3
~Lucy~
My mind was awhirl with every unsteady step I took down the narrow hallway towards my apartment. It was a comfortable two-bedroom I shared with Abigail Heeley, my best friend and boss, the owner of the coffee shop that took up the ground floor below.
I’d been working there as a Barista for the last couple of years. Just one of the many jobs I’d held over the last six years while I’d been working to build my own business from the ground up. I was ready to launch it now. Everything was in place. Well, everything except one detail. Location. It was part of the reason behind my mortifying breakdown in front of Mason earlier. I rarely ever cried and certainly not over something so pathetic. But things like that major decision had been weighing heavily on me lately. I felt sick with it.
Right now, though, the only thing on my mind was what’d happened in that parking lot between Mason and me. That kiss! Hell, calling it a kiss didn’t do it justice. Having his mouth on me, his talented tongue meshing with mine, his strong hands on me, him wanting me… it was overwhelming. I was still trembling, my nerves were frazzled to bits. It was like he’d somehow stripped me bare with that dominating, sexy commanding edge of his, ripping my sexuality from its long-dormant state and thrusting it brazenly out into the open. In those moments, the shy girl who’d only ever experienced passion and desire in dreams and fantasies had fallen away. He’d had me crazed, craving pleasure—the pleasure he could give me—above all else. Nothing else had mattered. I’d never felt so free in all my life.
But then he’d stopped it so abruptly.
What the hell did that mean? Was it because we’d been in the middle of a parking lot? Had he been acting out of some sort of chivalry? Or, did he regret it altogether? Holy hell, things were a mess. Mason had thrown me through a complete loop. Finding out the last six years, not only had he not actually hated me, but he’d actually been crushing on me, like I had him, was enough of a revelation to reconcile, as it was. He’d played it close to his chest. And now, on top of that, we’d crossed a major line. What now? I couldn’t get a grip on my body, let alone my thoughts.
My heart was hammering so fiercely in my chest as I reached the door to my apartment, I was afraid it would rip right through my flesh. I needed to calm down. Mason had walked me up to my apartment two nights in a row. It should just be routine now. But tonight it felt a whole lot different. The heavy thud of his motorcycle boots on the carpeted floor behind me echoed down the hallway in such an ominous way it sent a shudder of trepidation through me.
I hastened to pull my keys from my purse and then struggled like a fool for a good few seconds before I managed to actually get the door open. Giving it a push, I stepped inside and slapped at the light switch, flooding the place with light.
A sharp gasp of surprise escaped me as I turned back to the doorway and smacked right into Mason’s hard body.
“Uh… sorry,” I said, jerking back quickly and trying my damnedest to pretend I hadn’t just felt all that hard muscle beneath my fingertips. All that delicious muscle.
The corner of his mouth turned up. But it wasn’t his usual smug smirk he threw my way. I could barely believe it, but it actually looked like a nervous smile. That was the last thing I would’ve ever expected to see from a huge burly biker, a man always so confident and so completely in control of everything and everyone around him. It was almost… endearing. I didn’t quite know what to do with it.
I watched him shift his weight as he rubbed the back of his neck, clearly unable to look me directly in the eye, and, like me, perturbed by the tension that’d developed between us since the parking lot slipup. Neither of us had actually spoken a word to each other since we’d climbed onto his bike and headed to my apartment. We’d both done our best to avoid making direct eye contact either.
It was ridiculous. We were both adults. We could deal with this. Besides, what could be worse that the mind-numbing silence and the unbearable awkwardness we were currently facing?
Deciding I wasn’t going to take another second of it, I went to open my mouth, but he beat me to it.
“Where’s Abi at? It’s getting late,” he asked, his eyes darting into my apartment, searching.
“Abi?” I murmured, rapidly trying to recalibrate my thought process. Right, Abi. Roommate. “She’s spending the night with Brent. She won’t be home tonight.”
“What?” he pressed, seeming shocked.
The look on his face was nothing short of comical and I couldn’t stop the laugh that burst from me. Maybe it didn’t really warrant a full-blown laugh, but I was majorly on edge with the crazy tension between us, so I couldn’t stop it. And it felt good.
“One of the club’s contractors?”
“Yeah, Mason. The one she’s been dating for the last week.”
He shifted his weight, looking really uncomfortable as he scrubbed his hand over the rough stubble covering his jaw. “And she’s at his place tonight?”
