It hadn’t taken him long to recognize that calling Selena on her behalf was a tactical mistake of epic proportion. All he had to do was imagine how he would feel if she called in a favor to Eric for him. Just picturing the hypothetical made his jaw clench.
Mason stopped in front of the window, staring at the buds forming on the silver maples lining the backyard.
He prided himself on his ability to methodically think his way through any problem, but he had no idea how he was going to fix this one.
***
Jada raised her head when she heard the roar of a car engine, but she remained seated in the spot she’d occupied on Callie’s porch for the past hour. Her friend climbed out of her SUV, still wearing her lab coat.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t come right away,” Callie said. “I got behind with patients this morning and found myself playing catch-up all day.”
“It’s okay,” Jada said, waving her off with one hand as she wiped a wayward tear with the other.
Callie sat next to her on the second to the last porch step and covered Jada’s knee. “What in the heck happened between you and Kiera?”
Jada took a moment to collect herself before giving Callie the abbreviated version of what had transpired over the past couple of weeks, starting with the night she’d run out of gas on her way home from the Naughty Nights party. When she admitted that she and Mason had started sleeping together, Callie sprung up from the porch step like it was on fire.
“You and Mason? Mason Coleman? The same Mason Coleman you said you would drench in honey and pitch into a pile of red ants if it wasn’t for the fact that he was Kiera’s brother?”
“Yes,” Jada droned. She lifted her palms up in bewilderment. “I’m not even sure how it happened. We both…I don’t know…misunderstood each other all these years. Anyway, when we were together the other day he asked me if I knew what was going on with Kiera.”
“You didn’t.” Callie groaned.
“I just told him that she was in a bind. I didn’t mention the food truck or anything to do with her catering company. He must have figured that out on his own, and of course, he stuck his nose into her business.” Jada let out a sigh. “Now Kiera hates me.”
She didn’t even mention what Mason had done to her. It was too demoralizing to even think about it. Besides, the job with The Fortier Foundation meant nothing when compared to her friendship with Kiera.
Callie pulled out her cell phone. “I know we still have a few weeks before our normal monthly wine and whine session, but these are special circumstances.”
“She won’t come over if she knows I’m here,” Jada said. Hurt radiated in her chest at the admission.
“She can’t avoid you forever, so why do it at all?” Callie reasoned.
Stuffing her free hand in the pocket of her lab coat, she walked along the brick-laid walkway that led up to her house. Even though she spoke in low tones that made it impossible for Jada to make out what she was saying, the expression on her face said it all. After a couple of minutes, Callie walked back over to the porch and reclaimed her seat on the step.
“She’ll be here in ten minutes,” she announced.
Jada whipped her head toward her. “Really? How did you do that? She wouldn’t even talk to me.”
“She doesn’t know you’re here,” Callie said.
Jada closed her eyes and covered her face in her hands. She felt Callie’s arm come around her shoulders and nearly sobbed with gratitude at the support her friend provided. They remained there, sitting quietly. One offering comfort, the other gratefully accepting it.
Nearly twenty minutes went by before Kiera’s SUV pulled in behind Callie’s.
Jada sprung up from the step. She stood and watched as Kiera climbed from behind the wheel, shut the door, and locked it with her key fob. The resentment furrowing her brow caused a heavy weight to settle in Jada’s stomach, but the fact that she had not backed out of the driveway the minute she saw her sitting on the porch step was a positive sign.
Jada rubbed her palms down the sides of her pants as she prepared to beg and plead for her friend’s forgiveness.
Kiera walked up to them, and folded her arms over her chest.
“Well,” Callie said, slapping her palms on her thighs and pushing herself up. “I’ll go and get the wine.”
“It’s four in the afternoon,” Kiera said.
“What the hell does that have to do with anything?” Callie asked as she went into the house.
Kiera rolled her eyes, then brought them back to Jada.
“I’m sorry,” Jada opened.
“I know,” Kiera said.
When she saw the small smile creep along the edges of her friend’s mouth, Jada’s heart blossomed with hope. She closed the distance between them and smothered Kiera in a hug. When she realized Kiera was holding on just as tight, a small cry of relief broke past her lips.
“I’m sorry for the things I said to you,” Kiera said. She pulled away slightly, but still held onto Jada’s arms. “And I’m actually ecstatic that you’re screwing my brother.”
Jada choked out a laugh. “I could cheerfully murder him if I saw him right now,” she said.
“No, no. Don’t.” Kiera shook her head. “Let me do that, after I stuff the ten thousand dollars he keeps transferring to my bank account down his throat.”
Callie came outside with three plastic cups stacked together in one hand and a bottle of Riesling in the other. “Couldn’t handle wine glasses,” she said, holding up the stack of cups. She looked back and forth between Jada and Kiera. “Are we good?”
“We’re good,” Kiera said.
“Yes,” Jada answered at the same time.
“Good.” Callie nodded. “Now why don’t we sit out here so Jada can tell us how she ended up in bed with her biggest enemy? Well, biggest enemy after Eric, of course.”
