When Its Least Expected

by Heather Van Fleet

  stared down at her. The lady didn’t look a day over thirty-five. She was beautiful in that middle aged sort of way.

  “Yeah, she does.” Except for Harley wasn’t just beautiful. She was stunning, beyond

  everything Mason had ever expected.

  “Mason, look,” she paused, placing a firm hand on his shoulders. “I don’t know what

  your intentions are with my daughter, but I do think that she cares for you.” She sighed,

  “I just can’t have my baby girl hurt again. She’s finally started to recover from past tragedies.

  The last thing she needs is another setback.” Mason looked down at his black patent shoes, guilt rose in his throat, and he tried to swallow it down. It was stuck though, and it felt like shit.

  “If you plan on sticking around Hillsdale for a while, then that’s great, but if you plan on taking off one day never to look back then do me and Harley both a favor. End this now before she gets hurt.” Eyes wide, surprised at her threat, Mason turned to face Mrs. Anderson. She was full of fire, and she was almost worse than her husband.

  In a way he was happy about her behavior. It meant his little beast was loved and that she

  had people to stand by her when he most likely did screw up. It was what it was though, and he couldn’t deny the fact that he was bound to hurt her. He couldn’t stop the bad from happening.

  He could make the most out of what they had together, even though his time in Hillsdale was going to be short, just like she had assumed.

  No matter his feelings, he had obligations back in California.

  If he was a good guy, then he would walk away like she’d asked. He’d end a relationship

  between him and Harley before their connection deepened more.

  Mason Daniel wasn’t a good guy. He was selfish, and his inability to walk away from Harley, proved just that.

  * * *

  “Harley, would you please stop trying to make me feel worse then I already am? You

  knew I never wanted to go with her to that damn dance. Why’d you have to go and make her ask me anyways?” Harley stared down at her brother, shaking her head in exasperation. Her hands were inches from slugging him in the face. Yeah, this definitely wasn’t the time or place to have this conversation either. Seeing her friend so miserable though just about did her in.

  She pushed her brother’s chair down the hall, anger flaring, head pulsating even harder.

  She felt like crap, but she had to get this over with. “Because you two were meant to go together, two legs, ten legs, no legs – it doesn’t matter,” she paused, not thinking about her words, just letting them go. “I just wish you’d just get the hell over yourself and do something for someone else for once! And you love her David. She loves you too.” Harley pointed back over her

  shoulders towards Abigail who was laughing and smiling, a permanent fixture in their family.

  The two of them were destined for each other. There was no denying the look in David’s eyes when she glanced back at him. He had to have felt the same way.

  “She deserves better than this,” he spat, hands gesturing to the empty spot where his leg

  used to be. “She needs someone who can give her what she truly deserves out of life, like a nice home, a perfect family.” His voice was barely a whisper. Harley crouched down next to him,

  placing a gentle hand on his arm. “You know I shouldn’t be the one to do that for her. I mean, just look at me. I’m nothing more than a waste of space. I’m pathetic. A guy who sits in a damn wheel chair all day, for Christ’s sake. I’m going nowhere in life and I don’t want to drag her down with me.”

  “Shut up, David! You know you can change that! The prosthetic, more therapy … You

  have to stop using that as an excuse!” Crap, why now did she choose to go preachy on him?

  “Just stop, Harley. You don’t get to choose how I run my life.”

  “I’m not—“

  “Yes, you are. You try to run my life, so you don’t have to deal with your own shit.”

  Harley’s eyes watered. She reached over to hug him, but he pulled away and pushed into the

  other room.

  She stood straight with her hands clenched at her sides. She had to make things right

  before leaving. She had to make things right altogether, and she’d forgo his attitude and his words.

  She always did what she wanted with her life, right?

  She blew out a breath just as looked over at her family, her brother, her life. Abigail was there, planting herself down on his lap. A giant bowl of ice cream was in her hands with a spoon outstretched and ready to go into his mouth. David lit up, despite his mood only seconds before.

  Harley relaxed, confident that everything would be okay. Well, at least for one more night.

  Still, she couldn’t shake his words. They had stung, burned even. She was just trying to

  help him. Why couldn’t he see that?

  “Are you ready to go, little beast? I wanted to show you something before we pick up

  my sister and her date,” Mason snuck up next to her, his arm wrapped around he lower back as he whispered low in her ear. She closed her eyes. His breath was warm against her cheek, and Harley relaxed into his hold.

  Mason made the ache in her chest better, but the thing was she knew she had to learn how

  to make it go away on her own. He was just a temporary fix, an escape.

  “Sure, let me just grab my sweater first,” she whispered back. She was the perfect

  composed person on the outside, but dying, needy, breathless inside.

  When she turned to walk away, Mason surprisingly stopped her, his hand tightly wound

  across her back as he pulled her flush with his front. She stopped breathing as he gave her one slow, scorching, secret kiss. Then he was gone, taking that grin and kiss right along with him.

  Wow. Just … wow.

  Minutes later they rejoined at the door, saying their goodbyes as they headed out towards

  Mason’s car. Harley inhaled the leather of his seats as they settled in. Weirdly, it was like freedom because for the first time in days, Harley had left the house. She loved her family, but being smothered was highly overrated.

