Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
MASON
“ S orry, Mason. I tried,” Dannajah muttered, turning back to me. I huffed out a sigh, dragging my hand over my face.
“Appreciate it.”
I was getting absolutely nowhere with Juliet. Every day, she burrowed deeper under my skin like a tick, but I couldn’t get her to give me the time of day. It wasn’t just that she was beautiful, or that our night together had been incredible, or that her accent made her voice sound like music. There was more to it than that. The more I got to know her, the more I wanted to spend time with her. In between shows, she always had her head in her a book. I tried to ask her about them, but she didn’t seem to appreciate being interrupted. There covers ranged from swords to cowboy hats, and I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of stories held her attention so completely.
Juliet also had a wicked sense of humor. She never joked with me, but whenever Brett would say something less than well thought out, she would hit him with a snarky zinger. Most of the time, I don’t think he even realized she was making fun of him. The insults went right over his head, and it was all I could do to keep from roaring with laughter. There was nothing malicious about them. She wasn’t mean; it was clever pure and simple. Just one more reason I was desperate to see this girl outside of work. But she wouldn’t bite. No matter what I tried. It killed me, but I slowly started to back off. I couldn’t risk making her uncomfortable–not when we still had a week's worth of shows left. That’s why I recruited Dannajah to put together a big group thing. No pressure. Easy.
Casual.
“Fifteen minutes until showtime!” Kelly, the stage manager, called as she poked her head through the door.
“I fold,” I said, putting my cards down and standing up to stretch. I usually didn’t sit this long between shows–it was too easy to stiffen up. But with Jules in the corner and Dannajah inviting me to play, I was not about to say no.
It was probably time to take a hint at the risk of venturing into jackass territory, but I’d never been good at admitting defeat. Not when she was everything I ever wanted. I’d only had one night with her, but it had been unforgettable. She was incredible. I couldn’t think of a single previous experience in my past that could even come close. She was everything I'd ever wanted, and I wasn't sure how to walk away from that.
I unzipped my jacket and tossed it on the chair I had just vacated, leaving it behind as I stepped outside. A slight breeze stirred the air–the closest Florida got to experiencing winter.
I did a quick set of jumping jacks just to get my blood flowing again. Safety first. If I got hurt, chances wereJuliet would too, and I couldn’t let that happen.