by Ali Parker
“I’m very happy to be in your arms. I want to be in your arms every night. I like it here. You’re comfortable and warm and most importantly, you’re safe. I like feeling safe,” I told him.
“I will keep you safe. You’re safe in my arms.”
“Good, because that’s where I plan on staying,” I told him, feeling the complete relaxation taking over.
My arms felt heavy. I didn’t want to move. I wanted to stay right where I was. He really did make me feel like I was cherished. I hated that I had second-guessed my decision to move in with him. In the back of my mind I knew my worries were more about my own baggage. I had been afraid to get my hopes up. I was so used to being let down, I had a hard time believing I could ever have something so good. Mason was out of my league. He made me happy, like truly happy and that’s what scared me. It was when I was happy that bad things happened, like my dad getting sick and dying. I had been happy in our new house, ready to start college with the whole world at my fingertips. I’d been happy and then the rug had been pulled out from under me.
Happiness was dangerous. Happiness was always followed by sadness.
Chapter 68
Mason
I rolled over, carefully pulling my arm out from under Adelaide’s head as she slept. I propped my head up on my hand, staring down at her sleeping form. Her dark eyelashes rested against her face. Her mouth was slightly open as she quietly breathed. She looked so peaceful and completely at rest. The last few weeks she’d looked worried. I wished I’d paid closer attention. I could have seen she wasn’t herself. I could have saved us both a lot of hurt and trouble. I vowed to do better, to be better. I would pay more attention to her moods and ask questions when I sensed something was off. Never again would I let a wound fester.
I got out of bed, pulled on a pair of clean underwear and went out to the kitchen to start some coffee. I didn’t think we had anything pressing to do that required us to get out of bed early, but I knew she hated wasting away her mornings.
I grabbed the flavored cream cheese she had picked out and spread it on a bagel for her before pouring two cups of coffee. I wanted to show her how good it could be between us. I wasn’t sure if last night had been a moment of weakness and she had agreed to move in because she was feeling guilty or if she was serious about doing it. I was hoping it was the latter, but I promised myself not to push. I wouldn’t try to persuade her either way. It was going to be on her terms.
I carried the plate with the bagel and both cups of coffee back into the bedroom. I set them down and opened the blinds a little, letting soft morning light into the room. “Good morning,” I said in a soft voice.
She groaned, rolling to her back and putting her arm across her face. “Already?”
“Yep. Do you want to sleep a little longer?”
“No. I’m up. What time is it?” she said with a yawn.
“A little after eight.”
She moved her arm from her face, her eyes popping open. “Seriously?” she gasped.
“Relax. You don’t need to be anywhere, do you?”
She looked thoughtful for a second before slowly shaking her head. “No, I guess I don’t.”
“Good, I made you breakfast. Not actually made, but I did a kickass job spreading that strawberry cream cheese you like over the bagel,” I joked.
She propped up on her elbows and looked at the plate I held out. “You made me breakfast?”
“I did. And coffee,” I quickly added.
She grinned, sitting up and leaning against the headboard. “You keep this up and you’re going to spoil me.”
“I want to spoil you.”
“Is this what it will be like when I officially move in?” she teased.
I sat down on the edge of the bed and looked at her. “Does this mean you still want to move in? I’m not pressuring you. I won’t be mad or hurt if you decide you want to take some time.”
She reached out and cupped my cheek with her hand. “I want to move in. It was a case of the jitters. It has passed. I will tell my landlord today I am moving out.”
I gulped down the lump of relief lodged in my throat. I had half-expected her to tell me she wanted to wait a while, until the shop was up and running or something like that. I would absolutely wait for her, but it was going to be a huge blow.
“You’re sure?” I asked.
“I’m positive. This is what I want. You’re what I want. I knew that before, but I was worried about where you stood.”
“Me?” I asked, raising my eyebrows with surprise.
She shrugged a shoulder, looking away from me. “Yes. I mean, you’re just so damn, I don’t know, hot, sexy, all the adjectives and there’s me. I don’t feel like I’m on your level.”
I reached out, grabbing her chin and gently lifting her face to meet my eyes. “That isn’t even remotely true. You are so far out of my league it isn’t funny. Every time you kiss me or brush your hand across my chest or my ass, I get this feeling I can’t explain. It’s like a shiver of ecstasy. I always feel like I’m the luckiest man on the planet to have your attention. I always feel like the sun is shining directly on me when you look at me with those eyes that say you want to take me to bed,” I said with a smile.
“You keep talking like that and you are absolutely going to get taken to bed.”
I looked at the bed and then her. “Technically, we’re here.”
She grinned. “I suppose we are.”
I kissed her. It was a kiss hello and a kiss that said welcome to my life. It was a kiss that said I wanted her. I reached up, holding the back of her neck with my hand as I deepened it, making sure there was no mistake about what I wanted. Her soft moan as she leaned back, pulling me with her, was my sign she was on board with a little early morning delight.
“When you live here, we can do this every morning,” I whispered, pushing the blanket down to reveal her bare breasts.
