In the quiet of the hotel room, a cell phone rang, intruding gratingly. Chelle shifted on the bed beside him, preparing to get up. He held her against him. “You can talk to whoever that is later.”
She shook her head regretfully and pushed at his arm. “I know the ring. It’s my parents.”
He held her tighter and murmured, “Then you should definitely wait until later.”
Her phone stopped ringing. She rolled on her side to face him, running her hand over his shoulder and down his arm. “I should have called them this morning. I don’t want them to worry.”
Their eyes met and held for a long moment, and Mason found it hard to breathe. She was every bit as good and kind as she appeared to be, and that realization terrified him. He felt like a charging bull asked to stop and hold a delicate glass figurine. Could he be with her and not completely destroy her? He hated that he had to ask himself that question and that the answer wasn’t a simple yes. He kissed her forehead and released her. “Go.”
She wrapped a sheet around herself and stood beside the bed. “You said they know about us being engaged?”
Mason nodded, not bothering to cover his own nudity. Her eyes slid down his torso to his cock, which twitched and began to swell beneath her attention. Her blush was about the sexiest thing he’d ever seen.
She blinked several times, then brought her eyes back to his. “What else should I say—about us, I mean?”
Mason rolled to his feet and closed the distance between them. He caressed her upper arms while asking, “What do you want to tell them?”
“The truth. I feel like I already disappointed them by not being honest about where I was going.”
“And what is the truth?” Mason asked slowly. He wasn’t sure anymore.
Chelle shrugged one of her beautiful bare shoulders, revealing the swell of one of her small breasts. “That this was a joke that got out of hand. That I was trying to help you and didn’t realize anyone in the media would care.”
He continued to stroke her upper arms. “We both knew what we were doing. When the press asked about us, you weren’t shy about claiming you loved me. Why do you think you did that?”
Chelle looked away before answering. “It was fun to pretend our engagement is real.”
He pulled her closer, against his arousal. “Some of it is very, very real.”
She met his eyes with a smile. “Yes, but not the parts I can tell my parents.”
He chuckled. “No, I wouldn’t suggest that. But what if we stopped pretending? What if we actually were engaged? You could stay with me in Sacramento, and no one would judge you for it.”
Her eyes widened. “Are you asking me to marry you?”
“God, no,” he blurted.
She pulled herself abruptly out of his arms. Her chest heaved with emotion. “You . . . you . . .” She stopped and wrapped the sheet more tightly around herself. “I’m going to need a minute alone, Mason.”
He took a step after her. “It’s the perfect solution.”
She raised a hand to halt him. “You make me so angry.”
He frowned as a thought occurred to him. “You don’t want to actually be engaged, do you? We hardly know each other.”
She covered her face with one hand. “Please stop talking.”
He took her hand in his and lowered it from her face. “Chelle, you don’t want to marry a man like me. The sad realization people come to after they make their vows is that love doesn’t change anyone. I’m a man who goes after what I want, when I want, and I don’t make apologies for that. If you want to be with me, it’s on those terms. But I’ll tell you I don’t let women sleep over, and I’m asking you to stay at my apartment. If that’s enough for you, tell your parents we’re engaged, and come back to Sacramento with me.”
“For how long?” she asked.
He wanted to say what she wanted to hear, but he couldn’t. He could lie to other women, but he couldn’t lie to her. “A week. A month. However long it’s good between us. When things start to sour, I’ll make sure the breakup looks like it’s my fault.”
The flash of sadness in her eyes twisted his gut. “A month. Wow. Sure you’re not being overly optimistic?”
“I’ve told you before, I don’t do—”
She raised a hand to his lips to silence him. “I know.” She searched his face. “So if I say yes, we’re essentially engaged, if one can be engaged with no intention of getting married?”
He kissed the tips of her fingers and murmured, “Yes.”
“And no one will ever know differently?”
“Not from me.”
Chelle lowered her hand and looked down at the ring, still shiny on her left hand. “I’ll do it on one condition. Regardless of how fake our engagement is, you honor it while it lasts.”
He raised her chin so she was forced to look him in the eye again. “You’re asking me to be faithful to you?”
The strength he saw in her eyes was one of the many reasons he couldn’t walk away from her. “I’m not asking. That’s my condition. Take it or leave it.” Her lips twisted wryly. “I’m sure you can survive a week without other women.”
The condition was surprisingly easy to agree to. He was about to seal their deal with a kiss when she put a hand to his chest and stopped him. “One more thing.”
He arched an eyebrow and waited, hoping she wouldn’t state something he couldn’t agree to.
“We’re honest with each other even if we think the other person doesn’t want to hear what we really feel. No lies. No pretense. Not when it’s just you and me.”
He laid one hand over hers on his chest. “Agreed.”
“Who is Ruby Skye?” Chelle asked, almost under her breath.
Mason remembered the reporters asking about her, and part of him found pleasure in the hint that Chelle might be as possessive of him as he felt toward her. “She’s an old friend from my acting days.”
“So you’ve slept with her?”
“Not in a long time. She’ll call and ask me to walk the red carpet with her now and then when she needs a date, but it hasn’t been more than that in years.”
