Rosemary Beach: When I'm Gone Part 8

"I was told you needed to be taken to Nan's today. I hear she's coming back in the next two weeks. Oh, joy," Thad said, looking at me like I understood what he was talking about.

I had never met Nan, but from what everyone, including her brother, said about her, I wasn't sure I wanted to. I liked cleaning her house. I needed that job. But she was beginning to terrify me. I would have to tell her about the mirror when she returned. I dreaded that. "I don't think I'm looking forward to meeting her," I admitted to Thad. "No one seems to like her very much."

Thad let out a bark of laughter. "Understatement of the year."

Oh, wow. I wished she could just stay in Paris.

"You heard those shots last night?" Thad asked, changing the subject. "Seeing the crime-scene tape is freaky s.h.i.+t."

I nodded and pushed the memory of last night out of my head. "Yeah," was my only response. Then I focused my attention out the window. I didn't want to talk about the shooting.

"Sorry. If she was your friend or something. I didn't mean to be disrespectful."

I continued looking out the window. "I didn't know her," I told him.

He was quiet then. I should probably have spoken up and not made it so awkward, but I wasn't sure what to say.

When he pulled up to Nan's gate and followed the curve of her driveway, I was relieved. I was looking forward to cleaning and enjoying my quiet time alone.

"I'll pick you up here around three."

"Yes, thank you." As weird as it was taking a ride from a stranger, it was nice to get to work faster.

Thad gave me a crooked grin. "No problem."

That night, I told Mase about Jimmy leaving and Thad giving me a ride. He didn't seem thrilled by this, but I didn't ask him about it. We were friends, nothing more. Instead, I read two chapters to him. Just before we hung up, he asked me if I was in my pajamas yet.

"Yes," I replied, looking down at the cutoff sweats and tank top.

He sighed, then chuckled. "Sorry. I couldn't help myself. Good night, Reese."

"Good night, Mase."

"Sweet dreams."

He had no idea how sweet they would turn out to be.

Mase.

My coffee was brewing, and I hadn't put on anything other than a pair of jeans, when a knock on my door disturbed my morning routine.

Annoyed, thinking it was Major here an hour early, I went and jerked open the door, ready to scowl at him. Instead, it was Cordelia.

She hadn't called or shown up since I had sent her home almost a month ago. I didn't step back and let her inside, because in the past, all our business had to do with s.e.x, and I wasn't doing that anymore. Not when I was getting in deeper with Reese every day.

"I'm in love with you," she blurted out, as her eyes filled with tears.

Holy f.u.c.k, I did not need this today. Or any day. Cordelia was not ever supposed to fall in love with me. We'd had s.e.x. That was it. Never any cuddling or kissing, just f.u.c.king.

Dammit.

"Cordelia, I'm sorry. But we went into that relations.h.i.+p knowing it was just a s.e.x thing. I didn't know you had deeper feelings or were developing them. I would have put a halt to it a long time ago."

She sniffed, and her shoulders sagged in defeat. "So you really feel nothing? At all?"

s.h.i.+t, I felt a f.u.c.king o.r.g.a.s.m as I got my release. And yeah, her body had been nice and had felt good, and I'd enjoyed it, but that was it. Nothing emotional. I shook my head, hating to hurt her. "No. It was just s.e.x for me. I thought that was all it was for you, too."

"Is there someone else?" she asked. "Is that why you're stopping with me?"

I wasn't sure how to answer this. Reese wasn't her business, but she was the reason this was ending. "I've got feelings for someone else, yes." There, I'd said it.

She covered her mouth on a sob. "You got into a relations.h.i.+p with someone else while you were f.u.c.king me?"

Shaking my head, I let out a frustrated groan. I just wanted some coffee. Not this. "I'm not in a relations.h.i.+p . . . yet," I told her. "But it doesn't matter. I want to be. I'm waiting for her."

Cordelia let out a hard laugh and wiped at the tears streaming down her face. "So the woman willing to give you everything isn't good enough. You want the one holding back, is that it? G.o.d, I hate men! You're all a.s.sholes!" Cordelia yelled the last bit. She pointed at me. "You will regret this. When you need me, you will regret this. All that hot s.e.x we had was fantastic, and you know it. You will want my p.u.s.s.y and my a.s.s again, and I won't give them to you. This is it, Mase. You've had your last chance."

I didn't have a response for that. I watched her turn and stalk back to her truck and climb inside. I closed the door and hoped she kept her word and that this was indeed it. I couldn't do this anymore and be nice about it. I hated hurting her, but she was pus.h.i.+ng it.

