Mason raised both eyebrows when she finished with a broad grin. “And?”
Her grin dimmed. “And I didn’t go.”
He cocked his head back an inch and raised the fingers on his right hand to his mouth. He tapped lightly on his bottom lip. There was amusement in his eyes and in the ghost of a smile he was trying to hide behind his fingers.
“And that’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”
Julie frowned. “Well, it was my job and I lied.”
He ran a tongue over his teeth, dropped his head forward, and chuckled.
“What?” she snapped, offended.
Hooded eyes rose and met hers, alight with laughter. The string of bulbs overhead shone like pinpricks of light across the pale surface, making them appear luminous.
“Nothing!” But he continued watching her, tracing her face in a way that was making it impossible to maintain eye contact without blushing.
“Okay, seriously, what?”
He shrugged, turning to face the front of the line. “Just trying to figure you out, Julie Brewer.”
Thankfully, they soon reached the front of the line and the ticket booth. Julie ignored the charming figure next to her hip and focused on the smiling brunette behind the glass.
“Hi!” She fished into her purse for her cash. “Three kids...”
The girl wasn’t looking at her. She had her eyes on Mason and the interest in them was a little hard to ignore.
“Hello?” Julie shifted, hoping to get the girl’s attention. “Hi. Three kids’ wristbands.”
The girl blinked and focused on Julie. “Wristbands?”
“Yes. Please,” she added, softening the sharpness in her tone.
Julie lost her somewhere between yes and please. She was smiling in a very come hither manner at Mason, who was busy rifling in his pockets for his wallet and didn’t notice. He looked up though, possibly feeling Julie and the girl watching him.
“Sorry?” he said, glancing from one to the other.
“Can I have my wristbands please?” Julie muttered sharply at the girl.
The girl finally fed three wristbands through the slot and forgot all about Julie as she turned the full force of her dazzling smile on Mason. Julie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as she went to where Shaun and Luis stood with the kids.
“Never fails,” Shaun muttered with a hint of pride and amusement.
In the process of snapping a band around Rick’s wrist, Julie glanced up. “Sorry?”
Shaun stood a short distance away, arms folded, watching the ticket booth with a smirk twisting his face.
“Mason,” he said, jerking his head to where Mason was now laughing at something the girl in the booth was telling him. “Girls just can’t resist him and he them. They’re his weakness.” Dark, brooding eyes dropped down and met Julie’s. “But like all addictions, each hit wears off and the next one is always better.”
It annoyed her that his comment bothered her. It wasn’t like there was anything between her and Mason. He could flirt with anyone he wanted. Yet the pang still made her heart sore.
“Good thing that I don’t care to be anyone’s addiction then,” she muttered, before turning away from his drilling stare to take Wendy’s hand.
Mason arrived a moment later, waving three wristbands in the air. “Everyone ready?”
They started through the park to a chorus of suggestions, everyone wanting to try a different ride first. Julie had to shout in order to be heard over the din.
“We will try to get on as many rides as possible!” she called. She pointed to the first ride on her right, which happened to be a dozen plastic horses. “Why don’t we start on here and work our way around the park?”
“Or we can split up,” Dustin piped in. “I’m not going on any stupid carousel.”
“I do!” Wendy cheered, arm thrusting up into the air. “I want to go.”
Frustration welling in her chest, Julie shoved a hand back through her hair and looked at the flashing lights and laughing faces all around them, knowing already that coming had been a bad idea. But it was too late to regret her decision now.
Taking a deep breath, she put on her mask, the one she wore when she needed to pretend like she was in control.
“Okay, here’s the plan,” she said, loud enough to drown out Dustin’s grumbling. “We’re going to go around the park in order. Wendy wants to go here, so we’ll start at the carousel and make our way around so everyone has a turn at something they want.”
“I’m not sticking around for this,” Shaun muttered, breaking away from the group. “I’m hitting up the rollercoaster.”
“I want to go on the rollercoaster, too!” Dustin exclaimed, face as bright as the lights around them.
