Chapter 13 #2
“You going to finish cooking my tea?” My lip tips up on one side. I know I’m winding her up, and I shouldn’t. But she needs to let her hair down a little. The Nina I once knew was never so uptight.
She must think better of it and doesn’t come back at me, instead she leaves us in the living room muttering her reply under her breath as she disappears to the kitchen.
“Is Mummy always this grumpy?”
Dinner is delicious, and I ask Nina after if she would mind me putting Ellis to bed.
I’m being greedy with him, but I don’t care.
When he was a newborn, I had to miss out because he couldn’t be away from Nina as often as he is now.
It was hard, but she wasn’t ready to see me.
I resented her for it at the time, but I understand how important that was for them to have that bond now.
Ellis goes down quickly and then I go and help clean up the last of the dishes with Nina. We don’t speak, but it isn’t awkward. Surprisingly, it’s been a good evening. It feels like we’ve turned a corner.
“I’ll check your clothes.”
I smile after her, watching her as she walks to the laundry room. I can hardly see her body with the oversized hoodie and leggings, but I know what’s underneath, and as she pads down the hall on her bare feet, I know how taut and smooth her legs are, how pert her sweet round ass is.
“Are you fucking kidding me!”
And then there’s that mouth.
“What’s the matter?” I ask, walking to the laundry room after her.
“It’s not on! I turned it on!”
I take my T-shirt and boxers and find that they are still damp, warm, but damp. I look down at the machine. “The water container is full. It must have stopped. Just stick them in for a bit longer.”
Squeezing in beside her, I pull out the water tray and then go and empty it into the kitchen sink. She’s sitting on the washing machine when I come back, looking annoyed.
“Why the sour face? I’m not that bad, am I?”
“You were only supposed to pop in, then you ended up bathing Ellis, then you ended up in my bath, and now you are strolling around topless. It’s a lot of YOU!”
I try to contain my smile, but I can’t help the boyish grin that slips past. “Don’t give me that smile,” she warns.
“Why? I know what it gets me.”
“You don’t play fair,” she huffs, jumping down from the worktop, bringing us toe to toe. She looks up at me, her head only just reaching my chin.
“I never have played fair, Pix.”
Her dainty palms spread out over my chest. “Mase—”
I lean in, my hand sliding along her jaw and lifting her lips to align with mine. “But you never played fair either.”
I lower my lips to hers, not being able to help myself and not thinking past the need to feel her.
Taste her. It’s been too long. Our lips lightly brush before she tips her chin to meet me.
I quickly deepen the kiss. She moans. Our tongues touch.
She pulls away. And then we stand in a haze, my cock throbbing between us and my head a scrambled mess.
What the fuck are we doing?
She reaches past me, riffling around on the shelf behind me. She grabs what looks like a pillowcase. “Follow me,” she demands.
And like a damn dog, I do.
Nina
“I am not wearing that!”
“Yes, you are.”
“It’s a pillowcase.”
“It’s an extra-wide case. I never use the pillows, they’re too big.”
I take the scissors from the drawer and begin to cut out holes.
My hands shake as I cut through the fabric, and I know it’s because of what just happened.
I wasn’t expecting this. I wasn’t expecting to want Mason as desperately as I do.
I want to feel ashamed, or mad at myself, but I don’t.
Not when it feels so natural to want him.
He still feels like mine, like I could reach out and touch him, as if he belongs to me and no one else. And that’s why I pulled away, because Mason Lowell isn’t mine anymore.
“You’ve lost it, you know that?”
“Maybe.” I finish and turn it in the right way, then hold it out to him. “Here.”
“You really can’t control yourself any better? This is needed?”
“Put it on or drive home half naked. It’s your choice.”
Snatching the pillowcase, he curses under his breath, pulling the cotton over his head and fighting his way into the makeshift armholes.
Because of the size of the case, it fits him, and it’s still loose in places.
“Well?” he asks.
My first dimple pops and then I am gone, bent over in hysterics at the beautiful specimen standing before me, wearing a pillowcase.
“Only you could make it look semi-hot.”
“Ridiculous.” He shakes his head, storming past me and dropping down onto my sofa.
I continue to laugh as the corners puff out at the shoulders.
“If you don’t stop, I’ll take it off, and then all hell will break loose. Do you want that?” he asks, completely serious.
“Are you threatening me with sex?” I laugh harder.
“I never implied sex, Nina.” His face gets even more serious, and he rearranges himself again. “Jesus Christ.”
