“Both,” she replied, licking the drink from her bottom lip.
“But that’s two questions.”
“So? You asked two. This is my payback.”
Laughing, he nodded. “Okay, life fantasy. Obviously, I want the restaurant to be a success, but I also want a partner to share it with. I want success in my life with a wife. I want children and I want to grow old and die happy knowing that I loved someone completely and they loved me back. I want essentially what my parents had.”
He watched Lena taking in his answer. Then she smiled at him almost wistfully and he wondered if she even realized he was starting to picture her in the leading role of that fantasy. Before he embarrassed himself and revealed exactly the role he wanted her to play in his personal life, he leaned down and rested his elbows on the bar. He looked her right in the eye and said softly, “Sexual fantasy.”
He saw her take a deep breath, and he watched her chest rise and then fall when she let it out again. “There are so many I can think of, but right now my ultimate fantasy is of a beautiful stranger. She’s standing just out of my reach but she’s fully captured my attention. Her presence holds me almost in a trance. She sees me as well and watches me from where she’s standing. Then she smiles, the sexiest smile that seems to invite me to come play with her. Knowing it’s driving me crazy, knowing I’m outside looking in watching her but not being able to get to her. Then I watch as she moves away from view but it’s with the unspoken invitation for me to join her, so I do.”
He noticed her pupils had dilated and her breathing was slow as he waited for her to say something.
“Why a stranger? What’s the fascination with watching her from a distance? I’d think a fantasy would be touching and rolling around somewhere, not looking at someone unobtainable. Doesn’t that defeat the sexual aspect?”
He reached out and touched her cheek. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s because she seems untouchable, but in the end, she lets me touch her. As for the stranger part of it all, I think it’s more that she isn’t familiar to me. It’s new. Hot and passionate but so foreign it feels surreal. I can’t explain it.”
Her eyes flicked up to his. She sat back, picked up her glass, and drained it dry.
Lena had no idea how to respond. She wasn’t sure she even liked his answer. What did he mean, a stranger? Was he referring to her or some random stranger? She would like to think he meant her, but if that were the case, he must have a bad memory because she sure remembered letting him touch her several times. So really it came down to that he’d just basically told her something he wanted to do with another woman. The perfect unobtainable woman and that totally pissed her off. He seemed to be waiting for her to say something but honestly, she had nothing to say.
“So I guess that makes it my turn?” he stated in a voice so low she had to strain to hear him.
“I guess it is.”
He stood up and placed his hands on the bar. “Is something wrong?”
“No,” she said, shaking her head and looking behind him to the wall where a clock hung. It’d just turned nine and she knew it was incredibly early, but suddenly it seemed vital that she leave. She couldn’t explain why she was feeling the way she was but she needed out. Right now. Looking up at him, she shifted to the side and hopped down off the seat.
She watched a frown pull down on his face as he asked, “What’s going on, Lena?”
“Nothing. I just need to get going. It’s been a long week.”
“Sure it has,” he replied drawing out the sure.
Lena’s eyes snapped up to his and she bit back the bitchy remark she could feel bubbling just under the surface.
“What’s going on here? Why are you running away right now?”
She felt her spine stiffen. “I’m not running away.”
He placed his hands on the bar and leaned over it so they were almost nose-to-nose. She took a step back.
“Yes, you are.” He narrowed his eyes and said so softly she almost didn’t hear him. “Okay. Run away. I’ll let you go, but don’t think I’ll stay gone for long.” And with that parting shot, he pushed back from the bar and walked away from her.
By the time Mason got home, he was tired and pissed off. The night had not gone the way he’d expected. Actually, it had somehow gone horribly wrong. Oh, it’d started off amazing, but then gone to shit really quickly. They’d been having fun. Flirty, sexy fun and then it was as if a wall had come down and she’d been throwing a whole lot of pissed-off tension his way. God, the woman was a pain in his ass and so ready to tell him to go to hell he had to watch every little thing he said. He reached into his kitchen cabinet and grabbed a bottle of whiskey. Pulling it down, he poured a glass and made his way in the dark to the window. He downed the whiskey in one gulp then turned, grabbing the phone. Looking at the clock, he noticed it was just turning two a.m. Too bad, he didn’t give a shit. He punched in her number and let it ring. It rang three times and then he heard her.
“Hello?”
“What happened tonight? What’d I do?” he demanded louder than he’d planned. There was silence on the other end and then he heard a sigh.
“You didn’t do anything.”
“Don’t jerk me around right now, Lena.” He paused, taking a deep breath. “I want to know what I did to piss you off.”
“It was just something you said that I overreacted too. That’s all. It was my fault,” she whispered.
He ran a hand up through his hair and gripped his neck. “Did I scare you or something?”
There was a long, drawn-out silence and then, “No. I just wanted to be your fantasy and not some stranger.”
