Her Vigilant Seal

by Caitlyn O'Leary

  “Doesn’t matter. Doesn’t matter at all.” Oh what a smile he had.

  Chapter Seven

  “She’s staying at your house?”

  Mason looked at Darius, Clint and Drake. Mason was supposed to go out for beer, pool, and pizza tonight and just told them why he had to bail. Apparently Drake was gossiping since everyone already knew about Sophia.

  “Yes, she’s staying at my house and so is her little brother. Everything is on the up and up.” He scowled at Drake, who shrugged his shoulders and grinned. Instead of parting their ways as they left the building all three of them followed Mason to his truck. “You need to explain this to me, buddy,” Clint said.

  “I can explain it to you—she’s beautiful,” Drake supplied.

  “Mason has had plenty of beautiful women, and he’s never invited any of them to stay at his house,” Clint responded. Mason tried to ignore them as he threw his gear into the bed of his truck. They hung their arms over the side, and he realized he wasn’t going to get rid of them without an explanation.

  “Sophia is different. Can we leave it at that?” he tried hopefully. Darius shook his head. “Fine, why don’t you guys come over tomorrow night and meet her and then you’ll understand.”

  “You want us to meet her? This is just getting weirder and weirder,” Clint said.

  “No it’s not. You really need to meet her, she’s something else,” Drake enthused. Then he looked over at Mason. “Wait a minute. Is this really for them to meet her, or is this just a way for you to get free labor to work on your dining room?” Drake asked.

  “Billy needs some time with good male role models. I was really hoping you might get a chance to talk to him, Darius.”

  “Is he having a hard time with his foster parents? We need to talk to DHCS. Is he here in San Diego County?” Mason watched as Darius pulled out his cell phone. Darius grew up in the SD foster system, which is specifically why he wanted Billy to meet him. But of course Darius, being Darius, would be ready to make calls and take names if he thought a child was in trouble.

  “Whoa there buddy. According to what Sophia has told me, the Bards are good people.” Mason knew he’d better rein in his friend.

  “Then why does he keep running away?” Darius demanded. Mason rubbed his hand through his hair.

  “Look, it’s part of why I want you to come over tomorrow. And so you can meet her and I don’t have to put up with twenty questions. Seriously Darius, if I thought the foster parents were a problem don’t you think I would have stepped in?”

  “Well yeah,” the man admitted.

  “Okay. You guys go have a great time with your beer and pool I’m going home. I’ll see you tomorrow.” He waved, grateful to have such loyal friends.

  Mason headed back to his house. He was thankful Margie managed to talk Sophia into not going to work for the next three days. She was still in a lot of pain. Margie made it seem like it was to spend time with Billy, but it was just as much to let Sophia rest.

  As he drove home with the windows rolled down, he once again reveled in the perfect Southern California weather. When he got to his house he smelled something heavenly. Dammit.

  “Hello,” he called out loudly, not wanting to startle either Anderson.

  “We’re in the kitchen.” Like he couldn’t figure that out.

  There were two pies resting on a rack, and Billy was taking out a baking sheet of chocolate chip cookies from the oven. He was covered in flour and was smiling from ear-to-ear. Maybe Sophia hadn’t overdone it, maybe she had Billy do all of the heavy lifting. He turned and saw her big grin as well. His heart melted.

  “Mason, you’re here just in time to taste test.” He went over to the fridge and got out the milk, snagged three glasses and poured them each a glass.

  “Do I get to taste test the pies too?” He did a double take, because there was also another pan with a dishtowel over it. “What’s this?” He took off the dishtowel and found brownies. He damn well knew he didn’t have any brownie mix at home. As a matter of fact he didn’t have most of the ingredients needed to make these baked goods.

  “Honey, you didn’t have to go to this much trouble.” He rubbed his ear, wanting to somehow offer her money for the food, but knowing it would offend her and ruin her efforts.

  “It wasn’t any trouble. Billy and I were remembering how much fun it was when Mom would have a baking day. So we decided to have one of our own.” Mason could drown in her sunny smile.

