Chapter Nine #2
“We’ll see about that.” He plants a soft kiss on my lips. “You’re shaking. Are you cold?”
“No, just need to sit down a minute.” The scrape of plastic on concrete makes me wince as he pulls a two person lounger into the shade.
“Come here.”
I take his hand and stretch out beside him, resting my head on his shoulder. I must be exhausted because it’s late afternoon when I wake. Mason’s covered me with a beach towel, and he sits a few feet away, talking on his phone.
He’s breathtaking with the sun pouring over his shoulders, highlighting every line and muscle of that incredibly toned body.
How the hell did I get lucky enough to win the affection of such a man?
A wide smile appears when he sees me staring at him, and he ends his call. “Hey, sleepyhead. Feeling better?”
“Much. What did I miss?”
I hear Calliope music in the air as he answers, “Not a thing. The carnival is just starting. Do you feel up to it?”
“Absolutely. I need to grab a shower and dress. My stuff is in a locker.” I hop up and stretch my sore muscles. “Meet you back here?”
I’m presented with a look that says I’m one twist short of a slinky. “You aren’t going anywhere without me.”
“Danny’s in jail. It’s over.”
“You’ve taken years off my life the past few weeks, Evie. I’m not letting you out of my sight.” He wraps an arm around my waist and we start toward the lockers.
“You just want to watch me shower,” I tease.
“Guilty.”
The sun is just dipping below the horizon when we enter the carnival, hand in hand. “Where to first?” Mason asks.
“Food. I’m starving.”
Mason chuckles. “Lead the way, baby.”
After pigging out on corndogs and funnel cake, which Mason insists on paying for, we stroll down the midway.
“Race you,” I dare, gesturing to the Fire Fight game.
I loved this game when I was a kid. The object is to aim a stream of water through a target, which moves your wooden fire truck to the finish line.
Mason grins and grabs the water hose. “If I win, you have to go through the haunted house with me.”
“Damn, I really wanted to see the haunted house, but there’s no way I can lose.”
The bell rings and everyone focuses on their targets. Leave it to me to choose the hose with a wussy little stream. Mason pulls ahead of me instantly, but we both laugh when the two little girls beside us leave our fire trucks in the dust.
The younger girl cheers when she wins, and the young man tending the game hands her a stuffed animal. He smiles and gives the other girl a large lollipop, and they both run away laughing and happy.
“Looks like you get to see the haunted house after all.”
“You didn’t win!” I smack his arm, and he grabs me by the waist.
“I beat you. You chickening out?”
“Never. I can’t wait to get you alone in the dark.”
Mason grins, his face lit by the colored lights. Grabbing my hand, he leads me to the haunted house ride. A young man checks our wristbands and ushers us into a car, pulling the safety bar across our laps. After warning us to keep our arms inside the car, he sends us down the track.
We make a sharp right turn through a wall of rubber strips into pitch darkness.
The car makes a few abrupt turns until I’m a little disoriented, unable to tell what direction we’re going.
I jump when a loud siren blares and a strobe light flashes on a man hanging from a noose, his feet kicking the side of the car.
Mason laughs and slides his arm around my shoulders.
We laugh and tease each other as we travel through a room of zombies, and another set up to look like a butcher shop, littered with dismembered limbs.
The car makes another turn and we’re face to face with an evil looking clown.
Mason stiffens up and curses under his breath as the bloody clown with a too wide grin reaches toward us.
It’s my turn to laugh at his reaction. “You’re scared of clowns. Don’t worry,” I tease, cuddling into him. “I won’t let big bad Bozo get you.”
Mason pinches my nipple, making me squeal, and says, “Look up, love.”
A giant spider creeps across the ceiling to a web full of tiny spiders.
I know they’re fake, but every inch of my skin crawls at the sight of them.
Suddenly, a few of the spiders rain down on us just as we travel through an archway laced with spiderwebs.
The spiders falling on me and the feel of the silky strings clinging to my face and hair have me beating at myself like a mad woman.
Mason’s laughter echoes through the ride, and I smack him on the chest as the car bursts into the night air. “Souvenir?” he asks, still chuckling while he holds up one of the plastic spiders.
It’s a damn ring, and in the light, it couldn’t look more fake. “Asshole,” I grumble as he slides the ring on my finger and we exit the ride.
“Where to next?” he asks, sliding his hand in the back pocket of my jeans.
I give him a wide smile when I spot the fun photo exhibit.
