Page 19 of Every Breath

“I’m not a devil, just a devious angel. Besides, I said I wouldn’t interfere; I didn’t say I couldn’t give you a couple of helpful…suggestions.”

“Well, you certainly?—”

“Who are you talking to, Dad?”

Mason turned around. His son was looking for signs of another person, but Paul was gone. “No one, sport. I was just talking to myself. Where’s DJ?”

“He’s downstairs playing the game.” Ben grinned. “Mom says that talking to yourself is a sign of craziness.”

“Did she now? What else does your Mom say?” He smiled indulgently, ruffling the child’s bright red hair.

“She said that you’re probably being nice to me lately because you probably need to shoot another commercial and you want me in it,” Ben said solemnly. His big green eyes looked at him as if he were trying to figure out whether it was true.

Mason’s heart went out to the child although he only knew him for a short time. It was really a shame that until now there wasn’t a better relationship between father and son.

He also found it disconcerting that Karen would tell Ben something like this, regardless of whether it had been true in the past or not. Involving children in adult squabbles was not cool. He made a mental note to talk to Karen when he dropped Ben off at the end of the weekend.

Mason knelt in front of Ben, taking the child’s chin between his fingers so that their eyes met. “Do you feel that a commercial is the only reason I want to spend time with you, son?”

Ben shrugged. “I don’t know.”

“Yes, you do. You can tell me the truth.”

“Well, you didn’t come to my party and you promised me you would, and the last time you took me out, you brought that woman with you. She wasn’t very nice. She told me that my freckles were ugly and that I would never be handsome like you.” A tear slid down the boy’s cheek, which he hastily wiped away. Pain coursed through Mason’s body at what this child must have gone through.

“Listen to me, Ben. I’m sorry things were the way they were before, but I promise to make it up to you. You’re my son and you’re very important to me.” He pulled Ben into his arms. Ben wrapped his thin arms tightly around his neck.

“I love you, Dad,” the boy whispered against his neck.

Mason’s heart swelled with pride. He felt a strong connection to this boy. “And I love you, too.” Strangely enough, he meant it.

Ben pulled out of his embrace, and he had a huge smile on his face. “DJ challenged you to a game of Madden. He beat me, but I think you can take him.”

“Hmm, I think I should be able to give him a challenge. He’s going down.”

Mason smiled as Ben tucked his hand into his and led him downstairs to the game room.

Pulling up into her driveway, Brandi still couldn’t get over what had happened between her and Mason. How could she have let him kiss her like that? It defied all reason. She never looked at a white guy in a sexual way before, let alone allowed one to take such liberties with her body. But his touch… Dammit, why did Mason Collins have to come into her life and complicate things? The sexual charge between them was too explosive to deny, which was why she knew she couldn’t have anything to do with him.

Her breasts tingled when she remembered how his hot mouth felt against her skin and when he touched her pussy. Brandi thought she would explode right then and there.

Get yourself together, girl. You have your children and Rodney to think of.

Rodney!

Holy crap! She’d forgotten about him. He never made her feel so wild, nor had he filled her with a passion that threatened to possess her very soul. His kisses were pleasant, but they didn’t make her feel as Mason’s kisses did.

To be fair, she and Rodney had never had sex aside from the night before they had gotten engaged. Even then, she couldn’t remember what had happened. She knew he wanted to have a more intimate relationship with her because he had mentioned it a number of times, but she was usually able to put him off by telling him she wanted to wait until after the wedding.

After Mason’s embrace she realized how lacking in passion her and Rodney’s relationship was. Maybe it wasn’t a good idea to marry him when a practical stranger could make her delirious with lust with just one stroke of his finger. Damn you, Mason.

As she got out of her car, she noticed Rodney’s SUV parked on the side of the street. Almost on cue, he got out. Brandi waited anxiously as he approached. How could she look him in the eyes after what she had done tonight?

“Brandi, I thought you were going to call me.” He didn’t look happy.

“As you can see, I’m just getting home. I told you I would call after I dropped DJ off.”

“But did it have to take you so long to drop him off? We spoke nearly two hours ago. Where else did you go? Were you out with someone?” His voice was insistent, demanding.

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