“Your clothes won’t be long then you can go home.” I sit down on the opposite sofa—feeling like it’s the safest thing to do—and try not to look at him, remaining focused on the TV.
After ten minutes, I feel his eyes on me and when I turn to face him, he jumps straight in. “I think we should have an evening a week where we have dinner together. For Ellis.”
Shit. Okay, I wasn’t expecting that. The evening has been good. Ellis loved having Mason here, but do I really want to tie us to one night a week, putting us both in a position to be around each other. We rarely last five minutes without disagreeing on something.
“You could come to the penthouse, or I could come here,” he suggests.
“I wouldn’t come to the penthouse.”
“Why?”
Because it would tear me apart to go back to the only place that ever felt like home. “Too much happened at the penthouse. I don’t think I’d be comfortable there.”
“That’s ridiculous, you pretty much lived there for five months.”
“Like you lived at Lowerwick for seventeen years but now can’t go back, not even for your sister.”
His face turns hard and he starts fiddling with the remote control. “Forget it.”
“I’m just saying, it’s how I feel.”
“I know, that’s fine and I understand.” He brushes it off, and I try to bite my tongue, but I know I need to get it off my chest.
“Have you spoken to Scarlet recently?”
“Nina—”
“We can talk about the house, and Scar if you want.”
“You aren’t turning this around on me. I asked you to do one night a wee k, for our son. This doesn’t need to become a screaming match because I don’t go to the estate.”
“I’m not screaming, Mason, I’m willing to compromise if you will.”
“What do you mean?”
“You say it’s for Ellis, having an evening where we eat together. And I agree, he seemed to love tonight.”
“Right…” He studies me, unsure of where I’m going with this.
“I take Ellis to the estate every other week, sometimes more. But what if we do one week here, one week at the penthouse, and one week at the estate? With Scar.”
His jaw locks and he stares down at the coffee table.
“I’d be willing to face the penthouse if you are willing to face Lowerwick.”
“It’s not the same thing. I lost everything at that house,” he mutters, not looking at me.
My throat grows tight and I move to sit on the same sofa as him, hating the distance between us.
“Yes, you did. But they’re still there—both of them. Scarlet shouldn’t have to be there alone all the time, Mason. I worry about her.”
“I worry about her too.” He rolls his lips as if his confession pisses him off.
“I’ll be there, Ellis too. It would mean the world to Scar. We don’t even have to do it right away, just think about it.” I give him a small smile, eyeing his fingers that are playing with a small piece of frayed cotton on the pillowcase.
He lifts his head, looking so deep into my eyes, I worry he will see the secrets I bury deep in my soul. “I’ll think about it.”
“Okay.” I don’t mention the ball. I figure baby steps are the best tactic with him after getting him to even consider going to the estate.
“I’m going to go check your clothes. I think it’s best that you wait here.” I give him a wink, trying to lighten the mood.
“Nina.” He stops me as I pass him, grasping my wrist.
I look down at him, wanting to laugh at the stupid pillowcase but completely caught off guard by the look in his eyes. “Thank you.”
“What for?” I frown.
His thumb traces my skin, where his bangle once sat. “I haven’t been able to take Ellis to the estate. I presumed you went—obviously you did that day you got fired, so I hoped you did. But to know you make the effort to take Ellis to see them. It means a lot.”
I nod, my eyes blurring. “I don’t just go for Ellis, Mason, although he is the main reason.
I go for me too. And you. Your father was an incredible man, and I’ve only heard wonderful things about your mum.
” I pause, not knowing if I want to bare myself to him completely.
Tonight has been weird. “I feel close to you when I’m at the house. ”
He lets me go and I figure he probably needs a minute. I get his clothes which are now dry and then place them on the arm of the chair. “I’ll leave you to get changed. You can post the key back through the door on your way out.”
He nods and I make myself scarce, feeling more confused than ever.
In my bedroom, I slip out of my jumper and then pull on my usual nightshirt. Needing to clean my teeth, I pull open the door and stop short, finding Mason standing on the other side, his hands gripping the frame and his head hanging as if it had been resting against the wood.
My hand goes to my heart, and his eyes drop to my top, then to my bare legs. “Nice T-shirt. I’m sure I had one like that once.”
My cheeks flush.
“Thank you for dinner. I’ll see you soon, Nina.” He bends, placing a soft kiss to my forehead before stalking off down the hall.