by Rush, Olivia
He crossed the kitchen tiles in two large strides and caught me in his arms. He pressed me up against the counter, his forehead against mine, and speared me with a look that would’ve melted the panties off a nun. Ugh, bad thought.
“Keep talking like that and you’ll get a repeat show, angelface,” he said, dragging fingers down my throat. “I meant, talk about it in the sense that you’re clearly up in your head right now. I fucked your body, and it’s twisted your mind. Now, spill it, Becca. What’s up?”
“There’s a reason we decided to be friends,” I said, “and nothing else.”
“I can’t remember it,” he said, leaning in and brushing his lips against mine. “Every time I touch you I forget everything. My name, my address, my will to do anything but fucking inhale you.”
I moaned softly against his lips. This was exactly the opposite of what we should be doing. I swallowed, shut my eyes and steeled myself, breathing in the scent of my body wash on his skin.
“I don’t want to fuck everything up,” I said, still not opening my eyes. Looking at him was too difficult and I had to get this out. “All I’ve got is this job at your practice. If I lose that, I’m done. There’s nothing else that pays remotely as well. I could waitress, sure, but I’m not sure any of the places I interviewed at would take me in that capacity, even if they have an opening.”
“You’re not going to lose your job.”
“I’m fucking the boss,” I said, and my eyelids snapped open again. His gaze stunned me—glued me to the spot with their ocean-green depths.
“No. You fucked the boss. Not fucking. There’s a difference,” he said. “And trust me when I say it’s not going to be a problem for long, Becca. Everything will be fine.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
“Because I just do.”
“I’m afraid I’m gonna need more to go on than just a feeling.” I shrugged, my nose brushing his. Even that was dangerous. His lips were too close, and he was hard again, his dick pressing against my stomach, insistent.
Mason released me and stepped back, running one hand over his head and down the back of his neck. “Feelings are all I’ve got,” he said, “and I’m always reluctant to share them. Normally.”
“What are you saying?”
“That there’s something going on here,” he said. “It’s no fucking mistake that we can’t get enough of each other. Don’t tell me you don’t play with your pussy at night, fantasizing about me.”
I blushed.
“Exactly,” he said and pointed at me. “I’m with you, Becca. I don’t want complications either, I’m just saying that the sex might be a complication we have to deal with while we’re around each other.”
“Meaning what?”
“Meaning there’s no good reason why we should deny ourselves this level of pleasure,” he continued, nodding his head, as if it made the most sense in the world. Like it was an obvious solution. “If anyone found out at work, it wouldn’t be a big deal. I wouldn’t get fired and you wouldn’t either. It’s not like we’re fucking in the copy room in a corporate office.”
“We almost fucked in your office today.” I couldn’t help but point it out.
“And that’s exactly the reason we need to continue fulfilling our desires outside of work. We keep it here or at my house and we won’t run into that type of problem at the office. Feel me?”
Oh, I felt him all right. I pulsed at the thought of unlimited access to him, but it was still too risky, for other reasons.
“Becca,” he said. “Angel, I can’t go to work tomorrow, know you’re there, and know I can’t fucking touch you. You drive me too wild. You’re mine, and I’m going to make you mine every fucking night for as long as I can.”
“And when does it end?” I asked, folding my arms across my chest. “Neither of us are ready for anything more than sex. When do we cut it off?”
“The minute either of us develops any kind of feelings other than sexual,” he said, but he broke eye contact as he did, glancing past me to the brightly lit yard outside. “We’re rational adults. We can handle that. What was it you said earlier? Making the decision with eyes wide open and mind clear?”
“I meant for that single time, not every time. More than once is a big deal.” But my resolve had already crumbled. “Mason, the minute it gets complicated…”
“We’ll stop,” he said. “I don’t need pain, either. We have a deal, here?”
“Yes,” I said, and my stomach whooped. Excitement—actual excitement—at the prospect of nightly sex with my very own Adonis.
“Good.” Mason still didn’t close the distance between us. “What do you say we get some takeout? Pizza? We can stay in and chow down. Do you have a TV?”
“I’m more into reading,” I said.
“Then we’ll just talk and listen to music.”
It was an awesome proposition, and we followed through quickly. Mason handled ordering the pie while I prepped the living room where we’d had our romp. I laid out the checked picnic blanket he’d left behind the night before and lit a few candles, then switched off the lights. The afternoon sun was just setting, and the creep of dusk was on its way.
A half hour later, we sat down with the pepperoni pie, both grinning, tummies rumbling.
Mason ate like a beast. I matched him bite for bite.
He swallowed and grinned at me.
“What?” I asked, collecting a bit of stringy cheese and twirling it around my finger. I deposited it in my mouth and gobbled it up.
“I like the way you eat.”
“How do I eat?”
“Like you’re mad at the food,” he said, laughing. “I like that.”
“Maybe I am a little mad.” I shrugged. “How dare it not be in my belly already, that kind of thing.” We ate quietly, the soft sounds of a concerto playing in the background—Wagner—and I studied him by candlelight between bites. “I have a question.”
“Shoot.”
“That Kathy from the animal shelter,” I started, and set down my slice on a plate. “The other day when she was here, she warned me about you.”