What was up with him? “Do I need to spell it out to you? Yes, she’s at his place. Tonight’s the night for them.” I wiggled my eyebrows. “You know, Brent’s gonna score a homerun? A slam-dunk? A—”
Mason held up his hand with a grin. “I got it.” Shaking his head, he said, “For a girl who hates sports, what’s with all those sports terms flying around?”
“Chalk it up to spending too much time around you and Cole growing up.”
He grinned. “Yeah, well. It’s hit a homerun, for the record.”
“You got the picture.”
“Yeah. I got it alright and Liam isn’t going to be down with it one bit. I’m sure he’ll be blowing up my phone soon enough about it.”
Oh, of course! That was why Mason had been looking so uncomfortable since the moment I’d mentioned Abi and Brent. Because of Liam. His club brother. Liam West was the Steel Titans’ Vice-President and a close friend of Mason’s. He had a thing for Abi, but she’d been indifferent towards him, claiming she didn’t date bikers, even though there was a clear spark between them. It was a bit of a mess. The members of the Titans were infamous for being majorly possessive once they’d set their sights on a woman, so I could very well imagine Liam flipping out about the news of Abi hooking up with Brent.
Mason pushed off the door frame. “I better go and get ahead of this,” he said, taking a step out into the corridor.
Oh, hell no. Had he forgotten how well I knew him? “I’m sure Slade’s got it covered.” Slade Mitchell was the President of the club. If anyone could reel in the VP, it was the head of the club, for goodness sake.
“It’s personal. Not Prez’s job to—”
“It’s not your job either,” I cut in, interrupting him.
I knew better than most outsiders how a lot things worked with the Titans, including most of what was involved in both Mason’s and my brother’s role with them. Although I was tightly connected to the club by blood, with my brother being a member, and all the boys had my back, I’d never been officially brought into the fold. My brother hadn’t wanted me to be. The Titans operated above board for the most part, but there were times when they did delve into some illegal or morally-reprehensible stuff. Cole had wanted to protect me from it, to keep me away from the dark side of MC life, so he’d kept me on the sidelines.
Mason’s role with the club itself sometimes crossed into that darker territory. The major part of his job as Sergeant-at-Arms was to maintain security for the clubhouse itself, club members and family and the club’s territory. But he was also called out to deal with perceived threats to the club, or business deals gone bad and players not agreeing to play ball. He, along with my brother, would physically enforce the club’s will at that point. The unpleasant, dark and illegitimate side of club life. My brother was basically club muscle. It’d fit him well, because he was a major hot head.
With the club trying to go legit, though, Slade had had to calm him down, to decrease his destructiveness, so he’d put him in charge of Vibe, the club-owned bar in town that’d opened up a few years back and become a major hotspot. Just one of many of the club’s investments around Warlow. These days, I knew Mason tried to avoid just barging on into a situation with his fists flying—or Cole’s. Instead, he employed distraction in an attempt to diffuse things. To avoid escalation. It was exactly what he was trying to do with me now. And he was damned good at it too, because he’d actually had my thoughts shifted entirely onto Abi, Brent and Liam.
“Look, Luce.” He scrubbed his hand over his jaw. “It isn’t just about Liam.”
Good, at least he had the decency to admit that.
He shifted his weight and stepped back up to the door, slapping his hand to the door frame and leaning back against it as he eyed me. There was no warmth there, no indication at all that there was anything between us, years of history… nothing. I could’ve just been a woman he’d passed by on the street with the way he was looking at me. My stomach clenched and I wanted nothing more in that moment than for a frigging sinkhole to open up in my apartment and swallow me down. But no amount of silently willing it made it happen. And there was no way I was going to turn and run from him. I wouldn’t lose face. No matter what.
So, I did the only thing I could do: I forced myself to stand my ground and I raised my glare to meet his directly, bracing myself as he opened his mouth to deliver words that I knew would cut right through me, because, once again, the Mason I knew so well was gone and the man who’d kept his distance for the last few years was back.
“What happened in that parking lot…” He shook his head, wincing. “I should’ve never gone there. It’s not right. You know Cole isn’t going to—”
I was so done with the bullshit. I couldn’t hold it in. “Coward!” I screamed.
Stunned silence filled the space between us. For a long time, neither of us made a move. I could almost feel the tension in the room reach fever pitch. It was unbearable; I could barely breathe through it. And then, finally, Mason’s expression changed, his eyes blazing into mine, as he hissed, “What?”