“No!” Julie said sharply. “We stay together. You guys can do what you want,” she told Mason, Luis, and Shaun. “We’ll meet back here at—”
“That isn’t fair!” Dustin burst out. “Why do you get to make all the rules?”
“Because your mom put me in charge,” Julie told him firmly. “If you don’t like it, we can go home.”
Dustin’s chin wobbled and his nostrils flared, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.
Relieved by his submission, Julie turned to the three men. “We’re going to go down this way,” she told them. “We’ll meet at the gates at...” she checked her watch. “Ten.”
“That’s in four hours!” Dustin huffed. “No way we’ll get to all the good rides in four hours.”
“Then we’ll come back another day,” Julie replied, feeling her head beginning to throb. “Ten is already past your curfew, so don’t push it.”
“This is so lame!”
“Hey.” Mason set gentle hands on Dustin’s shoulders. “Why don’t we take Dustin?” he offered. “We’ll hit some of the big rides and meet you guys at the hotdog stand there in two hours for a break.”
As much as she wanted to scream and cry yes! Take him! She willed herself to remain calm.
“That sounds like a good idea,” she said. “Do you want to do that, Dustin?”
“Fuck yeah!”
“Watch your mouth!” Julie scolded him before turning her gaze on the three men. “Please keep an eye on him.”
“Soooo, don’t sell him into child slavery?” Mason grinned when she narrowed her eyes. “Kidding, Jewels. Relax.”
Exhaling, Julie straightened her shoulders. “Okay then. Hotdog stand in two hours.” She took Wendy and Rick’s hands and led them towards the plastic horses. “And don’t call me Jewels,” she called over her shoulder.
Without Dustin, the progression from ride to ride went as smoothly as possible considering Rick and Wendy could only go on a limited number of rides. There was no one arguing over who got to pick the next station, or how lame it was. Julie loved the older boy, but it was nice to have a few stress-free hours.
By the time the two hours rolled around and they started for the hotdog stand, even the headache was gone and Julie was laughing at how silly Rick and Wendy were being as they skipped on ahead of her. Mason and the others were already there, taking over a picnic table littered with paper plates. Dustin and Shaun sat opposite each other. Luis sat next to Dustin, head buried in his folded arms. Mason looked up from where he sat perched on the table with his boots on the bench when Julie approached. His blue eyes glinted in the near darkness.
He grinned. “Hey.”
Looking over the mess and the hotdog eating contest Shaun and Dustin seemed to be having, Julie chuckled. “Hey. What’s going on here?”
Mason hopped to his feet and pivoted on his heels so he stood shoulder to shoulder with her.
“Well, what happened was that Dustin claimed he could out eat Shaun, which,” he leaned in so his shoulder bumped hers and, in a loud whisper, said, “is impossible because Shaun is a pig—”
“Fuck you, man!” Shaun garbled around a mouthful of mashed hotdog.
Mason flipped him off.
Julie grabbed his han
d and forced it down. “The children!” she hissed, jerking her head to where Wendy and Rick had climbed onto the bench on either side of Shaun to watch the show with great big smiles on their faces.
The hand she held turned and he threaded his fingers through hers. Her heart gave a lurch when he pressed their palms together. The muscles in her stomach tightened with a fluttery anticipation that zapped all the moisture from her mouth.
“As I was saying,” he murmured, his face suddenly inches from hers, so close she could smell the pepperoni and tomato sauce on his breath brushing over her upturned face and count each thick eyelash surrounding his darkened eyes. “You smell amazing.”
Her heart tripped over her lungs and the air in her throat hitched. “That’s not what you were—”
He drew her to him with a practiced tug of his hand. “I know. You’re very distracting.”
