Chapter Four
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Mason said when they came to a stop in front of her apartment building.
“What?” Hannah asked, turning and stepping in front of him without releasing his hand. “You have a problem with my building?”
He shook his head and laughed. “I live here.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Hannah echoed.
“I moved in two months ago.” Mason reached forward, grabbed her free hand, and squeezed them both. “4B. How did I miss you?”
Hannah shrugged. “I work a lot.”
So much for maintaining a safe distance and taking her good-night kiss on the sidewalk. Pursing her lips together, Hannah looked deep in his eyes and quieted the niggling voice in the back of her mind that cautioned her with safe dating rules. The voice that reminded her an entire coffee shop had thought he might be a stalker. She trusted him. At least as far as her door.
“Shall we?” Mason punched the code and opened the door to the small lobby.
“Since you live above me, I guess I don’t have to invite you up,” Hannah said, entering the warm building. “Do you mind?” she asked, motioning to the row of mailboxes. “I haven’t checked the mail yet today.”
“I haven’t checked mine all week.” Mason laughed.
As they opened their locked mailboxes, Hannah noted his was just four away. Flipping through her mail, she found it was relatively benign. Her fashion magazine, Kate’s stationery catalog, the electric bill, and a card from her mother. “Trade ya,” she teased, looking at Mason’s hefty pile.
“Anytime you want to pay my bills, you’re welcome to them,” he said without looking up.
Hannah stepped closer. He had at least five magazines. “You must like to read.”
“I like to fantasize.”
Hannah peeked at the titles. Not a girlie magazine in the stack. He did seem to have an extreme-sports fetish though. When did he find the time to backpack, snowboard, and scuba dive?
“You see anything you like?” he teased, offering the stack to her.
Too tempting an offer to refuse from someone she knew so little about. Taking the stack from him, she handed him her own.
“Hannah, I was kidding,” he said as she rifled through the envelopes. Mostly bills and junk mail. Two envelopes caught her attention. Both were large and thick and hand addressed on high quality paper. She held them up. “Two wedding invitations?”
“How can you tell from the envelope?’ He plucked them from her hand and checked the return addresses. “My frat brothers seem to have all decided to get married this year. I missed the memo.”
“I’m so glad I didn’t join a sorority.” Hannah returned his stack of mail. “You must go broke having to buy all those gifts.”
Mason smiled. “The gifts are no problem. It’s when they make me wear a tux and dance with the bridesmaids that I start to get annoyed.”
“You’re in the weddings?”
He shrugged. “One of them, yeah. It’s my third this year. Like I said, apparently there was a memo.” He paused as they neared the staircase. “Come with me.”
Hannah stopped midstep. “That’s sweet, Mason, but you don’t have to do that.”
“Do what?” he asked, bounding up to the stairs.
“It’s our first date. Wedding invitations are sent out months in advance.”
He looked down at her from the first landing. “Gabe’s is New Year’s Eve. With as crazy as your schedule is, that will probably be the next time I see you.”
Hannah smiled, wishing that weren’t so on the mark. “A New Year’s Eve wedding sounds so romantic,” she said, beginning the treacherous climb in her stiletto boots.
Mason waited for her on the second floor. “You’d think so, but Gabe’s an accountant. He wanted the date for tax purposes.” They laughed and fell in step beside one another until the third floor.
Mason stared at the number on her door. “3B. You live right beneath me.”
Hannah nodded, standing in front of her door with her keys in one hand and her mail in the other. An alarm in her head reminded her they were on their first date. A kiss at the door would be the smart thing, but she wanted more than a kiss. Not much more, but a little. She wanted him to touch her, to be able to touch him.
“You’re deciding, aren’t you?”
“Deciding what?” She hated to play coy, but she hadn’t made up her mind yet.
“Whether or not to ask me in.”
She stared at him, the moment becoming heavy and charged with emotion. She wanted him. Wanted him to come in, kiss her, make love to her until dawn.
The last one scared her spitless.
She wondered if she had it in her to do casual sex. People did it all the time. And with as long as it had been since she’d had sex, and as good as he looked, she wanted to do it right now.
She put the key in the lock. Turning it slowly, she decided she wouldn’t sleep with him. But a girl could play.
