by L. P. Dover
Shamefully, Mason turned his head and nodded. “I understand completely. I know he was there for you when I wasn’t. That’s the one regret I will always have to live with.”
“Hey,” I called out gently to get his attention, hoping he’d turn back to me … which he did. “We all have regrets. We just have to move on from them.”
His smile was sad, but he leaned over the tub, tilted my chin up with his finger, and kissed me on the lips. “I’m going to call Melissa while you finish up in here. How about we actually go out to dinner tonight instead of ordering in?” he asked, sounding hopeful.
“I think that would be a great idea,” I told him excitedly. “It can be our first official date.”
It just so happened that two of the best five star restaurants in Las Vegas were in our hotel. We didn’t have to go far, and it was a welcome change of pace to get out of the hotel room and enjoy a pleasant dinner out. It was also great seeing Mason cleaned up and dressed in something other than jeans and a T-shirt. While I finished getting ready, he went out and bought a nice pair of khaki dress pants and a navy blue polo shirt. When he packed to come out to Las Vegas he didn’t expect to need any nice dressy clothes. I was prepared considering the places I knew I would need to take him.
However, tonight I went for a different look. Instead of wearing one of my tight, fitted dresses that I would wear to the club, I opted to go with something a little more sensual and fun. It was a black, sleeveless dress with a sequined bodice and a flared skirt that hit about mid-thigh. When I stepped out of the bathroom, Mason and I both froze as we took each other in. The aching and burning feeling I got in my stomach when I looked at him was something I’d never felt before. It was enthralling yet terrifying all at the same time.
Mason had called a little earlier and made us a reservation at the Prime Steakhouse restaurant. We arrived on time and were seated on time as well. The food was amazing, as always. I had the peppercorn New York steak with creamed spinach and truffle mashed potatoes; it was heaven. Mason stuck to his usual with a filet mignon and decided to try the mashed potatoes since I loved them so much. I needed to work on getting him to try new things.
While we waited for the check, Mason stared at me over the rim of his glass as he sipped on his gin and tonic. I had come to learn that it was his favorite mixed drink even though I thought it tasted like pine trees. I grew up on wine and I had yet to find anything else that I preferred more.
Mason finished the last of his drink and set the glass down before taking my hand in his. When he spoke, he kept his gaze on my hand as he caressed my skin with the pad of his thumb. “When all of this is over, where do you want it to lead us?” he asked, finally lifting his green gaze to mine.
Smiling, I moved my wine glass out of the way so I could reach for his other hand. “That all depends … were you serious about staying in California for a while or was that just something you said on a whim?”
“I was serious, Claire. I meant everything I said. I told you before I would fight for you and if I have to move myself across the states to be with you then I will. It’s what I want, but the question here is if it’s what you want. I need you to be certain.”
Moving closer, I squeezed his hands and leaned toward him over the table. Mason and I were from two different worlds, and I wanted to know his just as much as I wanted him to know mine. Could I really ask that of him? To move away from the place he’s lived in for thirty years?
I felt guilty about it, but there was no way I could move away from my family’s land. It was my life, it was where I belonged. Furrowing his brows, Mason shifted in his chair, waiting on me to answer.
“Mason, I want that more than anything, but I also don’t want to be selfish. I’ve been thinking about everything lately and I have an idea,” I suggested.
Lifting a curious brow, he grinned and asked, “What kind of idea?”
“Well, for starters I thought I could show you around Vegas and take you to all my favorite places once this case ends. There’s more to Sin City than just gambling and pretty lights.”
“I’m sure we can do that,” he agreed. “Was there anything else?”
“Yeah, actually there is,” I began, but then I paused and took a deep breath before continuing, “I also thought that maybe once this was all over I could go to North Carolina with you and you show me around your home. I know I’ve visited there plenty of times, but I never saw much except for Charlotte. I heard both the mountains and the beaches are gorgeous. I’d like to see how it compares to the west coast.”
Mason chuckled. “You might want to reconsider that because once you see our mountains you might not want to go back. Every year my father would take me to one of the campground sites off the Blue Ridge Parkway and we’d stay there for the whole weekend, fishing and hiking. He died when I was in high school and after that I still went up there every year and did the exact same things we would do. It’s kind of a tradition now.”
The burn of unshed tears prickled behind my eyes. I couldn’t imagine him going up to the mountains by himself every year and facing those long lost memories alone. Mason was a loner, except I knew he wasn’t always so. It was time to get him out of that.
“When do you go there and reminisce?” I asked.
His smile was sad, but I could see the happiness in his gaze when he answered, “I go every second weekend in October. The weather is perfect at that time and my dad always wanted to go when the leaves would begin to change. He was a photographer, among many of his other talents.”
“He sounds like an awesome man,” I murmured, “except this year you’re breaking tradition because I’m going with you.”
Mason gazed at me in disbelief. “You would actually do that for me? Have you ever been camping before?”
“Umm … no, but I’ll be with you. You can teach me everything your father taught you, just like I’ll show you everything you want to know about my vineyards. We’re in this together, Mason, you and I. You’ve been doing things alone, not depending on anyone to be there for you, but that’s not how it works when you want to be with someone. I want to know who you were then so I can see how you became who you are now.”
