by Jen Talty
“Come, Coop,” he commanded.
The dog raced by them, into her cottage, and made a beeline for her sofa. He smiled. His dog was his world, and he needed to be comfortable with any girl he dated, and her surroundings.
Of course, this was Mason’s house.
“What does he think he’s doing?” Destiny slipped into the kitchen, pointing across the room.
Mason took the opportunity to snag a bottle of red wine from the rack. He made sure to take one he had left as a gift to his tenant. “That’s his bed for the night.”
She glanced over her shoulder. Both eyebrows raised.
“For now, I’m your security detail.”
She pursed her lips. “So, if that’s his bed, where is yours?”
He snagged two wine glasses and slowly poured two hefty glasses before closing the gap. He stood only inches away. She curled her fingers over the wine glass. If he wasn’t mistaken, she had a sexy little smirk on her face.
“That depends on you.” He raised the glass to his lips and sipped all while staring into her deep-blue eyes. He could get lost in there for hours.
Hell, he knew he could spend a lifetime staring at this woman.
She held the power to rip his heart out. Normally, that would make him recoil and slither toward a rock to hide under. But she made him want to risk it.
Again.
It could be a mistake. He knew that all too well, but his mother always told him that he’d never find the right woman if he didn’t keep putting his heart on the line.
Besides, his mom had a good feeling about Destiny, and his mom hated Julia, so that was something.
“You’re a charming man.”
“Why do I sense a but?”
“We keep doing this, one of us is going to get hurt. We’re neighbors. I’m your tenant. And I don’t want to be in a relationship. I’m enjoying my independence away from a controlling asshole boyfriend.”
“You do know I checked into him, and I’m nothing like him.”
She patted his chest. “I’m well aware. It doesn’t change the fact that if we keep doing this, when I get bored, you’re the one who’s going to end up hurt and angry.”
He cocked his head. “You think you’re going to get bored with me? Oh, sweetheart, I might be a laid-back, easygoing cop in small-town America, but I’m not humdrum. I think I proved that earlier today.”
Her smile melted his heart.
“Oh, I’m sure that would never get tiresome, but seriously, you want to have kids and marriage and a white picket fence. I don’t.”
“I used to think that’s all I wanted, but right now, I just want to be with you. I’m not looking into the future, just living in the moment. See, that was always my problem. I lived for what might happen instead of enjoying the moments in life that make up a lifetime of memories.”
She shook her head. “But you’re thinking you’ll change my mind. And you won’t.”
“Okay.”
Tears welled in her eyes. Pain lined her tight jaw. He suspected something so terrible happened to her that she closed her mind, and her heart, to the possibility. He, of all people, could understand that. Yet, here he was, doing it all again.
He reached out and ran a thumb over her cheekbone. He searched her expression for a hint of what was going on inside her heart and mind. A million scenarios bombarded his brain. Most of which were suspect, but he pushed those aside. He needed to trust Destiny and getting to know someone took time. Something he didn’t understand with Julia. And with Renee, he spent too much time trying to show her that his quiet life was better than one in the city. He never listened to her, nor did he ever try to understand her. “I don’t want to change you, and I’m not looking for promises of forever. I did that once before, and it ended badly. All I want is to get to know you and what I know so far, I really like.”
“You might not like the rest of me.”
“You might not like me.”
She laughed. The sound filled the room like warm rain. “Are you always this irresistible?”
“According to my nephew, I’ve got zero game and no skills when it comes to women.”
“I’d have to agree with him about game, but you’ve got some mad skills in there.” She pointed to the bedroom.
It wasn’t the gesture that sucker-punched him, but the fact her face did not turn bright red where his cheeks flushed.
“But.” She held up her finger. “You have to know I’m considering moving back with my uncle.”
“I wouldn’t try to stop you.” He made that mistake once before, and he wouldn’t do it again. “I might try to use my irresistible charm to get you to consider staying, but we’ve barely begun anything, and if you have to go, then there isn’t anything I can do.”
“This is just sex. We’re not in a relationship of any kind.”
He coughed on the sip of wine he’d just swallowed.
“Well, you were expecting a little hanky panky, right?”
“Anyone ever tell you that you’re almost too direct?”
“All the time.”
“Can I make one request?” With a slightly shaken confidence, Mason followed Destiny into her bedroom, slamming the door shut before Coop could make it inside.
The dog whined, but at the same time, Mason heard a thud. He assumed Coop sprawled out in front of the door.
He swallowed, watching her kick her heels off. His chest tightened as if he were a teenage boy getting his first look at live breasts.
“What’s that?” she asked.
“If you ever want to have sex with someone else, you tell me to fuck off first?”
She unzipped her dress, holding it up with her hands, which covered her perky boobs.
“That sounds like a relationship.”
He shook his head. “I’m a one-woman, friends-with-benefits kind of man, and I don’t double dip.”
Flopping herself on the bed, she burst out laughing. “I can’t believe you just said that.”