“The bastard,” the three of them said in unison.
Jada and Kiera both sat on the wooden swing on Callie’s huge wraparound porch, while Callie perched her hip on the railing, her back against the thick post. As they sipped white wine from plastic cups, Jada gave them the extended version of her whirlwind courtship with Mason, halting whenever Kiera told her that it was getting into things-a-baby-sister-doesn’t-need-to-know-about-her-brother territory.
Jada struggled to maintain her calm as she told them about the interview with The Fortier Foundation and the mini bombshell Selena Pareja dropped in her lap as she was leaving the office.
“My God! How can someone so damn smart be so damn clueless?” Kiera screeched.
“Ask him yourself,” Callie said. She nudged her chin forward, and both Jada and Kiera twisted around on the porch swing. Mason was walking toward them. He’d parked his car in front of Callie’s neighbor’s house.
Jada’s stomach clenched with yearning at the sight of him, even while her hands balled into fists. With every inch closer he came, her heart beat faster and faster, to the point that she could hardly hear anything past the blood rushing in her head by the time he made it to the house.
He stopped a few feet shy of the landscaping that lined the base of the porch, both hands shoved in his pants pockets.
“Hi,” Mason said.
Callie was the only one who responded with actual words.
“Hi, Mason,” she said.
Kiera grunted. Jada remained silent. Speaking past the emotion in her throat was beyond her capabilities at the moment.
His warm brown eyes were shadowed with pain, his internal turmoil blatantly obvious.
“Jada,” he opened. The word came out hoarse. He winced, swallowed, released a quick, anguished breath, and tried again. “Jada, can I speak to you? Privately?”
For a moment she debated whether or not she would ever speak to him again, but she knew that was just her anger talking. She recalled Callie’s earlier words. She couldn’t avoid him forever, so why do so at all?
Jada pushed herself up from the swing. The relief that f
lashed across Mason’s face nearly caused her to race down the porch steps and wrap her arms around him, but she thankfully nipped that impulse just in time. At least make the man work for her forgiveness.
He met up with her at the newel post at the bottom of the steps. “Walk with me?” he asked.
She gave a slight nod, and they started up the walkway. Mason turned back. “I’ll talk to you tonight, Kiera.”
She replied with another grunt.
They continued up Callie’s walkway and onto the sidewalk, strolling at an easy pace past his car, neither saying anything. Jada breathed in a lungful of the sweet, white jasmine-scented air while she tried to process everything that had happened today. It already felt like the longest day ever, and she knew the conversation looming ahead of them would only add to the day’s endless feeling.
They reached a small park with several pieces of playground equipment. Despite the dearth of verbal communication between them, their feet led them both to the empty swing set. Jada positioned herself on the concave rubber seat and wrapped each hand around a metal chain. She toed the ground, lightly rocking her swing back and forth.
“Saying I’m sorry doesn’t even begin to cover it,” Mason started. “But I need to say the words, so…I’m sorry.”
Jada bit her bottom lip. After several moments passed, she looked up at him, and asked, “For which part?”
“All of it,” he said, his voice cracking on the words. He shut his eyes briefly, slipped one hand out of his pocket and massaged the back of his neck. “I’ve spent more than half my life taking care of the women in my life, Jada. Making sure my mom and Kiera never have to worry about anything is as natural as breathing for me. It’s what I do.”
“I know that,” she said.
“I saw how much you wanted that job, and when I found out it was with Selena’s company I realized that I could help, and that’s the only thing that mattered.” He shook his head and choked out a humorless laugh. “Now that I think about it, I realize how ridiculous it was.
“Don’t let my stupidity stop you from taking this job, Jada. Selena left me a message on my phone—” His hands shot up. “—it was all about you. She loved you. She thinks you’re perfect for this job and the entire message was her singing your praises and thanking me for clueing her into you as a candidate.”
“It was a great interview,” she mumbled. She looked straight ahead, staring at the budding leaves on the maples as they fluttered in the soft breeze. “Before I found out that the two of you were bed buddies, I actually liked Selena.”
“Jada, don’t….shit,” Mason whispered.
She looked up at him and decided to put him out of his misery. “I’m going to accept the job if she offers it, Mason.”
His eyes widened. “She’s going to offer it,” he said. “I have no doubt that she will.”
Jada hoisted herself out of the swing and closed the distance between them. She captured Mason’s hands, entwined their fingers, and gently swung their arms back and forth.
“Calling Selena wasn’t the smartest move you’ve ever made, but it was probably one of the sweetest. You weren’t trying to control me, you were just trying to help.”
“That’s all,” he said.
“Judging by what I saw of her personality, I know Selena would not offer me a job if she didn’t think it was best for The Fortier Foundation, and that makes a huge difference. If I am offered the job, it will be because she believes I’m the best person for it.”
“There’s no if about it.”
She hunched her shoulders. “I won’t let myself get excited until after I receive an official offer.”