“The press seems to think you two have a rocky romance.”
“I care about Ruby because she’s part of my past and I understand what she struggles with. That’s it. You asked me to be honest, and that’s what I’m being. I can’t make you believe me. You either do, or you don’t.”
She searched his face again and let out a soft sigh. “I do.”
“And?” he pushed. He needed to hear her say it.
She let the sheet fall and slid her arms around his neck, bringing herself flush against his chest. His cock swelled against her, and in that moment, he was grateful she hadn’t asked him for more, because he was sure he would have agreed to anything. She went up onto her tiptoes, brushing her hard nipples across his chest in a teasing move. “And I want to be with you.”
He swung her up into his arms and carried her back to the bed. He joined her and ran an adoring hand over her shoulder, down the curve of her waist, and up to cup her breast. Despite his level of excitement, there was no need to rush. She’d agreed to go back to Sacramento with him.
She was his. The knowledge made each kiss sweeter, each touch more fulfilling.
In the quiet of the suite, Chelle’s phone began to ring again, but she didn’t make a move to answer it. Between kisses, she whispered, “I’ll call them back later.”
Chapter Ten
Late the next day, Chelle stretched and arched her back without opening her eyes. She felt completely relaxed and at peace with the world. She smiled when she felt Mason’s arm, which had been draped across her, tighten and pull her closer. He murmured her name in his sleep, and any doubt Chelle might have had about her decision to stay melted away.
Mason said he was incapable of love. He claimed he didn’t believe in relationships, but what they had was more real than anything she’d ever felt before. Maybe it would only last a week. So what?
A month ago she was still in her childhood bedroom at her parents’ house, hugging a pillow to her chest and imagining the very thing she was experiencing. If people only allowed themselves to enjoy the things that could never be taken away from them, then their lives would be empty, because no such thing existed.
Growing up as she had, Chelle had been sheltered from some things, but not the harsh realities of life. She thought of the summer her favorite horse had stepped in a hole and broken her leg in several places. The image of her thrashing around on the ground in pain was one Chelle would never forget. She’d only been eleven, but her father had given her the choice of how to put her animal down. They could wait for the veterinarian, which would take hours, or he could shoot her mare and put her out of her misery. At the time, Chelle had been angry with her father for putting the weight of the decision on her, but as she’d grown she’d realized why he’d done it.
He’d wanted her to understand that when you love something, you make a promise to it. Whether it was a horse, a friend, or a grandfather, the promise was the same. Love shouldn’t weaken when faced with challenges. In fact, challenges were opportunities for love to show its true strength. It was because of her father that Chelle had been strong enough to stay with her grandfather while he took his last breath and to see the beauty in that. Although it had been one of the hardest moments in her life, she was grateful to have been there.
Did Mason know that kind of love? He spoke of learning harsh lessons and of having no family. Besides Charles, and apparently Ruby, Mason didn’t talk about his friends. She wondered if he trusted people enough to allow himself to have them. Real friends, that is.
She rolled onto her side and studied Mason’s perfect profile. On the outside, he didn’t look like a person who needed anyone. And the things that came out of his mouth sometimes were enough to make even a nonviolent woman like her smack him a second time.
“I’m a man who goes after what I want, when I want, and I don’t make apologies for that. If you want to be with me, it’s on those terms.”
What a self-centered ass.
So why agree to pretend to be engaged to him? Chelle tucked a hand under her head and continued to watch him as he slept. What’s the alternative? Ending this now?
Making love with Mason was a journey as much as leaving Texas had been. It wasn’t the same way twice, and each time Chelle learned something new about herself and him. Mason was sometimes demanding, and his passion took Chelle to a frenzied place where she was wild with need for him. Other times, his touch was gentle and slow, with warm kisses exchanged between stories they shared. They slept in each other’s arms, woke, and made love all over again.
Since they’d arrived in San Francisco, they’d been wrapped up in each other as only new lovers could be. They’d ordered food to be delivered and showered together rather than break the magic of their connection.
Reality, however, was waiting just outside the door of the suite. The pretense of their engagement kept it at bay a little while longer.
Mason reached for her in his sleep and gathered her to his chest. Wrapped in his arms, Chelle closed her eyes and once again savored the feeling. I’m falling for a man who says he’s incapable of love. A man haunted by a past he won’t discuss.
He’d lost his mother and his career at about the same time. Was that what had closed his heart off? What is he blaming himself for?
And why is it, with a list of so many places I want to go, I feel like I’m where I belong?
A light beep from across the room announced Chelle’s phone battery was nearly drained. Oh crap. I never did call my parents. Reluctantly, she slid out from beneath Mason’s arm and padded across the room to hunt through her luggage for her phone charger. While plugging it in, she saw she had several text messages from her mother, along with a couple of voice mails. Rather than read them, she slipped into one of Mason’s shirts, stepped into the other room, closed the bedroom door behind her, and called home.
Her mother answered on the first ring. “Chelle, thank God. Where are you?”
