Mason didn’t really expect Livvy to call him, although she now had his number. But he kept checking his phone. Even when he turned up the ringer, set it on the kitchen counter, then went into the other room to try to write a few pages, he still got up to check the phone.
She wasn’t going to call. It was too late now, nearly ten o’clock, and besides, she was probably trying to figure out how to politely tell him to leave her alone. He, of course, would oblige, but he wouldn’t be happy about it. Yes, it was the right thing to do. Not only because of the boyfriend situation or the fact his home was in San Diego, but what she’d said to him had made him think. Deeply. And they weren’t pleasant thoughts.
He had lived a loveless life for years. His mother had been the only one he’d felt unconditional love from. Sure, his father loved him on the level that he could—a level that pretty much only connected them by biology. And his agent, Jolene? If he stopped writing altogether, their relationship would eventually dissolve to annual holiday cards—from her side. He’d never sent a holiday card in his life, and he wasn’t about to start now.
When the lawsuit had blown up in his face, it was true that there hadn’t been anyone there for him. The fact hadn’t occurred to him, thus it hadn’t bothered him one bit. Until now. Was he subhuman or something? No. If he were, he wouldn’t be emotionally affected by things like lawsuits, name slandering, and looming deadlines. He’d be able to work without caring about much else. Get his manuscripts turned in, collect royalty checks, pay the bills.
Dammit. He did care. He cared that he’d become such a recluse. He cared that Livvy might right now be wondering how to let him down. He cared about her and her small-town life, and his aching heart proved it.
Mason paced the floors of the cabin, walking from the plush rug to the expensive hardwood to the Italian tile, then back to the rug that muffled his frustrated steps.
He liked Livvy.
Sure, she had flaws like any other person. The biggest one by the name of Slade. But her complexities were endearing and somewhat adorable. And that kiss in the library... was the most authentic and genuine experience he’d ever had. Her desire for him had been palpable, and this was why he couldn’t write tonight. Livvy had bewitched him.
She’d crept her way into the corners of his life and blown away the cobwebs.
He needed to speak to her, even it if was to hear the dreaded words. He needed to have closure on what had been building between them for the past weeks. Perhaps they could come to some sort of agreement. She’d stay at her end of the library, and he’d stay at his end. He’d wish her well with the doc and everything else in her life at Pine Valley.
She’d read his book when it finally released next summer and maybe email him through his website. They’d exchange a few emails and reminisce. And this time next year, they’d only be a fond memory in each other’s lives.
No.
That’s not what Mason wanted at all. But what choice did he have?
His phone rang, and Mason nearly tripped in his hurry to grab it from the kitchen counter.
Jolene.
Mason hesitated before answering, but he knew Jolene would call back in five minutes.
“Hello,” he grumped.
“Good evening. I guess we’re getting straight to the point, then?” Jolene said, her tone cautious.
Mason sank onto the barstool next to the counter. “A few paragraphs today. Nothing substantial.” He felt Jolene’s disappointment all the way from New York.
“Did you do anything different today?” she asked.
Mason laughed. It wasn’t a warm laugh.
She waited.
Mason knew he couldn’t hide things from his agent, at least not things that slowed his progress. “I might have gotten a little too caught up in the quaint things of Pine Valley.”
“Is one of those things named Olivia Harmon?” Jolene asked, her tone exasperated.
“Livvy,” he corrected.
Jolene sighed. Then she changed tactics. “A day of no writing isn’t too much to stress over. Get some sleep. Start fresh tomorrow.”
“I will,” Mason said. “I want to establish a new routine anyway. I can’t always write at a library.”
“No, you can’t,” Jolene said in a firm voice. “I’ll look forward to speaking tomorrow night.”
“See you.” Mason hung up. The quiet cabin felt hollow. Empty like his heart and his life. He needed to forget today.
He had no alcohol in the cabin, which was probably a good thing. So he’d sit in the hot tub until he felt relaxed enough to sleep. Since he hadn’t brought a swimsuit, he changed into his gym shorts and grabbed a towel. The hot tub was always kept warm, and it didn’t take too long for the heater to make it steamy.
Mason stepped into the water, sat down, then leaned his head back and closed his eyes, trying to let his mind go numb. The heated water and the bubbles were soothing. Maybe he should do this every night.
He was somewhere between half-awake and half-asleep when his phone rang. He snapped his head up and eyed his phone where he’d set it atop the towel. Would Jolene call him back so soon? He groaned and moved across the hot tub to look at the phone.
Livvy.
Mason patted one hand on the towel in an effort to dry it, then he picked up the cell and answered, hoping that he didn’t sound half-asleep.
“Where are you?” Livvy asked.
This stopped his muddled thoughts. “Are you at the cabin?”
“I am.”