  “It was great. We still have to test everything. I don’t know if Soph can make stuff as good as Mom.” Billy gave his sister a poke in the ribs and Mason saw her flinch.

  “Gentle, Billy,” Mason cautioned.

  “I’m sorry, Soph.” He gave his sister a soft hug.

  “Billy, we need to talk about how your sister got hurt,” Mason said as he cut brownie squares and put them onto plates for everyone. They sat around the kitchen island.

  “This isn’t really any of your concern, Billy and I will handle it.” She turned away from him and gave all her focus to her brother.

  “Has Sophia explained how she got hurt?” Mason asked the boy who looked so much like his sister. He was reaching for a second brownie and he stopped.

  “We were supposed to last night but I ended up going to sleep. It happened when she was looking for me, right?” Billy looked at Mason with growing guilt.

  “That’s right.” Mason watched as tears filled Billy’s eyes, and how he wiped them away with the sleeve of his shirt.

  “I’m sorry, Soph. You shouldn’t have been out there. I didn’t ask you to be,” the last was said with the defiance of a teenager. Mason figured at twelve that’s basically what he was.

  “Billy, if Sophia was missing wouldn’t you go out and look for her? Especially if something bad almost happened to her last time?” Mason gave the boy a hard look, wanting him to understand the consequence of his actions.

  “Mason, this isn’t your business. This is between me and Billy.” Sophia looked brittle. She looked mad. He was not scoring any points that was for damn sure.

  “I would have gone looking for her,” he answered quietly. Mason was impressed, he didn’t have to admit it and he could have hidden behind his sister.

  “You can’t do this again. Both of you could end up seriously hurt or dead next time.” Mason tried to soften his tone, but it was too vital for the boy to understand how important his words were.

  “But you don’t understand.” The boy clenched his fist and looked him in the eye, and then over at his sister.

  “What don’t I understand?” he asked, eyeing the boy steadily.

  Billy opened his mouth and then shut it. “May I be excused?”

  “Yes.” They both watched as Billy left the kitchen. Mason didn’t have to wait long.

  “That wasn’t your place.” Sophia threw down the napkin she’d been shredding.

  “I’m sorry you feel like that but he needed to hear how he endangered you.” She glared at him, and he might have felt bad if her face weren’t a rainbow bruise.

  “Right now I’m trying to get him calmed down and happy enough to stick it out with the Bard household until I can petition the courts to have him come live with me.”

  “What makes you think he won’t pull this same stunt when he’s living with you?” Mason bit out.

  “What?” It was obvious the thought hadn’t entered her mind.

  “You did say he was trying to track down your dad. Well wouldn’t he still be trying to do it even if he comes to live with you?” She looked past him towards the kitchen entrance. Then she got off her chair and motioned for him to follow her out onto the back porch.

  “I tracked down dad and he’s living in Mission Hills. He has a new wife and a baby.” Sophia threw out the information.

  “Did you call DHCS? He’s responsible for Billy.”

  “That’s what I told him. He said Billy isn’t his son. He said Mom wasn’t
faithful to him,” Sophia’s voice trembled then broke. Once again Mason had to endure the sight of this woman with tears in her eyes.

  “Ah honey, I’m sorry.” He stepped forward and put his arms carefully around her. He rested his cheek against her silky gold hair. “You do know since they were married at the time of Billy’s birth he’s still liable for support, right?”

  “I do. But he said he’d tell Billy his mother was a whore and he wasn’t his father. Mason, he said vile and disgusting things. He called Billy names too. He said he was happy he was in foster care.” She shuddered against him. It seemed like the world conspired against this woman, and all she ever did was stand up and try again.

  “I don’t want to put Billy through that. Because he would do it, Mason. He would.” He rocked her back and forth. Finally she lifted her head.

  “I’m going to talk to him tonight. Enough is enough. This can’t happen again. His safety is paramount. I’ll handle it.” Mason’s first instinct was to say he could join the conversation, but he knew it was something best left between the siblings.

