“Yeah.” He leaned down and kissed my forehead softly. “I’m sorry.”
My throat tightened again. “Don’t be. I liked it.”
“Next time you owe me a skin-breaking bite, but I’ll probably like it, too,” he said. “We should get back.”
I nodded and turned toward the door, but he caught my hand in his and pulled me back to him.
“Are you sure you’re okay? I feel like I hurt you somehow. Maybe not just the bite. Did I make you feel cheap?”
My single note of laughter was humorless. What if I told him the truth?
Mason, I just realized I’m in love with you.
I’d get a deer-in-the-headlights look that deer would envy.
I put on a fake smile and squeezed his hand. “I’m just hungry, okay? Let’s go see if it’s time to eat.”
My façade seemed to work. We ate and laughed with his family and the other couple dozen guests at the party, and he never asked me again if I was okay. When we got home, I took a hot shower, put on my frumpiest pajamas and got into bed. Mason laid beside me, kissing the side of my neck as he settled into a comfortable spooning position.
I hadn’t meant to fall in love with him. The calculated risk of getting some of this man I craved had seemed worth taking. But I wasn’t so sure anymore.
I STOOD AND STRETCHED, stiff from a long afternoon of coding. The smell of sautéed garlic told me it was dinnertime.
High-pitched teenage girl chatter got louder as I climbed the stairs from the basement to the kitchen. As soon as I walked into the kitchen, they fell silent and turned toward me.
“Hey,” I said in greeting. “Don’t stop talking on my account. You guys know where April is?”
“She ran to the store to get a couple things for dinner,” Jess said.
Taylor glared at me and left the room, stomping her way upstairs.
“What crawled up her ass and died?” I asked Jess.
“She’s mad at you. Because Colton’s mad at her.”
I grunted skeptically. “I’m pretty sure that dude’s mad all the time. What’s it about this time, and what the hell does it have to do with me?”
“He can’t come over here to see her since you’re here, so they have to meet up at the grocery store parking lot and sit in his car, and she can’t, you know . . . service him there with her belly so big.”
“Jesus. Guy’s a real peach, isn’t he?”
Jess shrugged. “Bad boys can get away with pretty much anything.”
“He’s not a bad boy, he’s a worthless douchebag who abuses women.”
April walked in the side door carrying several sacks and I walked over to take them off her hands, my mind spinning. If Colton wouldn’t show his face here while I was around, I’d never get a chance to confront him.
I leaned in to April and kissed her cheek, whispering in her ear. “Do you trust me?”
She nodded silently and something inside me softened. Her faith in me meant more than I’d expected.
“Jess, can you tell Taylor to come down and help cook dinner?” April said when we walked into the kitchen. “This is her night to cook.”
Jess went upstairs. I didn’t mention Taylor’s mood toward me as April and I unpacked the groceries. The girls came into the kitchen together and I made my move when they were within earshot.
“Hey,” I said to April, leaning against the kitchen island. “I have to go out of state for some work stuff that came up unexpectedly. You think you guys will be good here without me?”
“Sure. When are you leaving?”
“Actually . . . now. I got a flight out of St. Louis, but I need to be out of here in fifteen minutes to catch it.”
“Okay.”
I kissed her, knowing the girls were eavesdropping. “Security system’s off while I work out some bugs,” I said. “I’ll call you later.”
“Have a good trip.”
She still seemed off somehow, but I couldn’t put my finger on why. I’d have to ask her later.
I went downstairs and threw some stuff in a bag, said goodbye and got in my car to leave. But when I left the driveway, I drove to the next block, parked and walked back to Grieves House, approaching from the side with the big pine trees marking the lot line.
It was a perfect hiding spot.
JESS WAS ENGROSSED IN the TV show on in front of us. There was something about The Kardashians that I’d have trouble following even if I wasn’t distracted.
I was thinking about Mason. Again.
