Broken Heart

by Laura Browning

  Stacey laughed. “And tomorrow the sky will turn pink and the clouds will taste like cotton candy balls.”

  Mason stopped pacing and arched a brow at her before laughing too. “Not happening, huh?”

  “Not likely in this lifetime. I think the most emotion I ever saw from her was when they brought Brandon back from Colorado after the plane crash. Then less than two months after that, Daddy had the problem with his heart. Sure, she wasn’t crying and hysterical, but she never left his side. She’s not a demonstrative woman…at least not with her kids.”

  Mason flopped onto the couch next to her and pulled her into his arms. “I am very much a demonstrative man, so if that’s a problem, we should get it out in the open now. I like to touch, and I like to touch in public as well as private. That okay with you?”

  Stacey stroked his cheek, already slightly beard-roughened again despite having shaved before dinner. “Very okay. Is this part of the finding out about each other process?”

  “It can be. You could start with a thorough exploration of my person.”

  She giggled. “Mm. Likewise.” She leaned forward. “Unzip me.”

  She held her hair to the side for him. His fingers brushed the nape of her neck, then the zipper snicked down and his lips followed. Cool air whispered over her skin.

  “You have the most beautiful back.” Mason’s hands brushed her dress off her shoulders and she pulled her arms from it, letting it drop so only a lacy scrap of bra covered her.

  “My back?” Stacey laughed. “Not exactly the place I would have picked as beautiful.”

  “Oh, but it is,” he whispered in her ear. “But so is your neck and your ear. Then there’s your collarbone.” He pressed a kiss there and Stacey shivered with pleasure. “And your shoulder… Am I getting to know you?”

  Her heart thudded and breathing was getting more and more difficult. “Oh, yes, but when will it be my turn?”

  He chuckled. “Now seems like an excellent time.” He stood. “I suppose I need to get a few clothes off?”

  “By all means. I’ll watch while you do that.”

  Mason grinned at her, dimples creasing his lean cheeks, and loosened his tie another notch. “Is that good?”

  She shook her head. He removed the tie, shrugged out of his jacket and grinned, raising his brows in question.

  “No way, Hatch. Keep going.”

  “If you insist.” He unbuttoned his cuffs, slowly released the buttons on his dress shirt and tugged the tails from his slacks. After tossing the shirt on top of the jacket he glanced over his shoulder, one brow arched. “How about now?”

  Stacey swallowed as she stared at the ripple of muscle across his back. “You’re getting there.”

  He kicked off his shoes.

  “Maybe you need to take something else off,” he murmured.

  Stacey stood and let her dress drop to her feet, leaving her in her bra and panties. “Seems I’m a bit more uncovered than you are right now.”

  “I can fix that.” Still with his back to her, he undid his belt and a moment later his slacks pooled at his feet. His socks disappeared with a flick of his fingers, but Stacey barely registered that as she watched his butt flex beneath the silky material of his boxers.

  “That’s so much better.” Her voice sounded breathless even to her.

  Mason spun and pulled her into his arms. “Why don’t we worry about the rest of it as we go? Hmm?”

  “Sounds like a plan.”

  He eased her back on the couch, careful of her bruised ribs, and then he was cradling her near his chest. “Has anyone kissed you lately?”

  “Not in the last thirty seconds or so.”

  He grinned at her. “Then let me fix that right now.”

  He nibbled and tasted and licked. For a man who did everything at top speed, when it came to kissing, to making love, Mason took his time. Stacey relaxed into him, enjoying the feeling they had all night, that this wasn’t something he wanted to rush.

  “I love you, Mason,” She whispered in between him exploring her mouth and nibbling on her neck.

  He gathered her even closer. “I’m afraid to hug you, honey,” he whispered in her ear. “I love you so much.”

