Chapter 10
CHAPTER TEN
Mason adjusted his shades as he watched Vivi push the cart out the front doors and approach her car. She popped the trunk and started to load the groceries without so much as glancing around, and he let out a little growl as he pushed off the fender of his truck and strode toward her.
She still hadn’t noticed his presence by the time he was two feet away from her, and he settled his hands on her hips. She let out a stifled shriek as she spun toward him, her eyes wide. The surprise leached away, turning to recognition then anger as she stared up at him.
“Seriously?” She punched his chest, but the effect was minimized because she stood too close to put any force behind it. “What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?”
He glared at her. “Do you not pay attention to anything, woman? You’ve gotta watch your surroundings.”
“I’ll keep that in mind next time someone tries to kidnap me,” she shot back.
“As much as you like to think you are, you’re not invincible, Viv.” He scowled. “You’re a tiny little thing.”
“To you, maybe,” she snapped.
“Doesn’t matter,” he continued, undaunted. “You know how easy it would have been for me to knock you out and toss you in the trunk? You’d have been long gone before anyone realized what happened.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can take care of myself.”
“Obviously. One of these days you’re going to invite the wrong kind of trouble,” he warned.
She smiled sweetly, a cutting look in her eyes as she stared up at him. “Kind of like inviting strange men to my hotel room?”
“That was different,” he cut in. “Thank God it was me and not someone else.”
She let out a little laugh that held zero humor. “Oh, yes. That was such a relief.”
Her tone was full of sarcasm, and he stiffened. “How many times do I have to apologize, Viv? I didn’t mean it the way it sounded.”
“You only apologized because you got caught,” she retorted. “Besides, it doesn’t matter. It was a mistake—one I have no intention of ever repeating.”
This had devolved way more quickly than he intended, and she was out of her mind if she thought they were just going to go on their merry way. Absolutely not. He’d been rattled since that night, and he felt like he needed another go with her to set his world right. “Vivi, I—”
“See you around, Mason.” She slammed the trunk, then shoved the cart in his direction. He deftly rounded it and reached for her just as she grabbed the door handle.
“Would you stop?” he hissed. “We still have to work together, at least.”
Although he wanted a lot more from her than to just be her coworker. He knew she’d felt the same connection between them that he had. He wasn’t sure exactly what he planned to do about it, but he knew he wanted more of her.
Vivi’s taste had haunted him for the past six days, and he swore he could feel the silky smoothness of her skin every time he closed his eyes.
This morning in the file room, surrounded by her intoxicating smell, able to taste her again, he felt more at ease than he had since he’d stupidly walked out of that hotel room alone.
“So?”
“What do you mean, so?” He fought the urge to shake her. “You’re my friend’s little sister. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
If anything, her expression darkened further. “In case you missed it, I’m an adult. I’m more than just Knox’s sister, more than some easy hotel lay.”
This woman pushed every single button he had. “That’s not—”
“Whatever, Mason.”
“Just stop already.” His tone was harder than he intended, and Vivi whirled toward him, fire in her eyes.
“Did you have an aneurysm? I don’t know what your problem is or why you’re doing this, but I said no. We had one night together. Leave it at that and move on, just like I have.”
She didn’t wait for his reply, just slid inside and slammed the door, locking it before he had a chance to maneuver in between. “Vivi, I swear…”
His words were drowned out by the sound of the engine turning over, and he smacked one hand on the window. “Virginia…”
She didn’t so much as look at him as she flicked a glance in the rearview mirror to ensure the cart was out of her way before putting it in gear and starting to back up.
He stepped back to avoid having his foot run over, cursing her all the while.
The stubborn woman wouldn’t give him two seconds to explain.
Explain what, he still wasn’t sure. Every time he rehearsed the conversation in his head, it got more and more muddled.
What could he even say to make her understand?
One throwaway comment had turned her completely against him, so much so that she wasn’t willing to listen to him at all.
He knew he was wrong; he’d regretted the words as soon as they left his mouth.
Stupidly, he’d made things worse the following day by accusing her of lying to him.
She threw him completely off balance, instilled a simmering need every time he found himself in the same room with her.
He still wasn’t sure why she’d told him she was only in town for one night.
Maybe it was her way of staying detached from a man she thought she’d never see again. That he could understand.
But they had seen each other again. They worked together, and they were going to have to come to some kind of agreement.
She seemed dead set against him, and it made him see red.
She’d avoided him like the plague for the past three-and-a-half days, and it only made him want her more.
He must be a glutton for punishment. But that only solidified his resolve.
No matter what it took, Virginia Castillo was going to be his.