Page 89 of The Secret Castle in the Highlands

‘At times, that’s very true.’

I shoved up the sleeves of my ribbed blue cardigan. ‘And what’s that supposed to mean?’

Mason’s jaw tightened. ‘You’re so wrapped up with this Scarlet Highwayman character, I don’t think any real man could compete with him if I tried … I mean, he tried.’

‘Rubbish,’ I bit back. ‘From where I’m standing, you’re just trotting out a list of excuses to try to explain your behaviour.’

‘And what behaviour might that be?’

I started to speak, but the clanging of the office doorbell interrupted.

It was Orla and Jack.

Orla blinked out of her deep brown eyes. ‘Are you two arguing?’

Jack snatched his wife’s arm. ‘Come on. Back outside with you, Orla. Give them a minute or two.’

We watched Jack guiding a reluctant Orla in the direction of the harbour.

I sighed. ‘They’re lovely people, but the sooner they leave Port Starr, the better.’

Mason flicked me a look. ‘I thought you were enjoying our little role play.’

Jumping to my feet, I marched towards the door and yanked it open. ‘I think you should leave.’

Mason continued to sit there. ‘I don’t think you mean that.’

‘Yes,’ I ground out. ‘I do. All this is getting messy and it’s the last thing I need right now.’

He stood up, never taking his attention away from my lips. ‘And what is it you need right now, Poppy?’

I glowered back at him. ‘I need to get on with some work and focus on what’s important. Now, if you’ll excuse me.’

In one swift movement, Mason was in front of me and pulled me into his arms. His eyes, hard and uncompromising moments before, were now soft. He lowered his mouth to mine, murmuring against my lips, ‘This isn’t for their benefit. It’s for me.’

His hungry mouth crushed mine, teasing and tasting. Sparks of excitement lit up in my chest as his tongue caressed mine. I wanted to push him away. I knew what I should do, but as his hands reached around to my back, pressing me deeper against him, my breath became ragged.

Mason’s kiss deepened.

That jolted me back to reality. I wriggled out of his muscular arms. ‘You arrogant sod!’ I blurted, dazzling lights still exploding behind my eyes. ‘Don’t ever do that again.’

He looked dangerous. ‘I know you don’t mean that, Poppy. You enjoyed that every bit as much as I did.’

I couldn’t let Mason in. Not anymore. This was just a pretence anyway. ‘You don’t know anything about me,’ I protested hotly. ‘If your parents weren’t out there right now…’

‘You’d what?’ His charged eyes flickered.

I moved back behind the safety of the desk. My legs felt like water. ‘For their sake, I won’t say anything about our little arrangement, but as soon as they leave Port Starr, that’s it.’

Mason’s mouth twisted. ‘They’ve decided to head off on their road trip tomorrow.’

‘Good.’

‘And I’m heading out of town for a few days on business.’

I ignored a frisson of disappointment. ‘That’s even better.’

I waited for him to fill the silence with some sort of explanation, but he didn’t.