Our moment got interrupted when my phone started to vibrate in my purse. I reached in and pulled it out to see Wade’s name pop up. “Is that him?” Mason asked with a slight hint of annoyance in his tone.
I nodded and read the text.
Wade: Are you still coming tonight?
“Yeah, he asked if I’m still coming. I don’t think he knows you’re going to be with me. I know Erick knows, but I don’t think Wade does,” I said.
Mason narrowed his eyes. “Is that going to be a problem?”
If Wade behaved it wouldn’t be an issue, but it was a gamble we had to take. I just hoped Mason could keep his calm around him. “I sure hope there’s not any trouble,” I replied, “but this whole night is going to be a dilemma since Erick’s going to be there. I don’t think we can get bigger problems than that.” I texted Wade back.
Me: Yes, I’m still coming. I need your address.
He texted me his address and my jaw about hit the floor when I recognized the name of the neighborhood. It was one of the richest neighborhoods in Las Vegas. How the hell could he afford that? The waitress brought us our check, and while Mason looked it over I texted back.
Me: Moving up in the world, huh?
Wade: You know it! It’s about time luck was on my side. Now get your ass here! It’s a housewarming party!
Wade didn’t come from a wealthy family, and before I left Vegas he lived in an average sized apartment with one of his friends. To live in the neighborhood he was in it would cost hundreds of thousands of dollars while some houses could be pushing toward the million mark. Surely, he didn’t make that much money working at the club.
“Why do you have that look on your face?” Mason asked. “What’s he saying?”
Biting my lip, I glanced at Mason and then back down to my phone
. “Well, he just gave me his address and I’m a little confused. The houses in that neighborhood are really expensive. I don’t see how he’s affording it. I know he’s not making it at the club. When you were fighting did you make hundreds of thousands of dollars?”
“No, not at the beginning, and since I’ve never heard of your friend, Wade, I’m assuming he’s just getting started. He wouldn’t be making near that amount until he got a name for himself, and even then it’s not guaranteed,” he informed me warily.
“That’s what I thought. I don’t think I like the sound of this, Mason.”
Mason stood from the table and helped me up by taking my hand. “Neither do I, and that’s why you need to be careful around him. Don’t put your trust in anyone until I get this handled, okay?”
Sadly, I nodded and said, “Okay.”
The last thing I wanted to believe was that Wade was fighting for the wrong side. He was a good person, or at least he used to be. I had to believe he still was. I had a habit of believing in the wrong people even when deep down I knew there was something dark and tainted inside their very soul. My brother was proof of that. He let greed and money take over his life, always wanting more and never being satisfied even though he had plenty to support him comfortably for the rest of his life.
Once out of the hotel, we got in the truck and Mason placed a small piece of paper in my hand. “What’s this?” I asked, glancing down at the phone number scribbled on the paper.
“It’s Ryan’s cell number. I need you to have it in case something happens to me. If you feel like something’s wrong or if you can’t get a hold of me all you have to do is call him and he’ll find me. It’s very important that you know how to get help, so program it in your phone and memorize it.”
Taking out my phone, I programmed it into my contacts and hoped that I would never have to use it.
From the hotel, it only took us fifteen minutes to get to Wade’s luxurious neighborhood. I came from a wealthy family, but even I couldn’t afford a house in that area. A GPS didn’t come in the rental truck, so we drove around the neighborhood streets until we spotted the house with a bunch of cars parked along the road. Saying it was a huge house didn’t do it justice … it was a damn mansion.
“Wow,” I breathed in awe. The whole house looked like it was made of stone, very modern with its blocked style architecture. The massive water fountain in front with a long, circular driveway just added to the opulence.
“I’m assuming this is it,” Mason guessed.
“It appears so,” I breathed in awe.
He parked us as close to the house as possible and we walked the quarter of a mile it took to get to the front door. There were people everywhere, and I recognized a couple of them from the club, but other than that I had no idea who the rest were. When we got inside the house, the floor and the imperial staircase was all Saharan gold marble while the railings added to the shimmering decadence with its airbrushed golden finish. He had paintings lining the walls in the foyer, and if there was one thing I loved almost as much as dancing it would be art. It was magnificent.
However, I was brought back to reality when a drunken idiot bumped into me and almost spilled his beer down the front of my dress. “Sor-rrry about that,” he slurred, staggering toward the front door.
Mason put his arm around my waist and held me close to him as several of the other occupants stumbled their way in and out of the house.
“Do you know any of these people?” Mason asked, whispering in my ear.
I shook my head. “No, not really … do you?”
Peering around the room, I watched as Mason’s gaze hardened as soon as he locked eyes on someone. “Hey,” I muttered, squeezing the hand he had on my waist, “who do you see?”
“It’s Chase Benfield,” he growled.
“You mean the same Chase you just beat in the fight the other night?”
“Yep, that’s him. This isn’t going to be good,” he warned. “Do you see Erick anywhere?”