Swallowing hard, I bit back, “You heard me.”
He cleared the threshold with one of his long strides and thrust his boot behind him at the door. I jumped as it slammed shut violently, the walls shaking with the fury of the vibrations. I fiddled nervously with the sleeves of my jacket as I watched him stalk towards me, his eyes never leaving mine. That was when I realized it wasn’t mine. I was still drowning in his mammoth leather jacket, sporting the Steel Titans MC crest on the back. He’d made me wear it for the ride over here, saying mine was too thin to protect me, as well as useless for the cold night. I hastily unzipped it and shrugged it off.
By the time he’d crossed the room and stood just a foot in front of me, I tossed it at him. “Here.”
Startled by my aggression, he only just managed to catch it. He gave an irritated grunt and threw it on my couch then turned back to face me head on. “Want to explain that fucking coward comment?”
Was he serious? Unbelievable. “Cole!” I fumed. “When it comes to what’s going on between us, you’re hiding behind him, the threat of what he’ll do.”
He sneered. “You think I’m worried about Cole beating on me? You have no idea how many times I’ve had to put him down when he’s been out of control with that hothead temper of his. Nah, you have it all wrong. It’s about respect, Luce.”
“I know that’s not it and that’s why I called you a coward. Just admit it, Mason.”
I waited, but we just stood staring one another down.
“Forget it,” I muttered, turning away.
“You think this shit is easy for me, woman?” he yelled, suddenly, catching me off guard. I stopped short, my back to him. “Wasn’t easy when I cut things off with us a few years back and it isn’t any easier now. You hearing me?”
“You’re the one making it difficult!” I yelled back, spinning around.
He rubbed the back of his neck and cursed under his breath. “I’m not good for you, Luce.”
I blew out a tired breath. “What are you talking about?”
“I’m rough and dirty and you’re real soft and innocent.”
I rolled my eyes. Yet another variation of the whole ‘you need protection’ bullshit I’d been living with my whole life, something I’d long outgrown since reaching adulthood years ago.
I’d been working hard to shed that image and to establish an independent, kick-ass image through getting my own place, distancing myself from my brother, and preparing to launch my business. But there was one area that I’d yet to gain any traction in. And, right now, the opportunity had presented itself. In the best way possible, with the best person possible. Hell, if I was going to let it slip through my fingers. I was done being tarred as breakable, innocent Little Lucy Taylor.
I shook out my windswept hair and cocked my head to the side, slapping my hand to my hips as I struck a seductive pose, bending my knee just right to produce the perfect effect. “I’m not that same girl anymore, Mason.”
His eyes widened, but he stayed stock-still, not saying a word.
I guessed he needed a little more persuasion. If he thought he could only come onto me, that the ball could only ever be in his court, he was about to be proved wrong.
I fingered the lacy hem of my dress and slowly inched it up my thighs. I kept my gaze on his and watched his eyes twitch as he strained not to glance lower. He lost the battle when I shifted my stance, his eyes dropping to my thighs as I inched the dress up higher.
“Stop,” he gritted out hoarsely.
But I didn’t. I kept inching it higher until the very bottom of my black silk thong was visible.
“Told you I’m not so innocent,” I teased him.
A rumble sounded in his throat. His eyes darted back and forth from my face to my exposed panties. The intensity there had me swallowing hard, trying to rid myself of the hard lump that’d formed in my throat. It was as if he could see right through my bravado and feel my nerves threatening to explode all over the place and force me to drop my dress and scramble away. Get a hold of yourself, Lucy! Of course, he can’t. I could do this. I would do this. I wouldn’t let him walk away from me again.
When he took a step forward, it was all I could do to stand my ground, though.
“Luce, last warning,” he growled. “Being around you was always bad enough. Then… what happened between us in that parking lot… fuck… I haven’t had time to calm down from it yet. What you’re doing…you need stop, cuz I’m right on the edge. I won’t be able to hold back. I’m dead serious. What I said earlier was true… I don’t do slow and easy. And… you… fast and rough isn’t what you need.”
“Oh, I think it is.”
“Pull the dress back down,” he hissed out.
I gulped, watching his fists clench at his sides.
And then I shook my head. “No.”
“Fuck,” he muttered.
The next thing I knew, he was lunging at me. His hands grasped my hips and he shoved me against the wall.
“Oh God,” I gasped out as my back jarred against it, winding me.