Feeling brave, I leaned forward and pressed a kiss to his neck. His hands flexed on my thighs, but that was the only move he made. So I kissed him again and inhaled his scent. He reminded me of leather and the outdoors. My body must have liked the two smells, because I had to press down to get some relief from the pulsing ache between my legs.

"Baby," he said softly.

"Yeah?" I asked, taking a small little taste of his skin with the tip of my tongue.

"f.u.c.k," he groaned, and then I was moving away from him. His hands were on my waist, and he was placing me on the sofa as he got up and moved away as fast as he could.

I had been so lost in him I hadn"t realized what was going on until I saw him stop and put his hands on his knees. I watched him take several deep breaths before he stood back up. I was afraid to ask him anything. I waited for him to say something first.

It seemed like forever before he finally turned around and looked at me. I had pulled my knees up in front of me and wrapped my arms around them. Something was wrong. I was waiting to hear him tell me what that was, exactly.

"I"m sorry. I . . . you"re . . ." He stopped and laughed at himself, then shook his head in frustration. "I want you naked, Reese. I want my hands and mouth all over your sweet little body. I want to bend you over and kiss the freckle I know is right under your left b.u.t.t cheek, the one I saw the first time I met you. I was greeted with your perfect a.s.s bent over on display, and I"ve dreamed about that a.s.s ever since. But more than that, I want you to always feel safe with me. I want to take it easy and slow with you, so I never have to see that haunted look in your eyes or the terror in your expression again. So we may have more moments when you press that"-he closed his eyes and breathed hard through his nose-"when you press against me and touch me in ways that drive me so crazy I"m afraid I will snap and touch you where you"re not ready yet."

Hearing him tell me that he wanted to kiss me and touch me naked had my heart rate up again. It produced a mixture of fear and excitement. The sensation between my legs was still there. There was a needy ache that reminded me of a time when I was much younger and a guy I"d had a crush on at school cornered me and touched me, calling me beautiful.

After he"d ignored me and let his girlfriend call me horrible names the next day, that ache had never returned. Then other things happened that made any excitement in that part of my body die. Just remembering the past doused the feelings left behind from being in Mase"s arms.

I was relieved that the ache was gone and sad that this kissing session with Mase was over when I stood up. "Then I guess it"s time for breakfast," I said, forcing a smile.

Mase was studying me carefully, and I didn"t want him to think for a minute that I was upset with him. He was doing this for me. He cared enough to put his own needs aside and be gentle with me. It made me love him even more.

"Do you understand?" he asked, his voice full of concern.

A real smile formed on my lips as I looked at him. "I understand. Thank you. Things like this only make me trust you more."

Mase.

This was not how I wanted to spend my last night with Reese. I wasn"t sure when I would get another weekend to come stay with her. I had spent most of the morning staring at the ceiling while I held her, thinking of ways to persuade her to come to Texas. I was ready to move her into my house. That"s how far gone I was, and we hadn"t even had s.e.x yet.

Luckily, Tripp Newark Montgomery"s fiancee, Bethy, wasn"t one of the uptight Rosemary Beach females who made everything black-tie. She had worked at the Kerrington Club with her aunt for years. This party had been planned under her supervision, so we were all dressed for a party on the beach.

I glanced down at Reese, who was holding on to my arm tightly. She was wearing a bikini under her sundress, and I could see the straps peeking out. Swimsuits were the suggested attire. After the groundbreaking ceremony for Tripp"s brand-new five-star hotel, everyone was moving to the Kerrington Club pool, which was more like a tropical island with waterfalls and palm trees.

"It seems like my wife can get you to do her bidding, too," Grant Carter said with a smirk, as he walked up to us. "h.e.l.lo, Reese. Glad to see my brother-in-law has good taste."

"h.e.l.lo, Mr. Carter," she said, her voice giving away how nervous she was.

Grant frowned. "You"re dating Mase and having cookie breaks with my wife. You can call me Grant. Please." He turned his attention back to me. "You staying in town long?"

Reese tensed beside me but only for a second. If I wasn"t so attuned to her every move, I would have missed it. "I have to leave tomorrow. I left things in a bit of a mess," I admitted.

Grant chuckled, and his eyes flicked over to my left. "Yeah, I hear you swooped in and stole Thad"s date for the night. He"s currently drinking heavily and has a woman on each arm. So he"s recovering."

I didn"t even bother looking. I didn"t doubt Grant for a second. "Where"s Harlow?" I asked, changing the subject.

"She"s feeding Lila Kate. I offered to do it, but she said I was the one who needed to be out here showing my face, not her."

"I have to say, I like the relaxed atmosphere. I"m not sure Harlow could have gotten me to come if this were formal."

Grant chuckled like he didn"t believe me.

A server appeared with a tray of champagne flutes. I took two and handed one to Reese. "You thirsty?"

She grinned and looked at the gla.s.s, then at me. "What is it?"

"Champagne," I replied, unable to take my eyes off her face. Every expression she made was something I wanted to etch into my memory.

