10. Mason
Chapter ten
My fingers tap against the steering wheel as I wait for the light to change.
“Would you stop sighing? You’re so dramatic.”
My mouth drops open as I stare at my sister in the passenger seat.
I’ve spent months searching for a house, and the whole time, I’ve been reluctant to ask her for help because she sees potential everywhere.
Caleb, Lee, Tristan, my parents, and even my grandparents have all taken turns to come house hunting with me to no avail.
I had to accept that it was time to pull out the big guns.
“I wasn’t sighing.”
“Yes, you were. What was wrong with the last place? I thought it had potential.” What a surprise. “It had already been renovated, and they did a good job. Neutral, classic.”
“It just didn’t feel like me,” I say, shifting into first gear as we turn into our building’s car park.
“What exactly are you looking for?”
“That feeling when you walk in and think, this is the one.” It’s something I’m certain I’ll know when I see it, whenever that may be.
“You’ve looked at like a hundred houses, and you’ve never felt that for any of them.”
I shake my head as I pull into my assigned parking spot.
“Maybe it’s not the house,” she mutters.
“What do you mean?” I ask, killing the engine and stepping out. I walk around the back of my F150 to Beth’s side, pulling her door open while she’s still arranging everything in her suitcase—I mean handbag.
“This thing you’re searching for—” she says, taking the hand I hold out for her.
She carefully places one stiletto heel—that I have no idea how she balances on—on the footrail so she can step out.
Her other foot dangles, searching for the ground.
Even I, at five-eleven… and a half, have to jump a little getting out of the cab of this ute.
It’s one of the many reasons Beth hates going anywhere in my work car.
“I’m not going to let you fall,” I deadpan.
She glares up at me like she’s annoyed she even needs the assistance.
My sister is independent. She doesn’t claim to be an expert at everything, but she hates finding things she can’t immediately excel at.
She also doesn’t see the way she stresses herself out by constantly trying to prove herself to everyone.
I turn around, offering my back for her to jump on, like when we were kids.
Beth won’t be treated like a princess, but she’ll always accept queen treatment.
Her arms come around my shoulders before I wrap my hands behind her knees and pull her from the car.
I pause so she can push the door closed and then walk through the underground lot to the elevator that goes all the way to our floor.
“I’m stopping at the kitchen first. I’m starving.
” I lower Beth to her feet as I hit the button for the second floor, and we ride up in silence, both scrolling through our phones, clearing emails as we go.
I decline yet another invitation from Chantelle for a private meeting.
I need to ask Steven to contact their office and switch us to a male consultant.
I know I’ve cultivated the reputation of a playboy, but I mean it when I say I won’t cross those lines when it comes to my work.
I don’t want to be seen as the unserious one here, and I’m getting kind of tired of being seen as nothing but the guy who can’t commit to anything but fun.
Beth steps out of the elevator first, stopping whenever someone has a question for her.
I move around her, continuing to the kitchen, coming to an abrupt halt at the sight of Callie, standing by the fridge and smiling at Josh, one of our carpenters.
She’s wearing a Two Hearts Homes polo shirt, and her brown hair is tied back in a low bun.
Those little gold star charms she was wearing the first time I met her are braided through her hair.
“Stare a little harder, Mase,” Beth says, smacking the back of her hand against my stomach as she passes me.
“What?” I scoff. “Who’s staring?”
She lowers her voice as we move through the kitchen. “I know you pretty much flirt with everyone who has a heartbeat, but you never watch them; you never care where they are. You respond because they’re making themselves available.”
“I don’t want to make them feel bad. We don’t all have a bully kink, Beth.”
“Ew, don’t mention my name and kink in the same sentence.”
She has a point, though. I don’t watch women, not when I don’t already have their attention. Callie is the exact opposite of every other girl I meet—she’s not falling over her feet to impress me, giggling and sneaking any opportunity to touch my arm or my thigh.
If Callie had reciprocated my flirting the other week, I wouldn’t have hesitated to take her back to my place.
But she didn’t. She couldn’t have been more uninterested.
I watch her because I’m trying to figure her out.
I guess rejection is a bitter pill for me to swallow.
Stupid, since I could snap my fingers and have any woman in my bed or the back of my car right now.
The fact that I haven’t even tried since the night I met Callie is something I’m actively trying to ignore.
It’s confusing the way I seem to want her, while knowing I can’t do a damn thing about it now that she’s my employee. I don’t know how to act around her, and I’m not used to feeling nervous around women.
“Hmmm. My house theory is feeling more and more plausible.” She navigates through the tables, heading straight for the kettle, where Callie is still talking to Josh.
He’s looking at her like he’s the luckiest guy in the room to have her attention.
Something in my stomach feels tight and heavy. Fuck.
“What house theory?” I ask only half listening as I trail behind her.
“Oh yeah, this dream house you’re looking for sounds more like—” Beth’s voice drifts off as it’s smothered by the conversation happening beside me.
“I’d love to take you out some time,” Josh says.
I think my heart stops as I wait for Callie’s answer. And why is it so fucking hot in here?
“Oh.” Callie sounds caught off guard, and not in an excited way. For some strange reason, it settles the discomfort swirling in my stomach. “That’s so nice. But I’m sorry, I’m not dating at the moment. My daughter is all I have time for right now.”
“No worries.” He chuckles. “Can’t blame a guy for trying.”
