I had said what I came to say. Turning, I headed for the door.

"Rush called you?" Her voice sounded smaller. Even the brother she adored, who loved her when no one else did, was done with her bulls.h.i.t. She was getting that, finally.

"Yeah. He did. He hates to see Reese suffer at your evil hands, too," I said, glancing back at her.

She didn"t look so angry anymore. Crestfallen was a better description. It was a shame there wasn"t one small piece of me that cared. We shared a father, but I hated this woman. Not just for what she had done to Reese but for how she had treated Harlow when she first came to Rosemary Beach, too. I didn"t hate easily, but Nan made sure to bring that emotion out in people.

"Wait. Here, take the d.a.m.n check. I don"t want any more money. But I don"t want to see her again, either. She isn"t getting her job back."

I turned and took the check from her outstretched hand. She"d just left all of Reese"s life savings lying there on her coffee table under a bowl of fruit, as if it were a napkin.

Tucking it safely into my pocket, I gave Nan one last pitying look. "I hope you figure out one day that p.i.s.s and vinegar ain"t attractive. After a while, you can turn everyone away from you for good. Snap out of whatever this s.h.i.t is that controls your head, and change. Because you"ve lost everyone else already. Don"t lose Rush, too."

The pain that sliced through her expression was enough. I left.

I was ready to go take care of my girl.

Reese.

A ringing in the distance interrupted my dreams, and I turned in circles to look for the source. I saw nothing but the clouds around me. The ringing stopped, but then it started up again. Frustrated, I stomped my feet, but then it dawned on me. This was a dream.

My eyes snapped open, and the ringing was my cell phone. Rubbing my eyes, I sat up and looked for it, still a little disoriented. The sun hadn"t risen, and it was still very dark outside. It had taken me forever to fall asleep.

My phone continued to ring until, finally, I saw the screen glowing in the darkness. I climbed out of bed and picked it up from where it had fallen to the floor. Cowboy boots. Mase.

"h.e.l.lo," I said in a hoa.r.s.e whisper.

"You have someone at your door. Could you open it so both of you can crawl back into bed and go to sleep?" he said in his deep, s.e.xy drawl on the other end of the line.

I frowned, and then I heard the knock. It took me a few seconds to register that Mase was at my door. I dropped my phone onto the bed and took off running to open the door. Why was he here? His phone call earlier tonight had been so short it had worried me. He hadn"t even asked me to read to him.

This was why. He was coming to see me.

I threw open the door, and he stepped into the apartment, looking as perfect as always. It was then that I realized my hair was probably sticking up everywhere. I hadn"t even checked myself in the mirror.

But he was here. I just didn"t care about anything else.

"Sorry I woke you up, but I didn"t want to sleep in the truck all night when I could crawl into bed and sleep with you in my arms."

Swoon. This man and his words.

I grinned. I was so happy to see him I couldn"t help it. I knew I had the silly grin on my face that I got when I was giddy. But having Mase here made me giddy. I hadn"t expected to see him again so soon, and after the week I"d had so far, I needed this.

Just being with him fixed everything.

He closed the distance between us and ran his hand over my hair with an amused smirk on his lips. "I like this. Seeing you like this."

I wanted to melt into him. "You"re here," was all I could say.

He nodded. "I am. We can talk about it tomorrow. Let"s get you back into bed."

He was coming with me. This was . . . oh, c.r.a.p. I was dreaming. I would have bet this was a dream. It was the only thing that made sense. I didn"t want this to be a dream. I wanted him to be here, dammit.

"Pinch me," I told him, as his hand slipped to my lower back.

He frowned. "Why would I do that?"

"To prove I"m not dreaming," I explained.

His deep chuckle made me tingle all over. "How about I do this instead?" he said, just before his mouth covered mine.

I had started to open for him when he gently bit my bottom lip with a small snap that caused me to jump. "See, baby? You"re awake," he said, sliding his hand down over my bottom and squeezing it once before moving it back up to my lower back.

I wanted more of that, but he was once again leading me back to the bedroom.

"Why are you here?" I asked, when he straightened the messy covers and pulled them back for me. I crawled in obediently.

"Because I needed to see you," he said simply.