They stood there for several quiet moments, holding hands.
Mason finally broke the silence. “Please tell me I haven’t messed this up. I’ve spent much of my adult life trying to avoid the feelings I have for you, but now that I’ve put it out there, I don’t want to take it back. I can’t.
“Please, tell me you won’t end this because of what I did. We’re just starting, Jada.”
The naked pain in his voice wrapped itself around her soul.
Jada pulled her trembling bottom lip between her teeth and shook her head. “I don’t want it to end,” she whispered.
His face crumbled in relief as he pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her. His hands came up to capture her face as his mouth lowered onto hers.
“Thank you,” he murmured against her lips. “Thank you, thank you, thank you.”
Jada melted against him, clasping her hands behind his head and thrusting her tongue into his mouth. The heady sensation of his heat and strength and flavor spiraled through her veins, erupting in an exquisite burst of pleasure that reverberated throughout her bloodstream.
Mason gradually pulled his lips away and rested his forehead on hers. Their breaths mingled as they both panted, trying to recover from the kiss that she still felt in every part of her body.
“I can’t promise you that I won’t mess up again,” he said in a hushed voice. “Like I said, I’ve been doing the caretaker thing most of my life. It may take me a while to turn it off.”
“I won’t hold it against you if you slip up every now and then. Kiera, on the other hand, may commit bodily harm.”
Mason winced. “I’m not looking forward to facing her.”
“She’s been putting up with you sticking your nose in her business for thirty-two years, Mason. She’ll forgive you. She won’t take your money, but she’ll forgive you.”
His brow quirked. “You sure about that?”
“Positive. Just give her some time.” She brought her arms around his waist and linked her hands at the small of his back. “In the meantime, I think we should do this for a little while longer.”
Then she lifted her face to his and captured his lips.
Epilogue
Mason carried the army green tackle box he’d found in the garage at his mother’s house, depositing it on his kitchen table. After finishing his pancake breakfast, he, his mother and Kiera had gone on an expedition, searching every corner of the garage for the tackle box his father used to keep behind the seat of his pickup. It was one of the few things of his that had not perished in the fire with everything else they’d owned.
Mason had to use a butter knife to pry the rusty clasp lock apart. Once inside, he wasn’t surprised to discover that the twenty-year-old hooks, jigs, and sinkers were as old and tarnished as the lock, but that didn’t matter. He’d spent hours at the outdoorsman shop, buying all-new tackled gear and a top-of-the-line graphite rod and reel. The tackle box is what he wanted. That was the important thing.
It had been a month since Jada had taken him fishing, and every weekend since his skin had tingled with the urge to get out there and cast a line. When he left his office yesterday, he made a decision. He would take at least one weekend a month for himself. Whether he went fishing, took a drive out to the Gulf Coast, or just hung around the house watching marathons of Law & Order SVU, it would be his time to do whatever he felt like doing.
Mason emptied the rusty tackle into the trash and soaked a dish towel so he could wipe out the inside of the tackle box. Just as he was finishing up, the doorbell rang. He tossed the towel on the table, wiped his hands on the front of his faded T-shirt, and jogged to the door.
He spotted Jada through the front door’s beveled glass. Mason opened it and leaned against the door jamb.
“Morning, beautiful,” he greeted. His eyes crinkled as he gestured toward the raincoat she was wearing. He looked up at the sky. It was a brilliant blue without even the hint of a cloud. “You know something I don’t know about the weather today?”
“No,” she said, stepping inside the house. She turned and slipped the raincoat off her shoulders. “I was just hoping you were in the mood for something a little bit naughty.”
Mason’s gut instantly tightened. “Where did you get that?”
“Some things are too special to part with.” She struck a po
se in her tiny maroon and gold Maplesville Mustang Cheerleader uniform. “What can I say? I’m sentimental.”
“Sexy as hell is what you are,” Mason said, his voice rough with the lust rapidly invading every single fiber of his body.
“Does that mean you are feeling a little bit naughty?” she asked. “Because I have my hot pink polka dot case in the car. We can come up with a bunch of fun things to do to pass the time.”
Mason sauntered toward her and hooked a finger in the V-shaped collar of the snug-fitting uniform, and pulled her to him. “There’s nothing little about the kind of naughty I’m feeling.”
“Good,” Jada whispered against his lips. “Because I’m about to give you all the naughty you can handle.”
—The End—
Thank you so much for purchasing and reading A Little Bit Naughty.
If you haven’t done so yet, be sure to read Callie and Stefan’s love story in the first novella of the Moments in Maplesville series, A Perfect Holiday Fling!
Get your copy of A Perfect Holiday Fling!
If you enjoyed this story, please consider checking out my other romances, including my Bayou Dreams series, set in the fictional town of Gauthier, Louisiana.
Read on for an excerpt from A Forever Kind of Love, the first book in the Bayou Dreams series.
***
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A Little Bit Naughty (Moments in Maplesville) Page 12