  “I have a surprise for you, little beast.”

  He shocked her out of her mindless complaints as they pulled out of her driveway. She

  turned to face him, a grin burning her cheeks. “Oh, yeah? I’m not a big fan of surprises, you know, so you can just tell me now. Save yourself the trouble,” she teased, tugging at the sleeve of his suit. His dimples were there accenting his perfect smile. His hair fell just over his eye.

  Good God almighty, he defined the word dangerous.

  “Why, little beast, are we impatient tonight, or what?” He reached over, placing his hand

  on the sensitive spot, right above her knee.

  She swallowed, instantly forgetting her fear of surprises. His thumb went to town

  drawing tiny circles all over her kneecap. She tried to stay cool and keep her breath even, her heart at a steady ninety beats per minutes. She tried to stay loose, but her body was tense and aching.

  It wasn’t the fever kind of ache either.

  She didn’t respond verbally to his touch as she turned to gaze out at the dark sky. All

  these emotions, they were too much.

  Moments later the car parked, and she gasped at the site that stood before his car. They

  were at North Park, but it was a whole other world after what he’d done. Candle lit lanterns lined up in a circle, surrounding a blanket that had been draped across the mulch by the swings. A basket was placed right in the center of it all. It was hard to tell exactly what else was there, but at least she had a pretty good idea of what he’d done.

  He stepped out of the car and opened her door without her knowledge. She glanced up at

  his shadowed face under her hooded lashes. He was menacing and beautiful under the
moon. His sandy colored hair was shining silver off the reflection from up above. He smiled down at her, grabbing her hand and pulling her into his side.

  Harley’s eyes widened as she looked between him and the ever approaching scene. She

  gasped, feeling like a freak for getting emotional over the site. Sweet mother of God, he’d done it all. Strawberries, whipped cream, and a bottle of grape juice?

  Wow, Mason Daniel sure as hell knew his stuff.

  “Did you do this all for me?” Harley stated softly, her mouth forming a wide O as she

  turned to look over at him.

  “Do you like it? I mean, if not, we can just forget I brought you here and go to the dance

  early if you want...” His confidence – he’d lost it to endearment. It was the sexiest thing she’d ever seen or heard.

  Harley shook her head, grabbing his tie to pull him closer to her. He didn’t touch her like she had wanted him to. Instead, one of his hands rubbed the back of his neck, while his eyes, appearing almost terrified and excited at the same time, searched her face. Her grin grew even wider. He had actually gone and put his heart and emotions out there for her.

  Tiny sparks of electricity battled for control as their eyes held. Then moments later, it

  switched to flames. A fire, something heavy and burning. Her mouth went dry. Only inches

  separated their lips. Then she closed the distance, completing the job he was now seemingly unsure of doing.

  Her heart fluttered. This kiss was soft, tentative, until he responded with fervor. The next thing she knew, she was on the ground beneath him, the soft blanket rubbing against the bare, sensitized spots on the back of her legs. She squirmed, raising a leg over his calf, begging for a release inside of her that she didn’t understand. Her hands tugged at his hair as the simple thank you kiss turned to something that would set them both into flames soon if they weren’t careful.

  Mason’s mouth, torturous and frenzied, hurried down her chin and neck. He was out for

  blood with those kisses, and she tilted her chin back, ready to serve up a vein. She shivered. The October breeze did nothing to cool her down. It was just her body responding to his.

  She wanted it all with him and was even ready to say screw the dance too, but he pulled

  away, his breath coming out in similar gasps like hers. Her heart plummeted; her eyes were still closed. She was afraid of what she’d see if she opened them.

  Why-oh-why had he stopped?

  No words were spoken as he leveled his forehead with hers. One of his hands was

  pressed to the ground next to her. The other one seemed to have a mind of its own as it traveled up the side of her leg, under her dress onto her outer thigh. She arched into him, grinning wickedly. Yes! This was what she wanted, this escape from reality. He could take her there.

  She’d let him without a second thought.

  “Harley…” Mason sighed against her cheek. His voice was raspy and shaking. She

  finally opened her eyes only to see his shut as he leaned back, taking her with him into a sitting position.

  “What is it? What’s wrong?” Way too disappointed then she probably should have been,

  Harley moved with him, straightening her dress and pulling the straps back up onto her

  shoulders. She messed with her curls but found them perfectly plastered. Abigail was apparently a hairspray freak.

  “This is not at all what I had in mind here for tonight. It’s not that I don’t want to, but I brought you here because I wanted to tell you something,” he was nervous. She could tell by the way his hands seemed to tremble as he ran one after the other over his mouth.

  “Shit, I should have known,” her voice rose at end, the panic in it was unavoidable. She

  pushed him away and stood. This was it. He was telling her goodbye, wasn’t he? The asshole, he could have at least waited until the dance was over!

  “Harley, wait,” he stood behind her, his arm snaked around her chest as he pulled her

  back against him.

  “Get off of me, Mason,” she struggled, pushing at his arms and hands. She was

  determined to get away before any tears could make an appearance.