“Mmm, I like the sound of that,” she breathed, her hands running over my chest, sliding over my ribcage and pushing my briefs down.
I loved that she was as into me as I was into her. I wanted her all the time. Another woman would have turned me down, claimed I only thought about sex. Not Adelaide. She was the one initiating the sex a lot of the time. I yanked the blanket away, exposing her nude body tucked in between my sheets. I glanced down at her, thinking again about how lucky I was she was in my bed and she wanted me.
“Shit,” I muttered when I heard my phone ringing in the kitchen.
“Expecting a call?” she asked, her mouth moving to my neck.
“Yes,” I groaned, not wanting to stop what we were doing, but knowing it could be any of the many calls I was expecting to be returned about the opening of the shop.
She sighed and pushed me away. “You better answer it. Our coffee is getting cold anyway.”
I got up and pulled up my underwear. It had better be a damn good phone call. I walked into the kitchen and answered the phone before it went to voicemail. “Hello?”
“Mason, it’s Daryl,” the deep voice came through the phone.
“Daryl, hey, what’s up?” I asked, hoping for good news.
“I got it. You’ll have your license in hand by next Friday,” he said excitedly.
“No way! Really?”
“Yes. There was a minor hang-up, but it’s been resolved,” he explained.
I breathed a sigh of relief. I had pulled some strings, but when I was informed the license couldn’t be pushed through faster than the three months, I had been pissed. I called Jack and had him call in a couple of favors. It was important everything was in place on that first day. I didn’t want a coming soon thing.
“Thank you. I hope you’ll stop by the shop. Drinks will be on me,” I told him.
“I’m going to take you up on that. I’m interested to see what you’ve done. I never thought you’d be the type to go into business,” he joked.
“Technically, I didn’t. I’m only an investor,” I pointed out.
“Sure. I’ll talk to you later,” he said and hung up the phone.
I couldn’t wait to tell Adelaide we’d pulled it off. I had been worried we were going to have to delay the opening or delay the liquor side of things. I walked back into the bedroom to find she wasn’t there. “Babe?” I called out.
She didn’t answer me. I moved across the room and knocked on the bathroom door. I didn’t hear her say anything, but I could hear the shower running and the music going. She was in the shower, clearly ready to get started with her day. I walked in, listening to her sing along to a Maroon 5 song. She sounded happy. I loved hearing her happy. I quickly stripped off my underwear before opening the frosted glass shower door.
Her back was to me and her face turned up to face the water. I reached out my finger and traced it down her spine. She jumped, squealed and spun around to face me. “You scared the shit out of me!” she exclaimed.
I laughed. “Sorry. I couldn’t resist.”
She stepped close to me, pressing her naked body against mine as she wrapped her arms around my neck. My hands dropped to her waist, my forehead resting against hers as the hot water sprayed us both.
“Did you catch the phone before it went to voicemail?” she asked.
I nodded, a smile on my lips. “I did and you’ll be very glad I did.”
“Why?” she asked, our bodies pushing closer together.
“The liquor license will be in hand before next Friday. You can serve the beer and cider at the grand opening,” I told her with excitement.
Her eyes widened as she stepped back. “No way! Really?”
“Yep, really. It’s a green light. I need to call the beer guy,” I muttered, my mind racing with the list of things that needed to get done.
She stepped toward me again. “Have I told you how amazing you are?”
I chuckled. “Not in the last ten minutes or so.”
“How about I show you how amazing I think you are?” she whispered, grinding her hips against my lower body.
“I think I would prefer that option,” I said, my voice husky with desire.
“Good, me too. It’s been awhile since we’ve done it in the shower,” she said, her hands running down my back, cupping my ass and holding me close to her.
I groaned, leaning my head back as her mouth moved over my neck, sliding down my chest. I never wanted to get out of the shower, but in the back of my mind, I was starting to think about the many things we needed to get done.
“Baby, we’ve got to make this quick,” I told her, my body already winding up for an orgasm.
“Why?” she murmured, her lips brushing over my jaw line.
“Because we need to get started on those advertisement pieces now that we know the liquor license will be ready,” I told her, hissing a breath through my teeth when her hand moved between my legs and cupped my balls before wrapping her soft hand around my erection.
“We really need to work on your dirty talk,” she said, her hand squeezing me as her open mouth settled over my nipple. She sucked it between her teeth, nibbling and sucking my flesh hard enough to make me wince.
I jerked forward, the tug of my skin and her hand around my cock taking me right to the edge of ecstasy. She wanted it like that, fast and hard. I was certainly willing to oblige. I was halfway there already. I lifted her face to mine and slammed my mouth over hers, tasting her and wanting her more than I wanted the very air I breathed. Her arms wrapped around me, both of us holding each other so close a piece of paper couldn’t pass through.
Chapter 69
Adelaide
I dragged two more empty boxes into my bedroom. I was glad I didn’t have much. Packing was a real bitch. I put the box on my bed and opened my closet door, staring at the contents and considering a huge donation to the thrift store.
“When did I buy all this stuff?” I shouted.