He followed her in, stepping on an envelope. “You must have dropped this,” he said and handed it to her.
“I don’t think so.” She flipped it over. “It’s not even addressed. It must be from one of the neighbors. It’s not sealed.” She pushed back the flap and pulled out a card with a picture of a Christmas tree on the front. She opened it and found it blank. “Well, that’s odd. They must have forgotten to sign it.”
She moved to set it on the table, but Mason took it from her hand. His eyebrows knit together as he studied the front of the card. He looked at Hannah beneath his lowered brows.
“Did you look at this tree?”
“What?” She took the card back. An innocuous-looking Douglas fir decorated for the holiday. She peered closer and realized what he saw. Instead of a paper chain wrapped around the tree, this one had handcuffs linked together.
…
“You’re the expert on criminals, Kate. What do you make of it?” Hannah put her phone on speaker while she peeled the plastic bags from her dry cleaning.
“Bankrupting corporate sleazebags doesn’t make me an expert, just a lawyer. But I’d bet it’s nothing. We probably have a kinky neighbor,” her roommate replied. “We could re-gift it since it’s unsigned. If I knew someone who would appreciate the humor of handcuffs on a Christmas tree. You would probably have better luck. Don’t you feel enslaved by the season?”
“Energized. It’s the best time to be in retail.” Hannah meant every word.
“If the card freaks you out, I’ll come home this weekend and walk the halls without my makeup on.”
“Come home if you want, but I doubt you’ll see me. I have this weekend to get my departments set and prep for the training seminars.” Which she’d finished preparing for, but Jeremy Taylor’s new add-on sales ideas had her scrambling to give him time to present.
She still didn’t understand why the brass had even given him a shot at a district-wide program with his plan. It sounded like a lot of busy work when they should be focusing on keeping morale high. Higher employee satisfaction meant a lower absentee rate and higher employee retention. With a sigh, Hannah put her busy thoughts aside. She’d already given thirteen hours to the store today.
“You’re a workaholic.” The clicking of Kate’s pen echoed across the phone line.
“Right back at you, babe.” Hannah lined up her outfits for the week in the closet. She found it much easier to get dressed at four in the morning when she didn’t have to think about what she was putting on.
“You’re really not going to tell me.” Kate quieted her pen.
“Tell you what?”
“About your date. I’m stuck in K-Falls with no prospects. Let me live through you a little.”
She did the highlight reel, omitting Mason’s anxiety about the card. And that he’d made it inside the apartment. Kate would be even more disappointed than Hannah at how the card had ruined the mood of the evening.
His protective side had come out, and as attractive as it was, it had killed any thoughts Hannah had of sleeping with him. Mason seemed more boyfriend material than one-night stand.
“When are you seeing him again?” Kate asked with a sigh.
“Not for a while. I’m swamped at work. Which is why I never date during the holidays.” Lying back on her bed, Hannah glanced at the clock. Eight thirty and already so tired she’d dressed for bed. Thank goodness she closed tomorrow and didn’t have to be in until after lunch.
“Exactly how long is a while?”
“I have next Thursday off, so he’s going to see if he can work his schedule so we can spend the day together.”
The rap at the door had her sitting bolt upright. Her heart beat in her throat. She hadn’t buzzed anyone up. The card had her more on edge than she’d realized.
“Somebody’s here.” She rose from the bed and flipped on the lights as she made her way across the living room and to the door. She peered through the peephole. “Mason,” she whispered into the phone.
“He’s there? Stop wasting time with me, honey. One of us needs to get a little action.”
Hannah ended the call and looked down, cursing her sister. Molly always gave her things from the upscale lingerie store she managed. Really great things Hannah couldn’t resist.
“Just a minute,” she called as she scurried to grab a robe to cover the sage-green stretch-lace chemise she wore. She loved lingerie but wasn’t sure she wanted Mason to know just how much yet.
She took a quick look in the bathroom mirror on the way to the door and cursed herself for having washed her makeup off already.
Hannah opened the door slowly, hiding her body behind its bulk.
“I tried to call, but you didn’t pick up.” He stayed in the doorway. “I got my schedule for next month and I wanted to check it with yours before I volunteer for extra shifts.”