Something was up. He wouldn’t have left town so suddenly for work. And at six-thirty PM? My inner pessimist was wondering if he’d gone to see another woman.
But his words–Do you trust me?–made me seriously doubt that.
He wouldn’t take the security system offline and then fly off somewhere. Not with Colton still out there somewhere.
Would he?
“She’s such a ho,” Jess said, shaking her head.
“I think we should watch a documentary to make this show up to our brains.”
She snorted her amusement. “Well, it’s over anyway. Oh, wait . . . there’s another one after this!”
“Fantastic.” I rolled my eyes.
“Hey.” She turned to me with a questioning look. “Have you slept with Mason yet?”
“I’m not discussing that with you.”
“So you have.”
“I didn’t say that, Jess.”
Her grin was wide and amused. “Yeah, but your cheeks are beet red. He was a total rock star in bed, wasn’t he?”
I turned toward the kitchen, wanting to change the subject. “Where’d Taylor go?”
Jess shrugged. “She was having a text fight with Colton earlier.”
“What does she see in him?” It was a rhetorical question, but Jess answered anyway.
“He says he loves her. That’s her excuse for everything.”
“I worry about her baby,” I admitted. “You guys can stay here until your babies are six weeks old, and then we help you find another place if you need it. If she has no other place to go, she’ll end up living with him.”
Raised voices made me turn toward the front porch. With a sick sense of what it was, I got up and went to the front door.
Colton had his finger in Taylor’s face, his other hand wrapped around her throat. His face was twisted with the same rage I’d seen last time.
And, like last time, I couldn’t watch this. I stepped outside and they both turned to me.
“This is none of your fuckin’ business,” Colton said to me with an ugly expression on his face.
I moved closer to Taylor. My heart was hammering, the pain of my last confrontation with Colton still a fresh memory. The bruises hadn’t even disappeared all the way yet. I covered them with makeup every morning.
Movement in the yard made me turn. Salvation was striding up to the porch. Mason’s expression was the same as Colton’s; he made no effort to appear calm and collected.
“We meet at last,” he said to Colton.
“Oh, shit,” Taylor mumbled.
“This isn’t your fuckin’ business, either,” Colton said to Mason.
I edged closer to Taylor, feeling a strong urge to move her out of the way.
“I hear you’re a badass,” Mason said, arching his brows in challenge. “You beat up women, right? Pretty fuckin’ tough, man.”
“Fuck this.” Colton shot Taylor a murderous look. “Did you know about this? You said he was gone.”
She shook her head wildly. “He said he was leaving.”
“I’m leaving now,” Mason said. “And you’re coming with me.”
Colton’s laugh was laced with disgust. “Don’t think so.”
I saw an opening and took Taylor’s shoulders, leading her to safety near the front door.
“We need to go inside,” I said.
“No. This could get bad, April. You don’t know what he’s capable of.”
“Mason’s got this handled.”
<
br /> Colton turned toward the porch steps, but Mason grabbed his arm to stop him.
“Get your hands off me,” Colton said, his eyes narrowing.
A corner of Mason’s lips quirked up in a smile. Colton lunged toward Mason, his fist cocked and ready. I moved in front of Taylor instinctively.
Mason wrapped his hand around Colton’s fist and twisted his arm. I drew a bit of satisfaction from Colton’s cry of pain.
“Time to find out how badass you are,” Mason said, twisting Colton’s arms behind his back.
He had something in one hand, and he bound Colton’s hands in a matter of seconds.
“You fight me, I’ll snap your wrist,” he said levelly.
I’d never seen this man. The teasing, confident, laid back Mason I knew was nowhere in sight. His eyes were dark, his expression intent. And it scared me.
He’d laid out a plan to ambush Colton, and now he planned to take him somewhere and . . . what? Kill him? His too-calm demeanor made me wonder, and it scared the hell out of me.
“Mason . . .” I said.