Deanna appeared in the doorway carrying her glass of wine. “Over the past five years. Shopping second-hand gets you a lot for little and you have a lot.”
“Why didn’t you stop me?”
“Because we had so much fun,” she said with a laugh.
“Do I dare take it all? I mean, Mason is going to see all of this and have a panic attack.”
“He’s got a big apartment. You can use the closet in the spare bedroom. You know he will give away everything he has to make room for your stuff. He wants you in his apartment. More importantly, he wants you in his life,” she asserted.
I smiled, thinking back to our goodbye kiss. Things were good between us, really good. I was a tiny bit nervous about the moving in thing, but not nearly as much as I had been. I felt like everything was falling into place. Finally. It was the first time since my father died that things felt right.
The doorbell rang. “Pizza!” we both said together.
She dashed out of the room while I grabbed an armload of clothes from the closet and shoved them into a box, hangers and all. It probably wasn’t the best way to pack, but it wasn’t like a good toss in the dryer wouldn’t unwrinkle them. I would never be accused of being a fashionista. My clothes were mostly second-hand and not worth taking the time to fold piece by piece.
“Come and get some!” Deanna hollered.
I left the boxes on the bed and headed out to the living room, the smell of pepperoni and sausage drawing me in. I flipped open the box and grabbed a slice, taking a hearty bite and moaning. “So good,” I mumbled around a mouthful.
She nodded. “I’m going to miss this pizza.”
“Why? We can still order it,” I told her.
“True, but it won’t be the same as eating pizza and drinking wine from a box while sitting in your tiny apartment,” she said with a sigh.
I laughed. “No, but we can sit in Mason’s rather large apartment and drink wine from a box and eat the same pizza.”
“You know what I mean. Do you remember when you moved in here?” she said wistfully.
I nodded my head. “I do. I remember being so excited to have my own place that actually had a bedroom. That studio apartment was ridiculous.”
“It was. This place was like your first step into adulthood. This is going to be the end of an era,” she said, looking around.
There were several boxes sitting on the floor. Some opened and some already sealed. I hated that I had procrastinated. Now, I was in a rush to get it all done. I only had a couple days before I was going to officially be living with Mason.
“I’m nervous, but I’m also looking forward to it. I feel like I’m growing up. It’s strange and exciting and I’m glad it’s with him,” I said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because I’ve known him for so long. I know his dark side. I know his secrets. I know he can be a bit of an asshole to others. I don’t have to worry about any of that popping up and taking me by surprise. I know him,” I told her.
She grinned before taking another bite of pizza. I looked around my apartment. I had started in the living room. That had been the easy part. I left my dad’s picture hanging on the wall. I didn’t want to think about it being packed away in a dark box. I stared at his smiling face. He’d been healthy and happy, and I would always remember that day. We’d just moved into our first real house. He’d scrimped and saved and worked overtime to be able to afford it. The first thing I did after he died was sell the damn thing. I blamed the house for his illness. He hadn’t taken care of himself and had died two years after we moved in.
“That is such a good picture of him,” Deanna said in a soft voice.
I smiled, blinking back the tears that always followed when I thought back to those times. “It is. It’s my favorite.”
“He’d be so proud of you right now.”
“I hope so. Every day I try to do something that would make him proud. Do you think he would like Mason?” I asked, turning to look at her.
She almost choked on the wine. “Oh, God, no.”
My mouth fell open. That was not the answer I had
expected. “What? Really?”
“Uh, yeah. Have you seen Mason? Seriously, he is every father’s worst nightmare. He’s the man daddies warn their little girls about. He’s the guy who makes daddies answer their door with a shotgun in their hand, ready to run off the riffraff,” she answered.
I rolled my eyes. “My dad would never carry a shotgun,” I replied.
“Bullshit. If your dad had met Mason, he would have started. Mason has that vibe about him that scares people,” she reminded me.
“I know, and that’s what I love about him.”
“We should have had a party,” she grumbled.
I shook my head. “No way. I want my security deposit back.”
“Like you need it. The shop is going to make you rich. Then there’s the fact you’re shacking up with one of the wealthiest men in New York. I think you can stand to lose a grand,” she said dryly.
“I have no idea how the shop is going to do. I am not about to get cocky about it.”
“Get cocky. I was there yesterday. It looks absolutely amazing and I’ve already heard people in the neighborhood talking it up. You’re going to catch the business execs in the morning for their coffee and then when they get off work, they’re going to be back. You’re in a convenient spot and you found your thing. I’m excited for the tips,” she said with a laugh.
“We took out the tip jar, remember?”
“We’ll still get tips and even if we don’t, I don’t care. We are going to be attracting a high-end clientele. I’m going to have my eyes open and be looking out for my own sugar daddy,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.
“Mason isn’t my sugar daddy,” I retorted.
“You sure about that?”
“Yes, I’m sure. I’m going to hold on to my independence. I don’t want it to look like I’m using him,” I told her.
“No one is going to think that. You look at him like he’s a god and vice versa. No one in their right mind would ever think it was anything but real love,” she stated.
“Except his family. They’re going to be convinced I’m in it for the money.”
