Chapter Five
“Smooth move, Casanova.” Paul laughed at him.
“Dammit, Paul. Where the hell have you been this past week? I’ve been calling out to you.” His friend was floating around the room, grinning cheerfully.
“I had some things to take care of, but you were doing quite well without me.”
Mason snorted. “I screwed up. Brandi hates me, and I don’t know if I’ll ever get another chance with her.”
“Well, you did come on pretty strong, my friend.”
“I couldn’t help myself. Whenever she’s near me, I can’t keep my hands off her. It’s been so long. You’ve forgotten what it’s like to be away from the woman you love, not being able to touch her, or hold her.”
“The hell I have! You at least have another chance. My wife has moved on. I’ll never get to touch her or make love to her again.” Paul’s eyes flashed with anger.
Mason felt instant contrition at Paul’s rage and pain. He didn’t stop to consider how his friend must have felt to see his wife remarry and have children with another man. Had Brandi found another man worthy of her love, he knew he would have had to let go as well. Even as he thought of her being with someone else, he ached.
“Paul, I’m sorry. I was only thinking of myself.”
“All right.” Paul took a deep breath. “Brandi doesn’t hate you. She’s just confused. She hasn’t gotten over your, er, Damon’s death and Rodney ingratiated himself into her life when she was most vulnerable. She feels an overwhelming sense of gratitude, which he naturally has no problem exploiting. It won’t be easy for you to break the hold he has unless he messes up.”
“How am I supposed to get close to her now? There’s only so much time I have in a day and lately it’s all been spent on trying to right all these wrongs of the old Mason. I seem to be making some headway with Ben at least. He’s a great kid. I can’t see how any man could have neglected his son so shamefully. When I think of the times I watched DJ growing up without me, I can’t help but feel that this guy should be exactly where he was going in the first place.”
“Well, I agree with you about that. He’s lucky he had some heavenly connections, but on the bright side, now that you’re Mason Collins, it will make all the difference in the world to Ben.”
“I hope so. I’m not doing so well with my mother though. She seems so hostile to me. I offered to bring her home with me, but she won’t even speak to me. She looks at me like she doesn’t see me. I sit with her for a couple hours each visit and tell her about what’s going on in my life and how Ben’s doing and what’s going on at work. She only shows any interest when I mention Ben’s name.”
“Well, you have to remember the raw deal she received when her husband died. I think she has the right to be upset at being placed in that dump of a nursing home when she expected support from her only child.”
“I know, but I wish she would talk to me. That reminds me, I have an appointment with the director of another facility. That place is much nicer. More of a country club than a nursing home. Hopefully, she will like it better.”
“It’s a start, but you still will have to keep putting in time with her. Money isn’t going to solve all of your problems,” Paul pointed out.
“Probably not, but it certainly helps. You know, it’s funny. I always dreamed of a place like this, but it all means nothing without Brandi and the kids. You’ve got to help me, Paul. What am I supposed to do?”
“How about getting your teeth cleaned?”
Mason stared at Paul. What the devil was he talking about? “As cute as that idea is, I have more pressing things on my mind.”
Paul gave him a sad look, and Mason felt a sudden wave of alarm. What was that about? “What?”
“It’s happening already,” Paul answered.
“What is? What are you talking about, man?”
“You’re starting to forget. I knew this would happen when you came back.”
Now Mason really felt panicked. “Forget what? Would you stop talking in riddles?”
“The longer you’re down here, the more you may forget bits and pieces of Damon Evans’s life. You won’t completely lose all of his memories, but as you make new ones as Mason, you’ll lose some of Damon’s.”
“What?! You never mentioned this!” Mason raked his fingers through his hair in frustration. He didn’t want to forget. He didn’t want to forget the day he met Brandi or the first time they made love or the day she gave birth to the twins.
“You knew there was a price you had to pay for coming back. I’m sorry, but this is how it works.”
“But what about Brandi and me?”
