Kissing Trouble (12 page)

“We know!” Wendy whined, bouncing in her seat.

Julie didn’t push the matter, because it was becoming a task to navigate as they finally reached the parking gates.

Cars and people filled every square inch and Julie began to have doubts about agreeing to go. Every so often, she had to hit the brakes as some kid darted into the middle of the road. Her fingers ached. She was sure the steering wheel would forever hold the imprint of her grip. She had one foot hovered over the brake and she was leaning so far over the wheel, her face was nearly brushing the windshield.

Ahead of her, like a shark through a school of fish, Mason’s truck rolled through the crowd. The back lights flicked on every so often, warning her to halt as well. So it was a surprise when he suddenly shot forward and slammed on the brakes a second later. A horn shrieked in the night and Julie was sure he’d hit someone. She was about to jump out when he stuck his head out his window and waved her onward. Bemused, she watched as he inched forward, revealing a parking spot on his left. He pointed to it.

“Get in!” he shouted over the noise.

Highly relieved that she would finally be out of that rat race, Julie pulled into the spot and cut the engine. She pocketed the keys and slipped out. Mason was still there, blocking traffic.

“Thank you!” she called.

Through the window, he waved. “I’m going to find a spot and meet you at the front gates.”

She raised an arm that she understood and watched as he swerved around a small compact and a very irate little man who shook his fist at the back of Mason’s four by four. Julie winced as she realized what Mason had done; he had blocked the man from taking the spot so Julie could have it. As touched as she was, she contemplated pulling out and letting the man have it. Then she thought better of it. No way was she getting back in that mess. Even she wasn’t that noble.

Helping Wendy and Rick out of the car, she took each of their hands and led them quickly, but safely to the metal arch opening a path to the park. She propelled them off to the side, under the shaded arches of a swaying oak tree and away from the rush of traffic as people shoved their way into the park like there was a free for all going on inside.

“They’re taking forever!” Wendy whined, sagging against Julie’s hip.

“There’s a lot of people,” she told the younger girl. “They’re probably still looking for a spot.”

They must have parked somewhere at the far back, because it took them twenty minutes to reach Julie and the kids. Relief must have shown on her face, because Mason flashed her a grin.

“Miss me?”

Julie chose to ignore that. “Everything okay?”

He nodded. “Had to park at the other end. This place is a zoo!”

Julie cringed inwardly at the thought of still being in that jungle, circling like vultures on a carcass.

“Thank you for finding me that spot,” she said as they started for the ticket booth. “But you shouldn’t have cut that man off.”

Mason shrugged. “He had a tiny car and he was one person. Finding another spot and walking up wouldn’t have killed him.”

Julie pressed her lips together. “It wasn’t very nice.”

His eyes glinted a near black in the semi darkness, but even then, the amusement was almost blinding. “And yet you didn’t give it back.”

Biting her lip when they threatened to twitch, Julie turned her head away. “You’re a bad influence.”

“You have no idea.”

The lineup for the ticket booth was like waiting for the women’s bathroom during a Boxing Day sale at the mall. Shaun and Luis took the kids and moved to a souvenir stand, rescuing Julie from a parade of
are we there yet?, How much longer?,
and
I have to pee
while she stood in line for wristbands
.
Mason stayed with her, hands in his pocket, gaze surveying every passing face like he was expecting someone. A few people, Julie noticed, eyed him back, none of the glances flattering. The very bold actually pointed and whispered to whoever was with them. Mason was like the town celebrity, but not in a good way.

“You weren’t kidding,” she mumbled, fiddling with the strap of her purse.

“Nope.” He smirked a little at an older couple that stepped past, both glowering at Mason as though he were the antichrist. “Salmon Cove never forgets.”

“So what did you do exactly?” she wondered.

He tipped his head slightly towards her. “Which time?"

Julie chuckled. “In general.” She faced him fully. “What’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

“The worst?” He drew his lip between his teeth and scratched the stubble on his chin.

“Was that too personal?” she asked.

Mason shook his head. “No. I’m not proud of the things I’ve done, but I don’t hide it either. The worst thing I think is the time I broke into the high school.”

“You broke into a school?”

