Chapter 13

Nicole

I stood in the doorway of Blooming Love, unable to take another step inside as I surveyed the disaster. Tears blurred my vision.

Heidi was standing in the middle of the mess, Chris next to her. She turned around, taking it all in. The crushed flowers on the floor. The smoke-covered walls. The shattered vases. The upturned metal containers that had once held flowers. The dirty tile floor beneath a layer of water.

I stepped forward. Glass crunched under my sneaker. I opened my mouth to say something, but the words couldn’t squeeze past the tightening in my throat.

“It’s all ruined,” Heidi whispered, voice strained with unshed tears.

I moved closer to her, another round of crunching glass accompanying me. “We’ll start anew. We can redesign it. Finally make it the place we’ve dreamed of.” We’d never had the money to do that before. But thanks to the insurance money we’d be getting, it was going to be possible.

She surveyed the destroyed store again. “You’re right,” she finally said.

I nodded, wishing it was as simple as that. Sure, the store would be better than before and the insurance would pay for it, and it would also cover the lost income while we waited for the place to be renovated. But that was as far as our insurance coverage went. So if it took awhile for our business income to get back up to what it had been before the fire, we’d be hurting.

I kept that to myself. Heidi didn’t need to worry about it yet.

“Oh God!” Her hand flew to her mouth. “I’ve got the Walsh-Philips wedding next weekend.”

“Not a problem. You can make everything at my house. And you can use it as a work space for the other events that have already been booked. Everything’s going to be all right.”

She nodded, still in a daze. “You’re right,” she said as she surveyed the mess. “And that vacation you’ve been putting off for forever? Now you can finally take it.”

“True.” Not that I could afford to go anywhere.

“Maybe the beach,” she said, her voice faint and distracted. “You wanted ideas for your glassware designs. That would be a perfect spot for it.” She glanced at me, her eyes glossy with tears.

“True again.” The smile I gave her was small, but enough to convince her I was on board with her idea.

I left Heidi with Chris and Mason as they searched through the wreckage for anything salvageable, and entered my office. The computer was unusable, thanks to water damage, but luckily I had my laptop at home and could use it in the meantime.

I sorted through the desk drawers. Some of the papers had been ruined by the water that had leaked in, but the rest were fine, though they reeked of smoke.

“How’s everything looking?” Mason asked behind me.

I glanced over my shoulder and gave him the same smile I had just given Heidi.

He shut the door and joined me by the desk. “There’s something you haven’t told your friend, isn’t there?”

I shook my head. “It’s nothing. I’m just tired.”

“That doesn’t surprise me, but I know that’s not it. Financially, will you be okay while the store’s closed?”

Inwardly I cringed because he’d nailed it so easily. Instead of looking at him I fixed my eyes on the papers in my hand. “Look, Mason, you’re not my boyfriend and you’re not my brother,” I bit out, the reality of everything crushing me under what felt like a ten-ton boulder. “None of this has anything to do with you. I’m not even sure why you’re still in Desert Springs.”

God, why are you being such a fucking bitch? a snippy voice in my head asked.

Because he was leaving anyway, I reminded it. And more than likely I’d never see him again. That was what we had agreed to in the beginning, back before we had sex the first time. Our days of playing house should’ve ended already.

“Fine,” Mason said, his tone harsher than I’d heard over the past few days—harsher but also heavy with regret. “I’ll go.”

As his booted feet moved slowly to my office door, shame lashed me.

Blinking away the sting of tears, I peered up. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that. It’s just that you’ve got more important things to deal with than my problems. And that’s exactly what this is—my problem. But don’t worry, I’ll be fine.” Somehow I’d make it work. I could always take on a few new website-design clients, if it came to that.

Mason took a step toward me. “Look, I know I’m not your boyfriend, and I’m definitely not your brother. But what I am is your friend, Nicole.” He took another step forward. “I’ve enjoyed hanging out with you—especially since we have no expectations between us. I can’t remember the last time that happened. These days, most people want something from me.”

His last words didn’t surprise me. I guess being a celebrity came at a cost.

The small smile I gave him held more meaning and emotion than any of the words I’d hastily spoken.

“Does that mean it’s okay with you if I hang around a few more days to help out?” he asked. “As your friend?”

I nodded. “I would like that.”

Mason and I returned to the main part of the store, where Heidi was standing at the front counter sorting through the contents of a cardboard box. She looked up.

“One of the fridges is still working, but the other one is dead. Luckily, most of my tools are still okay,” she said, doing her best to sound strong, but the slight wavering of her voice betrayed how she was really feeling. “I just have to clean them so they don’t rust. And I found enough supplies for next weekend’s wedding, so I won’t have to place an emergency order.”

“Will there be enough room in the working fridge to store the flowers?” The shipment was due a few days before the wedding, and there was no way the flowers would stay fresh if left in my house. Not unless I cranked up the air-conditioning—and even if I did, I didn’t think it would get cold enough. Like everything else in the house, it was an old model. I was surprised it still worked.