Chapter Eighteen
Around twenty minutes after Lena had hung up the phone, she was sitting in the middle of her bed with her back against the headboard. She was an idiot. A huge gigantic idiot and she’d be lucky if Mason ever talked to her again. She’d thrown on an oversized shirt, grabbed some water, and made her way back to bed. Not being able to go back to sleep, she’d switched on some music and was currently listening to Coldplay. She was miserable. Once again, she’d found herself getting too close, feeling too good, and so she’d looked for a flimsy excuse to get mad, grabbed it like a lifeline, and had ended up sitting in bed, miserable and alone. Scooting down the bed a little, she suddenly heard loud knocking coming from her front door. Her eyes flew to the clock; the readout showed 2:42 a.m. She lay silently, willing it to stop but there was no such luck, and she knew exactly who it was going to be. He must have slipped in the building with someone else. Sneaky. Climbing off the bed, she slipped her feet into her slippers and ran a hand down her hair. All the while, the pounding continued relentlessly. As she came down the small hall, she heard:
“Lena! Open this door! We need to talk.”
Groaning, she swung the door open and found herself looking right in the furious face of Mason Langley. “Are you insane?” she hissed at him quietly.
Not bothering to answer, he muscled his way into her place. She turned and demanded. “Just what the hell do you think you’re doing? You can’t just go around screaming the building down at two thirty in the morning!”
“For god’s sake, shut the door, would you,” he grumbled.
“Oh, now you’re concerned?”
“Close the damn door!” he told her in a loud whisper and Lena narrowed her eyes and slowly turned, shutting the door and locking it with a definitive click.
“Do not tell me what to do,” she stated through clenched teeth.
She knew she had to stand her ground right now but it was a little hard to do with an angry wall of male muscle in front of her and here she was in a shirt, panties, and some really ugly slippers.
“You’re lucky I haven’t strangled you yet.”
“Look, mister, you barged in here, not the other way around.” She took a step back when he took a menacing step forward. He was livid. In all the encounters she’d had with him, this was the first time she’d seen his easygoing demeano
r completely slip. His eyes were cold and narrow, and his muscles bulged with every breath he took, looking like he was that much closer to exploding. If she was trying to find a plus side, at least he was still talking to her. He leaned down until he was inches from her face and she could smell alcohol on his breath.
“Are you drunk?” she blurted out.
His jaw clenched and he closed his eyes for a moment, muttering something she couldn’t quite understand, then his eyes opened and glared at her. “No, I’m not drunk. Although you sure could drive a man to it.” He paused and just as she was about to say something he held a hand up and placed a long finger against her lips. “Shh. You and I need to lay down some ground rules, Lena O’Donnell.”
She arched a brow, looking at his finger but he just kept it there while continuing to glare her into the door.
“First. You do not get to run away from me anymore. You get to act like the adult you are and actually confront your issues.” He seemed to notice she wanted to say something but he just shook his head at her. “You hung up on me, so obviously you didn’t have anything to say. So right now, you can just listen. I don’t know what I said to piss you off tonight but from the short phone call Your Highness granted me, I gather you thought I was trying to tell you that my fantasy woman was running around somewhere on the streets of Chicago and that hurt your feelings.”
Lena opened her mouth trying to say anything in her own defense but he just pushed that finger closer against her lips, almost flattening them.
“Second new rule. You don’t get to hang up on me. It’s rude and extremely annoying. It’s a coward’s way out and I know you’re braver than that.”
Her eyes narrowed fractionally and he nodded. “That’s right, Lena. I’m onto you and all your little quirks. If we’re going to do this, which is what I thought we were trying to do, you need to let me in. I’m sick of walking on eggshells around you and quite frankly I’m tired of being worried I’ll offend you. So suck it up, princess. Easy, relaxed Mason is gone. There’ll be no more, okay, Lena, you just come back when you’re ready.” He paused, removed his finger, and stood straight. “Because guess what? I’m ready now for a relationship.”
Lena stepped around him, heading for the couch, when she felt his hand grip her arm and spin her back.
She turned on him and lifted her head. “You going to manhandle me all night, Langley, or is this just the pre-show?”
Narrowing his eyes, he let her go and she made her way to the couch. She sat down and watched him move to come and stand in front of her. He was fuming mad. She could see the fury bubbling in those eyes and when he stood there silently, she tilted her head up. “Are you just going to stand there all night? Or are you going to sit?”
“I’m not a damn dog, Lena!”
Trying hard not to grin at that comment, because she knew he would not appreciate it, she bit the inside of her cheek and scooted forward until her butt was on the edge of the couch. Looking up at him, she placed her hands on her thighs and nodded. “I agree with you.”
He widened his stance and put his hands on his hips. Did he not realize she was eye line with his very hard erection and all she wanted to do was touch it?
“What did you just say?”
Guiltily raising her eyes, she felt the heat on her cheeks. “I said I agree with you.”
“Just like that?” he asked suspiciously.
Finally, Lena gave in to the urge that was pushing at her. She reached forward and just when her fingers were about to make contact with the front of his pants he reached out quickly and grabbed her wrist. Her eyes snapped up to his and she saw they were burning down at her.
“I asked you a question. It’s rude not to answer.”
Biting her bottom lip, Lena shivered at Mason’s slow deep voice as it made its way down between her thighs. She felt him tug her arm and she was forced to stand as he pulled her wrist and she fell against him. Craning her neck back, she took a deep breath in. She could feel his hand grip tighter around her wrist as her breasts rose against their clasped hands.