  This time she kissed him, pressing as tight to him as she could get, her good arm wrapped around his neck and her other hand stroking his chest. Her fingers tweaked his nipple and he groaned. While their foreheads were pressed close together, he flicked open the front clasp of her bra, brushed the lace away from her breasts, and gently massaged her. Stacey groaned at the sensation.

  “So beautiful.” He looked at her and grinned. “Touching you is like touching heaven. Can I see more?”

  She laughed. “I’ll show you mine if you’ll show me yours.”

  “Deal… You first.” And he joined her laughter.

  They stripped off the last of their clothing, laughing and breathless. Stacey couldn’t believe how carefree she felt. This was so different than anything she’d ever experienced…even their time before her marriage. More than the sex, they were learning to be comfortable with each other.

  He leaned back on the couch, his erection lying heavy against his hard stomach, and watched her through slumberous eyes. His gaze stopped on her bruised ribs and his brows drew together slightly.

  “We can go to the bedroom if it will be more comfortable for you.”

  Stacey shook her head. She wanted him right here, right now. Holding his gaze, she moved back over to the couch, loving the way his gaze followed her then slipped along her body, his lips parting and his breathing getting heavier. Just looking at his reaction was turn-on enough. She put one knee on the couch, then straddled his hips.

  “That’s it, honey.” He cupped her bottom and rubbed her against him. Their bodies moved together in an easy rhythm, and their breathing grew louder and deeper.

  “I need you, Mason.” Wrapping her hand around his shaft, she guided him between her thighs, groaning as he pressed forward. He kept his hands on her butt, helping her move. The friction of their bodies made her flush with desire. “That’s so good.”

  He raised one hand to frame her face so she’d meet his gaze. “Come for me, honey. I can see you’re right there.”

  He lowered his hand, teasing her between her legs as he thrust. The added friction sent her over the edge. Stacey arched, grateful to feel his hand there supporting her. As the last tremors of her climax faded, Mason groaned, his teeth gritting together and his hands now holding her hips in place as he gave in to his own orgasm.

  They froze, motionless for a moment and then Stacey slowly smiled and laughed.

  Mason stared at her, a broad smile on his lean face.

  “You’re so incredibly beautiful,” he told her. “You laughed like that the day I took you sailing. I thought then you looked so free, so different from how I’d ever seen you, and how I wanted to see you that way all the time. I love every aspect of you I’ve seen, but this laughing woman….this free woman… She’s amazing.”

  She smoothed his hair off his face and leaned over to rest against his shoulder. “You make me this way. You make me feel like I can do anything.”

  “You can,” he whispered next to her ear.

  She turned her face to gaze at him. “Maybe. But no one’s ever made me feel that way…except you.”

  * * * *

  He pushed his fingers through her hair, overwhelmed by the love shining in her eyes. She loved the man he was now, but would she love the man he’d been?

  “What’s wrong, Mason?”

  “Does it show?”

  Worry clouded her brow. He didn’t want that, but he did want her to know who he was.

  “This is the part where we get to know each other, right?” he said, stalling.

  “Yes.” When she curled into him as if seeking warmth, Mason grabbed a throw from the back of the couch and spread it over her. Not exactly sure where to begin, he stroked his hand over the throw’s velvety fabric. “You already know a lot abo
ut me.”

  Mason cleared his throat. “Yeah, so I guess it’s only fair I let you know more of my background.”

  She rubbed his chest. “Is it so bad?”

  “It’s not something I like to revisit, but until now it didn’t matter.”

  “You don’t have to rehash it now. The man I love is the man holding me in his arms, and I love who he is now. If your past has helped you become that man, it’s enough for me to accept it.”

  Mason’s throat tightened and he closed his eyes as he softly kissed her forehead. “Thank you for that, but I still want you to know, Stacey, because I think some of my past might help you.”

  “All right. I’m listening.”

  “I was born in Baltimore. I have no idea who my father was, but my mother was a hooker who worked The Block.” He grimaced. “I can see from the way you raise your brows you’ve heard of it. Mothering wasn’t something she wanted to do. I bounced around foster homes, sometimes coming back to live with her for a few weeks or months when she was clean, then getting the boot again.