"I"ve never had champagne before," she said softly.

"I think you"ll like it. Just take a small sip."

She placed the gla.s.s to her lips, and her eyes stayed locked on me as she tasted the blush-colored drink. Her eyes lit with pleasure and excitement. She liked it. And watching her experience it was f.u.c.king amazing. It was just a drink, but she made everything an adventure. "It"s really good. It tickles my nose."

There were several places I wanted to tickle her. But I kept that thought to myself. Glancing over, I realized I"d forgotten about Grant, but he"d moved on from us anyway.

"h.e.l.lo, I"m Della. You must be Reese."

I turned back around to see Della Kerrington, Woods"s wife, smiling at Reese. Della was a nice person. I felt safe with her approaching Reese. She hadn"t come from this world, either, although she was now the wife of the owner of the Kerrington Club.

"Yes, I am. It"s nice to meet you," Reese said, with less nerves this time. It seemed to be only men who made her withdraw.

"It"s lovely to meet you, too. I"ve heard so many good things about you from Harlow."

Reese"s eyes went wide, and she glanced over at me quickly before smiling back at Della. "Oh. Well, I enjoy working for Mrs. Carter. They"re a really nice family."

Harlow would hate that Reese still felt she had to call her Mrs. Carter. I didn"t correct her, though, although I could see the confusion flash in Della"s eyes. She wasn"t expecting Reese to be so formal about her relationship with my sister.

"Yes, they are," Della said, smiling. "I look forward to seeing more of you in the future." She gave me a knowing glance. "You two enjoy yourselves. I"ve got to go rescue my husband from Mr. Hobes. If you"ll excuse me." She hurried toward Woods, who was listening to an older man talk and looking like he"d rather be anywhere else.

"She"s beautiful," Reese said, as she watched Della walk away.

"I didn"t notice," I replied, then tugged her closer to me. Thad was headed our way with his two dates, one on each side. I wasn"t sure what his plan was, but I wasn"t letting him say or do anything to embarra.s.s Reese.

He also needed to understand: she was mine.

Thad"s hair was tucked behind his ears, and his eyes weren"t gla.s.sy or bloodshot from too much drink. The girls at his side were already in their bikinis. They had forgone the cover-ups or dresses, unlike everyone else.

Reese"s hand tightened on my arm the second she noticed him. I tucked her against me and leveled a warning glare at Thad. He just grinned at me as if I was overreacting.

"Reese, Mase, hope you"re enjoying yourselves," Thad said, as his stupid, dimpled grin flashed. I hoped Reese didn"t have a thing for dimples.

"Yes, thank you. It"s a beautiful spot for a hotel," Reese said sincerely.

"I hadn"t planned on coming, but since my evening plans fell through, I figured I"d bring a couple of dates to entertain me," he said, with a wink, then did something to the girl on the right to cause her to squeal and giggle.

"I can see you"re torn up about those failed plans. If you"ll excuse us, I want to introduce Reese to Blaire and Rush," I said, placing a possessive hand on her lower back. I didn"t wait for him to say anything else. I had seen Rush and Blaire arrive a few minutes ago, and I knew Blaire would be a safe person to talk to; plus, she was part of my family, so to speak. Rush and I both had fathers in the rock band Slacker Demon. Although Rush grew up more in that life than I did, we understood what it was like to have fathers the rest of the world idolized.

Rush also wouldn"t look at Reese like he wanted a taste. Because I was going to throttle Thad if I had to watch him l.u.s.t over Reese another second.

Reese.

When Mase introduced Rush Finlay, it clicked into place. Manning and Finlay. Rush was Dean Finlay"s son. That"s how Mase knew him. Their fathers. Wow.

While Mase didn"t look like a rock G.o.d"s son, Rush definitely did. From his pierced tongue, which flashed when he spoke, to the tattoos on his arms and neck, to the all-around swagger he possessed, Rush Finlay screamed Slacker Demon offspring.

His wife, Blaire, was the kind of beautiful who left you speechless for a moment because you weren"t sure if she was real. The white-blond of her hair made her seem almost angelic. There was a kindness in her smile that made her seem even more heavenly, but then she opened her mouth, and a much thicker Southern tw.a.n.g than even Harlow"s came out. I couldn"t help but smile. She wasn"t a model or a movie star, though that was the type of girl I expected to see Rush Finlay"s arm wrapped around possessively. But then again, she was gorgeous enough to be both, so I didn"t question it. She fit him. More so than I think anyone else could.

I talked with Blaire about Harlow and Lila Kate. She also asked me about Jimmy, since he"d given me her number after her maid retired, but she never brought up me cleaning her house. In a way, I was glad, because that would only remind me of how much I didn"t fit in here. But then, it also made me wonder if she had hired someone else. I really could use the job.

One thing that was becoming more difficult to ignore was the women who flirted with Mase. He didn"t seem to notice, but even the servers gave him looks that were meant to let him know they were available.

If getting a woman was this easy for Mase . . . why was he with me?