  “Why are you freaking out?”

  She pulled out his grip finally, only to turn and face him. The cooling wind blew

  menacingly across her bare arms as she held them across her chest. Vigorously, she rubbed her elbows with her hands. Then her nose started to run again, and it was all she could do not to lose her emotional crap right then and there.

  “Just do it already. Tell me you don’t want me. Tell me to leave. Tell me that a

  relationship between us will never work. Tell me, God dammit, because I can’t take the pain of losing someone else I care about in my life again…” her voice was loud, her hands were shaking.

  Her heart was on fire, and dammit all to hell she couldn’t stop the sobs.

  The look in his eyes wasn’t sympathetic, nor was it a pitying look. It was downright

  humorous, and she was flaming pissed. He grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her into an unexpected hug. In response, she cringed. What was he doing? Was he officially off his rocker nuts? Yes, that was it. Mason had officially left for crazy town, and he was apparently going to take her with him.

  “Do you think I would have done all this just to walk away?” he growled laughter in her

  ear. Her body stiffened until he pulled. He brushed the back of his hand down her cheek. Sanity won out over insanity, and she started to really think about the situation at hand here.

  Okay, yeah, so maybe this wasn’t a kick you to the curb kind of moment. If it wasn’t,

  though, then what exactly was it? She bit her lip. She was an all-out emotional maniac, wasn’t she anymore?

  “You see, Harley, there’s this girl I know, and she’s, well, she’s pretty amazing. She’s

  everything I never knew that I wanted in my life.” He paused as a slow, sweet smile crossed his lips. Her nerves rattled even more but for a different reason this time. “But the problem is that I’m not sure if she wants me in the same way that I do her.”

  Harley’s voice cracked, “Has, um, said girl told you how she feels about you?” He

  continued to stare down at her. His eyes were almost piercing. Her chest swelled, her pulse throbbed. She wanted to look away. It was too much emotion in one moment, but at the same

  time she was pulled further in – hook, line, and double-weighted sinker.

  “She hasn’t told me right out that she likes me, but I know that she definitely likes to kiss me and that she also lets me hold her hand,” he lifted her palm to his lips, brushing a gentle kiss to her fingers. She blinked, trying to fully focus on what was happening. One second ago she was sure he was going to screw her over, but now…

  “So I’m assuming she has to like me too.”

  “Well maybe this girl is scared,” she looked shyly down at their now interlocked fingers.

  “For instance, she doesn’t want said boy to be there for her one day and then decide it’s time to up and move away to somewhere like California the next.” Harley cringed at her confession. But she had to know the truth. It was all or nothing with Mason. If he truly wanted to be with her, than the words needed to be spoken.

  His jaw clenched; she just barely make out the change under the lantern’s light. His

  expression went from playful to broody in two seconds flat. He sighed, “Oh, little beast…” He ran a hand through his hair, the locks stood on end in delicious disarray. She fought against the urge to reach up and fix it herself. He pulled back from her though, before she had a chance. The distance was killer but necessary.

  Harley kept her game face on – shoulders back, lips straight, eyes wide open. She was

  ready…

  “I honestly don’t know what my future holds as of right now, but what I do know is that I

  want you in my life because you hav
e come to mean more to me than any other girl I’ve ever

  been with before.” His breath was shaky against her face just like her own hands were at her sides. Harley was struggling to keep herself still, but it was getting damn near impossible to do so the more he spoke.

  “I want to be with you, Harley. I want you … as my girlfriend. Would you … do that for me … please?”

  Oh God, he was begging. Harley couldn’t resist a begging, hotter than Hades, Mason.

  She was too weak. His hold over her had grown too powerful. Still, she had to at least try and play it cool. “Well, I’ll tell you what,” she paused, staring up into his eyes, barely making out the blue in them. She wanted to jump in his arms, wrap her legs around his waist, and say adios to the dance. She had other plans for them, and they didn’t include a room full of other people. “We can try this relationship thing with each other if you promise to tell me the truth all the time, especially on something as important as moving away. You got it, surfer boy?” Oh he got it

  alright; his grin said it all.

  “So, does that mean you and I are…” he licked his lips. His smile had grown so

  big, so sweet that she wanted to wrap it up and store it in a box right next to her heart. “I’m telling you what, little beast. If that’s the case then…” Mason spun on his heels and sprinted away from her, his arms pumping through the air as he hollered a woo-hoo towards the sky.

  Harley giggled, covering her mouth, shaking her head as the crazy boy went running away from her.

  He jumped up on the monkey bars, throwing his suit coat onto the mulch covered ground

  below. He was crazy – absolutely, one hundred percent, off his rocker, nuts! And Harley was completely falling for him.

  She should have been freaking out, but weirdly for once she wasn’t. She was at peace

  with the idea of the two of them making their little relationship official. Things in her life might actually have started to fall into place.

  How was that even possible for a jinx like her?

  Mason wound up on top the red bars, standing with his legs on either side, his arms

  outstretched towards the sky. “Take that, you old man! I finally went and got myself a

  girlfriend!”