Hannah smiled. He looked so good just standing there in his work clothes. Judging by the duffle bag at his feet, he’d come straight from work, not even bothering to stop in upstairs.
Why was it she looked at him standing there and felt her temperature rise, her stomach tighten? Could he possibly be just that sexy? She opened the door wider, but he stayed in the hall. “Do you want to come in or discuss it here?”
“I didn’t want to assume.” He dropped his bag inside the doorway and stepped inside. She crossed the room and grabbed her phone so they could compare calendars. She turned to face him and watched him swallow hard. Twice.
“Are you thirsty? I have wine and soda. Kate has four kinds of vodka in the freezer.” She smiled at that last one. Mason drinking green-apple-flavored vodka was a funny thought. Though she didn’t know what he drank.
“Did you know I was coming?” he asked, his voice raspy and dry.
“No. Why?” He’d barely stepped into the room.
“Are you seeing someone else? I know we’ve only been on one date, but I thought you were single.” His gaze was carefully fixed on hers.
“Mason, I can hardly find the time to date you. How am I going to juggle someone else?” Hannah sat on the corduroy sofa and tapped her phone until December’s calendar came up.
“Do you always dress like this when you’re home alone? You are alone, right?” Hannah searched his face, grinning at her own power. She made him nervous. Maybe she shouldn’t have put on the robe. She could probably have him begging right now.
“This is how I dress for bed.” Her voice came out lower than usual, slower. She watched his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed again. Given the current state of his pants, Hannah felt pretty confident she could have him naked in less than sixty seconds if she played her cards right. But she wasn’t sure if she wanted to be in the game just yet.
She looked down at her calendar. Next month was far better than November; she had three days off. “In December I’ve got the second, twenty-fifth, and thirty-first off.” Her birthday, Christmas, and New Year’s Eve.
“Right, the schedule.” Mason bent down and rifled through his duffle and pulled out a printed sheet of paper and a pen. He stepped closer to the couch but hesitated before sitting down.
“Relax, I won’t bite.” She patted the couch next to her, squeezing her thighs together in anticipation. She’d already sensed the smell of soap and aftershave and man that she’d memorized just last night.
“It’s not you I’m worried about,” he said under his breath as he sat. He circled her days off on his calendar. “I actually have all of those. Okay, what else?”
Looking up, he met her gaze, and her breath caught. His eyes were so blue it almost hurt to look at them. “That’s it. I warned you the holidays were crazy. But if you stick it out, they give you a week off in February.” She smiled and searched the schedule for any days when she could get off early and not be in until closing the next day.
“Did you take New Year’s Eve off for Gabe’s wedding?”
She shook her head. “I actually paid a thousand bucks for it last January in a United Way fundraiser.”
He smiled, his straight teeth gleaming. “Will you come with me to the wedding?”
New Year’s was still a long way off. “If you’re still speaking to me, absolutely.”
“I’ll make you a deal. You always answer the door dressed like this, and I will until the day I die.”
She laughed louder than she would’ve liked. “If you like the robe, you should have seen what I had on when you knocked.” His pupils dilated, his irises darkening at her taunt. She was playing with fire here. She looked away and studied the schedule once more. “I could do dinner on December eighth or nineteenth if you want.”
He bowed his head again. “I work on the eighth, but I’m in for the nineteenth. You probably have family stuff on Christmas, so what about the second? Do you ski?”
“Yes, I ski, but I can’t that day. It’s my birthday and my folks are flying in. We do our family thing then so my sisters can be with their in-laws for Christmas.”
“Birthday?” He grinned, and that charming dimple appeared.
She wanted to ignore her thirtieth birthday all together. “Did you get next Thursday off?”
“I think so. I have to trade some December days, but I wanted to check with you first.”
“Good answer,” she smiled, setting her phone on the coffee table.
“I read that book,” Mason said, setting down his calendar. He’d circled her days off and noted her birthday.
“What book?” she wondered, looking up at him.
“Just One Night.” He scooted closer until their bodies touched from hip to knee. Even his body temperature was hot.
“The romance novel? The one I was reading when we met?”
“Oh, yeah.” His voice dropped an octave as he twirled his fingers in a lock of her hair.
