“Do you cook other things besides breakfast?” I graze my fingertips against the smooth marble countertops.
“I can. I don’t do it that often, though.” He stands a few feet away with his arms crossed at his chest.
When Mason finally ushers me from the kitchen, he continues to enthusiastically show me around the other parts of the house. It has four bedrooms and a pool. The backyard opens up to the top of the hill with pocket doors providing an indoor-outdoor feel to the living space. The primary bedroom and the office both share the same floor-to-ceiling views as the main part of the house.
“Why such a big house if you’re the only one who’s ever going to live here?” I ask, spinning around on my heels in the elaborate walk-in closet.
Mason rests his shoulder against the door frame, looking at me from the side. “Who said I wasn’t ever going to share it with anyone?”
I fold my arms at my chest. “If you had anyone else in your life, you wouldn’t still be messing around with me.” His jaw clenches in response. “What I mean is, if you never have plans on spending your life with someone, then why have all this space if not to share it?” I try to explain my flippant question.
“Why do you think you’re here? I wanted a woman’s perspective on the house.”
I can’t deny the sadness that envelops me when I hear that he wants my perspective for the benefit of someone else. “That makes sense.” I sigh. “Well, I think it’s beautiful and, to behonest, it looks like a home that I would choose for myself. So, I can see why you like it so much.”
“Thank you. Do you like the closet?” He starts to unfasten the buttons on the sleeves of his shirt, rolling them up to his elbows the way he always does.
I love it when he wears his dress shirts so casually like that. The back of my neck burns while I watch him complete such an average task, not at all surprised by my quick arousal. “I love it. All this shelving for shoes is fabulous.”
“You do have a lot of shoes.”
I squint my eyes, slightly blushing. “You’ve noticed how many shoes I have?”
Mason laughs with a wide smile, showing off his fresh-out-of-braces, straight teeth. “I’ve seen how they literally fall out of your small closet.”
I bite my lip, embarrassed that he noticed something like that but also a little pleased by his attentiveness. “Well, I’m sure your future girlfriend will appreciate the size of this space.” The words sting as they land on my ears. I pull my lips to the side of my mouth, attempting to hold in all that I want to say to him, which is that I’m falling in love with him.
The thought of Mason being intimate with someone else makes me sick to my stomach. I wish I had the courage to tell him how I feel, but I can’t yet. There’s too much at stake. At this point, I’d rather be with him in this context than not at all. And I fear looping him in on my inner thoughts and liquid heart would scare him away, perhaps even ending what we have. There’s also the possibility that hypothetically he was pleased by my admission; how long would that be until he gets tired of me or tired of being in a long-term relationship?
“Yeah,” he answers, his focus toward the hardwood floors beneath his feet, then he turns around, leaving the confined space of the walk-in closet.
I quietly follow him, sensing a heavy thickness in the room. Slipping both my arms around his core, I bring my body flush with his from behind.
“What do you see in this room?” he asks in a soft tone.
Our bodies remain connected while his warm energy seeps into my veins. I answer his question without a sarcastic rebuttal. “Well, I think the bed should face this jaw-dropping view with the back of it pushed up against the wall behind us. I see neutral and muted tones in here. Maybe some greenery in the corner and a TV mounted on the wall to the left.” I nuzzle my nose and lips into the fabric of his black dress shirt.
Mason slowly turns in my arms. His hands find my lower back, nudging me into him. “Bailey?”
“Yes?”
“We should probably get you home. Thanks for coming tonight,” he says before dropping his arms to his sides.
“Yes, you’re right.” I get a slight chill and unintentionally wrap my arms around myself.
I know without a shadow of a doubt that was not what Mason wanted to say to me. I’m not quite sure what he intended to say or why he concealed it, but I’m left feeling a sense of vacancy in my chest.
“Wait.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and quickly wonder what and why I’m about to do what I’m going to do. But I feel compelled to offer him something. My insides burn for him, and I cannot deny that. I need to show him what I’m feeling without actually verbalizing it.
He comes to a standstill. “Yes?”
I’m faced with his back until he rotates his body to face me. “What do you say we break in the new place?” I say, stepping closer to him. I bring one leg up at a time, grabbing both heels and slipping them off. I toss both shoes a few feet away, barelymaking a sound as they hit the high-piled cream carpet in the bedroom.
Mason clicks his tongue, his eyes roaming the length of my body and possibly considering my offer. “I’m open to that. You always look hot in your uniform.”
I drop to my knees in front of him.
He jerks his head down to my level, his forehead pinched. “What are you doing?”
