Price of a Kiss

  I tried to walk away, but he caught my arm, looking way too suspicious.

  “Why do I have a bad feeling there’s an ulterior motive behind that statement?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “Maybe you’re paranoid.” When he opened his mouth, I cleared my throat and smoothed my hand over my stomach because I think watching Eva doing that fifty times an hour was beginning to rub off on me. “Where’s Sarah?”

  “Right…here.”

  My little buddy saved me from getting more questions by rolling her chair to the doorway of Mason’s room.

  Without glancing at her brother, I hurried to her and spent the rest of my time with her before he left for work. He didn’t get to interrogate me further.

  He looked pissed as he walked out the door, though. His gaze burned into me with promise for retribution. I wasn’t too certain what had gotten his panties in a wad. I hadn’t threatened, warned, or intimidated him in any way. I had backed off as he seemed to want me to. I’d even cancelled my date for him. Yet he looked more tormented than ever.

  Gah, Mason Lowe was going to be one hard shell to crack.

  After he left, my evening with Sarah lagged on. She went to bed half an hour after her usual time, which was fine with me because tonight I liked her staying up with me; I needed her companionship. With her asleep, I trudged from her room, my shoulders dragging with depression.

  Lonely, all I could think about was Mason. What if he never thought he was good enough for me? Hell, why didn’t he think he was good enough? I wasn’t anything special. Was he completely blind to all my strange habits, whiny traits, and impulsive comments? A man who could look past all that and still like what he saw in me was worth…well, he was worth everything.

  I slumped to the kitchen to get myself a glass of ice water, not expecting to see anyone sitting at the table. So when I did, I yelped and stumbled into the arched entryway. At first, I thought it was Jeremy. I’d been so stupid and careless these past few days; he’d finally found me.

  But then I focused on his face, and wow, he looked nothing like my psycho stalker ex-boyfriend.

  I set my hand over my heart and slumped against the wall, beyond relieved. “Oh, my God. Mason. What’re you doing home so early?”

  He glanced up from the chair where he sat slouched and sent me a look of utter defeat. “Fate hates me.”

  “Huh?”

  A bitter laugh rumbled from his chest. “I was sent home early and suspended for a week.”

  Oh, shit. Had the country club learned about his past? I pushed away from the wall. “What happened?”

  He snorted and rolled his eyes. “I was freaking distracted and backed into a valet car when I was parking another one. Dinged both of them.” Plopping his face forward until he thumped his forehead against the tabletop, he let out a drained sigh. “I think the only reason my boss didn’t fire me on the spot was because I’m usually a good employee.”

  Knowing I had to be the reason for his suspension, I gulped in a lungful of guilt and reached for his back but pulled away at the last second. Folding my arms over my waist, I whispered, “I’m so sorry.”

  “For what?” When he looked up, he squinted at me in confusion.

  I fluttered out my hand. “You know, for causing your distraction.”

  “You didn’t. I…” He pushed his chair back and stood, his eyes full of concern. “My suspension had nothing to do with you.” He took a step toward me, and my heart beat through my entire body. “It was all me. You…you’re not to blame for anything. You’re the good part in all of this.” Two steps later, he was all up in my grill in a very pleasing, overwhelming, I-couldn’t-breathe-I-was-so-excited way. But it was so, yeah, overwhelming, I moved back, only to find myself trapped between him and that wall, the very wall he'd wanted to take me hard and fast against.

  “You’re the warm sun that shines when everything else is dark,” he went on, lifting his hands to rest them against the wall on either side of my face. “A smile and a hug in a roomful of disapproval. You’re…” Wincing, he pressed his forehead against mine. “You’re everything.”

  A single tear trickled down my cheek. My smile trembled with effort. “I love you too.”

  Mason choked out a sound and then shook his head. “You…No. You shouldn’t.”

  I touched the side of his face. “But I do.”

  Closing his eyes, he muttered something under his breath right before he sealed our mouths together. We both made a sound as our lips locked. He pulled back just enough to gaze at me. And then he went back for more.

