Nervous

I turned around. “Just something I wanted and I always get what I want.”

He shook his head in dismay. “Are you going to tell Darnetta?”

I smirked. “Why would I do that? Just tell Darnetta and Mason that I fell ill and decided to catch a cab home. I’ve had enough of this event to last me a lifetime.”

I walked out the room, found the rear exit, and jetted. After getting settled in the back of a cab that I flagged down, I couldn’t help but laugh. Let Jon try to get closer to Mason. I already had my game in order.

16

jonquinette

I woke up lying in the middle of my living room floor. My head was splitting from a migraine and I was wearing only a bra and panties. I didn’t remember anything: leaving the wedding, the ride home, nothing. I wondered if I had done something crazy in front of Darnetta. Heaven forbid I had done something ridiculous in front of Mason.

I debated about calling Darnetta to make sure she’d gotten home okay and to snoop around about what had happened. Then I glanced at the clock and realized it was after two o’clock in the morning. I wouldn’t call anyone’s house that late. Not in a million years.

I decided to go to bed and deal with whatever happened in the morning. I had just crawled under my covers when a knock came at the door. Startled, I sat up in the bed and listened to see if I was imagining things. Another knock came; this time louder.

I got up, threw on a robe and went to look out the peephole. Oh no! It was Mason. He must have heard me moving around because he said, “Jonquinette, I know you’re home. Can we talk?”

I spoke softly through the door. “Mason, it’s really late. Can we do this tomorrow?”

“I just wanted to make sure that you’re okay. Logan said you weren’t feeling well and that’s why you left the wedding so suddenly.”

Logan? What in the world did Logan have to do with anything? Other than a brief introduction, I hadn’t spoken five words to him.

“Um, I do have a migraine but I’ll be fine.”

“You sure?”

“Yes, positive. Have a good night.”

I glanced through the peephole again and noticed he was still standing there staring at my door. He took a deep breath, started to walk away, and then hesitated. “Jonquinette, can you just open the door for one second? I’d feel a lot better if I could just see you. It’ll give me peace of mind.”

I decided there was nothing to lose. After fingering my hair and straightening up my robe, I inched the door open. “See, I’m fine, Mason.”

He chuckled. “It would help me out if I could see more than your eyeballs.”

I opened the door completely. “Is this better?”

He eyed me up and down and I tightened my robe around my chest.

“Definitely better. Well, you look okay,” he said. He touched my forehead with his palm. “No fever. Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor?”

“I’m sure. It was a long day and I just overdid it some. I have a history of anemia so my iron is probably low. I forgot to take my tablet earlier.”

Mason took me completely off guard by grabbing me into his arms and kissing me. He slipped his tongue into my mouth and at first I didn’t know how to react. Then something came alive inside me and I responded. It was the first time I had truly kissed a man and it felt great. He was gentle yet powerful and his arms around my waist made me feel comfortably at ease. For once, I wasn’t nervous.

He pushed me backward into my apartment and against the wall as the intensity of our kiss grew. It lasted for a good five minutes until . . .

. . . he grabbed my left breast and I freaked out.

I manuevered myself away from him. “I’m sorry, Mason. I can’t do this.”

He grinned at me and said, “I didn’t mean to rush you. We can take our time getting to know each other.”

I grinned back at him. “I’d like that. I’d like that very much.”

“So how about we start with a real date. Not one where we just happen to end up in the same place but one where we actually leave here together and come back here together.”