  “Despite bouncing around from home to home, I did manage to stay in school.” Mason sucked in a deep breath. “So many kids say they hate school, but it was a safe place for me, the one place where there was order and where I felt like someone gave a shit about me. I hated when summer rolled around. The only thing that meant was not enough to eat and trying to stay out of the way of my mother’s johns.”

  Stacey’s hand stilled on his chest. “Couldn’t you go outside?”

  Mason shifted. “Damn. I just don’t want to go here, but I need you to know… It wasn’t that some of them thought I was in the way. They…they didn’t confine their interest to hookers.”

  “Mason?” Her arms crept around his chest, hugging him as closely as she could.

  “Baby, I know how you felt when I found you on your boat because it happened to me too, only it was more than attempted.” His throat ached with every word that came out of his mouth, and he waited for her reaction. He’d only ever shared it with one other woman, and she’d walked out on him.

  The silence stretched until he feared he’d misjudged her…that she wouldn’t be able to handle it either. And if that was the case, then she might as well know it all.

  Voice tight, he continued, “It…wasn’t always rape. I was hungry and they had money and food.”

  Stacey shifted then and he feared she was going to leave. Instead, she framed his face and stared at him, her expression fierce. “Just because they gave you food and money for you to have sex with them doesn’t make it any less a rape. You were a kid, Mason! What happened to you was not any more your fault than what Jace tried to do to me.”

  He buried his face in her hair because he couldn’t do anything else. For several minutes, they simply sat locked in each other’s arms, rocking slightly.

  “God, Mason,” Stacey finally whispered in a voice sounding as tight as he felt. “How the hell did you get out of such a life?”

  He released a breath, letting some of the tension ease out of him. “My high school PE teacher. He was the football coach too and encouraged me to go out for the team. After practice one day, he noticed the scar on my ribs and started grilling me for details.”

  Stacey ran her fingers along it. “I’ve wondered about it too.”

  Mason’s jaw tightened. “I got it when I was thirteen from a john who wasn’t very happy when I told him no.”

  “And he cut you?”

  “It was mutual. My mother got him off me, got hold of the police. I was permanently removed from her care after that.”

  “So what did the coach do?”

  “Besides getting me involved in football, he made me toe the line on my school work. His wife was an art teacher. She made an attempt to turn me into an artist, then settled on giving me a deep appreciation for it instead. They turned my life around.”

  “Where are they now?”

  “Retired. Living out in Arizona. I fly out there a couple times a year. I guess if I had to identify what makes a good family, it’s them.”

  “I suppose they’re behind you getting a scholarship to Harvard?”

  Mason smiled, stroking his hands along her arms. “Completely. They gave me the confidence to believe I could be something more than where I’d come from.”

  “I am curious about one thing. You said if I didn’t want to go to the police about Jace, you could make a few phone calls. Where do those connections come from?”

  Mason laughed. “A very satisfied art customer from an unnamed city out West. He was so happy with the work I acquired for him, he told me he owed me. Anything I needed…and he meant anything… He was the man.”

  He shifted her on his lap so he could look at her. “Stacey, I had a juvenile record. It involved some of what I just told you, but I cleaned up my act. I’ve been tested–I do that routinely…because of my past–and I’m clean. If it makes a difference…I’ll understand.”

  “Not one damn bit. I’m guessing it helped clue you in with regard to Jace. You suspected long before I knew, didn’t you?”

  He nodded. “Almost from the moment I first met him. But I was so damn angry and hurt…I’m sorry, honey. If…”

  “Don’t.” She laid a finger across his lips. “No ‘if onlys’…okay?”

  Mason glanced at his watch. “Let’s go to bed.”

  “It’s still early.”

  He grinned. “I know. I can think of a few things to do before we go to sleep.”