I watched him take off his boots and unb.u.t.ton his flannel shirt and throw it onto the chair. He was wearing an undershirt that fit so snugly I could make out every beautiful line of definition on his chest and back. When he turned to get into bed beside me, I pulled the covers back for him. I didn"t want him to think he still had to sleep on the top. He still had on his jeans. Those couldn"t be comfortable.

"You can take off your jeans. You"ll sleep better," I told him, before he sank down on the bed beside me.

He paused for only a moment and then started unb.u.t.toning his jeans. I felt his gaze on me as he did it, but I was too riveted to look at his face. His big hands quickly unzipped the jeans, and they slipped down his thick, muscular thighs. I had to gulp in air. I"d forgotten to breathe.

"You sure you"re OK with this? I can sleep in my jeans, baby."

He was worried that I was freaking out over him being in his underwear. Well, I was freaking out but for a different reason. Mase Manning really made white boxer briefs look yummy. I had been panicked after breaking that mirror, so enjoying that first glimpse hadn"t been on my agenda that day But right now . . .

"I"m good. I mean, you"re good. I mean, I"m fine, and . . . oh, just get into bed," I rambled.

Mase smirked this time. Then he slid in beside me, but he was careful not to touch me. I had reacted so badly to making out and touching last time that he was now gun-shy. But I wasn"t sure I had the nerve to make a move on him or ask him to do anything. The idea of it being all on me was stressful.

It didn"t matter. Not right now. Mase was here tonight, for whatever reason. I curled up to his side, and he pulled me in closer, but he didn"t do anything else. Glancing up at him, I could see his long eyelashes fanning his cheekbones. He"d already closed his eyes. Smiling contentedly, I closed mine, too.

The next time I opened my eyes, the sun was filtering in through the blinds, and Mase was now on his side, with me wrapped up in his arms. I tilted my head back to see if he was awake. His eyes were still closed, but his arms tightened around me as a small smile tugged on his lips.

"You awake?" he asked groggily then slowly opened his eyes and met my gaze.

"Yes," I replied, feeling entirely too high on life for a girl without a job or money.

"Hmm . . . you want to tell me all about your week now or over coffee and waffles?"

Grinning, I pressed a kiss to his arm. "Is that your way of asking me to make you waffles?"

He shrugged, grinning like he knew he could get me to do anything. "Maybe."

I kissed his arm again. "You have to let me up in order for me to do that."

His head lowered, and he ran his lips gently over my forehead. "But you feel so good all snuggled up soft in my arms."

I would agree that this was my favorite spot ever. On earth.

"Why don"t you tell me about your week now?" he said in a more serious tone.

He was asking me about my week like he already knew. "I talked to you last night on the phone. You know about my week," I said, testing him.

"No . . . I only know what you"ve told me. I want the whole story. Nothing left out." The teasing in his voice was gone now. He knew. That was why he was here.

"Who told you?" I asked, moving back, or at least trying to. His hold on me didn"t loosen.

"You should have," was his reply.

"It wasn"t your problem."

That got his attention. His eyes snapped open wide, and he moved fast. I thought for a second that he was getting up, but he flipped me on my back and put one hand on each side of my head and hovered over me. "Anything that affects you is my problem. You"re mine. Even if I didn"t know what happened that day. Even if Nan wasn"t my sister. This would be my problem, because it hurts you. It causes you pain." His voice softened on that last sentence. He lowered his body, but he didn"t press against me. He nuzzled my neck for a moment, and my entire body came to life. A sensation of warmth spread through me. "When you hurt, it rips me apart. When you"re happy, I feel like I own the f.u.c.king world."

This man was too much. "You have a ranch to run and a life in Texas. I didn"t want to bother you with this."

Mase sighed and kissed my jaw before moving back to look down at me. "I have a ranch to run, and it"s in Texas. But you trump all that. If you need me, you come first."

I love you was right there on the tip of my tongue. I wanted him to know. But he wasn"t saying those words to me. I was afraid he would think I was naive and confused about what we were doing. So I kept them to myself. But I screamed them in my head and my soul. I loved this man.

"Your check is in the pocket of my jeans. Nan gave that back to me last night. You don"t owe her anything. She didn"t buy that mirror. Kiro bought the house furnished. It"s all his, and he doesn"t give a s.h.i.t about that mirror."

