by Peters, Liz
The funny thing was, he wasn’t sure what made him more jealous: Raine getting all Oliver’s attention, or Oliver getting all Raine’s. Over the last few days, Raine had shown him she was an intelligent, charming, kind woman with a beautiful smile and an even more beautiful laugh. Mason had tried very hard to stop looking at her as anything other than his son’s nanny, but he could feel his attraction to her deepening every time she smiled at him or when he watched her interact with Oliver. Raine, for her part, never seemed to see him as anything but her employer.
Even if he wished she’d look at him as something more (even as just a friend would be nice), Mason was glad she was here. Oliver was genuinely happy that she was around, and she had made the separation between father and son far easier than it might have been.
Mason wanted to do something to thank her. She had put in every effort possible to make Oliver happy, and Mason felt she deserved something extra for her trouble. He suddenly remembered something that his mother had given him yesterday, and he smiled to himself. He knew a little something he could do for her.
* * *
As Mason closed Oliver’s door, Raine yawned and stretched, turning toward her own door.
Feeling oddly nervous, Mason stepped toward her, clearing his throat. “Raine, I was hoping we could talk downstairs for a bit?”
Raine looked at him, surprised, and then her gaze turned wary. It took a moment for Mason to realize that she probably thought he wanted to talk to her about how the job was going. He thought about reassuring her, but then decided not to; he did want to talk about the job, and letting her think it was serious would prevent her from refusing.
“Okay,” she said.
They went back to the kitchen. Raine paused in the doorway as she took in the table set-up that Mason had done before putting Oliver to bed. It wasn’t anything fancy, just two china plates with slices of blueberry cheesecake on them and two steaming cups of coffee.
“What’s this?” Raine asked.
“Just a little thank you,” Mason said, gesturing for her to sit down. “My mother made the cheesecake yesterday, and I thought we could sit and eat dessert while we talk.”
With a puzzled look on her face, Raine sat down in the seat Mason had indicated while he sat across from her.
“Raine, you’ve been invaluable the last few days,” Mason said. “Oliver is always happy when I get home, which is the most important thing, but more than that, you’ve been keeping the house clean, which I don’t expect of you, I promise.”
“Oliver and I make it a game,” Raine said with a small smile. She scooped up a bite of cheesecake and ate it. Her eyes widened. “This is amazing!”
“Yeah?” Mason asked, pleased. “I’ll let my mother know you said so. She’s always cooking and baking for us.”
“Same with my dad,” Raine laughed. “He used to own a bakery, but now he just bakes at home. When I phoned him, he offered to bring us some pastries. I told him he didn’t need to, but he’ll probably show up in a day or two. But don’t worry. I asked him to come in the morning while Oliver was at kindergarten.”
“Thanks, I appreciate that. I wouldn’t mind Oliver meeting your parents, but I don’t want to overwhelm him with new people.”
“My dad understands,” Raine assured him. “And so do I.” She paused. “I’ve been meaning to ask: why did you send Oliver to kindergarten?”
You have so much money, you could have homeschooled him. She didn’t say it, but Mason heard it anyway.
He chuckled, turning his coffee cup in his hands. “Before she left, Emily wanted us to homeschool him, but I never even considered it. My parents homeschooled me when I was a kid, and I grew up as a bit of a brat. I’m sure you read what the newspapers and magazines said about me.”
Raine did her best to give him a blank look.
Mason smiled wryly. She didn’t need to hide it; he knew what almost the entire city had once thought about him because of what the tabloids had printed.
“They weren’t far off, honestly,” he admitted. “I was spoiled, self-entitled, and arrogant. Although I was married, I flirted with everyone. I’m surprised Emily put up with it, but back then, I didn’t even care if it bothered her. I only cared about myself and about making money.
“My parents tried their best when I was growing up, but they had their own company and worked non-stop. They hired nannies and tutors, and I grew up without knowing many kids my own age.”
He glanced at Raine. She was watching him intently, fascinated.
“I didn’t want that for Oliver,” he continued. “One day, the kids around him will realize that he has money, and some of them will want to be friends with him just because of that. But he’ll make real friends, too. And he’ll learn more about people and the world than I ever did. It won’t take him until he’s a father to realize what’s actually important in life.”
“School and making friends and meeting people are all hard,” Raine said. “But it’s worth it to make those connections, too. I think Oliver will grow up fine.”
“Thanks, Raine.” Mason smiled. “So, what about you?”
“Me?” Rained laughed, the sound catching Mason’s attention and holding him captive. “My life was pretty simple. I went to school, made friends, helped my dad around the bakery. I was a bit of a tomboy growing up, always getting into scrapes and fights.”
Mason laughed. “I can’t imagine that.”
“You can’t now because when I became a teenager, make-up and clothes and boys were important.” Raine snorted. “Or, at least, they were important to my friends, and I got swept up in their enthusiasm. Also, I decided I preferred kissing boys to punching them.”
Mason laughed, making her grin at him, her eyes twinkling. It was the most open expression he had seen on her face, and he was glad she had relaxed enough to laugh and smile with him like this.
