Whatever It Takes (10 page)

He smiled and locked his gaze on her chest as she pushed it
out toward him when she slid her arms through the straps. She pretended she
didn’t notice.

“Not with Olivia. She’s gone a lot, so when she’s in we have
a lot of girl talk to catch up on.”

As she backed away, he reached for her. He hooked his index
finger inside the waistband of her pants, just behind the button, and pulled
her back toward him. Although a little wary, she went willingly. He leaned
close and placed a slow, sweet kiss on the corner of her mouth. She let out a
shaky breath but didn’t pull away. He brushed his cheek against hers, breathing
in the scent of her hair, but didn’t push for more. He leaned back and let her
go. With a shy smile, she backed toward the door and paused before she opened
it.

“Thank you for being my knight in shining armor, Mason.”

He nodded as she waved and left the apartment.

Staring at the closed door, Mason finished his beer and
wondered if his girl would laugh at him if she knew how tied up in knots he was
over her.

Laurie sat on a small, comfortable, loveseat at Malta’s
coffeehouse.

She and her study group were just finishing a session when
she spotted a familiar face come through the entrance.

Mason’s eyes locked with hers and they both smiled. Laurie
broke eye contact long enough to bid the last of her study group goodbye and
then her attention returned to Mason as he made his way toward her. She scooted
to one side of the loveseat so he could join her. He plopped down with a sigh
and grinned at her.

“Hey, Angel, what are you doing here?”

“Just finishing up a study session,” she said, motioning
toward the last of her group filtering out of the café. “What are you up to?”

“Just grabbing some supper. Care to join me? I’m buying.”

“I could eat,” she said, accepting the menu he offered her.

Fifteen minutes later, they were eating some of the best
sandwiches Laurie had ever tasted.

“This is so good.” She marveled over the fresh meat and
fresh-baked bread. “I had no idea they did anything other than coffee and
pastries. Now I feel bad for all the lost time. I could have been eating these
for the past six years and I missed out.”

“Well, now that you know, you can eat here every day. They
even deliver,” Mason said.

Laurie let out an exaggerated sigh and shook her head. “Not
sure my waistline or my pocketbook could handle that but every once in a while
would be nice.”

Mason finished his sandwich and set his plate on the coffee
table, then sipped his coffee.

“So when are you leaving for home?” he asked.

“I’m not. I don’t have any home to go to,” Laurie said absently
as she finished her sandwich.

He froze with his cup halfway to his lips and gave her a
surprised look. “I assumed you came from a well-to-do family.”

“Why would you assume that?” Laurie asked, her voice
reflecting her amusement.

He smiled and looked a little awkward. “I don’t know. You
have rich people manners, at least when you’re not cussing like a sailor. Also,
you’re in law school and I figured even with scholarships that tuition ain’t
cheap. I just thought you must have some proud mama and papa out there
somewhere writing checks.” He gave her an apologetic look. “I hope I didn’t
offend you.”

“Not at all. You’re assumptions were reasonable, although, I’m
not sure what
rich people manners
are.”

Mason chuckled and finished off the last of his coffee
before setting his cup atop his empty plate.

“So what’s your story?” he asked as a waitress came and
cleared their dishes. “How did a sweet little thing like you end up all alone
in the world?”

“My parents died in a car wreck when I was a kid,” she said.
“I had just turned seven.”

“And then what? Foster care?”

“I went to live with my grandmother in Oregon. She was the
rich one. Me, her and my uncle Ron were all that were left of the family, and
Ron didn’t want me around. I think he was afraid Grandmother would leave all
her money to me.”

“So you grew up spoiled by a doting grandma?” Mason raised
an eyebrow.

Laurie laughed loudly as she thought of the reality of her
childhood. “Not quite. Grandmother wasn’t the warmest person. She wasn’t too
happy to be saddled with a seven-year-old brat but she didn’t want word to get
out that she let her only grandchild get shipped off to some state orphanage.
Anyway, she died when I was seventeen and Ron put me out on the street as soon
as the funeral was over. Well, first he got kind of creepy…actually
really
creepy…then he kicked me out. It was all just too weird.”

Mason frowned and looked as if he wanted to press the
subject but stayed quiet. Laurie shook her head, trying to shake away the
memory.

“So what did you do?”