“That so?”
“Yeah. She said something about there being worse things than alligators in Stoneport and that you were ex-military and not to be trusted. Didn’t make a whole lot of sense to me, but do you know why she’d say something like that?”
Mason chewed thoughtfully. “I might. I mean, it’s like I told you, Kathy’s part of that older group of locals. A few things happened in Stoneport back in the day, and they’ve picked their side.”
“I’m not sure what that means.”
“OK, I’ll explain it,” he said and set down his slice. He picked off a bit of pepperoni and ate it. “Not something I talk about often. Back in the day, I had duties and obligations. I was newly married, but I’d made a commitment to enlist. My father was big in the military, see? It meant a lot to me, and to him too, so I went. My ex…didn’t understand that. Most of the town didn’t either.”
“Why not? Usually people are pretty friendly with veterans. Military service is something that should be honored, not ridiculed.”
“While I was gone, my ex started spreading rumors about me. Tabitha told everyone I’d found out she was pregnant, and that was why I’d left. That I hadn’t actually gone to Afghanistan, but that I’d used it as an escape to run out on her.”
“Jesus,” I said. “For real?”
“For real, for real. It’s all water under the bridge now, but a lot of the locals still believe her side of events. It’s a dichotomy for them. They celebrate Veteran’s Day, but they ridicule me. The younger folks in town, and some of the normal ones like Betsy, they don’t buy into the load of manure that Tabitha tried to sell everyone.”
“Why would she do that?” I asked.
Mason’s open expression shuttered up. “She had her reasons. Let’s leave it at that.”
Perhaps he wasn’t ready to talk about it yet—a feeling I understood completely.
“Wait, sorry, just one last thing.”
“Sure.”
“Are you a father?”
“No,” Mason replied, and he softened up again. “That’s something I regret, though. Not having kids. It’s better this way, though—if I’d had them with Tabitha, they would’ve been stuck with an irresponsible mother. It’s lame to talk shit about your ex, so I’ll leave it at that.”
“Understood.” I took another bite of my pizza, intrigue running through me like a fresh water brook. Now that I’d put my inhibitions about spending time with him aside, I could enjoy this. And him. “So,” I said, “what’s the funniest thing that’s ever happened to you?”
“I threw a boomerang, and it came back and hit me in the head,” he said without hesitation.
“What?!”
“No shit.” Mason laughed, the mood in the living room lightening up. “One of those kids’ toys. What about you?”
I bit my lip and thought long and hard about that one. “I fell out of a golf cart once, while I was driving it.”
“Is that even possible?”
“Oh it’s possible, believe me. I’ve got the scars to show it.” I lifted my arm and showed him the white streak along the bone. “Broke my arm.”
“Ouch.” But Mason couldn’t hold back his laughter, and neither could I.
If this was what it would be like, friends with benefits, I could get onboard with it. Never mind the fears and the worries. Never mind tomorrow. What mattered was right now.
Chapter 16
Mason
“I’m not sure about this,” Becca said, beside me.
I turned into the parking space just in front of the entrance to the practice, right beside the spot where her beat-up VW had been the day before and smiled at her. “I told you, it’s fine. There’s no rule against fraternization here, and even if there were, we’re just two employees carpooling to work.”
“Doctor carpool? Sounds unlikely.”
“Then I’m just a handsome doctor helping out a friend whose car broke down.”
Becca snorted. “You just had to throw in the handsome, didn’t you?”
“What’s life without the perks?”
“Vanity being one of them?”
“You said it.” I gave her the finger gun of approval, then unhooked my seatbelt. “Besides, Becca, Mary’s the only one here at this time of the morning, and she won’t care. She hasn’t got a vindictive bone in her body.” I exited the vehicle then circled to her side and opened up her car door before she got the chance.
Becca sighed. “You’re just making it worse,” she said and slipped out of her seat onto the rough macadam. Her body brushed against mine, and I tensed up, fought against every base urge I’d ever damn well possessed.
“No,” I said, “you’re making it worse. You want to maintain the friendly façade, angelface?” I brushed a few strands of her hair behind one ear. “Keep that gorgeous body away from me, and those eyes innocent, or I’ll take you over my desk during lunch hour.”
She bit her lip and gave me a stare that was all challenge and zero innocence.
I stepped back and waited for her to walk past me, then I shut the car door. Finally, we turned and headed for the walkway that led up to the entrance.
“Thanks for last night,” she whispered. “I had one helluva time.”
“That makes two of us.” We’d spent the rest of the evening feasting on pizza, then continuing to explore each other’s bodies. We’d fallen asleep together in bed after settling in to watch The Walking Dead on her iPad. I’d woken early enough to rush home, take a shower, and get dressed for work. The whole experience had been something… Shit, something entirely different.
My relationship with Tabitha had been born out of ill-fated loyalty to a girl I’d met in high school. We’d had our teenage moments, but we’d never had anything close to what Becca and I had shared last night.
A thrill traveled through me, tensing up my muscles. This wasn’t at all what was supposed to happen. Soon, I’d either have to leave or… What was the other choice? Stay behind for this woman I’d met a week ago?