I didn’t see him or Wade for that matter. Given the size of the house there was a good chance we wouldn’t see either one of them. “Well, since we’re here we might as well walk around and see if we find him,” I suggested.
I also wanted to get him as far away from Chase as I could. Chase seemed like a cocky bastard, and if alcohol was anywhere in his system I was sure it would magnify that cockiness even more. There were a lot of people going in and out of the kitchen so Mason and I headed in that direction. There were bottles of liquor and beers everywhere, not to mention Wade had actual bartenders tending to the guests and mixing their drinks.
I glanced up at Mason who had his ever watchful eyes circulating the room. “Do you want to get a drink?”
“I don’t think that’s a good idea for me, but have at it, baby. I need to be coherent right now,” he uttered in all seriousness.
He hung back, leaning against the counters while I strolled up to the bartender’s station. “What’ll it be, sweetheart?” the bartender asked. She was a petite, red-headed female who appeared to be in her mid-twenties with a strong southern belle accent. It kind of reminded me of how Mason’s southern accent sounded, but his was only slight. I could definitely tell he was from the south, though.
I looked at the selections, narrowing my eyes wondering what I would want. “Do you have any wine?” I asked her.
She smiled and pulled out a bottle from underneath the counter. “Will this do?”
Immediately, my eyes went wide at the sight of my family crest on the label. “Oh, my God,” I exclaimed, reaching for the bottle. She looked at me like I was crazy, but she let go of the bottle so I could hold it. It was then that Wade came around the corner, his gaze instantly locking onto mine. He grinned mischievously when he noticed I had the bottle of wine in my hands … my wine.
“What’s wrong, kitten, trying to steal the bottle of wine?” Wade chuckled and bent down to wrap his arms around my waist. When he let me go, I rolled my eyes at him and handed the bottle back to the bartender.
“Trust me, I have plenty of it at home. I don’t think I need to steal any away from you.” Laughing, I turned to acknowledge the girl behind the bar and said, “I’d like a glass of the wine, please.” She nodded and went to work on pulling out the cork.
Wade moved closer and leaned against the bar, keeping his gaze on mine. “Thank you for coming tonight. I was hoping we’d get a chance to catch up.”
“Yeah, we need to,” I remarked incredulously, “like take for instance this house. How in the world did you get the money for it? Please tell me you’re not doing anything illegal. You’re not selling drugs, are you?”
I said it jokingly, but I wanted to gauge his reaction. Laughing, he rolled his eyes and put his arm around my shoulders. “Now why would I have to do something illegal to get a house like this? Is it hard to believe that I actually earned it? You should be happy for me considering what my life was like before you left.”
I wanted to be happy for him, but only if he was doing things right. He never had much, only living paycheck to paycheck, but I knew all too well what happened to people when they grew desperate to be something more. I wanted to ask him how he earned it, but I didn’t want to pry just yet. Maybe I was in denial thinking he was still the same guy I knew even though I could see it in his eyes that things had changed.
“Of course I’m happy for you, Wade, and I’m glad you’re getting the things you’ve always wanted.”
At that moment, the bartender set my glass of wine on the counter. Wade picked it up, but before handing it to me he bent down low and whispered softly in my ear, “I haven’t gotten everything I’ve wanted. There’s still one thing I want, but she left me and never looked back.”
No, not this again, I screamed in my mind.
I didn’t even want to imagine what Mason was thinking right now with Wade whispering in my ear. When I first met Wade I thought he was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen, other than Cooper. He liked t
o joke a lot, kind of like Tyler, but the one thing he wasn’t very good at was being responsible. Wade liked to do his own thing on his own time; basically, he was a little self-centered. He wouldn’t be someone you could have a long, lasting relationship with. That was why when we had our trysts every now and again I didn’t let it get too serious as far as the emotional side of things.
“Please,” I scolded incredulously, wriggling out from under his arm. “That was a long time ago, Wade. I was twenty-one years old and you knew I had to leave at some point. You know very well you couldn’t have handled a long distance relationship and remained faithful. You had plenty of women falling all over you back in the day. I’m sure nothing’s changed since then.”
He shrugged, tilting his lips up in a playful leer. “Yeah, well, we always want the ones we can’t have, don’t we?”
“True, but those ones end up being the people you weren’t meant to be with anyway,” I uttered wholeheartedly. “You just have to find the right one.”
The last thing I wanted was to hurt his feelings. I seemed to have a habit of hurting the men in my life over the past week. Tilting up my glass, I drank the rest of my wine in one huge gulp and set it down on the bar. “Can I have another glass please?”
Or maybe thirty of them …
I think Wade was slowly getting the hint of my disinterest because he put some distance between us and pointed down to my now filled glass. “I think I made a good choice on the wine selection tonight, don’t you?”
Breathing a sigh of relief, and thankful that he changed the subject, I took a sip and smiled. “Well, of course. Nothing beats the taste of my family’s grapes. When did you have it brought in?”
“I had it rush ordered,” he explained. “I talked to a woman named Melissa, I think, and she handled everything. How is business going at the winery?”