Blissfully paralyzed by the predatory glint in the shadowed pools of his eyes, Julie could only stare with open mouthed wonder as he got uncomfortably close. Her cheeks warmed at his closeness. His body was a heater prickling her skin. Her lips were parted by the merciless hunger of his attention on her mouth. Something feral and unmistakably self-satisfied flared behind his eyes, like her submission to his wordless command pleased him immensely. But it was also this that speared Julie back to the present. She crashed unceremoniously into the shrieks and whirs of people and machines all around her, to Wendy and Rick’s chanting for Dustin to win the hotdog eating contest, to her breathing, hot and heavy in her ears.
Furiously numb, Julie pushed away from him and his immobilizing embrace. The weakness in her knees nearly took her to the ground, and she just caught herself on the corner of the picnic table and pulled her arms tightly around herself, inexplicably chilled now that he was no longer warming her.
“Did you guys have fun?” she asked, desperate to change the subject.
He seemed to draw himself up like her detachment of him had somehow cut him deep between the ribs and only sheer stubbornness kept him from crumpling to his knees. His nostrils flared with his dragging inhale and he squared his shoulders by stuffing his hands into his pockets.
“Yeah, we did. You?”
Julie nodded weakly. “We did. Thank you.”
Desperation and something she was too scared to look too closely at shot across his face like a lit arrow. The muscles in his jaw twitched and he eyed her with a look of pained misery.
“Julie—”
Whatever Mason was about to say was halted by Wendy’s squeal of delight as Dustin crammed the last piece of hotdog into his already over stuffed mouth. He punched the air above his head in victory, bits of chewed bread falling from his barely shut lips as he howled his triumph. His cheeks glowed pink with exertion and victory. Shaun flicked the last bit of his hotdog at the boy, but there was no malice on his face, no anger. For the first time ever, Julie saw Shaun without his habitual scowl. His handsome features were open, bright with the laughter he was suppressing. The sight of it had Julie staring, too awed by the possibility of it to look away. She honestly hadn’t thought Shaun Ryan capable of any other facial expression.
“I want to go next!” Rick’s arm shot into the air, nearly knocking Shaun upside the head.
Chuckling, Julie set her hand on the boy’s thin shoulder and nudged him back into his seat when he started scrambling up to stand on the bench. “Maybe when you’re as old as Dustin,” she said.
Rick wrinkled his nose and slumped down so his chin rested on the table top.
Shaun nudged him with his elbow. “I bet I can finish an ice cream cone before you can.”
Rick perked. Round eyes shot up to Julie, asking without words.
She ruffled his hair. “One, but after you guys have eaten something.”
Glowing pink, Rick turned to Shaun with narrowed eyes and a furiously determined expression. He pointed a stubby little finger right in Shaun’s face, almost touching his nose, and growled out in a Hulk voice, “You’re on!”
“You’re very good with them,” Mason murmured when Julie stepped back.
She shrugged, watching Dustin high five Rick from across the table. “They’re good kids.” Her gaze went to where Luis sat, head still on the table, breathing shallow. “Is he okay?” she asked, pointing with a jerk of her chin.
Mason snorted. “He tried to get in on the game, even though I warned him not to.”
“How many hotdogs did he eat?” she wondered.
Mason grinned. “Four.”
“Oh!” Julie covered her mouth to stifle her laugh. “That’s really horrible.”
“I can hear you guys,” Luis grumbled. He raised his sweaty, slightly green face.
Still biting her lip, Julie looked over at Rick and Wendy. “Are you guys hungry?”
“I want ice cream!” Wendy cheered.
“I want candy apples,” Rick added.
“How about we start with actual food?” Julie suggested. “Pizza or a hotdog?”
Both kids wrinkled their noses.
“Pizza,” they muttered on unison.
“Pizza it is.”
Leaving the group at the table, Julie moved to the brightly lit food stand. There were six in all, each one offering a different food item. She went to the one with the longest line. Apparently she wasn’t the only one with the idea to get food.
With a sigh, she got behind a couple with their arms wrapped tightly around each other. They were passing the time by sharing long, slow kisses that made Julie shift uncomfortably and look away. She busied herself pulling out her change purse from her back pocket and picking through the loose coins and few crumpled bills. Anything to avoid the slow roll of tongues from the couple in front of her.