I can and I will.
I let out a breath, feeling lightheaded as I do. Her refusal shouldn’t relieve me as much as it does. Have I developed some strange possession over her because I saw her first?
It shouldn’t matter because she’s my assistant, and that’s all she’ll ever be.
I’m already feeling wary of the intensity her presence seems to have on me.
The first and last time I let myself have feelings for a girl, she soon made it clear she was only with me because of my family’s social status.
So I turned off my feelings, and that only seemed to invite girls to be even more obvious that they weren’t with me for me.
And that’s fine, but I refuse to let those thoughts poison my business.
I will only work with people who respect our reputation, not try to exploit it.
“Are you even listening to me?” Beth drawls beside me.
Callie’s eyes flick over her shoulder, locking me in her blue gaze. I jump into action, smiling awkwardly at Callie and Josh as I step around them to get my lunch from the fridge.
“Of course I am.”
“Then what did I say?” Beth asks.
I scrunch my nose, trying to think of a good cover cos I definitely wasn’t listening. My phone vibrates in my back pocket, and I grab it, seeing a preview of a photo sent in our sibling group chat from Gage.
“Oh, look, I bet that’s a photo of Briony.”
Beth scrambles to find her phone in her bag. I’ll have to remember to thank my brother for the perfectly timed distraction later.
I pop the large container in the microwave, then find two bowls from the cupboards before I check the photo for myself.
GAGE:
Slept a solid five hours last night. Perfect, just like her mum.
There’s a picture of Briony attached, her tiny legs tucked tight to her belly as she stretches her little hands over her head. She’s wearing a yellow onesie that says ‘Daddy’s Bestie’, and there’s a stuffed toy beside her.
“Aww, she’s got the puppy stuffie I got her,” I say, smiling.
“When did you get her that?” Beth asks.
“I ordered it online. It’s a replica of Tiny. It was delivered yesterday.” Despite his name, Tiny is actually my brother’s seventy-kilo Great Dane.
Beth gasps. “You saw the baby yesterday? Gage said no visits during the week!”
“It’s all about timing, sis. You gotta go right after Gage leaves for the bar. I know Izzy won’t be napping, and she won’t slam the door in your face and tell you to fuck off like he would.”
“That’s diabolical.” Beth smirks approvingly. “I love it.”
“He’s working again on Friday. You should buy something so you have an excuse to go over there.”
I save the photo to my camera roll before typing out a response.
ME:
Must have been because Uncle Mason rocked her to sleep last night. All the girls love me.
“Pfft. If it had been me, she would have slept six hours.” My sister rolls her eyes. “She’s named after me, so obviously, I’m her favourite.”
“It’s her middle name, and she doesn’t know that,” I argue.
“Of course she does. She’s very advanced.” Beth takes a sip from the coffee she’s just finished making.
“Is that what Dad always told you, and that’s why you have such a big head?”
“It’s nowhere near as big as yours, grandmama’s boy.”
My hand clutches my chest as I gasp. No one insults my grandma.
“Is that your niece again?” Callie asks as she comes to stand between Beth and me to fill her drink bottle at the water cooler.
“Isn’t she beautiful?” Beth holds her phone up to Callie. She smiles softly as she takes in my niece, and my eyes fall to that freckle that sits just on the edge of her lip, right next to the cupid’s bow.
“She sure is.”
“Do you have any photos of your daughter?” Beth asks.
“Of course.” Callie tightens the lid on her drink bottle, then retrieves her phone from her back pocket, bringing up her camera roll.
I glance over her shoulder and catch sight of a little girl with the same sapphire blue eyes as her mum. Dark hair and chubby cheeks, plus the biggest smile on her face. She’s freaking adorable.
“What was her name again?” Beth asks.
“Navie,” I say, a hot flush coming over me as both women’s attention falls on me. I clear my throat, grateful that the microwave finishes and gives me an excuse to step away. “Do you want—”
I’m about to ask Callie if she wants to sit with Beth and me when Josh speaks at the same time. “I saved you a seat, Callie.”
She looks like a deer caught in headlights as she looks between Josh and me.
“It’s all good. I’ll see you back upstairs.” Hopefully, she assumes I was going to ask her something work-related instead of inviting her to sit with me for lunch. I’m sure she wouldn’t agree, anyway. She probably sees enough of me.
I divide the food between two bowls, one for me and one for Beth, as Callie walks off with Josh, then I take a seat at the nearest table.
“Why don’t you take Callie next time?” Beth says, dropping into the chair across from me.
“Take Callie where?”
“To look at houses.” She blows on a forkful of rice. “She’s your assistant, and I’m resigning. You’re too fussy.”
“Seriously? I’m the fussy one.”
“I have standards that are frequently unmet. That’s both different and not my fault.”
“So I’m fussy and don’t have standards? Wow.” I shake my head as my eyes stray across the room, and I watch Josh pull out a chair for Callie.
He’s just being friendly. She told him she’s not dating. Which is perfect cos I don’t date at all. And I definitely don’t get crushes or fuck around with my employees.
I think Beth was onto something. It’s the rejection. My poor, sensitive ego doesn’t know any better. It’s better this way, though. This is how I keep her in the off-limits box.
Josh says something, and she laughs. Her eyes crinkle, and the apples of her cheeks grow pink, and it’s all for him.
Okay, I hate this.