“Yes. I agree with you. Just like that.”
He leaned down until his mouth was hovering over hers and their eyes were so close it was almost hard to focus.
“You drive me fucking crazy,” and with that he crushed his mouth down onto hers.
Her lips parted against the brutal assault and she almost toppled backwards, but his other hand snaked out and wrapped itself around her waist. The grip he had on her wrist kept her close to him but as she felt his tongue dive deep inside her mouth she knew there was not a chance in hell she was going anywhere. Moaning against him, she moved up onto her tiptoes, pushing her mouth back hard against his. He groaned deep in his throat and released her wrist. Just that quickly Lena felt a fire lick through her veins as she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck. His free arm joined the second and came around to crush her in closer. She felt one of his hands reach down and smooth over her shirt that was barely protecting her from his hand being on her panty-clad ass. Then she let out a squeak as he hauled her up and she had no choice but to wrap her legs around his waist. Hitched up against his hips, she moaned against his mouth and gripped his neck tighter as she rocked up against him. He wrenched his head back and looked at her. He took a deep breath and she watched his Adam’s apple move as he swallowed.
“If you’re gonna say no, say it now,” he told her firmly. Lena felt a shiver race down her spine as she spread her fingers at the back of his neck and then pushed them up through his hair. He tipped his head back and closed those beautiful blue eyes, groaning at the sensation. Then when she gripped his hair tightly, his eyes flashed open and she smirked at him. “Or else?”
Mason’s fingers clenched down on her delectable ass as he tried to get control of his raging hormones. She felt so damn good all pressed up against him. She was lucky he could manage to string more than two words together with how she was making him feel. Then she had to go and throw out a challenge accompanied by a sexy smirk and a little hair tugging. He was so screwed if she said no. Looking up at her, he said in a deep breath, “Or else three years of celibacy is about to be over.”
He watched her eyes narrow but this time not in anger. Her eyes narrowed with sensual intent as she leaned down and placed her mouth by his ear. She flicked his lobe with her tongue and whispered, “Yes, please.”
Groaning somewhere in the pit of his stomach, he managed to make his way to the couch and turn to sit down. With her now straddling his lap, each of her knees on either side of his hips and her butt sitting on his thighs, he was about to reach down and haul her shirt off when she placed her hands on his chest. She pushed him so that he was leaning back against the couch and she was perched on his legs. Her shirt had ridden up and he could see her blue panties peeking out at him. All he wanted to do was rip them the fuck off.
“Lena,” he warned, not knowing what he was about to do. She ran the hand that was resting on his chest down along his abdomen to stop at the silver buckle on his belt, and then her eyes came up to meet his.
“Yes, Mason?”
Reaching down to take her wrist again, he held it right over his belt. “You sure?”
Leaning forward, she pressed her mouth to his and kissed him to within an inch of his sanity. Then she whispered against his lips. “Yes, are you?”
Lena felt the shudder that passed through his body before he held so still she almost didn’t feel him breathe. He blinked slowly and then when he opened those hot blue eyes, a wicked smile appeared on his mouth. He lowered her hand below his belt and pushed her palm up against his hard cock.
“Oh yeah. I’m real sure.”
Lena quickly turned her palm, gripped him through his pants, and squeezed. She groaned as she leaned in, feeling the pressure of the back of her hand against her own sweet ache that was now turning into a constant throb. His eyes latched onto hers and she was sure her panties should’ve melted away from the sheer heat his eyes were aiming her
way. He lifted his hands, dragged them around her hips, and then under her shirt to the back of her panties. She felt his fingers trace the top of the lace, and then all ten of them burrowed in and slid over her ass to grip a cheek in each hand. She groaned and he was right there to catch the sound in his mouth. His tongue slipped between her lips and flirted with hers as he pulled her up high and hard against the hand she held wedged against his hardness. Squirming on top of him, she sat back, raised her eyes to his, and then took her hand from behind his neck to reach down and undo his belt. When that was left undone and hanging, she unbuttoned his pants and unzipped them carefully. Groaning low in his throat, he sat leaning back against the couch with his thighs spread wide, his eyes shut, pants undone, and his hands inside her panties grabbing her ass. From the look on his face and the way she had effectively removed most of his clothes, Mason either looked like he was about to be or had been fucked, and Lena had never seen anything sexier. She ran her hand down the open space she’d created over the boxers that were straining to contain him and heard him whisper, “Jesus, Lena.”
Smiling and enjoying her moment of torture a little longer than she should, she pulled his shirt out of his pants and started to unbutton it from the bottom up. When she got to the third button from the top, she spread the material apart and sat back to look at her handiwork.
“Holy shit, Langley.”
His eyes opened and focused on her, and then he gave her the sexiest grin she’d ever seen.
“What, Doc?”
Licking her top lip, squirming on his thighs as he squeezed her ass, she whispered, “I think I just came from looking at you.”
A decidedly smug look appeared on his face and she let out a sigh of her own as one of his hands came around the front of her panties, then turned and slid down between her thighs. Looking right at her, he ran his finger back and forward between her slick folds. “Not yet, but I’d say you’re pretty close.”