Two hours later, the groundbreaking ceremony was complete, and the party had moved to the Kerrington Club. And unfortunately, now that the women were all walking around in their bikinis, they were even more flirty with Mase. Several had openly walked up to him and asked him to swim or dance. He had casually declined their offers, but it was as if I wasn"t even standing there. I hadn"t taken off my sundress yet, because I wasn"t comfortable wearing a swimsuit in front of all those people. But I started thinking I might need to if I wanted to keep Mase"s attention.

I spotted Blaire across the pool, and she was still wearing the blouse and short summery skirt she"d had on earlier. She wasn"t strutting around in her swimsuit. She also didn"t seemed bothered by the women who were looking at her husband with covetous glances.

But she was married to Rush.

I was on my first date with Mase.

"You want a drink?" Mase asked me. His hand slid around my waist as he bent down and whispered in my ear.

"Yes, please," I said, needing something to distract me.

"Stay here. I"ll go brave the bar. More champagne? Or something else?"

I didn"t want to stay here. Couldn"t we wait for a server to walk around with one of those trays? But then I doubted he wanted the fruity drinks they were serving that way. "Champagne is fine," I replied.

He squeezed my side. "I"ll be right back."

Just as I"d feared, women seized the opportunity and approached him as he walked away from me. He was polite and didn"t seem interested, but it was still hard to watch. Because those girls wouldn"t be nervous when he touched them. They"d have s.e.x with him behind a palm tree out here if he wanted them to. That was what I had to compete with.

Besides, I had a twisted darkness inside my past that I would never be able to fully tell Mase about. They didn"t have that kind of problem. They were free to enjoy their bodies and make men happy. I felt sick.

A blonde wrapped her arms around Mase and kissed his cheek. He gently pushed her away, but he continued to talk to her as he got our drinks. I couldn"t watch this. I moved my attention to anywhere else. Harlow and Grant had already left with Lila Kate; they hadn"t stayed at the party long. There was no one else I knew. Mase had introduced me to several people, but I didn"t really know them.

I would not glance back at Mase. I was also considering taking off my sundress. But these women had bodies much nicer than mine. They were thin, with no added padding in their bottoms. And their b.o.o.bs were all nice and round and perfectly positioned on their chests. Not too big or too small.

Taking off my dress might be a bad idea after all. At least, Mase wouldn"t be able to see exactly how imperfect my body was. G.o.d, I hated this feeling. I never compared myself with other women. At least, not in the past. Now here I was, doing it.

My gaze went back to Mase. He was now holding two drinks and headed my way. The blonde was gone. He seemed annoyed. I hoped it wasn"t because he was here with me but could be having s.e.x right now with a number of willing, beautiful women.

I could lose him.

So very easily.

And I"d just gotten him.

When he finally reached me, he handed me the champagne. "Once you finish that, are you ready to go? I"m ready to have you alone. I"ve done my duty and shown my face here."

I had the urge to throw back the flute and down the pink bubbly drink. I was ready to leave, too-before Mase got an offer he couldn"t refuse. I was thankful for his ranch out in Texas. I didn"t imagine there were gorgeous, model-thin heiresses throwing themselves at him there.

"Yes. I"d like to go when you"re ready," I admitted.

Mase studied my face a moment, then took the champagne from my hand. "I"ll buy you a bottle at the store if you want more. Let"s go," he said, putting the flute down on the table nearest to us and leaving his untouched small gla.s.s of amber liquid there, too.

His hand settled on my lower back, and he led me through the crowd as he took us out to where the valet waited.

Once we were in the truck, Mase reached over and took my hand, threading his fingers through mine. "Thanks for coming with me tonight. I only went because Harlow thought I should show my face since I was in town. She"s friends with Bethy and Tripp. I was glad I had you with me. Made the night bearable."

That man and his words. It almost made me forget how hard it was to watch women flirt with him with every breath he took. He didn"t flirt back, though. But I didn"t see Mase as a flirter. It wasn"t his style. Didn"t mean he didn"t enjoy their attention. How could he not? They were beautiful and willing.

"I liked meeting your friends," I told him.

He squeezed my hand. "They liked meeting you."

I wanted to ask him how he knew the blonde who had hugged him and kissed him. But I didn"t. I kept my mouth shut.

"Do you want me to stop and get more champagne?" he asked, with a trace of humor in his voice.

I shook my head no and laughed.

"I like to hear you laugh. You didn"t do much of that tonight," he said, as his thumb began caressing my hand. "You laughed more today when it was just us."

"I was too busy taking it all in."

"Thanks for not taking off that little dress of yours."

Why did he say that? Was he worried about how I"d look without it?

"If you"d taken it off, I"m afraid we would have left even earlier, because I"d have been thrown out. I don"t like the idea of another man looking at what"s mine."

Whoa. OK. I was his? Oh . . . wow.

"I kept thinking about how I"d react if you wanted to swim. I was trying to come up with excuses to keep that sweet a.s.s covered up."