  “What are you going to say?”

  “I’m at least going to tell him our father has a new family and has moved on. Hopefully that will suffice.” She squared her shoulders and he admired her for it.

  “I hope you’re right.”

  “Let’s go inside, I have some chicken breasts marinating for dinner.”

  “I didn’t bring you to my house so you could cook for me.”

  “I’m not going to cook, Billy is. The sense of normalcy will do him good. It was one of the things we all used to do together before Mom got sick. It makes us happy. I hope you like chicken.” She smiled shyly at him. Hell, he’d like a marinated truck tire if she was serving it to him.

  “I love chicken.” He opened the door to let them both back into the sweet smelling kitchen.

  ****

  She’d tried to sleep the night before but she kept waking every few minutes with the feel of the men’s hands on her. More than her shoulder and ribs hurt—her breasts hurt. When she’d looked in the mirror she could actually see fingerprints from where she’d been mauled. Since then, she kept herself covered at all times, even putting on and taking off her bra underneath a towel so she didn’t have to see herself.

  Tonight she had to get some sleep because she’d almost set fire to one of the dishtowels when she hadn’t turned off the gas burners. So she shook out two of the pain pills and huddled under the comforter in the guest bedroom. She waited and waited, checking her phone every fifteen minutes to see if time had gone by and she slept, but she hadn’t. She kept yawning. How could she be this tired and unable to sleep? Luckily, she snuck a couple of Mason’s books into her room. He had a huge library. She pulled the first two in a series taking place during World War II.

  She was still reading when she fell asleep thinking she was driving a jeep for General Eisenhower.

  “Sophia, honey, it’s okay wake up.” A gentle hand. A soothing voice.

  “Get away from me.” She tried to hit the man but her shoulder hurt, and when she tried to scream he clamped his hand over her mouth.

  “It’s me, Mason. Please Sophia, honey, it’s me. You’re safe.” It was the smell of him that finally got through to her. Her face was tucked against his chest. Now his hand wasn’t covering her mouth she took in deep shuddering gasps of air and it smelled of Mason. She was safe. She was safe.

  It was like a dam broke. She started to cry for how scared she had been. She was crying for how dizzy and hurt she was and for the poor young girl who was living her life as a prostitute. She cried for Billy whose mother had died and whose dad was disowning him. And lastly she cried for herself and for the two years she spent taking care of a shell of a woman who often didn’t recognize her.

  And all the time she sobbed he held her. Not once did he tell her to stop.

  “Just let it out. I’ve got you honey. You’re such a good girl. You just let it out.” She cried harder because he was saying exactly what she needed to hear. But it wasn’t really true, he couldn’t be for real, and that made her even sadder.

  “Not real…not real…not real,” she said over and over as he continued his litany of comforting words.

  “What’s not real, honey?”

  She tried to push away, but his hold was unmovable. Why did she want to push away when nothing ever felt better than being held in Mason Gault’s arms?

  “What’s not real?”

  “This. Being here with you.” This time when she pushed away he let her. She tried to get up but he stopped her.

  “What do you need? Do you want a glass of water?”

  “Yes please. And some toilet paper.”

  “I think we might be able to upgrade to Kleenex.” He kissed her forehead and slipped off the bed. Oh God, he was wearing boxer briefs. He looked amazing. This was better than anything she ever imagined when she’d seen him surfing. She was still staring at the doorway when he came back in. He looked behind himself.

  “Is there something in the hallway? A spider?” She kept staring, drinking him in. After a moment she saw when he caught onto what she was staring at. He gave her a slow sexy smile. God, it felt like her face went up in a cloud of smoke.

  “You are adorable when you blush.” He sat back down beside her on the bed, and she looked at his lap. She couldn’t help it. For God’s sake, what woman could help herself? They were boxer briefs! Yep, the man was packing. And then, as she continued to stare, his body had a reaction that made her gaze shoot up to his face.