My phone started ringing, and I looked longingly at the coffee in the pot. I really wanted that coffee. Frustrated, I reached for my phone. Why didn't everyone leave me alone? Dammit, I wanted a quiet morning.

Harlow's name lit up the screen.

"You OK?" I asked, anxious that something was wrong. She never called this early.

"I figured you'd be up already. Grant just told me something before he left for work that he heard yesterday that I thought was interesting news. I wanted to share it with you."

I was almost afraid to listen. She was up to something. I could hear it in her voice. Whatever information she had, she was enjoying it a little too much. "It's seven in the morning, Harlow. I've just gotten up, and I need coffee," I grumbled as I went to pour myself a cup.

"Drink your coffee, grumpy. I can tell you all the information I have while you drink it."

"Yeah," I agreed, only half listening to her. I was more focused on the hot liquid in the mug in front of me.

"Thad-you know, Woods Kerrington's friend-has been giving Reese a ride to and from work all week."

This was her news? Rolling my eyes, I walked outside to enjoy my coffee. "Already know that," I informed her.

"Oh. Well, do you know that he asked her out yesterday for this weekend, and she said yes?"

My hand paused in midair, the mug poised before my lips. What the f.u.c.k? "Reese is going on a date with Thad?" I asked, as I lowered my mug, still not sure that was what I had just heard. Reese was nervous with men. Thad was a player. I'd seen the dude in action. He was exactly the kind of guy I knew Reese didn't like to be around. How the h.e.l.l? "Who told Grant this?" I asked, waiting for the punch line. This had to be a f.u.c.king joke.

"Thad. He asked her when he took her to work yesterday morning, and she said yes. Grant said he looked like a little boy who'd been given a s.h.i.+ny new toy. He wanted me to talk to Reese about Thad. He's kind of a man-wh.o.r.e, you know, and Grant doesn't want him to hurt Reese. But I figured I'd call you. Since you're friends with her, maybe you could call her and give her a heads-up."

She was so full of it. She knew this would p.i.s.s me off. Harlow knew me too well. Like h.e.l.l was Reese going out with Thad. If she wanted to date, then by G.o.d, she was gonna date me. "Thanks. I need to go. I'll talk to you later."

"OK, well, you will talk to her, right?"

I almost laughed at her fake concern. She knew good and well that I wasn't about to let that date happen. "I'll talk to her," I said, before hanging up the phone.

I slung back the coffee and let it burn my throat. I had to make a call to get a flight and then call Major to get him to take over everything I was abandoning to make sure Thad kept his playboy hands off what was mine.

Reese.

Why had I said yes to Thad? Sure, he made me laugh, and he was nice, but I didn't want to go out with him. I wasn't sure how to say no, either. I didn't want to be rude. He had been so helpful all week, and after the first awkward day, we seemed to fall into an easy pattern.

Luckily, I didn't need to work today, so I didn't have to face him. But I would have to tomorrow night when he showed up for our date. It had been on the tip of my tongue to tell Mase last night, but something had held me back. Just because I had a crush on Mase, that didn't mean the feelings were mutual. Even if he liked to know when I was in my pajamas, that didn't mean he wanted to see me in them.

The idea made my cheeks hot.

Stop it, I scolded myself. I had to think about what I'd agreed to with Thad. A date. A real date. With a rich, attractive guy. Oh, no. What had I done? I couldn't do this.

Jimmy had been planning on me going on a double date with him tonight until the shooting. Then he'd left, and now he wasn't coming back until Sunday. I had talked to him two nights ago. When I realized he wouldn't be back for the double date, I had been relieved to get out of it. Then this had happened.

Mase would call me tonight. Should I mention it? Probably not. He didn't tell me when he had dates. Did he date? What if he'd been on dates lately? If he was dating, he got home early, because we talked at least by ten every night.

I looked down at my tank top and cutoff sweats and sighed. They really were worn out, but they were soft and comfortable. Women in Mase's world wore expensive silk and lace. I didn't own anything remotely s.e.xy to sleep in. Until Mase, I hadn't desired anything like that. He had changed a lot of things. Maybe he was even the reason I'd said yes to Thad.

A loud, sharp knock on my door startled me, and I put my phone down on the sofa and stood up to see who was outside. I wasn't expecting anyone, and I really hoped that Thad wasn't coming for a visit. Not when I planned on talking to Mase on the phone tonight.

I peered through the peephole and gasped.

As if I had dreamed him up, there he stood outside my door. His face looked determined, and his hair was pulled back so that I could see the hard set of his jaw. He was here. Shock was replaced by concern as I unlatched and unbolted the door and swung it open.