Our eyes locked and I searched for the man I loved. I saw anger, disgust and determination, as well as a puzzling combination of madness and control.
He took hold of one of Colton’s wrists and led him down the porch steps, turning toward the driveway.
“Oh, my God.” Taylor turned to me, eyes wide and desperate. “What’s he gonna do, April? Where’s he taking him? I don’t like this.”
I shook my head, unable to hide my disgust. “What, you’re worried about Colton getting hurt? Are you serious right now?”
“He gets mad,” she said in a tiny voice. “But he’d never hurt me really bad.”
“What’s wrong with you?” I said harshly. “You saw what he did to me. That could’ve been you.”
She sighed and turned toward the retreating figures of Mason and Colton. “Maybe we should call the police.”
“Yes, let’s. There’s a warrant out for Colton, so we should let them know where he is.”
Regret about her suggestion passed over her face. “Well, we don’t even know where they’re going.”
“We’ll let Mason handle it then.” I opened the front door. “Let’s go inside.”
She complied and I followed, my body sinking with relief as I closed the door behind us. Taylor wasn’t able to stand up to Colton, and I was nothing put a punching bag to distract him from hurting her. But Mason was another story.
He was going to teach him a lesson, and I couldn’t help feeling like it needed to happen.
COLTON WHINED AND CURLED into a ball when I kicked him in the gut for the second time.
“What’s wrong, badass?” I couched down and listened to him sputtering for breath. “You only used to fighting women?”
“You’re gonna fucking regret this,” he spat.
I laughed and hauled him back up to his feet. “I’m terrified. Seeing as I untied you and you still can’t land a punch to save your life.”
I’d driven him to a clearing in a wooded area where I knew we’d be alone. Unfortunately, I had experience with this kind of thing. I knew from working for Bruno that these things were best done slowly. The more drawn out it was, the more time the guy had to wonder if he was getting tied to a rock and thrown in a lake.
Colton’s body tensed. He was about to throw a punch. I ducked and drove my fist into his gut. He doubled over.
“How’s it feel to fight someone eight inches taller than you?” I shoved his shoulder and he stumbled. “Thirty pounds heavier? You like it?”
“Fuck you,” he muttered.
I sent a right hook into his jaw and he dropped to the dirt.
“Got anything else to say?” I said, rubbing the soreness from my hand.
His silence was his answer.
“You better not go near her ever again,” I said, keeping my voice more level that I felt. “If you even get close enough to see her, you’d better run in the other direction.”
“She’s pregnant with my kid,” he mumbled into the ground.
“Not Taylor, dumbass. April.”
“Oh.”
“But just so you know, if I see you hitting any other woman, I won’t allow that, either. You’re not even allowed to breathe the same air as April, you got it?”
“Yeah.” He sat up, clutching his stomach. “I got it, alright?”
“Good. We’re almost done here. I’m gonna need to break one of your bones, but seeing as you’ve been pretty compliant, I’m gonna let you pick which one.”
He looked up at me, eyes wide. “You’re fuckin’ crazy.”
“If you don’t pick, I will. I’ve never done a heel, so I’d like the challenge it presents. I hear that one hurts like a motherfucker. And the leg, too. Anything in the leg is a bitch. But I’m open. You choose.”
“I don’t . . . fuck.” His expression was terrified. “I’m sorry I hit your girlfriend, okay? I am. It won’t happen again.”
“Finger?” I suggested. “Pretty quick and easy.”
“Uh . . .”
“Stand up.”
He scrambled to his feet. I grabbed one of his index fingers and twisted it, unable to hear the snap over his scream. But I felt it.
“Don’t hit women, asshole. Now get your ass out of Lovely and don’t come back.”
He cradled his injured finger in his other hand, gritting his teeth. I turned him around, took his wallet and cell phone from his jeans and held them up in front of his face.