Just like in the book. Every nerve in her body came alive. “Oh my God. You’re thinking about when they…”
“Oh, yes.” He leaned toward her, breathing in the smell of her hair. Just like the corporate raider did when he found the heroine asleep in his bed.
“I can’t,” she whispered, feeling her body betray her words. Her mouth watered, her nipples hardened, and an ache throbbed between her thighs.
“Please.” Bursts of soft breath tickled her ears, warming her from within.
He explored the winding curves of her ear with his tongue. At first lightly nibbling and then sucking her earlobe. Her breath stuttered in her throat. How was it no matter where he touched her, she felt it between her legs?
“She was asleep,” she somehow managed to say. Not much of an argument against what he wanted, what they both wanted, but the best she could come up with.
He pulled away abruptly, making Hannah gasp at his absence. “You’re right. Go.” He motioned toward the hall. “I’ll wait.”
“You’ll wait.” Hannah watched as he leaned back on the couch, crossing his thick arms over his broad chest. Could she wait? Could she ever fall asleep knowing he would wake her with his mouth?
Mason nodded slowly, sending chills down her spine with every move of his head. Her blood somehow thickened, making every beat of her heart thunder in her ears. She wanted this man. But her rational brain had not completely shut down. She shouldn’t be doing this.
“I’d never be able to fall asleep knowing you were out here, waiting to wake me.”
The dimple appeared in his left cheek. “So pretend.”
It was too soon. Too soon to want him this badly. Too soon to trust him this much. No matter how tempting his sexy offer.
“I love it when you do that.” He smiled and shifted on the couch to face her. “It’s like there are two parts of you fighting it out. One eyebrow goes up and then the other. It is sexy as hell.”
She laughed at his attentive observation. He was scoring points with her now.
He leaned closer. “So who wins, blue or green?”
“What?” she asked, cocking her head to the side.
“That’s how I think of it. Your blue eye battling your green.”
Now he was calling her a freak. Her face fell as she straightened her posture. She wouldn’t let it bother her anymore.
“What did I say?”
“Forget it.” She crossed her arms over her chest.
He moved his hand to her knee. “You have to tell me so I don’t do it again. I knew tonight was a long shot, but you can’t blame me for trying. I mean, look at you.”
She took a deep breath. She didn’t want it to happen again, either. “I can be a little sensitive about my eyes. I used to wear contacts to fix them, but they’re part of who I am, you know.”
“What’s wrong with your eyes?” His expression filled with concern.
Humor seemed the way to go. “Mason, I don’t know how to break this to you, but they’re two different colors.”
He went from smiling to puzzled to smiling again. “In case you don’t recall, your eyes were the first things I liked about you. Really liked, actually.” He shook his head. “I can’t believe you would poke yourself in the eye to hide them.”
Hannah shrugged. “Kids can be cruel.” And mothers who wanted their daughters to be perfect. Hannah’s mother had started putting a contact lens in her left eye when Hannah was eight.
“Which one did you pick?” he asked, the lamplight dancing in his eyes.
“Which one what?” She felt him studying her eyes intently, but she wouldn’t let herself look away.
“When you went for one color, which way did you go?”
“Blue. It was easier to match. Why?”
“Just trying to figure out my odds tonight.” He rubbed his fingers against the silky material of her robe.
“Not good, I’m afraid. Is that why you came?” She did and didn’t want to know the answer.
He shook his head. “I can’t wait until next Thursday to see you again.” He let the statement hang in the air between them.
She didn’t want to wait an entire week either, but between her schedule and his, there wasn’t much they could do about it. The thought of not kissing him for an entire week stabbed at her.
A low chuckle came more from his chest than his throat. He dropped his gaze, but she could still make out the smile on his face.
“What’s funny?” He seemed intent on her thigh right where her robe had come open, revealing the hem of her chemise. She fought the urge to pull her robe closed.
“It’s even the same green as your eye. The part of you you’re willing to hide.” He slid his hand up her knee, caressing her thigh, not stopping until he grasped her hip. The nerve endings there exploded, making her tingle from elbow to knee and everywhere in between.
“Mason,” she whispered in warning as he leaned closer.
“You look so beautiful. I’ll do anything you want, Hannah, even if that’s nothing at all. If you change your mind, I swear I’ll stop. Just tell me when.”