  He was grinning at her. Grinning.

  “Ms. Anderson, I believe I told you I would like to go out on a date with you. You thought I was kidding. Now we have irrefutable proof. I definitely want to go out on a date with you.” He handed her some Kleenex.

  She didn’t know whether to be horrified, embarrassed, or turned on.

  “I hope you’re as turned on as I am,” he said as he took the used tissues and placed them on the nightstand.

  “Are you out of your mind? I just blew my nose. You can’t be turned on.” She hit him on the chest.

  “Care to take another look?” She kept her eyes squarely on his face. He handed her the glass of water, and she drank half of it while keeping her eyes on his face. He continued to grin.

  “Your brother sleeps like the dead.” She handed him the glass and giggled.

  “Yeah, I know. I remember Mom would sometimes take the lids off of pot pans and crash them like cymbals to wake him up. Some mornings she would let me do it.” Sophia smiled at the memory.

  He got up and closed the bedroom door and put the water glass on the nightstand.

  “That will stain.”

  “It’s not my focus at the moment. I want to kiss you. Nothing more, just a kiss or two. Then we’re going to crawl under the covers and you’re going to go to sleep in my arms. If you have a nightmare I’m going to fight the bad guys for you.” She couldn’t help it, she looked downwards again, and this time there was no mistaking his level of arousal.

  “Eyes on mine, honey. He does what I tell him to do. I’m telling him I’m just kissing the pretty girl tonight and then she is falling asleep in my arms.” He used one finger to push her chin upwards.

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” she protested.

  “Well hell, if I do the kissing right, it won’t be fair to you either.” She giggled again. God, he was sexy. His eyes, his smile, and that body.

  “Shouldn’t you be wearing your sling?”

  “It’s uncomfortable. Anyway, they said I would just need it for a few days, and that the stitches and bandage would be enough.”

  “It hasn’t been even two days yet.” He picked it up from the chair with her clothes, and he helped her put it back on. “Humor me.” He fanned her hair around her shoulders after he settled the strap around her neck. “You have beautiful hair.”

  “It’s just yellow.” She stared at his ches
t. God, they must do a lot of training. He actually had washboard abs.

  “Honey, it’s honey, with shots of gold and in the sun I can even see red. Your hair is gorgeous. With as many different facets as you have, don’t even get me started on your eyes.” She smiled and batted her eyelashes. He laughed out loud.

  “You minx, so you know about your eyes? Let me talk about your lips.”

  “How about I talk about your shoulders?” Sophia touched the top of his big shoulder. He felt warm and his muscles jerked under her touch. She stroked downward so she could drift into his chest hair. It felt so good she couldn’t help herself. She leaned forward and pushed her nose close and inhaled the scent of Mason.

  “Honey, you need to stop it otherwise we’re not going to keep this limited to just a few kisses.” His voice was shaky. She smiled and inhaled again. One big hand cupped the back of her head and the other slid down to the small of her back. He pushed downwards with his chest, until she was lying on her pillow looking into the glittering blue depths of Mason’s eyes.

  She realized this was so much more intimate than the diner. There was just the soft glow of the bedside lamp, and they were in a bed, and he was in a pair of boxer briefs.

  In a heartbeat he caught on to her hesitation.

  “Sophia, are you okay? Let me go put on my sweatpants. I’ll be right back.” He started to get up.

  “No!” She clutched him. “Don’t leave me.”

  “I’m an ass. I should have thought this through more. You’ve just been through a horrific event. I shouldn’t be in bed with you.” He stroked back her hair.

  “I can’t explain it. I was so turned on but then for a second I panicked. It doesn’t make any sense.” She stroked her hand down his chest. Touching his skin anchored her.

  “It makes sense to me. You had an emotional flashback. It’s going to happen.” He brushed a kiss against her forehead.

  “But you’re the one who saved me. I trust you. I want you. Your boxer briefs are killing me. How can I even compare you to what happened in the alley?” Her nails dug into his chest.