“Do you still see any of your school friends?” he asked.
She shook her head. “No, I lost contact with my last school friend years ago. We had an awful fight, and then we never made up. That’s something I’ll always regret. Olivia Johnson was my best friend all through school.”
Something about her statement tickled at his memory. Mason tilted his head in thought. “Emily knew an Olivia Johnson, too. They were still friends when Emily left. Olivia was from this area, so it was probably the same Olivia you knew.”
“Really?” Raine asked, surprise evident on her face.
“Yeah. Did your Olivia like to throw big parties? Emily was always dragging me to Olivia’s parties.” Mason laughed. “The last one I went to was years ago, before Oliver was born. Come to think of it, that one was…”
He trailed off. He didn’t like to think about that party. It was that party that had led to the downfall of his marriage with Emily.
“It doesn’t matter,” he said with a smile at Raine’s curious look. Once again, a niggling familiarity hit him. Something about the look on Raine’s face… Mason shook his head. “Anyway, it’s getting late.”
“Yes,” Raine said, finishing the last of her cake. “Tell your mom she can make this cheesecake for us any time she wants.”
“I’ll pass on the message,” Mason said with a grin. “And Raine? Thank you so much for being here.”
“Thank you for hiring me. I’m enjoying this job,” Raine admitted. “I’m glad everything is working out.” She placed her dishes in the sink and headed to the doorway. Then, she paused and glanced back at Mason. “Are you coming?”
“I’ll just clean up,” Mason said, waving to his own dishes and the sink.
Raine gave him a quick smile. “Thank you. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
She turned and disappeared from the kitchen. Mason listened to her walk up the stairs and laughed when she cursed as she stepped on the one that squeaked. Moments later, everything was quiet again.
Sighing, Mason leaned back in his chair and looked up at the ceiling. Raine’s smiling face swam in front of his vision an
d he groaned quietly.
He was lost, and he had been from the moment he’d met her. Her beauty, her intelligence, her wit, and her refusal to fawn over him because of his wealth had ensnared him. He really liked Raine, but he knew this was a dangerous path to follow. If he made any wrong moves, he could ruin something good for Oliver.
But he couldn’t help it. His determination not to make a move on Raine was fading fast, and it was getting harder to remember why it wasn’t a good idea.
Hopefully, this attraction would fade with time. But, if he was honest with himself, Mason didn’t think it would. After all, the attraction he had felt when they’d first met had only grown stronger with time.
Chapter 8
It wasn’t fading. In fact, his attraction to Raine had only grown stronger. Mason realized it when, on Friday, he stopped by a flower shop and contemplated what flowers Raine might like. He scolded himself for the thought and forced himself away, but he was back during his lunch hour.
It was getting ridiculous. He shouldn’t get involved with his son’s nanny, not when she and Oliver had finally settled into a routine. Falling for Raine would upset the status quo, and he couldn’t afford to search for another nanny if things with Raine went sour. He needed to keep his distance.
Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Unable to drag himself from the flower shop a second time, Mason eyed a bouquet of beautiful blue and purple flowers, wondering what they were.
Flowers were okay, weren’t they? He could send her some flowers just as a “thank you” for everything she had done so far. That should be fine, shouldn’t it?
As he paid for the flowers and gave the saleswoman the address, Mason wondered just who he was trying to convince.
* * *
The ringing doorbell momentarily confused Raine. If Mason was home, he would just walk right in, as would his parents. Her parents wouldn’t visit in the afternoon before she had introduced Oliver to them. And she didn’t think Mason had said anything about deliveries.
After checking that Oliver was still watching television, Raine slipped out of the room and headed to the front door. On opening the door, a man in a uniform holding a ridiculously large bouquet of blue and purple flowers greeted her.
“Raine Hart?” the man asked in a bored voice, as though all he wanted was to finish his job and go home.
“That’s me,” Raine said, bewildered; who would send her flowers here?
She didn’t get to ask. The man shoved the flowers at her, made her sign a form to confirm she had gotten them, and headed off.
Raine stood in the doorway for a long moment, staring at the flowers. She shook her head to clear her thoughts. She didn’t know where these flowers had come from, or who had sent them, but she had to admit they were beautiful.
Raine kicked the door closed behind her and walked toward the kitchen. She placed the flowers on the kitchen table, carefully rotating the vase to admire the bouquet from all sides. As she rubbed a soft petal between her fingers, she noticed a small card attached to the vase. It was made of thick paper embossed with gold writing and probably cost as much as the entire bouquet. Frowning, Raine picked it up and opened it.
Raine,
Thank you for everything.
Mason
“Mason?” she said aloud.
These were from Mason?
Raine looked at the bouquet; it was huge, and the flowers were both lovely and fragrant. It warmed her to think he would spend so much time picking such pretty flowers for her.