The horror and outrage must have shown in her face and in her voice, because he chuckled. “It was on a dare,” he justified. “Shaun and I were running with this group of kids and one of the guys dared Shaun to get into the school and change a few things around.”

“Change a few things around?”

“Yeah.” He gestured absently with his hand, like he was moving invisible chess pieces on a board. “We took the gym equipment and put it in the music room and the musical instruments went in the art room. Things like that. We also moved a few of the teacher’s desks and put them in the cafeteria.”

Julie eyed him. “And
that’s
the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Mason shrugged. “Maybe not, but it was the most elaborate and the one we got the most grief for.”

She shook her head. “I can only imagine.”

The line shuffled and they moved forward a few steps.

“What about you?” he asked. “What’s the worst thing
you’ve
ever done?”

It wasn’t a question she’d ever gotten before and she had to really wrack her brain to think of something. By no means was she a saint, but she just never had time to do anything bad, or saw the reason to.

“I’m a little concerned that you have to think about it,” he teased. “Either you’re not as innocent as you look, or I’m going to have a lot of fun corrupting you.”

Julie scowled up at him. “I don’t need help being corrupted. I’ve done loads of bad things.”

The soft leather of his jacket rustled as he folded his arms. “Like?”

“Well, I...” She furrowed her brow and pinched her lips, thinking hard. “Oh!” Her face lit up as it finally came to her. “I got one. You know Mr. Talbot from down the block?”

Mason nodded. “The grumpy asshole. Yeah, I know him.”

Julie pursed her lips at his name calling, but continued. “Well, you know his Pomeranian, Miss Teacup? I used to walk her every day for five bucks. Anyway, I loved her. She was adorable, but he was just...”

“An asshole?” he prompted.

“Stop that!” she scolded without heat. “So every time I would bring Miss Teacup home, he would snap at me that I wasn’t gone long enough, or I that I was gone too long, or I wasn’t holding the leash properly, or something else. There was always something I wasn’t doing right. So one day when he called me to take her, I told him I was sick.”

Mason raised both eyebrows when she finished with a broad grin. “And?”

Her grin dimmed. “And I didn’t go.”

He cocked his head back an inch and raised the fingers on his right hand to his mouth. He tapped lightly on his bottom lip. There was amusement in his eyes and in the ghost of a smile he was trying to hide behind his fingers.

“And that’s the worst thing you’ve ever done?”

Julie frowned. “Well, it was my job
and
I lied.”

He ran a tongue over his teeth, dropped his head forward, and chuckled.

“What?” she snapped, offended.

Hooded eyes rose and met hers, alight with laughter. The string of bulbs overhead shone like pinpricks of light across the pale surface, making them appear luminous.

“Nothing!” But he continued watching her, tracing her face in a way that was making it impossible to maintain eye contact without blushing.

“Okay, seriously, what?”

He shrugged, turning to face the front of the line. “Just trying to figure you out, Julie Brewer.”

Thankfully, they soon reached the front of the line and the ticket booth. Julie ignored the charming figure next to her hip and focused on the smiling brunette behind the glass.

“Hi!” She fished into her purse for her cash. “Three kids...”

The girl wasn’t looking at her. She had her eyes on Mason and the interest in them was a little hard to ignore.

“Hello?” Julie shifted, hoping to get the girl’s attention. “Hi. Three kids’ wristbands.”

The girl blinked and focused on Julie. “Wristbands?”

“Yes. Please,” she added, softening the sharpness in her tone.

Julie lost her somewhere between
yes
and
please
. She was smiling in a very come hither manner at Mason, who was busy rifling in his pockets for his wallet and didn’t notice. He looked up though, possibly feeling Julie and the girl watching him.

“Sorry?” he said, glancing from one to the other.

“Can I have my wristbands please?” Julie muttered sharply at the girl.

The girl finally fed three wristbands through the slot and forgot all about Julie as she turned the full force of her dazzling smile on Mason. Julie suppressed the urge to roll her eyes as she went to where Shaun and Luis stood with the kids.

“Never fails,” Shaun muttered with a hint of pride and amusement.

In the process of snapping a band around Rick’s wrist, Julie glanced up. “Sorry?”

Shaun stood a short distance away, arms folded, watching the ticket booth with a smirk twisting his face.