“There should be,” Heidi said.

We spent another two hours sorting through the debris. Mason found a broom and swept the shattered glass and destroyed flowers into a pile in the corner.

By the time we were finished, our feet were wet, we were filthy and reeked of smoke, and our bodies were ready to call it a day. A few hours of sleep wasn’t enough. And I’d had more sleep than Mason, who had dealt with Bernie first.

I glanced over at him and my heart did a flutter kick at the sight of him, dirty and carrying a box. He could have bailed this morning while I was sleeping and headed back to L.A. He didn’t have to be here in the store with me. He didn’t have to help me with assessing the damage. And he certainly didn’t have to walk Bernie…but he had.

“You ready to go?” I asked him. We said our goodbyes to Heidi and Chris and drove back to my house. “I’m going to have a shower and then walk Bernie.”

Carrying the paperwork I’d brought home with me, I climbed the stairs, each step feeling as though I were wading through a vat of drying glue. In my room I dumped the paperwork on my desk, grabbed clean clothes from the closet, and went into the bathroom.

After turning the shower on full blast, I stripped out of my clothes and stepped under the spray. I closed my eyes, but the memory of the destruction in the store was too much, and a sob broke free.

Unable to hold it back any longer, I let the tears fall. With the water raining hard against the tub, I could cry without Mason hearing me.

Suddenly the shower curtain moved to the side, freaking the hell out of me, and I shrieked. Before I could say anything coherent, Mason stepped into the shower—fully dressed.

His T-shirt was instantly wet from the water pelting him. The soaked fabric clung to his body, showcasing his perfect muscles. Normally I would’ve been turned on. This time an unexpected laugh bubbled free. “You were that eager for a shower, you couldn’t wait long enough to take your clothes off first?”

“I heard you crying.”

“So you figured you would climb in with all your clothes on, to make me laugh?” If that had been his plan, it had worked. I giggled uncontrollably, so overwhelmed by everything that had happened that I was unable to stop laughing.

“I was thinking that you should join me on tour.” He said it with such a straight face, I couldn’t help but laugh some more. He was obviously kidding.

“I don’t think that will solve any of my problems,” I said after I’d calmed down and taken a breath. “Besides, I need to stay here to help with the store renovations.”

“Actually, it’s a perfect solution. The band needs a social media person to travel with us and post regularly on our social media sites. With your background, you’d be perfect for it. And just so you know, I’m asking you as a friend, not because we’ve slept together.”

“But I have a job.”

“You can do this one while you wait for the store to reopen. Tour with us for a few months. Once it’s ready to reopen, you can come back here and the band will find someone new to take over the social media job.”

“I can’t be gone that long. Heidi will need my help.”

“For what? I thought she was the one who does the floral arrangements, and you stick to the business and marketing side of things. You can always do that on the road with the band. We have computers and Wi-Fi on the bus.”

Was he for real? Or just plain crazy? I had a life here. And by life, I meant I had a job that took most of my time. A job that was for the most part on hold for now, thanks to the fire.

But what he was suggesting did sound tempting. I had always done the sensible thing. The boring thing. And look where that had gotten me—nowhere but a string of boring dates that Heidi and Cindy kept setting me up on. Before that, I’d been busy with college and working part-time. I’d never done anything adventurous. What would it hurt to do something different for once? It wasn’t like I was running off to marry Mason. And it would be great job experience.

Plus I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Mason yet. In the few days he’d been here, I’d had more fun with him than I’d had in the past year. We’d taken Bernie on walks several times a day, cooked together, watched movies, and worked on projects around the house. And unlike with my recent boring dates, none of it had felt awkward.

The object of my thoughts pushed a wet strand of hair from my face, reminding me I was naked in the shower and he wasn’t.

“So what do you think?” he asked.

“I don’t need a job ’cause you feel sorry for me.”

“That’s not what this is. You’re smart and talented, and I figured you’d be perfect for the position. I mean, if you don’t want it, fine. We’ll find someone else.”

“It’s not that…” God, what he was offering did sound amazing—a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

“So what’ll it be, then? I already told you the job offer has nothing to do us sleeping together. If I didn’t think you could handle it, I wouldn’t have asked.”

I believed him, even if I was standing in the shower naked. “I have to talk to Heidi first.”

“But you’re thinking about it, right?”

“Yes. I’m thinking about it.”

That got a smile from him, and his entire face lit up. “I swear you won’t regret it, Nicole. It will be fun.”

“Well, it would definitely be an experience to one day tell my kids about.” My gaze wandered down his wet clothing. “Enjoying your shower?”

“If you say yes to coming on tour with me, then yes, I’m enjoying my shower.”

I laughed. “Doesn’t take much to make you happy, does it?”

He glanced down at his body. “Well, getting out of these wet clothes will make me happy too.”

I smiled slyly at him and reached for the hem of his T-shirt. “I think I can help you there.”