  It was everything I’d ever dreamed about and so much more. As his lips plundered persistently, I wrapped my arms around him and tipped my face up for more. Tethering me around the waist, he pulled us flush as his tongue stroked the roof of my mouth before tangling with mine.

  My legs went around his waist, and he hoisted me higher, cupping my butt.

  We tipped to the side, disturbing a row of keys hanging by the back door until a couple jingled to the floor. Stumbling into the cabinets, he propped me on the counter and deepened our kisses with long, drugging pulls that left me gasping for more. His body pushed more firmly into mine as he cradled my face. Then he ran his hands down my neck and over my back.

  Even through my clothes, he knew how to make me react when he cupped my breasts. I choked out a surprised sound of need and threw my head back, cracking it on the cabinets behind me.

  “Shit,” Mason gasped, his lips tearing themselves from mine. Rubbing my noggin for me, he muttered, “We can’t do this.”

  But he still burrowed his face against my shoulder as he panted. I clung to him shamelessly, tucking my own cheek into his neck. Stroking his back, I whispered, “If this is going to be the only time I get to touch you, then can you wait at least a minute longer before coming to your senses?”

  He released a breath. “Okay.”

  Damn, my powers of persuasion amazed even me.

  I lifted my face to him, he lifted his to mine, and the kiss was on again. I loved the feel of his jaw under my fingers. I loved his hands that slipped up the back of my shirt and caressed my spine. I loved the entire experience.

  “Okay, we should stop now.” He gave it another halfhearted attempt, though his lips clung to mine and his thumbs became fascinated with each bump on my vertebrae. “Reese, we should stop. I need to stop before it’s too late.”

  “Why?” I kissed my way down his neck.

  He groaned and cupped my waist, sending thrilling tingles along my nerve endings. Then his mouth was on my throat and he was tugging me to the edge of the counter to snuggle our bodies closer.

  When the heat of his erection nudged me through his jeans and my shorts, we both sucked in a harsh breath.

  “Damn it.” He broke away from me, severing all contact before he backed away, putting a good five feet of space between us.

  I had no starch left in my body, so I wilted against the wall as I slid off the counter. I could still feel him everywhere. Mason wiped a hand over his face before leaning his forearms against another wall and bowing his head.

  “Do you realize what you’re doing to me, Reese?” His voice sounded broken as he thunked his forehead forward. “Making me choose like this…”

  Excuse me? I lifted my hands, beyond insulted. “I haven’t made you choose anything. Have you ever once heard me ask you to make any kind of decision? I understand completely why you do this. You don’t have to choose.”

  Mason closed his eyes and snuffled out a bitter sound. “Except I already have. I have declined every offer I’ve gotten lately because the only person I want is you.”

  Hearing him openly admit it lit up my hope like the Griswold house at Christmas. “S-since when?”

  Emotion swam in his eyes as he shook his head and glanced at me. “Since the night before we almost kissed in your apartment during Eva’s party.”

  I gulped, overwhelmed with joy.

  It was official then. He was no longer
a gigolo. He’d quit. For me.

  I stepped away from the wall, but he croaked, “It might not last,” as if saying that threw up some kind of force field to keep me away.

  Strangely enough, it worked. I stopped in my tracks. “What do you mean?”

  Grief filled his face. “I tried getting out a year ago. I refused everyone for four months straight. But it didn’t change how people treated me. Then the bills started piling up. Not as bad as they had been before. But it worried me, made me fear that our lives would plummet again. Then one day, this client got so desperate, she offered me double my price to keep me from refusing. So…I agreed. And everyone else began to pay that price. Before I knew it, I was all the way back in again.” He looked at me and shook his head. “I want to say I’ll never go back to it, but I did before.”

  I shook my head, maybe denying the whole situation, or maybe I was just that sure he wouldn’t go back.

