Meant for Me (A Second Chance standalone) (15 page)

Biting my lip, I nodded with a huge grin on my face.
“Actually, there is. Let’s go do something together today, something that
doesn’t pertain to dancing or fighting. We’ve been here for a week now, trying
to figure out our relationship on top of trying to solve a case. All I want is
a few hours to ourselves, just me and you.”

Mason set his bag on the floor and smiled, his eyes gleaming
in anticipation. “What did you have in mind?” he inquired, sneaking a glance
toward the bed and then back to me.

Playfully, I scoffed, putting my hands on my hips. “Is that
seriously all you think about?”

“Only when I’m with you,” he confessed. “Besides, I need to
get my mind off of everything going on.”

“Do you want to visit Summer again today?”

Sighing, he shook his head and objected, “No, I don’t think
it’s a good idea to go today. If I see her again I’m just going to get angry
and that’s not how I need to go to the party tonight. I can go first thing in
the morning to see her.”

Averting his gaze, he was on the other side of the bed,
gripping his hands into tight fists. Mason was a strong man, and in his line of
work he was used to seeing people who had been killed in accidents, murdered,
raped, molested, and so forth. It was easy to keep your emotions in check when
you didn’t know the people, except now it was all hitting close to home … close
to his heart, and he didn’t know how to handle it.

Slowly, I walked over to him and wrapped my arms around his
waist. His hands gradually unclenched and he brought them up to hold onto my
arms. Placing my head on his back, I could hear the erratic beat of his heart
thumping deep inside his chest;
thump-thump, thump-thump
.

“It’s okay to be upset, Mason. You don’t have to hide how
you truly feel. I know you think you have to be strong all the time, but with
me you don’t have to be.” I squeezed him tighter. “I want to be there for you …
always.”

Grabbing my hands, Mason pulled me around so I could face
him, draping my arms around his neck so he could hold me close. “You know, when
I first met you I didn’t think there was a serious bone in your body.”

“It’s because there wasn’t,” I teased. “I was only
twenty-two years old. You forget I’m four years younger than you. Although, I
will admit that I thought you had
too
many serious bones in your body.”

With a devilish smirk, he lowered his hands to my ass and
held me tight as he pushed his hips against mine. “I can show you one of those
serious bones if you want me to,” he murmured, swaying us back and forth.

Biting my lip, I groaned as he rubbed his hardening cock against
my stomach, taunting me. I wanted to make love to him and I could see it in his
hungered gaze that he was about to lose control. I loved that look. I craved it
just as much as I craved his touch. In that one gaze alone I could see
everything he wanted to do to me. I wanted him to rip my clothes off. I wanted
to feel him thrust so deep and hard that it hurt, but in a good way. My insides
ached as if a fire burned through every nerve ending of my body … and Mason was
the only one who could put out that fire.

Licking my lips, I let my hands trail down his chest to the
waist of his shorts. “You know, we have several hours before the party. What on
earth are we going to do with all that time?”

In one quick move, Mason swept me up in his arms and we both
went down on the bed. Lifting my tank top over my head, he pushed my bra out of
the way and palmed my breast. Moaning low in his throat, he revealed, “I’m sure
we can think of plenty of things to do … starting with this.”

He quickly rolled my nipple with his tongue before closing
down and sucking as hard as he could. Arching my back, I cried out with the
pleasure and pain of it. It only intensified more when he spread my legs open
and reached inside my pants, groaning as he pushed his fingers inside my damp opening.
I was ready for him, especially when my first orgasm exploded, making my body
clench around his fingers.

Mason chuckled and grazed his wet fingers over my throbbing
clit. “That’s one down, baby. Be prepared for a lot more because I plan on
making love to you and fucking you in every way I know how.”

Just the thought made my body tremble. It was going to be
one hell of an afternoon.

My whole body was sore by the time Mason and I finished for
the afternoon. He had to carry me into the bathroom and place me in the bathtub
because I was completely spent. “You better liven up, baby. We have a party to
go to tonight.”

“Can’t we just stay here,” I groaned halfheartedly. I knew
we
had
to go to the party, but the hot water and soothing aroma of the
bath salts fizzing around my body felt amazing. The whole room smelled like
lavender.

Mason chuckled and splashed water in my face to wake me up.
Before I could protest, my phone started to ring in the other room. “Do you
want me to get that for you?” he asked.

I wiped the water away from my eyes and nodded. “Yeah, you
can bring it here. It’s probably Wade. He needs to give me directions to his
house.”