“Mm.” Mason slid up alongside her, hands clasped at his back, watching the two with dry amusement. “A thrill for everyone,” he remarked, mimicking the park’s moto. “They certainly mean it.”
Julie stifled a chuckle.
The line shuffled up. The pair stayed rooted, every inch of their fronts touching and slightly grinding.
A warm flush tightened the skin on Julie’s face. Her gaze darted to the figure standing next to her, curious to see if he’d noticed.
He had and he was smirking.
The two were practically glowing when they finally pulled apart. The girl giggled and rested her head on the boy’s shoulder.
Julie hated them a little, which was irrational. They hadn’t done anything to her, nor did she even know them, yet she wanted what they had. She wanted to be kissed like that until she forgot everything but the hot mouth conquering hers. She wanted blunt hands on her hips cradling her to a strong chest. What’s more, she wanted it all to be with Mason.
“What?”
Julie must have made a sound, because the bane of her existence was watching her.
She shook her head. “Nothing.”
Thankfully, he didn’t push. They stood in silence as the line moved up, one customer at a time.
When it was finally her turn, she bought two slices of cheese pizzas, cans of soda and two bags of chips. Mason took the chips and drinks while Julie balanced the two paper plates on the palms of her hands.
“Thank you,” she said to him as they headed back to the table.
Mason inclined his head. “You’re welcome.”
Julie noticed the change immediately. In the fifteen minutes that she had been gone, their group had shrunk by one.
Wendy was gone.
Chapter Six
The pizzas fell to the floor as she spun on the spot, searching the wave of people moving in all directions. But there was no sign of the girl, nor did Shaun or Luis know what happened.
“She was right here,” Shaun said dully, half rising from his seat.
“Mason!”
It was a mystery why his name was the first thing she could think to say around the numbness creeping like ice water through her.
“It’s okay.” He grabbed the hand she had no recollection of reachi
ng out to him. He squeezed the trembling fingers. “She can’t have gone far. Luis, get to the ticket booth, tell them a child is missing. Give them her description and tell them to call the police. Shaun, you and I will—”
“No.” Julie came to herself, her responsibility overruling her desire to break down in a mess of hysterical tears. “I’ll go.”
Mason didn’t argue with her. “Take that way,” he told her, gesturing left. “Shaun, stay with Rick and Dustin. If she comes back, keep her here.”
Julie didn’t wait to hear the rest of the instructions. She bolted through the crowd, calling for Wendy. Cold sweat plastered her clothes to her skin and glued bits of hair to her temples and neck. People shouted as she weaved through them, eyes scanning every face, every movement. Horrific thoughts of Wendy being kidnapped and hurt burned through her mind, intertwining with the gnawing sense of guilt. Why hadn’t she paid closer attention? The girl had literally been five steps away from her. How had she not noticed when Wendy left? If anything happened to her, it would be Julie’s fault. Maureen would be devastated. She would never trust Julie again.
“Wendy!”
Her voice was snatched up as though she had done nothing more than whispered the name and was swallowed by the cacophony swirling around her louder than a tornado. Families and couples streamed past. Some cast her a curious glance as she shoved her way past them, but not one actually stopped to ask if she needed help.
Rows upon rows of tables and booths lined a path that was illuminated by arches of light overhead. The sound of cheering and balls hitting glass bottles followed her up the lane, seemingly coming from everywhere all at once. Children ran in and out of sight. Each new one that darted by that wasn’t Wendy had Julie’s heart sinking an inch lower in her chest until it was somewhere around her knees.
Please, God, please let her be here! Julie prayed.
“Julie!”
That single voice seemed to cut through every single second. It froze the entire world as Julie grappled with disbelief and relief.
Up the trail, standing at a booth with water and plastic ducks, Wendy waved at her, oblivious to the terror she had caused. Julie would have sunk to the ground had her legs not been pumping, propelling her straight to the girl.
Kissing Trouble Page 10