  Mason glanced at me, looking restless and edgy as he jiggled his knee. “I never should’ve told you how I felt. When I learned he was going to take you out, I should’ve just gritted my teeth and kept my mouth shut. At least we’d still be friends.”

  I gave a small, helpless shrug. “But then we never would’ve kissed.”

  His gaze lifted, and he actually smiled. “Yeah.” Except now he sounded more depressed than ever.

  I pushed away from the wall and went to him, opening my arms and hugging him. He exhaled and wound me tight in his embrace, burying his face in my hair. “You are the most amazing person I’ve ever known. I love your spunk, your crazy thoughts on life, your caring soul.”

  “And I love you, period,” I said.

  He must’ve known I wasn’t going to take any kind of rejection from him, because he didn’t even attempt to pull away when I slid my mouth to his.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

  Everything transgressed from hug into kiss so seamlessly, I couldn’t tell where one ended and the other began. Mason sank his hands into my hair and held my head steady as his lips worshiped mine. After I shifted my face just enough to align our lips better, he moaned out a needy sound. His mouth wasn’t demanding but begging, and I couldn’t handle letting him beg. So I opened up, and we deepened the moment.

  I couldn’t stop kissing him. Our mouths took on the intimate dance of getting to know each other, learning each hidden crevice and sensitive nook. One wet embrace bled into another, until we both had to come up for air. And even then, we held each other, our cheeks pressed firmly together as our hands skated over clothes until they found their way under them.

  His chest was sleek and warm, so taut under my fingers. I needed to know every muscle and freckle he had. Catching the bottom of his shirt, I pulled it up. He lifted his arms to help me, and a second later, he was shirtless.

  I sucked in a breath, just staring. “You are so…beautiful.”

  He reached out and pulled me back to him. “Not nearly as beautiful as you.”

  My fingers became addicted to touching him. He felt so good.

  Mason pressed his mouth to my closed eyelids, my cheeks, my forehead, my chin. As he began down my neck, I slid my hands around to the base of his spine. Pressing my palms flat against heated flesh, I lowered them, dipping into the back waistband of his jeans.

  He sucked in a breath and clutched my face with one palm. His other hand shifted up the inside of my shirt to my bra, and under the cup. Arching against him, I—

  A ringing from his front pocket startled me into yelping. I tugged my fingers from his pants and jerked back.

  Mason’s jaw went tense. He closed his eyes and cursed under his breath. Slowly, he slid his hand out from under my shirt. His gaze flickered up to watch my face as he made sure the backs of his fingers trailed along my abdomen before they left me. Only then did he yank his phone from his pocket. When he looked at the screen, his face drained of color.

  I knew it was over then. Whatever farce of a relationship we’d just started had shattered. Because he had a client on the line.

  Turning his back to me, Mason pressed the phone to his ear. He didn’t answer, but his caller must’ve known he was on the line because I heard a muted female voice saying something to him. A second later, he spun toward the nearest window and jerked the blinds down, nearly yanking them from the wall in his rush.

  “Whatever,” he hissed and disconnected before he flung his phone onto the counter as if it was contaminated. “Damn it.” He kicked the wall and ran his hand through his hair.

  I didn’t say anything. I didn’t want to hear the truth aloud, even though I already knew.

  “We had an eavesdropper,” he said, his voice low and barely controlled with a wrath that surprised me.

  When he glanced toward the closed window blinds, it struck me.

  Oh, God.

  I set my hand over my mouth. “Mrs. Garrison?”

  He nodded. “Apparently, she didn’t like seeing us kiss.”

  Ripping my fingers from my lips, I balled them into a fist. “Then maybe she shouldn’t have watched.”

  Mason bent down and snagged up his shirt. “I have to go. I got the royal summons from the wicked bitch herself.” As he yanked the cloth back over his head, making his sexy tousled hair look even sexier, I wilted.

  It was hard to believe I’d just had my hands in that hair. And now he was going to let another woman put her hands in it.

  Shaking my head, I denied that this moment was happening. “You’re not really going over there, are you?”

