Page 62 of Every Breath

“Brandi! Wait. Come back!”

Brandi opened her car door, but Mason’s hand covered hers. “Let go, dammit.”

“No. You came to see me. Please don’t go.” He turned her around to face him.

“Why don’t you go back to your girlfriend!” She tried to twist out of his grip.

A look of confusion appeared on his face before understanding seemed to dawn on him. Mason burst out laughing. This was just too much.

She hit his chest. “What’s so damn funny?”

“You thought Luisa was my girlfriend?”

“You couldn’t wait to find someone else to warm your bed, could you?”

“Number one, Luisa is my very happily married housekeeper and had you stuck around you would have found that out. Number two, you’re adorable when you’re jealous.” Mason smiled down at her.

Brandi felt like an even bigger fool. “I have a way of jumping to conclusions, don’t I?” She couldn’t look him in the eyes.

“Yes, and the worst one you could have jumped to is that I would stop loving you so easily.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

“You…you still love me?” she asked uncertainly.

“Of course, I still love you. I could never stop loving you. Come inside. Ben and I were sorting through some baseball cards.”

“Ben is here? I’m sorry, I didn’t realize--”

“Don’t worry about it. Karen dropped him off with me because her mom is ill.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea for me to come in. You know our sons will talk and--”

“So what? They’ll talk. Does it really matter? Come in and stop being silly.” He took her hand and led her into the house. “Hey, Ben, look who’s come to visit.”

The child looked up from his baseball cards. His eyes lit up. “Hi, Miss Brandi. Did you bring DJ?” he asked hopefully.

“No. Just myself. I’m sorry. He’s at his cousin’s birthday party today.”

“Oh, well, do you want to help us sort these baseball cards?”

“Champ, Miss Brandi and I need to talk. How about you work on those cards and I’ll be back out to help you, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Come on, Brandi, let’s go to the sitting room. Would you like something to drink?”

She shook her head. Seeing him so at ease with his son, she wondered how it was possible that Mason was all the revolting things she thought he was. She took the seat he offered. He sat across from her.

An awkward silence filled the room. Not knowing exactly where to begin, she looked down into her lap. Mason was the first to speak.

“Brandi, I’m so glad you came. This past week without you has been hell.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I want to start by saying that I’m sorry you had to find out those things about me the way you did. I should have been upfront with you about my past. I suppose I kept it from you because I was scared of losing you.”

Her eyes widened. Was he sitting there admitting what he had done? Had she wasted a trip?

“I can see your doubts, but please hear me out.”

“That’s what I came for.”

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