With a glum expression, Mason brought me my phone; when he
handed it to me it wasn’t Wade on the caller ID … it was Cooper.
Just my
luck.
I held my phone, staring at it like an idiot, not knowing if I should
answer it or not.

“Just take the call, Claire,” Mason said. “I’m a big boy. I
can handle it if some other guy calls you. It was
me
who fucked you
senseless today so I’m not too worried.”

He left me alone in the bathroom and shut the door behind
him as he walked out. The last time I talked to Cooper was when I left him
angry and alone at my house, so needless to say I was kind of nervous. Taking a
deep breath, I finally answered the phone, “Hey, Cooper, is everything okay out
there?”

He didn’t answer right away, but when he did, my heart broke
for him all over again. I could hear the hurt in his voice. He tried to mask
it, but I knew he was still angry at me.

“Yeah, everything’s going fine. Brett told me Melissa was
worried about you and Mason since you hadn’t called in a while so I thought I
would check up on you.”

Shit!
Melissa was going to be furious with me and
Mason for not calling. It had only been a couple of days, but given the
situation it probably felt like years to her. Also, with her raging pregnancy
hormones I bet she was driving Brett crazy.

Groaning, I sat up in the tub and switched the phone to my
other ear. “Oh, no, I bet she’s furious with us right now. I’ll make sure to
call her as soon as I can.”

“Sounds good,” he replied awkwardly.

We sat in silence for a few seconds and it killed me that it
had come to that. Cooper was my best friend for so long and now nothing was
ever going to be the same. “Is that the only reason why you called?” I asked
softly.

Blowing out a heavy sigh, he said, “No, it’s not the only
reason. I wanted to tell you that I’ve been helping Brett look over your house
and the vineyards while you’re gone. I’ve stacked your mail up on the counter
and watered the flowers in your garden. I know you spent a lot of time taking
care of them.” Of course he knew I spent a lot of time on them; he was there
helping me for the gazillion hours it took to plant them.

“Oh, Cooper,” I cried, choking back my tears. “You didn’t
have to do all of that.”

“I know I didn’t, but I wanted to. I’ll give you back your
house key when you get home. It’s strange being there knowing you’re gone and
that you’re with someone else.”

My heart ached, and I couldn’t stop the tears from flowing
even if I tried. “Coop, you know I didn’t want to hurt you, right? You are the
last person in the world I ever wanted to hurt.”

“I know,” he murmured sadly, “but I still love you, Claire.
I think deep down I knew it wouldn’t work. We had our fun messing around and
having our nights together when I was in town, but I wanted you so bad that I
tried too hard to keep you when you finally opened up to me. I should’ve known
it was a losing battle.”

“No, it wasn’t, Cooper. You helped me when I needed someone
and you picked me back up. I don’t regret anything about our time together,” I
wailed.

“Neither do I, Claire,” he claimed wholeheartedly, and
before hanging up he repeated those words again, only softer, “Neither do I.”

As soon as I set down my phone on the counter beside the
tub, Mason opened the door and leaned against the frame with his arms crossed.
“Were you listening?” I asked, splashing water in my face to wipe away the
tears. The water was beginning to lose its heat, so I took my washcloth and
bottle of raspberry shower gel, lathering it up good.

Mason came up to the tub and took the soapy washcloth from
my hands so he could wash my back. He cleared his throat, and sounded almost
guilty when he spoke, “I didn’t mean to listen in, but it was kind of hard not
to when I heard you start crying. Is everything okay?”

Nodding, I moaned when he massaged the soap into my neck and
back. “He called to tell me that Melissa was worried about us. You need to make
sure you call her to tell her you’re all right.”

Groaning, Mason moved to the front of the tub so he could
look into my eyes. “I’ll call her in just a minute. Is that all he had to say?”

“Yeah, pretty much. He wasn’t angry like he was when I left
him to come after you. I’m glad he called, Mason. I didn’t like the way I ended
things with him, but at the time I didn’t have a choice. I needed to get to you
as fast as I could. At least now I have closure with him and I don’t feel as if
things are completely on bad terms.”

Shamefully, Mason turned his head and nodded. “I understand
completely. I know he was there for you when I wasn’t. That’s the one regret I
will always have to live with.”

“Hey,” I called out gently to get his attention, hoping he’d
turn back to me … which he did. “We all have regrets. We just have to move on
from them.”

