Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men 1)

He sniffed again and kissed my hair. “Come on.” Holding me tight in his arms, he stood and carried me from the bathroom to his bedroom. He laid me in the center of the mattress and pulled out the sheet and blanket from under me before drawing them up to my chest.

After a quick peck on my forehead, he crawled in beside me.

We faced each other on the mattress without touching. He hadn’t turned the lamp on, but I could see his face clearly from the light glowing in from the hallway.

“It wasn’t always so bad,” he murmured. “When I first started, it was kind of cool. I mean, beautiful, rich, fancy women were paying attention to me, stuffing hundred-dollar bills in my clothes. I was getting laid three or four times a week. It gave me a confidence I never had before. But it got old real fast and by the time I realized those woman didn’t respect me—I wasn’t even a person to them—it was too late. I had this reputation, I was their puppet, and I felt stuck.”

Reaching out with a soft smile, he tucked a piece of my hair behind my ear. “I can’t regret it, though. If I’d never accepted her offer that afternoon, I wouldn’t have started my clientele at the country club. I never would’ve made enough money to feel like I could go to college. And I never would’ve met you.”

I sniffed and wiped my face. “I don’t think I’m worth it.”

He laughed softly, his expression indulgent with tenderness. “Trust me. You’re more than worth it.” With a kiss on my nose, he sighed. “Okay, so I spilled my soul to you. Your turn.”

I didn’t know what to say. My soul felt empty of stories.

Mason’s fingers lightly traced the scar on the back of my neck. “Will you tell me about this?”

With a shudder, I closed my eyes. “She pretty much covered it all. There’s not much left to tell.”

“I want to hear it anyway. I want to hear it from you.”

So I told him, and afterward, he pulled me close. “I’ll do whatever I can to keep him from hurting you again.”

“I know.” It’s what I feared most.

I rested my cheek on his chest, glad to be with him, and doubly glad he hadn’t called me stupid for allowing Jeremy to manhandle me for so long. I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.

Dawn woke us when she came home, gasping loudly the moment she saw the babysitter in bed with her son.

Both Mason and I jerked upright as we sprang awake.

“Mom,” he said, slapping a hand over his heart, only to fall backward into his pillows and close his eyes. “Jesus, you gave me a heart attack.”

“I’m so sorry,” she bit out, throwing laser beams my way. “I wasn’t expecting to check on you and find you in bed…with Reese.”

Mason’s brow burrowed with disbelief. “You still check on me at night?”

“Yes! I’m your mother, aren’t I? Now, are you going to explain what you’re doing in bed with the babysitter or not?”

“Oh.” He sat up again and glanced at me. “Jeez, Mom, nothing happened. Look. We still have our clothes on.”

Dawn lifted one eyebrow, obviously not impressed. I edged a little closer to Mason. He found my hand under the blanket and clutched it hard.

“Sarah…she had a seizure,” he explained, “and Reese flipped out. She tried calling you first, but I don’t know, maybe she dialed the wrong number. Anyway, she couldn’t reach you, so she called me next. After we put the munchkin to sleep, Reese sort of lost it and started crying. I wasn’t sure what to do to help her. So I made her lie down and talk things through. Then we both fell asleep, and you came home, and that’s where we are now.”

His mother stared at him for a moment before she glanced at me. “Sarah had a seizure? Is she okay?”

“She’s fine,” Mason assured. “She seemed lucid and alert after it was over. We read some Harry Potter together before she went to bed.”

Dawn nodded and rubbed her forehead. “Good. Thanks for being here, Reese.” She glanced at me and frowned in concern. “Poor dear, you still look shaken. Your eyes are red and swollen.”

I glanced down, not sure how to lie as well as Mason had. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tugged me against his side. “I’m going to drive her home. Her friend called and needed to borrow her car, so she needs a ride.”

Startled by his quick thinking, I lifted my face. My brain still felt fried and overcooked. But he was so convincing, I almost found myself believing him. He even talked his mom into leaving his room before he crawled out of bed so she wouldn’t know he’d only been wearing boxer briefs under the covers.

“I can’t believe you just totally lied to her,” I hissed as soon as she was gone.

He sent me a scowl, telling me to keep my voice down. “I didn’t lie. Sarah really did have an attack and I calmed you down afterward. Just not tonight.”