Goose bumps skittered along Mason’s body. “I’m in the hot tub. Hang on, I’ll get out and open the door.”
“No, that’s okay,” she said. “I’ll come around back. I don’t want to be a bother.”
Before he could protest, she’d hung up.
Mason debated whether he should get out and wrap up in the towel, or if... maybe he could entice her to join him. He liked the second idea better.
So he settled back into his place, and moments later, Livvy appeared near the stone wall. Her white coat—the same one he knew wasn’t all that warm—glowed beneath the moonlight.
She climbed over the wall, then landed on the other side.
“Where are your boots?” Mason asked as she neared. “Your feet are going to freeze. Again.”
Livvy laughed, and the sound wrapped its way around his heart. She reached the deck and stamped the snow from her shoes. “You and your obsession with my feet.”
Mason grinned. “You wore tennis shoes? Good choice.”
“I wasn’t planning on hiking through two feet of snow.”
“I could have opened the front door,” he said.
Livvy shook her head. “I don’t want to bother you more than I already have. I just needed to talk to you for a minute.”
Mason’s stomach went hollow.
“At least put your feet in,” he said, trying to keep his tone light. “You can use my towel to dry them after.”
Livvy walked to the edge of the hot tub and peered into the water.
The glow from the hot tub lights in combination with her white coat made her skin look ethereal. Which she pretty much was. The woman of an unattainable dream.
“All right.” Livvy sat on the edge by the steps, opposite from Mason. She slipped off her tennis shoes, then peeled off her socks.
“Are those Wonder Woman socks?” Mason asked, holding back a laugh. “I don’t suppose those come in wool?”
Livvy smirked. “They don’t come in wool, but they’re perfectly warm when I’m walking on dry pavement.” She tugged the hem of her jeans above each calf.
“I don’t think there’s going to be dry pavement in Pine Valley for quite a while,” he said.
Livvy only smiled as she dipped her feet into the water and set them on the top step.
“Are you sure you don’t want to come all the way in?” Mason said. “You could strip down, and I won’t look.”
Livvy’s brows rose.
“To your underwear, of course,” he said. “You know, like a bikini.”
“I don’t think that would be a good idea,” Livvy said, her tone serious.
Mason reached for the switch that controlled the jets and turned it off. The sound of the hot tub diminished, and as the quiet settled, he said, “I guess we do need to talk.”
Livvy nodded, and he wished he could read her expression.
“I don’t know what came over me earlier today in the library,” she said in a soft voice, looking down at the water. “So I came to apologize. It wasn’t fair of me to, uh, approach you like that, and I’m sorry. It shouldn’t have happened.”
“It’s been a strange couple of days,” Mason said. “But don’t worry, I’m not offended.”
Livvy sighed and shed her coat. Then she leaned forward and skimmed her fingers over the water. “I’ve never been impulsive like that, and I don’t want you to think I regularly accost men. I mean... we’ve been friends, and I hate to ruin that.”
Mason smiled. “We’re still friends. And I probably shouldn’t admit this, but I’ve been thinking about kissing you for a while now, though I considered you off limits.”
Her gaze connected with his. “You’ve thought... about kissing me?”
Mason raised his arms and rested them on the wall behind him so that he could cut down on the heat coursing through him. “Yeah.”
Livvy’s cheeks flushed pink. “For... how long?”
Mason shrugged a shoulder. “Since the lodge.”
“The lodge?” she asked. “You mean when you gave me the rice bag?”
Mason could only nod.
“But... we’d just barely met, and I was a brat.”
“I was attracted to you, and it crossed my mind,” Mason said. “It wasn’t like I was going to act upon it though, especially when you informed me about your doctor boyfriend.”
She seemed to cringe, and Mason was pleased to see it. When she didn’t say anything, he continued, because he really had nothing to lose at this point. “I’m attracted to you, Livvy. And I like you. It’s a fact. But I’m only in Pine Valley until my book’s finished, and then I’ll be heading back home.”
“I know.” Her voice was small.
“So maybe you’re just a distraction to my work,” he said. “Or I’m a distraction to your frustrations with your boyfriend, and things happened between us. No hard feelings on my part.”
She exhaled and looked down at the water again. He expected her to agree, and then they could talk about how they’d still be friends. She’d put her shoes back on, and he’d see her in brief moments at the library. They’d share a short hello, a fleeting smile. Nothing more.
But she wasn’t responding; she wasn’t agreeing with his assessment.
“Or... maybe we’re not distractions to each other.” Mason rose to his feet, and the water rippled around him as he walked toward her.
She watched him approach, her eyes widening. But her gaze wasn’t wary, in fact, it was welcoming.
Mason stopped in front of her, and the water swirled about his waist and her calves. “Maybe there is something real between us, and we owe it to ourselves to find out.”