She’s more than that, and you know it.
I pushed that thought aside as I opened the practice’s glass front door for her. She entered ahead of me with a “thank you” then waved to Mary behind the reception desk.
The pregnant woman rose and grinned at us both, her fists on her hips either side of her barrel belly. Mary had the prettiest pregnant-woman glow I’d ever seen. “There you are,” she said. “I was beginning to worry you wouldn’t make it in today. Thought I scared you yesterday by overloading you with tasks.”
“Who, me?” I asked, pressing a hand to my chest.
Both women rolled their eyes, and Becca laughed softly. “Overload me? I can’t wait to get started.”
“Great! Because I’m hankering for an iced tea and a gossip session.” Mary winked, purposefully avoiding my gaze.
“I could use a cup of coffee,” I suggested.
“All in due course, Doctor Dunn,” Mary replied. “You just run along to your office, and we’ll send some through once everything out here is sorted out.”
I turned to Becca and stunned myself all over again. Every time I’d been focused on something or someone else for a short period of time and I turned back to her, her beauty struck me right between the fucking eyes.
“Have a good day,” I said, resisting the urge to reach out for her. Hug her, kiss her, like she was more than just a neighbor and a friend.
“You too,” she replied, with an easy smile. “Thanks for the ride.”
“Anytime.” I gave her another finger gun—apparently, long periods of exposure to Becca transformed me into a fucking cheeseball—and strode past the front desk, the water cooler in the corner with its Styrofoam cup tower, and a few potted plants, then into the hall.
It was blessedly empty. The doors to the other offices were closed.
Crown, who owned the practice, had always planned on expanding the place as the town itself grew. The doors on either side of the hall let into five offices, two of which hadn’t been used before. He’ll be OK without me. They’ll all be OK.
But it didn’t ring true.
I let myself into my office, muttering under my breath like I’d gone deranged in the span of a few steps.
Everything had been fucking fine a week ago. All right, not exactly fine. I’d been resentful that I had to leave the town I’d been born in, the one I’d come back to after my service. Stoneport had all the best and worst memories of my life rolled into one, and I’d figured a fresh start was the way to go after what’d happened.
Pity my fresh start had come in the form of my next-door neighbor. Fuck it, if I’d left a few days earlier, none of this would’ve happened. But I couldn’t bring myself to regret meeting her.
I took a seat behind my desk and fired up my computer. I didn’t have many appointments today. Heck, I probably could’ve come in way later, but Becca had work early, and it’d encouraged me to head in, too.
My thoughts turned to her body—the taste of her pussy, the scent of her skin—as my PC screen clicked on. “Stop,” I growled. “Just fucking stop.”
But it was futile. I was already thick in my jeans, pressing for release. I couldn’t get enough of the woman, and taking her at work was definitely out of the question. I had to maintain some modicum of professionalism until I left this place.
If I left this place.
A knock at my office door brought me back to earth with an unpleasant thud. “Come in,” I called out.
The door creaked open and Crown himself stuck his head around the edge and blinked at me, bleary-eyed. The old man had never been a morning person. “Doctor Dunn,” he said. “I didn’t expect you here this early.”
I shrugged. “Early bird and all that shit.”
“Indeed,” Crown replied. He licked thin lips then sniffed, touching a thin, tapered finger to the end of that sharp, hooked nose. The man had
always reminded me of an oversized macaw, down to the wacky ties he wore to work. “Do you have a minute to talk?”
“Sure.” I gestured to the chair in front of my desk.
“In my office.” Crown retreated before I could protest, his footsteps soft on the carpeting in the hall.
What’s this about?
Crown rarely called me into his office for a chat. He was more the solid, silent type—unless there was an actual issue, or he needed me to pick up some of his patients because he had a conference or something like that. Which seemed entirely unlikely now.
I rose and tracked out of my office, then down the hall to his. He waited behind his desk, his hands together under his chin, forming a steeple. “Have a seat, Doctor Dunn.”
I shut the door behind me and did exactly that, settling my legs in my jeans by tugging on the fabric at the knees. “What’s up, doc?” I asked.
The joke whooshed over his head. “We need to talk about your future at the practice and a few changes I’ll be making.”
“All right.”
Crown heaved a sigh, laden with the pressure of running a business. “I’ve been hearing things about you, Mason,” he said.
The first-name thing caught my attention. He’d only called me by it once, and that’d been on the day I’d handed in my resignation letter. “What kind of things?”
“There are rumors around town about you and a young lady, whose name I won’t mention,” Crown said. “Of course, that’s not a problem around here, but it’s given me some pause.”
“In what sense?”
Crown shifted his fingers to the desk and smoothed them over its walnut edges. “I want to know if you’re still planning on leaving Stoneport. If not, I need to follow through with paperwork here, so that you can stay on without a hiccup. Even with Doctor George on the way, I’ve still got space for you, and I’d love to keep you on at the practice.”
“I’m sensing an unspoken but, here, Crown.”
The older man hunched his shoulders up and then down again. “There’s no but, per se. I just need to know as soon as possible. Can you confirm that you’re going to leave as planned?”