Chelle sank into a sofa and tucked her legs beneath her. “San Francisco. I meant to call you as soon as I landed, but”—she looked at the bedroom door and blushed—“I got distracted.”
Her mother made a delicate sound of displeasure. “We were worried, Chelle.”
Chelle closed her eyes briefly, genuinely regretting how easy it was to forget everything when she was with Mason. “Sorry, Mom. I really am.”
Her mother’s tone softened. “Well, it’s not every day you get engaged, I guess.”
A sudden guilt filled Chelle. She hadn’t considered until that moment how her parents would feel about her and Mason. I can’t lie to my mother. Not about something this big. “There’s something I need to tell you.”
Chelle jumped at the feel of Mason gently moving her hair aside and kissing her neck. With a voice still deep from sleep, he growled softly, “Who are you talking to?”
Before Chelle had a chance to answer, her mother asked loudly enough for them both to hear, “Is that Mason I hear?”
Chelle turned and met Mason’s eyes. There was a mischievous twinkle there. The desire to do the right thing was suddenly trumped by a temptation to test how unflappable Mason was. Chelle swatted at him softly and said, “Yes, it is, Mom. Would you like to say hello to him?”
“I would love to,” her mother exclaimed.
Mason straightened, and the look of horror on his face was priceless. He mouthed his refusal. “No way.”
Chelle nodded, grinning. She held the phone out to him. “Don’t be shy.”
Mason looked around, grabbed a pair of his pants that were still on the floor, and stepped into them quickly, as if her mother could see him. He was adorably flustered when he finally took the phone and sat down beside Chelle on the couch. “It’s a pleasure to speak with you, Mrs. Landon.” Mason went pale in response to something her mother said. “I couldn’t.” Knowing her mother, Bryn, she wasn’t accepting his refusal of whatever she’d requested. “That’s a beautiful sentiment, but . . .”
Chelle’s curiosity was truly piqued when Mason wouldn’t meet her eyes. Comprehension was instant when she heard him give in and say, “Mom.”
Chelle’s eyes nearly popped out of her head. The guilt she’d felt a moment before was forgotten as she watched Mason’s reaction to her mother’s enthusiastic acceptance of him. She’d expected him to smoothly charm her, but he was surprisingly awkward and unsure of himself. Chelle put an arm around his back and cuddled into his side.
He looked at her with a fleeting unguarded expression of yearning that opened her heart a little more to him. He wants to be loved just as much as I do and is just as afraid of being hurt. Oh, Mason.
A moment later, his mask of confidence slipped firmly back into place, and he answered her mother’s questions smoothly. His version of the last few days was so convincing, Chelle had to remind herself it wasn’t true. When he said he’d never believed in love at first sight until he’d met her at the wedding, Chelle nearly stopped breathing. He told her mother he realized their engagement would appear rushed to everyone else, but he was a man who didn’t require time to know what he wanted.
His expression faltered again at something her mother said. “That’s very generous of you, but with my schedule I can’t imagine how we’d be able to make it back there. Of course. Here she is.”
Mason handed the phone back to Chelle.
Her mother continued, “There is no way my little girl is getting engaged without a celebration. I don’t care if you have to hog-tie your fiancé, Chelle—your father and I are hosting an engagement party for you.”
Chelle’s eyes flew to Mason’s. No wonder he’d looked uncomfortable. Her mother was charging ahead as if they were really getting married. And why wouldn’t she?
Mason clearly expected Chelle to talk her mother out of the event. Chelle opened her mouth to do just that, but snapped her teeth together as she thought of
something. If this is just about the sex, then he’s right; we shouldn’t go home to see my parents.
But what if it could be more?
No family was perfect, but Chelle had one that was damn near close. Her parents were loving and supportive. Her cousins—and she’d given up counting how many she had—were opinionated and frustrating at times, but would drop everything if they heard someone in the family needed help. She had a feeling she and Mason had very different lives, and she wanted Mason to experience hers before he left her, if that was what he chose to do.
“The next two weeks are crazy, Mom, but we could come home after that.”
Mason frowned at her, but Chelle smiled up at him as if she didn’t realize he wasn’t happy with her decision. He was far too used to things going his way.
“How does Saturday the twenty-fifth sound?”
“That would be perfect.”
Her mother called out the news to her father, then asked, “Do you want something fancy? Or what your father and I had for ours? We had a barbeque, invited the whole town, and made it a barn-raising party for Mr. Finley. Mrs. Nicholson needs a new roof before winter. This might be the perfect way to give her one.”
“I would love that,” Chelle said softly. That’s exactly the Fort Mavis I want Mason to see.
“Excellent. I’ll make all the plans. Give Mason our love. We can’t wait to get to know him.”
“I will, Mom. And thank you for not being upset that you heard about our engagement in the news first. It just kind of happened that way.”
Her mother’s laugh was full of forgiveness. “I was young once, Chelle. I’m happy you found someone.”
Tentatively, Chelle asked, “How did Dad take it?”
Her mother sighed. “He’ll be fine by the twenty-fifth. He just needs time to get used to the idea.”
Chelle pictured her father’s reaction and laughed nervously. “I’m surprised he didn’t fly out here.”