“You and me both.” He tossed his shirt to the floor and stepped from his pants before pulling back the sheets and climbing between them, taking her half-naked body in his arms. He wasted no time ramming his tongue deep in her mouth with a promise of what was to come. She matched his passion and gave more than she took.
But that was about to change.
He flipped her on her back, scooting between her legs. Swiftly, he rid her of the dress and her panties. He soaked in her beauty. The way the moonlight hit her sun-kissed skin made him dizzy. He blinked a couple of times and did his best to control his labored breathing. He’d seen beautiful women before, but not a single one of them held a candle in the wind to Destiny.
And it wasn’t her sweet face or sexy curves that did it for him.
It was her.
All of her.
Fuck. If she walked away from him, he wasn’t sure his heart could recover this time.
“You’re staring,” she whispered.
“Hell yes, I am. Have you seen your body?”
“You really know how to make a girl feel sexy.”
He groaned as he massaged her thighs, gliding his fingers up her legs. Her lack of insecurity in herself made him want her even more, but it also made him worry she might be right, and she could get bored with him.
Someday.
Way in the future.
He pressed his lips on her firm belly, pushing those thoughts from his brain. He reminded himself that living in the here and now was the only way to function. What happened tomorrow, a week, or a year from now shouldn’t control his actions in this spectacular moment. No one had a crystal ball and could tell him if she was his forever girl or not.
And it shouldn’t matter.
They were two consenting adults that had been up front with each other about where they stood. If his heart got tangled up, that was on him.
Not her.
She made her position clear.
Her hips lifted off the bed.
“Y
ou are a demanding woman, aren’t you?” He sprinkled kisses down her stomach and to her inner thigh, leaving her to wiggle beneath his touch.
“I just know what I want.”
“And what’s that?”
He popped his finger in her mouth and then let it graze over her hard nub.
She bit down on her lower lip. “That’s a good start,” she managed. “But you know, your finger might do better somewhere else and your tongue right there.”
He growled, but he didn’t hesitate to give her what she wanted, though he did so methodically, teasing her until she begged to be taken over the edge. He loved the way she moved under his touch. The way her moans filled the room like music out of a speaker. All he wanted to do was to please her. To make her so satisfied she curled up in his arms afterward and slept peacefully next to him, only to repeat the experience again in the morning.
He lost himself in her body. His motions following her direction.
“Oh, my God,” she managed with a throaty voice. “Mason, please.”
“Please what?” He stopped what he’d been doing and glanced up at her.
“If you don’t do it, I’ll resort to doing it myself.”
“Holy shit, would you?” He rocked back on his heels, his fingers still buried deep inside. “Help me,” he whispered.
Every muscle in his body tensed as she lowered her hand down her stomach, meeting his where he touched her intimately. His gaze went between her passion-filled face and her hands working her body like a master guitar player.
His heart rate soared. It had to be pumping at a dangerous pace. A wave of light-headedness rippled through his head. He gripped the sheets, locking gazes with her.
Her smile sucker-punched him right in the gut. He bent over, pulling one of her tight nipples into his mouth and sucked.
She pulled him closer, wrapping her legs around his waist.
“I want you on top,” he said boldly and rolled to his back, taking her with him.
“Works for me.” Her chest heaved up and down.
He held onto her hips, digging his heels into the mattress while she covered him in a condom. Never in a million years would he think that was a turn on.
Until now.
With her.
Their bodies moved in unison, each knowing exactly what the other needed.
More importantly, knowing what they wanted.
Her body jerked, and she dug her fingernails into his chest. “Mason, yes,” she whispered.
Forcefully, he pulled her to him, shoving his tongue deep in her mouth, swirling uncontrollably. He held her hips tightly as he pushed up. A deep growl filled this throat. He wrapped his arms around her to control his own convulsions, only to feel her shake on top of him.
She collapsed on top of him, her breath still labored. “Don’t let this go to your head or anything, but holy shit, that was good.”
He laughed so hard she nearly fell off his body, but he managed to keep her close through his fit. No one had ever made him feel this alive before. Not even his first love held this kind of grip on his heart. It was as if Destiny had reached inside his body and snatched his heart, holding it close to her chest, letting it beat in unison with hers.
Christ. Why did he always have to fall in love so hard and fast? That was always the problem. He went in deep way before the women he dated had a chance to catch up to his emotions. Of course, he tended to fall in love before he really knew them, so was it really love?
He let out a long sigh. There were things he didn’t know about Destiny, but he trusted her now. That meant everything to him.
And that right there would make it impossible to keep his heart from being shattered again.
“Ready to have your ego fed?” he asked.
“I’m always ready for that.”
“I would have to say that was the best I’ve ever had.” He wanted to add that it had ruined him for anyone else, but why bring other women into the mix, especially when he didn’t think he could ever bed anyone else ever again. She was it for him.
“Guess that means next time I’m going to have to step up my game.” Her tongue circled his nipple.
He hissed.
“I’ll be right back.” She slinked from the bed, pulling his shirt over her head. The hem barely covered her perfectly rounded ass.
