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Her eyes shot up to his face. “I didn’t hit on you.Youhitmewith a ball. On purpose.”
“Which you followed up by complimenting my chest. Pretty bold thing to say to a total stranger. Definitely a come on.”
“You’re callingmebold? The first line out of your mouth was about virgins and lap dancers.Thatwas bold. I almost laid into you for that comment.”
He scooped her hands from her hips. Placed them palms down on his chest and started walking her backward out of the bathroom. “But you went with hitting on me instead.”
“It’s amazing your head fit through that doorway.”
He steered them around the bed, smiling when her mouth turned down at the corners. Yeah, he wanted to go there too. Wasn’t quite time for it yet. He guided her onto the cushioned bench in the bay window. Held her hands on his body as he lowered to his knees.
“I’ve thought about meeting you at that ballpark every day since it happened. At first because it was damn hot, and I wondered how I managed to get so fucking lucky that night.” At that, her cheeks turned pretty pink. He smiled and nudged her thighs wider, shuffling forward until all that separated them was a few scraps of clothing and his wavering willpower. “The luck kept on coming, because you agreed to see me again, and then again. Being with you is natural and easy. But it’s also this incredible rush. I’ve never had this with another person.”
“For me too.” She slid her hands from his shoulders to the back of his neck, where she toyed with his hair. Another piece of heaven he’d been missing.
Her face was close. It’d be so easy to kiss her right now. Skip straight to the making up and moving on.
The only way to resist was to pull back, which he did with some difficulty. “I don’t know exactly when it happened, but I started thinking about the day we met and imagining telling the story to our family. At our wedding. To our kids, grandkids.”
“Mason…”
“I told you how I felt and what I wanted, more than once, but you never told me.”
“Mason, I—”
He brushed his thumb over her lips to stop her. “And I turned into an idiot because of it. I stupidly bought into other people’s shit. I let it feed my doubts. So I bailed, and I did it prick-style, because I knew I’d never be able to let you go if I had to see your face or hear your voice. I was a coward and a fool.”
“Don’t forget dickwad.”
“Yeah, definitely that.”
ANDIE
Scott had offered to come clean with Mason. She’d beenthis closeto saying yes. Part of her had wanted Scott to suffer for the rift he’d caused—and going to Mason, tail between his legs to confess, would’ve pummeled Scott’s high-and-mighty attitude. In the end, she’d made Scott promisenotto set things straight. If it’d been that easy to scare Mason off, she didn’t want him back. No matter how badly she wanted him.
Now here he was, on his knees, begging for another chance. Even though nothing had changed. Or had it?
“Did Scott talk to you a second time?” Even keeping her eyes on his face, she didn’t miss the way all his muscles tensed at the question. “Yes, I know about his initial visit to your office. He admitted everything last weekend…after we saw you at the restaurant. I need to know if you’ve heard from him since then.”
“No.” His jaw clenched. “He said enough the first time.”
That he had. Enough to make Mason bolt. She almost didn’t blame Mason—Scott won big legal cases because he was unbelievably convincing. And she hadn’t exactly given Mason reason to think Scott was wrong.
She wanted to grab him. Bury her face in his chest and tell him everything. But she needed to be sure before throwing the doors to her heart wide open. Again.
“Why come back now? Nothing’s changed since the day you hid in your office and stopped answering my calls.” The day he shattered her fragile dreams.
“Yeah, it has. I opened my eyes.” He cupped her face in his hands. “You love me, or you did. You showed me every day. All the little things, the big things, the trust you gave me… I don’t need the words, babe, I just need you.”
A lump caught in her throat. He got it. He gother. “What about the other stuff?” She chose her words carefully. “I know what Scott told you about the miscarriages. And I know you want a family someday. What if I’m incapable of that?”
“You could’ve told me. Those times I wasn’t careful…shit.” He shook his head. “Truth is, I think part of me wanted you to get pregnant. To give you a big reason to commit to us when I wasn’t sure you would otherwise. But I swear, I will never selfishly put you at risk again.”
Not telling him was killing her. “It’s sweet that you want to protect me, but that doesn’t answer the question.”
His thumb swept over her cheek to tuck a wayward strand of hair behind her ear. “Yeah, I want a family.”
A different door to her heart opened. The trapdoor.