“I had just graduated high school and I had my acceptance
letter for college but I didn’t have any way to pay for it. So I rented a room
and worked in a strip club. I could barely feed myself on the shit pay I was
getting and I thought that was going to be it. You know, maybe that’s what my
life would be.”

“You were a stripper?” he asked, frowning deeper.

Laurie chuckled and rolled her eyes. Of course, that little
detail caught his attention.
Men.

“Just a waitress. I thought about stripping because the strippers
made more money, but I can’t dance. It would have been a comedy show if I’d
tried to perform on stage. I mean look at me, I’m not exactly stripper
material.”

Mason looked her up and down and grinned mischievously. “I’d
pay to see you naked and I’ve seen you dance. Funny definitely isn’t how I
would describe it.”

Laurie blushed and her temperature rose as she thought of
how she’d danced erotically in front of him at the bar. Pushing the thought
aside, she continued.

“One day, a lawyer came to see me and said he had been
looking for me. It turned out that grandmother left money to pay for college as
long as I pass all my classes.”

“Wow. That’s a hell of a gift,” Mason remarked. “So
everything you need is taken care of?”

“Just tuition. I have to pay for everything else myself. I
work nights with a cleaning crew in an office building downtown. It doesn’t pay
much—just enough to cover my room and used books. And when I get through all
this I’ll be a lawyer and I’ll always have a way to make a living.”

Mason smiled at her confident tone. He felt bad that she was
essentially alone in the world but her ability to face a tough situation and
still have a positive outlook impressed him.

“So what about you? Are you celebrating Thanksgiving with
any family?” she asked.

“No family for me either.”

She raised an eyebrow, waiting for him to continue. He gave
her a puzzled look.

“What? That’s it, no family.”

“Hell no,” Laurie argued, poking him in the chest. “I just
spilled my guts to you. Now it’s your turn.”

Mason thought about it for a moment then sighed and nodded.
It was only fair. “I never knew my dad. One night, Mom left my brother Rowan
and me with the old lady who lived downstairs and she just never came back. I
heard she took off with a boyfriend or something.”

“So where’s your brother now?”

“He took off and joined the army when he turned eighteen. A
year later, the old lady, Nanan, died and I bounced around from foster home to
foster home for three years. When I was sixteen, I took off. I figured I was
better off on the street than with some of the assholes they let become foster
parents.”

Laurie’s eyes grew wide and a sad look crossed her face. “You’ve
been on your own since you were sixteen?”

“Naw, I had Dewayne. We met in one of the foster homes and
we stuck together. He’s been my right-hand guy ever since. That first year on
my own, I sold my first bag of weed—there wasn’t much else to do to make money
around here at the time—and twelve years later, here I am.”

“What about your brother? You never found out what happened
to him?”

“He sent letters and money for a while but then when Nanan
died they rented her place out to someone else and I couldn’t get the mail. I
never heard from him again. I tried to track him down a few years later but…no
luck. I finally had to come to terms with the fact that I may
never
see
him again.”

His shoulders sagged as he made the last statement and the
finality of the situation weighed heavily on him. They were both quiet for a
moment before he took a deep breath and huffed it out, shaking off the
depressing mood.

“Did you ever consider leaving here? Finding a new place to
start over?” Laurie asked.

He hesitated, feeling a bit uncomfortable with the question.
He wasn’t sure how to explain his reasons for hanging on in the city when it
might have been easier somewhere else. He doubted she’d understand. He wasn’t
even sure if he did.

“Thought about it but I don’t know…I just couldn’t leave. I
guess I feel kind of connected to this place. That’s hard to give up.”

Laurie nodded, a knowing look in her eyes.

“Now my turn again—I’ve just got to know. Where did you
learn to throw a punch like the one you laid Brook out with?”

“We had a fight club at summer camp.”

“What? Summer camp? Really?” Mason blinked a couple and
times then started laughing.

“Hey, don’t knock summer camp. You take thirty or forty kids
whose families ship them off every summer just to get them out of the way, set
them up in the middle of nowhere with minimal supervision and you wouldn’t
believe the bad-assery that goes on.”

“Bad-assery.” Mason tested out the new word. “You are a wild
little thing, aren’t you?”

“Weren’t we all at fifteen?”

Mason gazed at her thoughtfully for a moment and then
smiled. “So do you have any other plans for the holiday?”

“Microwave dinner and studying in my room.” Laurie shrugged
and gave a half-smile.