A few moments later—though it took a lot of tugging, because wet clothes tended to be reluctant when it came to being removed—Mason stood in front of me naked.

Despite everything that had happened in the past twelve hours, my entire body buzzed at seeing Mason like this, and begged for a whole lot more. I needed to escape the memories of last night’s fire and of the damage left behind. I needed to escape my churning thoughts, even if just for a few minutes.

And I needed to do whatever I could to keep from going numb.

“Thanks again for doing that.” I pointed at the showerhead he had installed the other day.

“You’re welcome.” A smug smile slipped onto his face, along with a wicked spark in his eyes, but there was also an edge of uncertainty.

“Maybe we should christen it,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“You know…” I reached up and ran the tip of my tongue against the edge of his ear, and smiled at his answering moan. “So, how exactly do we do this?” The romance novels I read always made shower sex sound easy, but I couldn’t quite figure out exactly how to do it—the mechanics sounded complex.

Mason stepped closer to me and traced his fingertips up my rib cage. “Are you sure about this?” His voice was a low, sexy rumble in his chest.

“Very.”

He cupped my breasts and I released a small whimper. His thumbs brushed against my now perky nipples. The whimper became a moan, and I leaned forward slightly, pressing my breasts against his warm, wet palms.

My fingertips caressed the ridges and valleys of his abs as I explored the sexy terrain. “Do you have any condoms with you?”

He had bought a box yesterday, since he’d already used the condoms he’d had stored in his wallet.

“In my jeans back pocket. Give me a second.” He slid the shower curtain to the side and stepped out of the tub, allowing some of the spray to follow him. He returned a moment later with the foil square. The man was a Boy Scout…always prepared.

He slipped a hand between my thighs and traced my folds with his fingers. At his touch, my legs practically buckled under me. I leaned back against the cool tile wall to keep from making nice with the floor.

“Look at me, Nicole. I want you looking in my eyes when I make you come. I want to see the effect I have on you.”

“As if you don’t already know.” I settled my hands on his shoulders as his fingers teased my clit. I moaned again as a warmth ignited between my legs.

“Eyes open, Nicole.”

I hadn’t even realized they were closed. I opened them and was met by Mason’s warm brown eyes, sparkling with challenge and lust. His mouth was close enough that if I stretched my head up slightly, I could kiss him. And I really wanted to kiss him.

Mason’s skilled fingers continued stroking me…until the warmth between my legs flared into a white-hot heat. “Oh God!” The heat commenced low in my belly, then quickly radiated outward, turning me into molten liquid.

And forget about keeping my eyes open. My head fell forward against Mason’s shoulder and I dug my fingers into his flesh.

Once the tremors had subsided, I glanced up at the man who knew how to turn me inside out. “Wow.”

The word was barely out before his mouth was on mine and we were kissing. His cock pressed against my stomach, letting me know that it yearned for its turn. I rubbed my body against it, eliciting a groan from Mason.

Pride rushed through me at the effect I was having on him. It made me feel strong and sexy. It made me feel desirable.

It made me want to harness this feeling for the next time I went out with a man. Maybe then my dates wouldn’t end the way they always did, with me unable to get away fast enough.

I paid no attention to the annoying voice that pointed out the guys weren’t the only ones to blame when it came to the dates being duds.

Mason gently turned me around so my back was facing him. “Do you want to stop or keep going?” he asked.

“Keep going.”

“Place your hands against the wall and bend over,” he growled in my ear, and a shiver of desire shimmied through my body.

I parked my hands on the wall opposite the shower and walked them down until my torso was parallel to the tub. Hot water would have rained against my butt, but Mason was standing behind me, blocking it.

I heard the crinkle of the condom wrapper as the steam from the shower hugged me. A moment later, the tip of Mason’s cock teased my entrance, then he slowly pushed himself inside me. He kept going until he was fully seated, filling me in more ways than I’d ever imagined possible.

His finger found my clit and teased it again. I gasped and my body rejoiced. As I came close to falling off the edge once more, he removed the finger from my happy zone and thrust his cock in and out of me.

It didn’t take much work on his side before the softest part of me clenched around his hardness, as if it wasn’t interested in ever letting him leave. And considering how the bathroom’s tile walls amplified my cries of ecstasy, I figured that everyone down the street now knew I’d just come hard. Again.

But if I was loud, that was nothing compared to Mason. As he came apart he let out a guttural noise that would’ve impressed a bull.

Afterward I expected him to pull out of me right away, but he didn’t. Instead, he bent over and rained kisses on my back. “Christ, that was hot,” he said, and no way was I going to argue with that.

His hands gently caressed my body before he finally pulled away. “Don’t go anywhere,” he said, then stepped out of the tub to dispose of the condom.

He returned a moment later, and with his strong hands and a vanilla-scented body wash thoroughly cleaned every part of me.

I couldn’t remember the last time a guy had made me feel this alive and this safe.