“I’ll try to help you as much as I’m allowed, which isn’t much, unfortunately, as far as winning Brandi back, but your first responsibility is to redeem Mason Collins. To be honest, I only recently learned of the memory thing myself or I would have warned you. You have to remember no one’s come back before; this is as new to me as it is to you.”
“So I’ll eventually forget how I felt about her? When I agreed to this, I didn’t know the price would be so high.” Tears of frustration filled his eyes.
“Look, I can’t say what will happen to you and Brandi as you begin to lose some of your old memories, but like I said, you won’t lose all of them.”
“But I could lose the important ones?”
“Maybe. I’m sorry, man. In the meantime, I suggest you make a dental appointment with Dr. David Cross in Horsham for a cleaning.”
“How will going to see the dentist help me?”
“For one thing, it will keep that white smile of yours healthy, and since Brandi is a dental hygienist in that office, it will give you an opportunity to see her again.” Paul winked.
“You’re a sly devil. I thought you weren’t going to interfere where Brandi and I are concerned.”
“I’m not a devil, just a devious angel. Besides, I said I wouldn’t interfere; I didn’t say I couldn’t give you a couple of helpful…suggestions.”
“Well, you certainly?—”
“Who are you talking to, Dad?”
Mason turned around. His son was looking for signs of another person, but Paul was gone. “No one, sport. I was just talking to myself. Where’s DJ?”
“He’s downstairs playing the game.” Ben grinned. “Mom says that talking to yourself is a sign of craziness.”
“Did she now? What else does your Mom say?” He smiled indulgently, ruffling the child’s bright red hair.
“She said that you’re probably being nice to me lately because you probably need to shoot another commercial and you want me in it,” Ben said solemnly. His big green eyes looked at him as if he were trying to figure out whether it was true.
Mason’s heart went out to the child although he only knew him for a short time. It was really a shame that until now there wasn’t a better relationship between father and son.
He also found it disconcerting that Karen would tell Ben something like this, regardless of whether it had been true in the past or not. Involving children in adult squabbles was not cool. He made a mental note to talk to Karen when he dropped Ben off at the end of the weekend.
Mason knelt in front of Ben, taking the child’s chin between his fingers so that their eyes met. “Do you feel that a commercial is the only reason I want to spend time with you, son?”
Ben shrugged. “I don’t know.”
“Yes, you do. You can tell me the truth.”
“Well, you didn’t come to my party and you promised me you would, and the last time you took me out, you brought that woman with you. She wasn’t very nice. She told me that my freckles were ugly and that I would never be handsome like you.” A tear slid down the boy’s cheek, which he hastily wiped away. Pain coursed through Mason’s body at what this child must have gone through.
“Listen to me, Ben. I’m sorry things were the way they were before, but I promise to make it up to you. You’re my son and you’re very important to me.” He pulled Ben into his arms. Ben wrapped his thin arms tightly around his neck.
“I love you, Dad,” the boy whispered against his neck.
Mason’s heart swelled with pride. He felt a strong connection to this boy. “And I love you, too.” Strangely enough, he meant it.
Ben pulled out of his embrace, and he had a huge smile on his face. “DJ challenged you to a game of Madden. He beat me, but I think you can take him.”
“Hmm, I think I should be able to give him a challenge. He’s going down.”
Mason smiled as Ben tucked his hand into his and led him downstairs to the game room.
Pulling up into her driveway, Brandi still couldn’t get over what had happened between her and Mason. How could she have let him kiss her like that? It defied all reason. She never looked at a white guy in a sexual way before, let alone allowed one to take such liberties with her body. But his touch… Dammit, why did Mason Collins have to come into her life and complicate things? The sexual charge between them was too explosive to deny, which was why she knew she couldn’t have anything to do with him.
Her breasts tingled when she remembered how his hot mouth felt against her skin and when he touched her pussy. Brandi thought she would explode right then and there.
Get yourself together, girl. You have your children and Rodney to think of.
Rodney!
