Chapter 20 #2
“So, how was your grand opening? Are you feeling reassured?”
“Sort of.” She sat down at a nearby table, watching him intently as he got to work.
He could feel her eyes on him, making him hyperaware of his every movement and how he might appear to her.
Even though it didn’t matter what she thought of how he looked.
“It went really well, but see, I talked to someone who pointed out that a good grand opening day doesn’t guarantee future days. ”
Her tone was teasing, but Mason still felt bad. He hadn’t meant to put a damper on things for her.
“It definitely doesn’t hurt.” He glanced over at her. Thankfully, she was smiling at him.
“It doesn’t. And a lot of people said they were happy a bakery had opened up here, and they’d be sending their friends.”
“No one who seemed like they wanted you to get out?” It was a joke, but also not. If someone did want her out of this space, there was every chance they would have stopped by to see how today was going.
“Not that I could tell—at least not of people who came inside.” She hesitated. “You think the person who left the note might have stopped by?”
“If it wasn’t a prank, it would make sense. They might want to see how the grand opening was going or if the note had affected your attitude at all. If you seemed anxious.”
“Well, I didn’t see anyone like that, but it was really busy.
And if they wanted to see any of that, they would be able to do so from outside the window.
” She gestured toward it, turning her head and staring at the front of the bakery with a pensive look on her face.
“That’s another thing the camera will be good for. ”
“Absolutely. Okay, it’s in place, now let me get it hooked up to the system.
” Thankfully, that didn’t take him long either.
While he was working, Audrey remained seated, doing something on her phone.
Mason didn’t mind. He imagined she’d been on her feet for most of the day, and here he was keeping her here even longer.
Maybe he should offer her a foot massage as an apology…
No. Stop it.
If there was anything he could do to make his situation worse right now, it would be to start touching her; he wasn’t sure he would be able to stop.
He cleared his throat, and she jumped in her seat, head coming up in surprise, eyes wide with… something. The way she looked at him.
Fuck.
The air suddenly felt heavy. Tight. So did his chest. His dick perked up. He felt like a fucking teenage boy again, with no control over his body. Which didn’t make sense. He always had control.
Why wasn’t this going away?
“I’m all done,” he said, his voice deeper than usual—the voice he used at the club when he was scening.
Heat flushed over her pale skin, turning her cheeks bright pink, and she hastily turned off the screen of her phone and got to her feet, shoving it into a pocket in her skirt.
“Great.” Unlike him, her voice had gone higher. Squeakier. “Thank you so much for doing that.”
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt whatever you were doing.”
“I wasn’t… I mean… I was just reading.” She stumbled over her words, and the blush on her cheeks got even redder.
Mason would be willing to bet she was reading something for Brenda’s smutty book club. Had she been reading about kinky sex while he was hooking the camera up?
Maybe it wasn’t his fault it felt like the air between them was simmering. Maybe she’d been reading, and she knew he was a Dom, and it was just an aftereffect. Maybe it was coming from her, and he was picking up on it, and for some reason reacting more strongly than he normally did.
Maybe I’m going to need to start thinking about the fact that Occam’s razor says the simplest explanation is that I’m just attracted to her.
Even Yasmine was pushing me toward her.
But I told Yasmine I’d give her a month.
There was no way the strength of this attraction could last a month. He just had to get through it.
“Right.” He cleared his throat again. “Well, I should get going. Let me give you my phone number so you can call me in case something happens—and I do want you to call if there’s another note tomorrow. I’ll want to see the camera footage.”
“Yes. Okay. Great.” She was practically scarlet as she picked up her phone and cleared the screen before bringing up her contacts and handing it over to him. “Thank you.”
“Of course.”
The phone was still warm from her hands, and Mason did his best not to think about that as he quickly filled out his name and number and handed it back.
Audrey bent her head over it, and Mason felt his phone buzz in his pocket.
She peeked up at him, a small smile on her face, despite her red cheeks.
“I texted you, so now you have my number, too.”
“Great. Thanks.”
“Thank you. Um, I’m just gonna go get my coat and head out now.”
“Did you drive?”
“Yeah.”
“I’ll walk you to your car.”
For a moment, he thought she might protest, but then she nodded. It wasn’t that late in the evening, but it was very dark out, and he would have insisted even if she’d argued. Hell, he’d have followed her if she’d rejected his offer just to make sure she got there safely.
David would expect no less.
All he had to do was get her to her car, not touch her, then keep resisting this attraction until it went away.