He propped himself up on the pillows and started looking for the remote for the television. When he didn’t find it on the nightstand, he pulled open the drawer and stared at a cross-stitch. It looked like one that might go in a baby’s room. Tentatively, he pulled it out and gasped when he saw a picture of her, pregnant, standing next to another man that wasn’t her ex-boyfriend.
The oxygen in his lungs escaped in a gasp. Anger filled his heart. He set down the cross-stitch and snagged the picture just as she stepped from the bathroom.
She froze at the foot of the bed.
Fuck. Another lying woman. What the hell was his problem?
“Care to explain this?”
“What the hell gives you the right to go through my things?”
“I didn’t go through anything. I opened a drawer looking for the remote control. I thought we might watch a little television.” He held up the picture. “That’s not your ex-boyfriend, and you have a child?” Haphazardly, he tossed the picture to the side. How could he have been such a fool?
Again.
And about the same thing.
He’d never understand a woman who could willingly walk away from their baby. Sure, he understood adoption and that there were certain circumstances to give up a child. Oh shit. Maybe that’s exactly what she did. “Did you give him or her up for adoption?” he asked.
If looks could kill, she just shot daggers right into his eyes.
Carefully, she took the unfinished namesake into her hands. She ran her fingers over the raised stitching. “I didn’t give her up.”
“Then where is she? Why isn’t she with you?”
“There is no she. I don’t have a kid.”
“But you’re pregnant in that picture.” He tapped his finger over the image. “Very pregnant.” Confusion filled his heart. What she said didn’t make any sense. Not at all.
“Almost seven months, to be exact.”
“So, how is it you don’t have a kid? Or did you abandon her?” he asked behind a clenched jaw.
“You’re an asshole.”
“Maybe, but can you see where I might be confused?” His voice kicked up five octaves. “What happened to your baby?”
“She was stillborn.”
“Jesus Christ. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know.” He closed his eyes in shame. Destiny wasn’t Julia, and he knew that. If he’d only done the decent thing and asked gently, without drawing conclusions about things he had no idea about. “I’m really sorry. I have a reason for my behavior, but it’s no excuse.” He blinked his eyes open.
She took the picture he’d so carelessly tossed to the side. She held it between her trembling fingers for a long time before gently placing it in the drawer. She kissed the cross-stitch and set it on top of the picture. Tears rolled down her cheeks. She didn’t really cry, or at least she didn’t make the noises that a sobbing woman would normally make, but there was no mistaking the pain that formed behind her beautiful eyes.
He reached for her hand, but she yanked it away.
“Please. Sit down. Let me explain.”
“Not sure I want to hear this,” she muttered, but she pulled back the side of the sheets and climbed into the bed. Fluffing a pillow, she placed it between them.
“I told you about Carol.”
“The firefighter’s wife? The one I met at Blaine’s party, right?”
Mason nodded. “I play that up for fun. We actually broke up about six months before she started dating Scott. I’d gone off to the Marines and had started seeing other people, but it’s always fun to say she left me for my best friend. It’s especially fun to see the expression on their faces when I say that I was the best
man.”
“What does this have to do with anything?” she asked as she twirled her hair with both hands, her body rigid and tight.
“Let me get there, okay?”
“Whatever.”
Coop scratched at the door.
Destiny jumped from the bed and let the dog in, patting the middle of the bed, literally making Mason move over a tad.
She certainly knew how to make a point.
“When I left the Marines, I brought home Renee. We were engaged to be married, but she hated small-town life. I tried to force her to like it, but it ended up being the thing that destroyed our relationship. She went back to the Big Apple and ended up rekindling with an old boyfriend. They are married and last I heard she’s pregnant.”
“You don’t have much luck with the ladies, do you?”
He laughed. “It gets worse. After Renee, I met Julia. She blew into town like a summer breeze, and I fell hard. We talked about getting married and having kids, only she was already married and didn’t tell me.”
“That sucks for you,” Destiny said with a shit ton of sarcasm.
He deserved it since it was taking him forever to get to the point. “What killed me was she had a five-year-old son that she just up and left, and she was going to sign away her rights to be with me. I couldn’t be with a woman who would up and leave a child.”
“So, you just jumped right to the conclusions that I was a shitty mother.”
“Yeah, I’m a big jerk. I wish I could take it back. All I can do is apologize.” He rested his hand over hers, which was on top of the dog, who whined, glancing up at both of them as if he sensed the tension.
He probably did.
She continued to scratch Coop’s head but didn’t push Mason away. That was a step in the right direction.
“I know there is so much I don’t know about you, but I had no right to make a rash judgment. I won’t do it again,” he said.
“I suppose I can understand why you went there. Luca…well, that’s a part of my life I just don’t like to talk about.”
“I understand.” He scooted down and rolled to his side, resting his head next to Coop. If he had to sleep with the damn dog between them all night, he would; so long as she didn’t kick him out, he’d be happy. As much as he wanted to find out more about what happened, he figured it best not to pry. “Do you want to watch television before we fall asleep?”