His smile was sad, but he leaned over the tub, tilted my
chin up with his finger, and kissed me on the lips. “I’m going to call Melissa
while you finish up in here. How about we actually go out to dinner tonight
instead of ordering in?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

“I think that would be a great idea,” I told him excitedly.
“It can be our first official date.”

It just so happened that two of the best five star
restaurants in Las Vegas were in our hotel. We didn’t have to go far, and it
was a welcome change of pace to get out of the hotel room and enjoy a pleasant
dinner out. It was also great seeing Mason cleaned up and dressed in something
other than jeans and a T-shirt. While I finished getting ready, he went out and
bought a nice pair of khaki dress pants and a navy blue polo shirt. When he
packed to come out to Las Vegas he didn’t expect to need any nice dressy
clothes. I was prepared considering the places I knew I would need to take him.

However, tonight I went for a different look. Instead of
wearing one of my tight, fitted dresses that I would wear to the club, I opted
to go with something a little more sensual and fun. It was a black, sleeveless
dress with a sequined bodice and a flared skirt that hit about mid-thigh. When
I stepped out of the bathroom, Mason and I both froze as we took each other in.
The aching and burning feeling I got in my stomach when I looked at him was
something I’d never felt before. It was enthralling yet terrifying all at the
same time.

Mason had called a little earlier and made us a reservation
at the Prime Steakhouse restaurant. We arrived on time and were seated on time
as well. The food was amazing, as always. I had the peppercorn New York steak
with creamed spinach and truffle mashed potatoes; it was heaven. Mason stuck to
his usual with a filet mignon and decided to try the mashed potatoes since I
loved them so much. I needed to work on getting him to try new things.

While we waited for the check, Mason stared at me over the
rim of his glass as he sipped on his gin and tonic. I had come to learn that it
was his favorite mixed drink even though I thought it tasted like pine trees. I
grew up on wine and I had yet to find anything else that I preferred more.

Mason finished the last of his drink and set the glass down
before taking my hand in his. When he spoke, he kept his gaze on my hand as he
caressed my skin with the pad of his thumb. “When all of this is over, where do
you want it to lead us?” he asked, finally lifting his green gaze to mine.

Smiling, I moved my wine glass out of the way so I could
reach for his other hand. “That all depends … were you serious about staying in
California for a while or was that just something you said on a whim?”

“I was serious, Claire. I meant everything I said. I told
you before I would fight for you and if I have to move myself across the states
to be with you then I will. It’s what I want, but the question here is if it’s
what you want. I need you to be certain.”

Moving closer, I squeezed his hands and leaned toward him
over the table. Mason and I were from two different worlds, and I wanted to
know his just as much as I wanted him to know mine.
Could I really ask that
of him? To move away from the place he’s lived in for thirty years?

I felt guilty about it, but there was no way I could move
away from my family’s land. It was my life, it was where I belonged. Furrowing
his brows, Mason shifted in his chair, waiting on me to answer.

“Mason, I want that more than anything, but I also don’t
want to be selfish. I’ve been thinking about everything lately and I have an
idea,” I suggested.

Lifting a curious brow, he grinned and asked, “What kind of
idea?”

“Well, for starters I thought I could show you around Vegas
and take you to all my favorite places once this case ends. There’s more to Sin
City than just gambling and pretty lights.”

“I’m sure we can do that,” he agreed. “Was there anything
else?”

“Yeah, actually there is,” I began, but then I paused and
took a deep breath before continuing, “I also thought that maybe once this was
all over I could go to North Carolina with you and you show me around
your
home. I know I’ve visited there plenty of times, but I never saw much except
for Charlotte. I heard both the mountains and the beaches are gorgeous. I’d
like to see how it compares to the west coast.”

Mason chuckled. “You might want to reconsider that because
once you see our mountains you might not want to go back. Every year my father
would take me to one of the campground sites off the Blue Ridge Parkway and
we’d stay there for the whole weekend, fishing and hiking. He died when I was
in high school and after that I still went up there every year and did the
exact same things we would do. It’s kind of a tradition now.”

The burn of unshed tears prickled behind my eyes. I couldn’t
imagine him going up to the mountains by himself every year and facing those
long lost memories alone. Mason was a loner, except I knew he wasn’t always so.
It was time to get him out of that.

“When do you go there and reminisce?” I asked.

His smile was sad, but I could see the happiness in his gaze
when he answered, “I go every second weekend in October. The weather is perfect
at that time and my dad always wanted to go when the leaves would begin to
change. He was a photographer, among many of his other talents.”