“Mason,” he said, jerking his head to where Mason was now laughing at something the girl in the booth was telling him. “Girls just can’t resist him and he them. They’re his weakness.” Dark, brooding eyes dropped down and met Julie’s. “But like all addictions, each hit wears off and the next one is always better.”

It annoyed her that his comment bothered her. It wasn’t like there was anything between her and Mason. He could flirt with anyone he wanted. Yet the pang still made her heart sore.

“Good thing that I don’t care to be anyone’s addiction then,” she muttered, before turning away from his drilling stare to take Wendy’s hand.

Mason arrived a moment later, waving three wristbands in the air. “Everyone ready?”

They started through the park to a chorus of suggestions, everyone wanting to try a different ride first. Julie had to shout in order to be heard over the din.

“We will try to get on as many rides as possible!” she called. She pointed to the first ride on her right, which happened to be a dozen plastic horses. “Why don’t we start on here and work our way around the park?”

“Or we can split up,” Dustin piped in. “I’m not going on any stupid carousel.”

“I do!” Wendy cheered, arm thrusting up into the air. “I want to go.”

Frustration welling in her chest, Julie shoved a hand back through her hair and looked at the flashing lights and laughing faces all around them, knowing already that coming had been a bad idea. But it was too late to regret her decision now.

Taking a deep breath, she put on her mask, the one she wore when she needed to pretend like she was in control.

“Okay, here’s the plan,” she said, loud enough to drown out Dustin’s grumbling. “We’re going to go around the park in order. Wendy wants to go here, so we’ll start at the carousel and make our way around so everyone has a turn at something they want.”

“I’m not sticking around for this,” Shaun muttered, breaking away from the group. “I’m hitting up the rollercoaster.”

“I want to go on the rollercoaster, too!” Dustin exclaimed, face as bright as the lights around them.

“No!” Julie said sharply. “We stay together. You guys can do what you want,” she told Mason, Luis, and Shaun. “We’ll meet back here at—”

“That isn’t fair!” Dustin burst out. “Why do you get to make all the rules?”

“Because your mom put me in charge,” Julie told him firmly. “If you don’t like it, we can go home.”

Dustin’s chin wobbled and his nostrils flared, but he wisely kept his mouth shut.

Relieved by his submission, Julie turned to the three men. “We’re going to go down this way,” she told them. “We’ll meet at the gates at...” she checked her watch. “Ten.”

“That’s in four hours!” Dustin huffed. “No way we’ll get to all the good rides in four hours.”

“Then we’ll come back another day,” Julie replied, feeling her head beginning to throb. “Ten is already past your curfew, so don’t push it.”

“This is so lame!”

“Hey.” Mason set gentle hands on Dustin’s shoulders. “Why don’t we take Dustin?” he offered. “We’ll hit some of the big rides and meet you guys at the hotdog stand there in two hours for a break.”

As much as she wanted to scream and cry
yes! Take him!
She willed herself to remain calm.

“That sounds like a good idea,” she said. “Do you want to do that, Dustin?”

“Fuck yeah!”

“Watch your mouth!” Julie scolded him before turning her gaze on the three men. “Please keep an eye on him.”

“Soooo, don’t sell him into child slavery?” Mason grinned when she narrowed her eyes. “Kidding, Jewels. Relax.”

Exhaling, Julie straightened her shoulders. “Okay then. Hotdog stand in two hours.” She took Wendy and Rick’s hands and led them towards the plastic horses. “And don’t call me Jewels,” she called over her shoulder.

Without Dustin, the progression from ride to ride went as smoothly as possible considering Rick and Wendy could only go on a limited number of rides. There was no one arguing over who got to pick the next station, or how lame it was. Julie loved the older boy, but it was nice to have a few stress-free hours.

By the time the two hours rolled around and they started for the hotdog stand, even the headache was gone and Julie was laughing at how silly Rick and Wendy were being as they skipped on ahead of her. Mason and the others were already there, taking over a picnic table littered with paper plates. Dustin and Shaun sat opposite each other. Luis sat next to Dustin, head buried in his folded arms. Mason looked up from where he sat perched on the table with his boots on the bench when Julie approached. His blue eyes glinted in the near darkness.