Multiple wooden characters are scattered about, the faces cut out so we can poke ours through and become a cowboy, or a princess, or a zombie.
“Let’s pick one!” I drag him through the display until I see one that was seemingly made for us.
Two giant panda bears hug, a trail of hearts bubbling up between them.
“What are you doing?” I ask when I notice Mason glancing around.
“Making sure my brothers aren’t around. I’d never hear the end of this.” He pulls me behind the wooden cutout. “Come on, Panda.” We poke our faces through the holes and a man takes our picture.
“You can pick it up at the counter,” he advises us, pointing us in the right direction. While we wait for our picture, Mason spots a photo booth.
“You got your picture. Now I want mine,” he says, leading me into the booth and pulling the curtain. “Ready?” he asks, feeding a few dollars into the machine. It takes four photos, ten seconds apart.
I press my cheek to Mason’s for the first one, and he wraps me in a hug for the second. His lips land on mine a second before the third flash. Before I realize what he’s doing, he pulls up my sweatshirt, showing my bare tits to the camera just as the last click sounds. “Mason!”
“That one’s for my wallet,” he says with a roguish grin. We step out of the booth and almost collide with Alex. A cute athletic man stands beside him, holding his hand.
“Everly.” Alex greets me with a smile. “You having a good time?”
“It’s been fun. We’re just waiting for our photos to process.” I glance toward the slot where the pictures will be delivered.
Alex looks a bit reluctant as he introduces his boyfriend. “Cooper, this is my brother, Mason, and his girlfriend, Everly.”
“Such a pretty name,” Cooper says, shaking my hand.
“Thank you. It’s nice to meet you.” A small dimple dents his cheek as he grins at me. Oh, yeah, I can see why Alex likes him. He’s a cutie.
“Nice to meet you,” Mason agrees, shaking his hand.
Abruptly, the machine clicks and our photos drop into the slot. Alex picks them up, a mischievous grin breaking across his face as he peeks at them before handing them to me. “Glad to see we aren’t the only ones having fun with the photo booth.”
“See what you did!” I smack Mason on the arm, and he shrugs. The photo center worker chooses that moment to bring us our panda photo, and I waste no time holding it up for Alex and Cooper to see. Payback is a bitch.
Alex snorts, laughing until his eyes are full of tears. “That’s fantastic, Ev. I need a copy, please.”
“You got it.”
Mason shakes his head, and we say goodbye to Alex and Cooper. I glance back as they climb into the photo booth. I can only imagine the amount of inappropriate pictures that booth will take tonight. Mason slides his arm around me, tucking me against his side, and I yawn. “You ready to go, love?”
“Yeah, I’ve had a great time, but I’m done in.” Mason leads me to his car and we head back to his house. It’s been such a great day, I don’t want to dampen his mood by announcing I’m going home tomorrow. I’ll tell him in the morning.
As Mason shuts his front door behind us, I wrap my arms around his waist, stepping into his warm body, and he holds me tight. “Attempted drowning aside, it was a wonderful day.”
His chest vibrates with a deep chuckle. “You make my days wonderful, Evie.”
“I love you.”
“I love you, baby.” His bright eyes meet mine as he releases me. “I need to make a few calls, then we’ll go to bed, okay?”
“Sure. Can I borrow your laptop to check my email? My phone’s dead.”
“Of course. It’s in my office.”
I’ve never been in his home office before. A large cherry wood desk sits near the far wall. The room is warm and inviting. A crimson colored sofa and armchair provide a splash of color among the dark wooden furniture and flooring.
His laptop rests on his desk, and I turn it on. Curiosity gets the best of me while I wait for it to boot up. He thinks my father’s alive. There must be paperwork, reports or something that shows why. I’ve barely had time to consider that with all that’s happened.
With a quick glance at the door, I open the left hand desk drawer.
It’s filled with pens, pencils, and general office supplies.
I can hear Mason on the phone in the living room, so I still have time.
The right drawer contains a few file folders, marked with six digit numbers.
On top of them is a plain white envelope.
When I pick it up, the flap opens and the contents spill onto my lap and slide to the floor. I’ve heard the expression ‘my blood ran cold’ but never understood it until now. I feel as if I’ve been dipped in liquid nitrogen and the smallest move will shatter me into a thousand sharp pieces.
Passports, at least a dozen, all with women’s pictures. Social Security cards, driver’s licenses, birth certificates. What the fuck is this? What kind of business is he running?