I’ll have to think of some way to thank him, she thought. He seemed to like the lasagna I cooked the other night…
It suddenly struck her how domestic this all was. Gasping, Raine yanked her hand away as though the flowers had shocked her and took two hurried steps back. Had she really been contemplating these flowers with a warm, fuzzy feeling of contentment in her chest? Had she really been thinking about the nicest way to repay Mason, like a partner who had just received flowers from her significant other?
Damn it, she was getting far too involved with this family! She glanced at the flowers again. They shouldn’t make her feel so happy, not when they were from Mason, the man who might have stolen her child… but they did.
Later, Raine might admit that what she did next was foolish. But she wasn’t thinking straight anymore. Desperation and frustration overtook her; she needed to find the truth, and then she needed to get out of here before she got too deep.
She hadn’t found answers to her mystery anywhere so far. Of course, evidence of kidnapping wouldn’t be lying around for anyone to find. She knew there was only one place she would find it, but, so far, she had hesitated to go there.
Not anymore. This was the last straw. She would find the evidence she needed—even if it meant invading Mason’s bedroom.
Raine took the stairs two at a time, sparing only a vague thought for Oliver, who was hopefully still watching television. Mason’s bedroom door loomed at the end of the hallway, normally forbidden to her, but she paid no attention to the unspoken rules as she strode forward, twisted the doorknob, and pushed the door open.
Raine stepped inside, pausing to look around. It was smaller than she’d expected, similar in size to her room down the hall, but she glimpsed a private bathroom through an open door on the other side of the room. He had sparsely furnished the space and had decorated in tasteful creams and maroons. She noted a clutter of pictures on the dresser and some sports magazines piled on the bedside table.
Otherwise, the room was clean and looked like Mason barely used it. It wasn’t surprising; when he came home in the evenings, he always went straight to the living room where he sat on the couch or played on the floor with Oliver. He only went to his room when they all headed to bed.
Now that she was here, Raine felt unsure. This was an unforgivable breach of privacy. If Mason caught her, it wouldn’t surprise her if he fired her on the spot. She shouldn’t be here.
But if he had stolen her son… wasn’t that a greater sin than snooping around someone’s bedroom?
Her resolve strengthened, Raine walked further into the room, closing the door behind her. There weren’t many places to look; he only had a dresser, a wardrobe, and a small bedside table with a single drawer in it, but any of those places could hide the evidence she was looking for.
Raine drew in a deep breath. She didn’t know what she would find, but she needed to make her search quick.
* * *
Nothing.
Absolutely nothing.
Darting from the room and closing the door behind her, Raine wanted to scream in frustration. There had been a few folders in his room (she had rifled through these, not understanding much of the business jargon) and several pictures and certificates with Oliver’s name on them from kindergarten, but her search had proved fruitless. If she had hoped Mason would hide any important documents in his room, she had been mistaken.
Maybe she should have taken this as a sign she was wrong and should just give up. If Mason had taken her son from her, then there should be proof of it somewhere, right?
Was she just going crazy after all?
Raine trudged downstairs and stood in the doorway of the living room. Oliver hadn’t moved at all, undisturbed by her frantic search of Mason’s room. She wanted to think she was crazy; it would be so much easier to move on from all this.
But then, she looked at Oliver and took in all the features he shared with her. The more time she spent with him, the more he displayed mannerisms she also had, though it was hard to tell if he was just copying her now. When she looked at him, it was so difficult to believe all this was just in her head.
The hours crawled by, and thoughts rolled around and around Raine’s head. Sometimes she felt anger—at Mason for (probably) doing this to her and at herself for feeling any attraction to him. Sometimes she felt despair, wondering if she would ever get to the bottom of this odd mystery. Then, there was that weird contentment she still felt when she saw the
flowers. And that led straight back into anger.
By the time Mason returned home, she had put Oliver to bed and was pacing a hole in the room of her floor. It was very late, but she had known tonight would be a late one; Mason had reminded her before he left that morning that they didn’t need to wait up for him. She froze and listened as he snuck past both hers and Oliver’s bedrooms, trying not to wake either of them. She glanced at the clock on her bedside table. Ten o’clock.
It was too late to keep thinking about all this, she told herself. It was time to take herself to bed and hope everything would seem better in the morning.
She almost did it. She was under the covers and reaching out for the light when she heard a heavy thud from Mason’s room. In his tiredness, he must have knocked something over.
It was the reminder that he was right there that did it. Raine hadn’t found answers in Mason’s room, but she knew Mason himself would have them.
She wouldn’t get any sleep tonight if she didn’t find out something. Everything she had wanted to say to Mason since she met him bubbled up inside her, threatening to boil over, and Raine was too tired, desperate, and angry to bother trying to hold any of it back anymore. She was on her feet and out the door before she could even think about what a bad idea it was.
She needed answers.
Raine didn’t know how Mason would react when she burst in his door, but she suddenly didn’t care. She flung open the door, barged into the room, opened her mouth to say something…
And froze.
Mason, shocked by her sudden appearance, looked up at her. Water dripped from his wet hair and down his damp chest. Raine found her eyes trailing the droplet as it went down, down, down, and was eventually absorbed by the towel—the only thing Mason was wearing—tied around his waist.