I just stared up at him. I didn"t know what to say to that. I had seen the fury on Nan"s face. I wasn"t so sure she would agree to this. When Mase left, the cops were likely to show up and arrest me. That money I gave her was my proof that I intended to pay her back.

"I need her to have that money, Mase."

He shook his head. "It"s handled. She won"t bother you again."

When he was gone, she would. "You can"t protect me from everything."

"I can protect you from my sister. And f.u.c.k yes, I can protect you from everything. Send that s.h.i.t my way. I"ll take it out." He was smiling, but I could see the seriousness in his eyes.

"Mase," I started, but he put his finger over my lips.

"I got this. I handled it. She"s afraid of a lawsuit from you. You were hurt at her house on the job, then fired over it. She will not contact you again. h.e.l.l, she probably won"t breathe the same air you do for a while. I was very thorough in my descriptions of what I would do if she f.u.c.ked with you any more."

"I wouldn"t sue her because I fell and broke a mirror."

"She doesn"t know that, baby. And that"s all that matters." He rolled off me and got up. I was blessed with a view of his b.u.t.t in those white briefs. G.o.d bless America and Mase Manning"s a.s.s.

"You gonna get that sweet tail up and make me some waffles? Because, baby, if you keep looking at me like I"m the meal, I may be tempted to crawl back into that bed and see exactly what you had in mind."

I would love for him to crawl back into bed and do things with me. To me. But I didn"t want to have to ask him to do stuff. I wasn"t sure how I was going to do that. I knew why he wanted me to, but still . . . the idea was so embarra.s.sing.

How did one ask a man to touch her v.a.g.i.n.a?

Cringing at that thought, I stood up and flashed a smile at him. "I"m going to make you some waffles. Put on your jeans so I"m not distracted."

Mase laughed as I hurried to the bathroom to brush my hair and teeth.

Then I went and made my guy some breakfast, while he stood on the other side of the bar and watched me.

Mase.

If she bent over one more time and flashed that freckle at me, I was going to lose my mind. I had eaten my waffles and made it through her stirring the batter with no bra on under that tank top. That had been one h.e.l.l of a pretty sight. But now she was cleaning up the kitchen, and she kept bending over.

I had offered to clean up, but she had pushed me out of the tiny corner and said she"d do it faster since she knew where everything was. So now I was being given a view of her a.s.s and that freckle. My freckle.

I loved that freckle.

s.h.i.t, I was h.o.r.n.y. She had me so wound up, and I was trying so hard to be good. But I knew how that a.s.s felt in my hands and those sweet nipples tightened under my tongue.

Groaning, I turned away from the prettiest sight I"d ever seen and walked over to sit on the sofa.

I sank down and had to adjust my d.a.m.n d.i.c.k. My jeans were suddenly too tight, and the zipper was going to leave a mark on it if I didn"t get myself under control. I needed to think about something other than Reese"s body.

First b.o.n.e.r killer I could think of: my mother. She would want to know where I"d gone. I needed to call her and explain. I had only called my stepdad. I hadn"t explained myself to her. Which meant she was going to ask me a lot of questions. I was ready to tell her about Reese. I wanted to talk about her. My mom was probably the one person who would want to listen to me talk about her.

"You OK?" Reese"s voice broke into my thoughts, and I turned to see her walking my way. Those long legs and . . . f.u.c.k, those t.i.ts were jiggling. She needed a bra. I needed her to wear a bra. The b.o.n.e.r I"d deflated was back with a vengeance. f.u.c.k me.

"I"m good," I a.s.sured her, and she came and sank down beside me, pulling her legs back and curling into my side. Soft flesh pressed against me, and I was throbbing. The cinnamon sweet smell met my nose, and I stretched out my legs in hopes of giving myself some more room in these jeans.

"You don"t look good. You"re grimacing," she said, reaching up and cupping my face. So d.a.m.n sweet.

"I"m trying to be good, baby. But looking at you makes it hard," I admitted.

"Oh," she said softly. Almost a whisper. Then her eyes dropped to my lap, and she sucked in a breath.

There was no hiding the fact I was hard as a rock. I hadn"t dealt with this kind of s.h.i.t since high school. I didn"t get b.o.n.e.rs anymore unless I was about to get some. One look at Reese, though, and my c.o.c.k stood at attention.

"It looks like it"s tight in there," she said, still whispering as if someone other than me could hear her.

"It is."