“Really? College Boy ain’t taking you home with him?”

“No,” Laurie said, fidgeting a little.

He frowned, sensing that something wasn’t right. He
continued to stare at her until she huffed and put him on the spot.

“Well, what about Brook? Aren’t you doing something with
her?”

Mason shook his head and chuckled as he thought of how he
and Brook started off hot and heavy and in less than a month, he’d discovered
she had trouble keeping her legs closed around other men, or women….or farm
animals. Their relationship had settled into one of mutual need. She called him
her boyfriend and came around when she wanted dope and offered up her pussy as
payment. If he were in the mood, he would accept.

He hadn’t been interested since the day he met Laurie.
Although he had been in a constant state of frustrated arousal, not just any
woman would do. He wanted dark hair, innocent brown eyes, pouty pink lips and a
warm spice sent that made his brain stop working. He was completely aware and
quite unsettled that the angelic little creature had somehow gotten deep under
his skin.

“What’s up with you?” he asked.

Laurie refused to look at him. He took the cup from her and
covered her hands with his. She finally met his eyes.

“Tell me.”

Laurie stared at him for a few moments and then sighed.
“Trey’s not my boyfriend. I hate his fucking guts.”

Mason raised his eyebrows and waited for an explanation.

“He’s blackmailing me into being involved in this deal with
you.”

Laurie’s words sent a jolt through Mason and his hands
involuntarily tightened on hers. As she explained the situation, anger settled
in his gut and he began to imagine how he would kill Trey.

“I feel so stupid,” Laurie admitted. “I can’t believe I let
this happen and I just don’t know what to do.”

Mason thought about it for a moment and then gave her hands
a squeeze.

“I could kill him for you,” he offered.

Laurie chuckled and rolled her eyes. “Oh sure, there’s a
great idea. Then we’d both be in prison.”

Mason laughed too but spent a moment thinking about her
dilemma. “So do you know where he keeps the flash drive?”

“I’m pretty sure he keeps it in a locked drawer in his
desk.”

“You don’t think he took it with him when he left for the
holiday?”

Laurie shook her head. “He went skiing in Vail. He wouldn’t risk
losing it while he’s drunk and high off his ass.”

“Is anyone going to be in the house over the break?” Mason
asked.

“I’m pretty sure the place is completely empty. I know where
they keep the hide-a-key. Hell, I even know the security code for the alarm
system. My problem is, all of the rooms have doors that lock automatically when
they close. So even if I got into the house, I still can’t get into his room—or
his desk, for that matter—at least not without using a crowbar and leaving a
hell of a lot of evidence that someone broke in.”

Mason grinned at her. “Is that all?”

Laurie frowned up at him. “It’s a pretty big ‘all’, Mason.”

“Not really.” He laughed. “I could pick his locks and be out
of there in a matter of minutes.”

Laurie shook her head.

“No,” she said firmly, “I can’t let you risk getting caught
in there. Security will still be around the campus and there’s no way you would
pass for a frat brother. They would know something was up in a minute and once
again you’d end up in jail.”

Mason sighed and nodded. She had a good point. If she went
herself, at least she could get away with claiming to be looking for her
boyfriend.

“Then I’ll show you how to break in. There’s really nothing
to it. I could have you lock picking like a pro in an hour. You could be in and
out without leaving a trace of evidence. Let me help you, Angel.”

Laurie nodded but refused to meet his eyes. It must have
taken a lot for her to admit her situation to him. Her body was tense and
closed off and he thought she might flee at any moment. Oh, how he wanted to
get his hands on Trey.

“So how about you come over on Thanksgiving,” he suggested.
“Some friends are coming to my place for a big dinner. You could eat with us
then I’ll teach you all about how useless most door locks are.”

Laurie brightened and smiled at the suggestion before a look
of uncertainty crossed her face. “I don’t know. I really don’t want to have
another confrontation with Brook. Maybe we should do it some other time.”

Mason shook his head, dismissing her concerns. “I told you I
don’t have plans with Brook. In fact, there won’t be anyone there who will be
anything but nice to you.”

“I’m not sure.” She tapped her fingers on her chin,
theatrically. “I was planning on having a turkey potpie in my room and you
don’t just cancel plans that special. I mean, I already bought it and it’s just
sitting there in the mini-fridge waiting for me to eat it. It would be rude not
to.”