Holy crap! She’d forgotten about him. He never made her feel so wild, nor had he filled her with a passion that threatened to possess her very soul. His kisses were pleasant, but they didn’t make her feel as Mason’s kisses did.
To be fair, she and Rodney had never had sex aside from the night before they had gotten engaged. Even then, she couldn’t remember what had happened. She knew he wanted to have a more intimate relationship with her because he had mentioned it a number of times, but she was usually able to put him off by telling him she wanted to wait until after the wedding.
After Mason’s embrace she realized how lacking in passion her and Rodney’s relationship was. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to marry him when a practical stranger could make her delirious with lust with just one stroke of his finger. Damn you, Mason.
As she got out of her car, she noticed Rodney’s SUV parked on the side of the street. Almost on cue, he got out. Brandi waited anxiously as he approached. How could she look him in the eyes after what she had done tonight?
“Brandi, I thought you were going to call me.” He didn’t look happy.
“As you can see, I’m just getting home. I told you I would call after I dropped DJ off.”
“But did it have to take you so long to drop him off? We spoke nearly two hours ago. Where else did you go? Were you out with someone?” His voice was insistent, demanding.
She took a step back, hands on hips. “First of all, I never gave you a specific time as to when I would be back, and second, I didn’t realize I needed to report my comings and goings with you. Don’t start with me, Rodney, because I’m not in the mood.”
Something that looked feral flashed in his eyes before it quickly disappeared. He smiled. “I’m sorry, baby. I got worried, is all. You can’t blame me for being a little concerned, right?”
Brandi sighed. “I’m sorry, too, but I would really appreciate it if you didn’t interrogate me as if I were one of your suspects. Anyway, I dropped off DJ and waited till he settled in. Mr. Collins offered me a drink and showed me around his house.”
Rodney’s eyes narrowed. “Was his wife there?”
“He’s divorced.”
“You never mentioned that before.”
“So what? It wasn’t important. I was just dropping my son off for a sleepover with his friend. End of story.”
“Obviously not if you’re having drinks and getting the grand tour,” Rodney sneered. Brandi had never seen him like this and she didn’t like it one bit.
“What’s wrong with you tonight? This behavior is ridiculous. And trustfully, I would rather be alone if you going to act like this. Goodnight.” She turned around to walk toward her house when he grabbed her and hauled her back around. His mouth came down on hers.
Brandi pressed her hands against his chest. He was suffocating her with his insistent mouth. His grip tightened on her petite body, making it nearly impossible for her to move. She stopped struggling. Maybe if she let him kiss her this way, she would respond to him as she did with Mason.
Rodney’s tongue stabbed forward as he pressed her against her car. His mouth explored hers, and she felt absolutely nothing except a mild disgust. Why would she feel this way about someone she was engaged to? It made no sense to her. She willed herself to respond to him, but she couldn’t. Brandi twisted her head away.
“No. Let me go, Rodney.”
He grasped her chin. “Brandi, I need you so badly. Let me take you inside and love you.” Rodney bent to kiss her neck.
“I said no, dammit!”
He didn’t look as though he wanted to let go, but he did. “I’m sorry. Let’s go inside and talk this over,” he pleaded.
“No. I want you to go right now.”
“But—”
“Now!” She walked to her front door, unlocked it, and then slammed it behind her.
When the door closed, Rodney saw red. She slammed the door, making it clear that he wasn’t wanted. He couldn’t remember a time when he had not been welcomed in her home. Something wasn’t right. She even turned away from him when he tried to kiss her.
In fact, Brandi had been a little cool toward him lately, as though she were having second thoughts. He would not allow her to get out of the engagement. He fought too hard to win her and no one would get in his way.
He was sure her behavior must have something to do with Mason Collins. She seemed evasive when talking about him. He didn’t like the idea of his woman having drinks with an unattached man. He should probably check out this Collins character and make sure nothing was going on.
If there wasn’t anything, then that was fine. Rodney was sure he could talk some sense into Brandi. But if something happened, he wasn’t above wiping out the competition…by any means necessary.