Frenemies

“Always dramatic,” he murmured, fixing his gaze on mine. “If you’d almost died, you’d have tried to kill me by now.”

“Maybe I’m biding my time.” My voice was quiet. “I have access to knitting needles and paintbrushes.”

“And I’m sure you are positively terrifying wielding those at the old ladies who buy them.”

“No idea, but I’m sure they’d be great to shove six inches inside your rectum.”

“That’s the poshest way anyone has ever told me to shove something up my ass.”

“Oh, I’m not telling you to do it. I’ll do it for you. Really wedge them up there. If you’re lucky, I’ll pierce your brain, and you’ll stop getting so close to me.”

Mason tilted his head to the side, his eyes still focused on mine, his lips oh-so-slowly curving upward. “I don’t think so.”

“I guess I’ll need some longer knitting needles, then.”

“See, here’s what you’re not noticing, Immy.” He dipped his head, sliding one hand across the counter so his lips were close to my ear. “You’re the one who stepped closer to me a second ago, and you didn’t even realize it. You say you can’t stand to be near me, but when I offered you a coffee, you said yes. You could have said no, handed me the pancakes, explained the ladder, and left.

“Yet, here you are. Practically touching me, and you haven’t tried to move away once. So while I hope—and I cannot express this enough—that you don’t try to shove anything up my ass, knitting needles or otherwise, it doesn’t really matter.”

“How do you figure that?”

“Because I’m even closer to you than I was ten seconds ago, and you still haven’t tried to push me away.”

I drew in a deep breath. He was right. Inches seemed so big when there was nothing but mere millimeters, nothing more than a hair width, separated you. His breath darted across my skin, making me shiver.

I wasn’t going to do this.

I was going to be a big girl and control myself.

Yup. I was. I swear.

I took a deep breath and stepped back from him. “I need to go.”

Turning around, I bolted out of the house and pulled the door shut behind me. My heart was beating entirely too fast for my liking, and I could still feel the remnants of the shiver that had just wracked my body. It was like thousands of tiny needles all pricking my skin and sending goosebumps all over me.

I swore I could hear him laughing, but I honestly didn’t know if it was just my memory at this point.

I disappeared back into my own house and slammed the door shut, leaning against it. I blew out a deep breath and closed my eyes, tilting my head back.

“What’s wrong?”

I opened my eyes and looked at Grandma.

“Didn’t he like the pancakes?” Her eyes widened innocently.

Too innocently.

I pushed off the door and paused at the bottom of the stairs. “You know damn well he likes them.”

Her sly grin gave her away. “I bet that’s not all he likes.”

“I told you. Stop it,” I huffed, storming up the stairs. Her cackling followed me up, echoing off the walls, and I could even hear it after I’d shut myself in the bathroom in pursuit of a toothbrush.

I picked up the toothpaste and stopped.

I could switch his toothpaste for shaving cream.

But how the hell did I get to his toothpaste?

CHAPTER TEN – MASON

When Past And Present Collide

I wasn’t entirely sure how I’d forgotten that puppies will shit anywhere and everywhere on their pursuit of an empty bowel.

I wrapped the last of the wire around the holder on the carpet cleaner my mother had insisting on giving me for Christmas and pushed it back through to the utility room. I honestly didn’t think I’d ever been grateful for it—until now.

The thing was a lifesaver.

“Uh-oh,” Maya said, looking at Dolly, who was sitting outside on the porch staring through the sliding glass doors.

“Uh-oh indeed,” I said. “She can stay outside for twenty minutes. She’s fenced in and she won’t get lost.”

“I play ball?” She looked at me with her blue eyes wide and pleading.

I wavered on it for a moment. Dolly was outside to do her business, but it wasn’t like she was actually doing it anyway.

“Fine, okay. Go play with her.”

“Yay!” Maya jumped off the sofa and ran to the back door, stopping to grab a bright pink tennis ball from the floor on the way. She slid open the unlocked door and ran outside, instantly throwing the ball so Dolly could catch in. In her excitement, Dolly went ass over head and fell off the patio with a tiny yelp. Before I could get to her, she bounded back up and chased after Maya.

I shook my head and shut the utility room door. I needed to order more puppy pads to save the rest of my carpet and some stronger carpet cleaning solution.