"Mase, is everything OK?" I asked.

He stared at me. He began moving toward me, but then he stopped. "No. Can I come in?" he asked tightly.

I nodded and stepped back to let him inside. "What's wrong?" I asked, afraid to hear the answer. I was nervous.

Mase walked inside, and his gaze slowly trailed down my body, then back up again. Ever so slowly. When he made it back up to my face, there was a gleam there that made me s.h.i.+ver.

"That looks even better than I imagined. And trust me, baby, I've imagined you in that outfit a lot."

His voice sounded like he was caressing the words instead of saying them. The dark tone in his voice made me s.h.i.+ver again. I couldn't speak. Not now. He had taken all my words with those looks.

"I don't want you going out with Thad," he said firmly, snapping me out of my strange haze. His jaw was clenched tightly again, and that strange gleam in his eyes had returned.

"How did you know?" I asked him. And why do you care? I thought silently.

"He told Grant," he replied. That was answer enough. "I was giving you time. You seemed skittish. I didn't want to push you. But if you're going on a date with someone, it's gonna be me, Reese. Not f.u.c.king playboy Thad."

He said the last part in a growl that caused me to jump.

"He doesn't know the first thing about you. He won't know how to read your expressions to know when you like something or not. He won't know when he's making you uncomfortable or when you need help reading something. He won't know that you have two different laughs. One is real, and the other means you're nervous. He won't know s.h.i.+t. But I do."

Was Mase Manning really trying to persuade me to go out with him? Did he think he had to give me a sales pitch so I would buy in?

"And he'll make a mistake. He will do something to hurt you, and I'll kill him. I'm not a violent guy, but f.u.c.k me, if he were to hurt you, I'd lose it, baby. Lose my mind. So the way I see it, you need to cancel that date with him and make new plans. With me."

Before he could start trying to convince me again, I smiled. "OK."

He opened his mouth, then closed it. His eyes flashed something that could only be labeled pleasure, and he took a step toward me. "OK?" he asked.

I nodded. "Yes. OK," I repeated.

A grin tugged up one corner of his beautiful mouth. "OK as in you're gonna cancel that date with Thad and make new plans with me? All weekend?"

All weekend. He was here for the whole weekend? I nodded, unable to keep from smiling even more brightly. I was going to get to spend the whole weekend with Mase. He had come here to see me.

Me!

Mase closed the distance between us, and his hands reached up and cupped my face. My body tensed but then eased almost immediately. His smell met my nose, and I was comforted.

"I'm going to kiss you now, Reese. Can't hold back any longer," he said, his breath a whisper over my lips before the soft plumpness of his mouth touched mine.

He was so gentle as he pressed soft kisses at each corner of my mouth before the tip of his tongue slid along my bottom lip, as if asking me to open. I had seen people kiss. I knew you opened your mouth, but it seemed so intimate. I wasn't sure if I was ready for that. Or if I would be any good at it.

"Please open for me," he begged against my lips, and I realized I would probably do anything if he asked me to.

I opened my mouth-and gasped when his tongue slid inside and brushed against my tongue, as if in a dare to play. He tasted like peppermint. A low moan came from his chest, and one of his hands went to my lower back and pressed me closer to him as he slid his other hand into my hair and cupped the back of my head. The way he held me was different. He was careful with me.

His tongue continued to tease mine, so I ran my tongue over his and began exploring the minty taste of his mouth. When my tongue ran over his bottom lip, his hand against my lower back fisted. With a sharp intake of breath, his body trembled.

So I did it again.

This time, he made a pleased sound in his throat, then broke the kiss and rested his forehead against mine. "I knew you'd be sweet. But d.a.m.n, baby, you taste like my own little heaven."

My chest swelled, and I smiled. I hadn't done anything wrong. He enjoyed it as much as I did. "Can we do it again?" I asked him, resting my hands on his biceps.

A low chuckle vibrated in his chest. "Yeah. We can kiss all you want to."

His lips brushed mine again before pressing closer and opening back up. I savored the feel of touching him in such a personal way. His hands rested on my waist, and whenever I licked the roof of his mouth or tasted his lips, his hands tightened only briefly.

My body was tingling all over, and I wanted to crawl into his lap and do this all night. I was enjoying myself, and I was amazed that I was enjoying myself so much. My b.r.e.a.s.t.s ached, and my body instinctively pressed closer to his to find relief.

The second my chest pressed against him, he pushed me several inches away. Kissing over.