“I’m leaving. If you want this stuff and your car back, it’ll be parked at the Lovely Police Station.” I bent so I was closer to his face. “If you want to turn me in, my name’s Mason Lockhart. But if you do, I guarantee we’ll meet again. And it won’t end this well for you.”
His eyes darkened and he looked on the verge of making a comment, but he kept his mouth shut.
So maybe he was capable of learning a lesson after all.
I’D TAKEN UP PACING, because sitting had been driving me crazy. I went from the living room to the kitchen and back again, but I still felt ready to jump out of my skin. Mason had been gone for more than an hour.
Jess and Taylor had gone out for ice cream in hopes that it would help Taylor stop worrying about Colton. I was alone in the house. Just me and my worry.
It wasn’t that I was worried about him. I was worried for him. I didn’t want him getting himself into serious trouble over payback for what Colton had done to me.
At the sound of the door opening, I ran from the kitchen to the living room. He walked in and our eyes locked.
He wore the same clothes he’d had on when he dragged Colton away, but he looked different now. The darkness in his eyes was gone. When he looked at me, I felt like he saw me instead of just his mission for revenge.
“What did you do?” I approached him and put my hands on his bearded cheeks.
“Nothing he didn’t have coming.”
He put his hands around my waist and tried to pull me close, but I put my palms on my chest to stop him. I needed to see his eyes so I could read him.
“Is he . . . alive?” I asked.
The corner of Mason’s mouth crooked up in grin. “Yeah. You thought I was gonna kill him?”
“You looked like you had a mind to.”
He cocked his head back and forth, seeming to concede the truth in my words.
“He’ll recover. And he won’t be back.”
“How do you know?”
“I took his wallet and cell phone and left them on the seat of his car and parked it in the chief’s spot at the police department. He’s dumb enough to try and go get ‘em.”
My lips parted with amusement. “Remind me never to get on your bad side.”
“I’ve got plans for you to be on my good side tonight,” he said in a low tone. “Downstairs.”
His hands locked around my waist and I felt the familiar tingle between my thighs. When he touched me, I melted. It was becoming a predictable pattern. But I cou
ldn’t go on like this. It was too much.
“I can’t,” I said, stepping back.
“Can’t what?”
“Go downstairs with you.”
He arched his brows questioningly. “Is it that time of the month? Because I don’t—”
“No.” My cheeks burned at the intimacy of his suggestion. “I don’t just mean right now. I can’t keep doing this thing between us.”
This time his brows lowered, a storm brewing in his eyes. “And why is that?”
“I didn’t mean for this to happen. I tried to be sensible, and then I tried to be cool, but it doesn’t work. It’s just not me. I’m not meant for this kind of thing.”
“What kind of thing?” He put his hands back around my waist and sank his fingers in. My traitorous core clenched with arousal.
“A . . . casual thing. A friends with benefits thing.”
“I won’t be with other women. I don’t even want other women, April.”
I wanted it to be enough. This was so close, painfully close, to what I wanted from him. But the voice that had been nagging in the back of my head for several days was my own protective one.
I took two steps back this time, my mind clearer when his hands weren’t on me.
“You want to know why I cried at Thorncrest?” My voice wavered and I cleared my throat. “It wasn’t because you bit me. It was emotional overload. The same thing happened after the first time we were together.”
“What did I do?” He threw his arms out in exasperation. “How did I overload you?”
His exasperation was the last straw. I let my feelings pour out, yelling at him.
“You didn’t do anything! Except be you, I guess. Don’t you hear me? Are you gonna make me say it?”
His eyes widened. “Say what? I’m so goddamn confused right now, April.”
“I’m in love with you.”
Once the words were out, silence hung in the air. He looked like I’d hit him. And I kind of wished I had.
“You’re . . . ?”
I glared at him, tears burning my eyes. “Yes. And every time we’re together–every time you just say something to me–I fall a little further. It’s scary and it hurts and I can’t do it anymore. Not with you. You don’t love me back.”
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