  Stacey arched her brows. “You’re going to help me go through paint samples for my newest client?”

  Mason grimaced. “Not exactly what I had in mind.”

  Chapter 15

  Mason woke her the following morning as he rolled out of bed. “I need to go into the gallery today. You’re welcome to poke around here, or you can come in with me.”

  Stacey sat with legs crossed in the middle of the bed. “My ribs are feeling better. I think I’d like to go in so I can accept your offer of office space, if you don’t mind. I already bring so many clients through your gallery, it makes sense.”

  “That’s what I thought. Go ahead and grab the bathroom. I’ll get the coffee started.”

  Stacey smiled when she saw the spacious shower with its multiple heads. Mason might have started life on the wrong side of the tracks, but he’d certainly learned how to enjoy the luxuries he’d earned.

  She’d rinsed the shampoo from her hair when he stepped into the bathroom.

  “Coffee’s brewing. Mind if I join you?”

  “Not as long as showering’s all you have in mind.”

  He stuck his lip out, making her laugh. “One kiss then, if you’re going to be stingy.”

  “All right.”

  Mason stepped under the spray, pulled her into his arms and proceeded to kiss the living daylights out of her. Breathless and flushed, she finally eased back.

  “I thought you said one kiss.”

  “That was one.”

  Stacey stepped from beneath the spray and grabbed a towel from the warming rack. “Mason, Phillip mentioned going to his office after lunch today to handle the paperwork. Do you have time to go?”

  He stared at her, his dark eyes serious. “I’ll make time.”

  Stacey was fine until they actually entered the gallery. She halted just inside and he glanced back at her curiously, one hand draped casually in his slacks pocket. “You okay?”

  She took a deep breath. “Yes. I guess it’s just hitting me how much is changing. I’ll need to contact a lot of my clients. Mason, are you sure this is what you want to do? I don’t want to interfere with the gallery’s business.”

  He stepped back to her side. “I want you here, and I have the room. Come upstairs. I’ll show you the office I have in mind.”

  No one else had arrived yet. As they mounted the steps, Mason flicked on the light switch, illuminating the two-story entry with cool, recessed lighting. He led the way along the landing to a door at the corner. Aft
er opening it, he stepped back. “Take a look and tell me what you think.”

  The first thing that struck her was the light pouring in through the large windows. The room was empty as if waiting for someone to develop its potential, and Stacey’s decorator instincts soared. A blank canvas.

  Mason walked to a door on the wall opposite the windows. “This adjoining room could be used for clients or as a sort of conference room.”

  “It’s perfect.”

  Mason laughed. “It’s empty.”

  Stacey wandered into the room he had suggested as a conference room. She could already envision it with comfortable furniture that would put her clients at ease.

  “It’s a decorator’s dream…empty with white walls. I can start from scratch.”

  “If you have a few minutes, why don’t you put your things in the gallery’s conference room, then we’ll take a look at some of the artwork I have in back. Take your pick of what you’d like.”

  She glanced sideways at him. “A little cross-promotion?”

  “If one of your clients likes a piece, it can be theirs.”

  They spent the next half hour going through the storage area until Stacey had picked out several pieces. “You have paintings?” she asked eyeing the canvases stacked near one side.

  “New additions. Take a look. It’s an artist I signed an agreement with to sell his work.”

  “Mason’s has always been known for three-dimensional art.”

  “I’m branching out a bit. In fact, the building next door just came on the market, and I’m thinking of buying it in order to expand the gallery.” When she raised her brows, he shrugged and grinned. “Business has been good.”

  They went back upstairs to his office area. Stacey already knew his employees, so Mason explained she would be working from the gallery for the foreseeable future. “Until she gets her space arranged to suit her, she’ll be using our conference room.”

  When the door to the conference room shut, Mason took her in his arms and waggled his brows. “We could christen it.”

  Stacey hugged him. “I think a kiss would be enough for now.”