.

  I shake my head as I skim the first page of the document. “I don’t know. It looks like a contract.” I flip another page. “A rental agreement or something.”

  “What?” Mason asks, sounding as confused as I feel. “A rental agreement for what?”

  “I don’t…” I reach the last page and my words trail away.

  It’s a rental agreement for an apartment in New York City. Signed by five men, one of whom is Mason Stewart. I recognize his crooked, scrawled signature immediately.

  For a second, I think the document is something he signed recently, and my stomach hardens into a knot around the egg and cheese sandwich I ate on the way home. But then I look at the date next to Mason’s name, and my muscles relax with a spasm of relief.

  It’s an old agreement, dated August tenth, four years ago.

  August tenth…

  My stomach clenches all over again.

  Mason proposed to me on August fifteenth. Five days after he signed an agreement to live with four other boys in New York City. Five days after he decided to leave me and maybe never come back.

  “What is it?” Mason asks, suddenly at my side though I don’t remember him circling around the table. “What’s wrong?”

  I push the folder and rental agreement clumsily into his hands and move away, stumbling a few feet across the patio. Mason follows me, but I lift one hand, motioning for him to stay back, feeling like I might shatter if he touches me.

  “Lark, what’s going on?” Mason asks in a deep, concerned voice. “You’re scaring me.”

  “Look at it,” I whisper, fighting to speak past the misery tightening my chest.

  Mason sighs in frustration, but he finally looks down at the papers in his hand, flipping to the back page, going still when he realizes what he’s holding.

  “How did Aria get this?” he asks, his tone oddly flat.

  “I don’t know,” I say after a moment. “Does it matter?”

  “Yes, it matters,” Mason says, scowling as he snaps the folder shut and tosses it back onto the table. “A rental agreement isn’t a matter of public record. I want to know how she—”

  “I don’t care!” I say, far louder than I intend. I ball my hands into fists at my sides. “It doesn’t matter,” I add in a wounded voice, a voice like a big, black bruise that’s going to take forever to heal. “I think you should go.”

  “What?” Mason starts toward me, but stops when I take a quick step back. “Lark, please, this is crazy. There’s no reason to—”

  “I’m not crazy. You lied,” I say, pointing an accusing finger at his chest.

  “I didn’t say you were crazy, I said—”

  “You lied,” I say again, struggling to maintain control. “You went looking for apartments in Atlanta with me, acting like we were going to move in together like we’d always planned, acting like you loved me, while behind my back you’d already signed a lease for an apartment in New York.”

  “Please, Lark. Just listen. Please.” Mason lifts his hands, palms up, in a gesture that says he has nothing to hide.

  A gesture I know is just another lie.

  “It was four years ago,” he says. “I told you I was messed up and confused. I signed the lease on a bad day when my head was a mess. I was going to talk to you about it, but—”

  I shake my head. “Messed up and confused is one thing, lying to me for almost a week, and proposing to me when you were planning to leave for New York the very next day is something else.”

  “I didn’t plan to leave the next day,” Mason says, frustration and desperation warring in his tone. “I was going to back out of the lease. I was going to stay here and go to school in Atlanta and plan a wedding with you. But then Parker and I had that horrible fight and—” He breaks off with a shake of his head. “And then I stopped thinking and just…ran. New York was the backup plan, so I backed into it.”

  Tears sting into my eyes. “I don’t believe you.”

  “Please,” he says, driving a clawed hand through his already messy hair. “Yes, I signed the lease in New York. That was the part of me that felt like I was doomed if I stayed in this town, that didn’t think I was ever going to be good enough for you or get away from my past. But the other part of me couldn’t imagine starting a life without you in it.”

  “But you did.” I fight to swallow past the lump rising in my throat. “And I had no idea there was a war going on inside of you, Mason. You seemed exactly the same. I’ve been over the days before you left in my head a thousand times, looking for clues that would have told me you were planning to bolt, but there was nothing.”

  “Lark, please—”

  “Nothing!” I repeat, his face swimming. “Not a single sign. The only thing I could think of was that it was an impulsive, last minute decision. That you ran because you were afraid of marrying me or afraid of moving forward or…something. Just that something had spooked you and you’d run without thinking.”

  “That’s what happened, I—”

  “No. That’s not true.” I take a deep breath, forcing myself to meet Mason’s eyes before I continue. “This lease proves it. Now I know that it wasn’t impulsive, and that you deceived me in a way I never even imagined.”

  “It wasn’t like that, Lark, I swear,” Mason says, his voice breaking. “Please, baby. I know I fucked up, but like I’ve been saying since the day I got back, I’m not going to fuck up again. I’m not even sure what was going through my head when all this went down. I swear to you, I’m not that person anymore. I would never betray your trust. Not on purpose and not because I was too—”

  “Maybe, maybe not.” I blink, sending tears rolling down my cheeks. “But how can I ever know for sure? How can I ever trust you again?”

  Mason’s breath rushes out. “You can know because you were there with me last night in that hotel room. That was more than just sex. That was me and you, together, with nothing to hide.”

  “That’s not true.” I cross my arms at my chest, not wanting to think about last night. “You were hiding something. The lease proves it.”

  “I wasn’t hiding it,” Mason says, his mounting frustration clear. “I’d forgotten about it.”

  My eyebrows shoot up. “You’d forgotten that you’d made plans to move to New York and then lied to me about it for a week before—”

  “No!” Mason barks before tucking his head to his chest
. “No,” he repeats in a softer voice. “I hadn’t forgotten. I just didn’t think it mattered. That’s all part of the past.” He lifts pleading eyes to mine. “I’ve already told you how much I regret the way I treated you. The lease and everything else I did are all part of the same, stupid thing. I screwed up. Royally. Terribly. I know that. But I’m not going to screw up again, and that’s the truth. I’m not hiding anything from you.”

  “How can I know that, Mason?” I ask, my voice breaking. “How can I trust a single word you say?”

  Mason’s forehead wrinkles. “Because you know I’m telling the truth. You knew it last night when we were lying together, as close as two people can get, talking about how many kids we want to have.”

  I shake my head. “We talked about that before. You still left.”

  “Please, Lark, it’s not the same.” He laces his fingers together and lifts his joined hands. “Please. There is no doubt in my mind or my heart. I’m ready to promise my life to you. I want to start a family with you. I would marry you this afternoon if I could. Everything I’ve said from the moment I came back to town until now is the absolute truth.”

  “I’m sorry, but…I can’t trust that.” I swipe at my cheeks. “I can’t trust you, and without trust, this… This isn’t going to work.”

  Mason freezes for a long, silent moment. “So that’s it? It’s over?”

  I bite my lip until it hurts—refusing to start crying again, at least not in front of Mason—and nod.

  “No.” He shakes his head. “Don’t do this. This isn’t what you want, and it sure as hell isn’t what I want. If you force me out of your life, we’re both going to regret it. Forever. This is so special. We’re special. Together.” He takes a careful step closer. “Just…let’s work this out, okay? I know we can. I know I can make it better if you’ll give me the chance.”

  I hesitate.

  Give him a chance.

  I want to give him a chance, I want to believe that the past five days and the love we’ve rediscovered is real, but…it’s only been five days.