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“She told me it was over. That she never wanted to see me again because Nicole told her I was cheating. I wasn’t.” Each word was underlined in anger as his face constricted. “She wouldn’t believe me. And I thought, why should she? Nicole does such a good job lying. I almost believe her myself with all the details she gave.”

I bit down on my bottom lip. Shit. I felt like an idiot. It was the same thing Nicole had done to me to drive a wedge between us before we could even get started. “She must have realized she was pregnant and then thought you’d cheated…” I should probably have kept my mouth shut, but the realization hit me hard, and I sank into the couch beside him. His reaction was real. If he was that good of an actor, he’d have earned an Oscar by now.

He buried his face in his hands while his body shuddered. After a minute, he parted his fingers and looked up at me, his sapphire eyes glowing with tears. “If I’d known…” It was a plea. “I was respecting her wishes, not seeing her again.”

I lifted a hand to comfort him, but let it drop back in my lap, useless. “Travis doesn’t know the truth. He thinks you abandoned her,” I said.

“Oh God,” Mason moaned. “I thought it was because he thought I cheated on her. You said my mother bribed her into…into getting rid of the baby? My baby? That may have been my only chance I’ll ever get at being a father.”

I was so wholly unequipped for this conversation. But I’d gotten myself into it, and it wasn’t like we were going anywhere. “Your mother offered to send her to the college of her choice. She’s at Harvard.”

He nodded, swallowing hard. “The opposite side of the country from Stanford. No wonder my mother was okay with me going so far away. I can’t believe she wanted her own grandchild gone.”

“Mason, I’m sorry. I didn’t think— I had no idea you didn’t know.” I examined my fingers as I wrung them together.

“You thought I’d abandoned my own child and Lupe. You believed I was that horrible? I mean, I know you haven’t known me long, but, but how could you think that, Sam?”

“Don’t you try to turn this around on me. Why should I have given you the benefit of the doubt? Sure, you seem too good to be true, but appearances can be deceiving. And all the evidence pointed to— Well, to you being an asshole just like so many others of the male sex.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, Mason looking pained, me feeling uncomfortable. I pulled a throw pillow onto my lap and played with the golden tassel.

“Mason, I’m sorry you had to find out this way. That wasn’t fair.”

He glanced at me. “It isn’t your fault.”

I managed a feeble smile.

“You’re right,” he continued. “You should stay as far away from me and my family as possible. We’re poison.”

Heart squeezing again, I reached out, this time laying a hand on his. “You’re not poison. She should still have told you. She should have given you a chance to explain.”

“You weren’t going to,” Mason said, watching my hand on his like he didn’t trust himself to move.

“I wasn’t sleeping with you.” I cleared my throat. But he wasn’t wrong. I might be the biggest hypocrite ever. I’d judged all men, lumping him in with my father as a liar without a second thought. I was the one being sexist, and it stung like hell.

Mason faced me and cupped my cheek in his hand. “I never wanted to hurt her, or you. You should run away from me while you can. Me? I’m trapped. No matter how far I run, I’ll always be a Bennet.” He rubbed my skin with his thumb. My entire arm tingled with his touch as my heart climbed into my throat.

“I’m kind of trapped at the moment too,” I said, attempting some comic relief.

He grinned, and his other hand slid up to my face. “That’s a problem.”

“How so?” I breathed.

“Because I’m a weak man, and I may not be able to stop from kissing you. Whatever I had with Lupe, it wasn’t real. I knew it then, because all I could think of was you, studying the charts in your father’s office. I know it now because I can’t stop from touching you.”

My pulse raced out of control as he leaned in, moving slow in case I chose to bolt. My head screamed at me to shove him away. I had done the same thing with Travis an hour earlier, though all I could think about then had been Mason, just as he said he thought of me when he was with Lupe. Mason’s family was trouble. He was trouble. But as much as I wanted to deny it, it was more than just my insane libido with him. I couldn’t blame these feelings on DSI.

Our lips connected and mine parted. A soft moan escaped my throat as his tongue tentatively explored my mouth, much slower than our last connection. Unable to stand my growing need, I thrust my own tongue forward, far more forcefully, and pressed my cold wet chest against his.

He pulled me to the couch, leaning over me, our mouths exploring each other as I removed my dress and tossed it behind the sofa. He growled appreciatively and climbed over me, laying me back down as our tongues continued their dance. His taut skin rubbed against mine, igniting a trail of fire along my flesh. I hooked my leg around his bottom and pulled him closer, throwing my head back as he nipped his way down my neck. His fingers prodded at the thin material of my bra.

“You are gorgeous,” he said, tossing my bra to join my discarded dress. He pulled back just enough to look at my nipples, already hard in anticipation of his touch.

His thumbs circled them slowly before he leaned forward to suck one into his mouth. His tongue looped around it in a swirl that made my hips thrust against him. The rough material of his jeans couldn’t hide his erection, and I reached down to release him.

“I don’t have protection,” he said through a heavy breath.

“I’m on the pill,” I responded.