  “I have to, Reese. She owns this house. She owns my mother, and Sarah, and me. I have to see what she wants.”

  Well, that wasn’t hard to guess. The cougar pimp wanted him.

  “She may own this house, but she doesn’t own you, or your family. You do not have to go over there.”

  “I’m just going to see what she wants. That’s all.” When he glanced at me, his expression turned vulnerable and uncertain. “Will you be here when I get back?”

  My mouth fell open. “Are you on crack? Hell, no, I won’t be here! You know what she wants, Mason. She wants you naked in her bed. If she’d wanted anything else, she would’ve told you over the phone, or better yet, she wouldn’t have interrupted our kiss at all.”

  From the stubborn look on his face, I knew I hadn’t convinced him to stay. “I’ll only be gone a few minutes. I won’t even go inside her house.”

  I turned away. “Fine. Whatever. Go over there. Fuck her. I don’t care. I’m out of here.”

  I swiped my purse off the table and marched toward the back door.

  “Reese.” He lunged after me and wrapped his arms around me from behind. His chest was so warm, and so Mason, I almost melted on the spot. “Don’t leave like this. Please don’t leave like this. I promise you, I will not sleep with her. I don’t care what she tries to hang over my head. I just want to tell her to leave me alone.”

  Shaking my head, I snorted out a sound of disbelief. “And you could have told her to leave you alone over the phone too.”

  His arms tightened around me. “Reese. Please.”

  I closed my eyes and pulled up every ounce of willpower I had inside me. “You might not have charged me a fee, but kissing you is too big of a price for me. I didn’t sign up for this. Now let me go.”

  He sobbed out a choked sound against my back but loosened his arms. I squirmed free of the rest of his hold and stumbled toward the door, shoving my way outside.

  I didn’t look back once. I know, my willpower even startled me. When I got behind the steering wheel of my car and started the engine, I didn’t look up at his house. I simply put the gear into drive and pulled away from the curb.

  I got a block and a half down the street before my hands started to shake. Gritting my teeth, I pulled to the curb and called myself every vile name in the book. Then I killed the engine and yanked the door open to stumble out into the warm evening. I sprinted all the way back to his house, my chest heaving, unable to stay away.

  He
y, I never claimed to be a wise, rational person.

  Yeah, okay, this probably topped my impulsive list. Going back there was the cherry on the double fudge icing of my stupid cake.

  I was stupid, stupid, stupid. I know!

  But I had to see if he was really going to go to her. I just had to.

  Keeping close to the shadows, I stole into his back yard. I almost threw up when I saw his back door open.

  A Mason-shaped figure darted to the gate separating his yard from hers.

  I couldn’t believe it. He was going to her. After everything he’d just confessed to me—

  “Can you make this little talk quick?” Mason snapped. “My sister is home alone.”

  I tiptoed closer to the gate and kept just out of sight.

  “Well, it looks like you’re already worked up and ready to go,” the evil voice of Patricia Garrison cooed back. “So, don’t worry. I doubt it’ll take us long at all.”

  “It’s not going to happen.” Mason’s voice was hard and unforgiving. “And do you mind never spying on me again? Your rude-creepy vibe just went through the roof.”

  “I thought you said the little babysitter was just your friend.”

  “And I thought I said it was none of your damn business. That part’s still true.”

  “Tsk, tsk. There’s no reason to be insolent, Mason.”

  “Jesus, why do you care if I get a girlfriend or not? What do you care if I have sex with every female in Florida? You're the one who sent me to other women in the first place.”

  “But, darling, sex is not the problem. Everything would’ve been perfectly fine if you’d only screwed her and moved on. It’s you falling in love with her that’s the problem. Because once you fall in love, you’ll want to be all monogamous or some such horseshit. I know you, you will. And judging by the way you look at her, you already have. But I can’t allow it. I can’t allow some silly little twit cheerleader of a girl to play havoc on my extracurricular activities. I’m not finished with you yet.”