Page 23 of A Little More Hope

But he wasn't ready, and I got that. He hadn’t yet come to terms with the upheaval in his life, and adding me in alongside everything else he was going through would be one more complication he didn’t need. It sucked, but I had to learn to live with it and move on.

A hand on my arm, the grip firm but gentle, had me turning to face the man hell-bent on screwing with my equilibrium.

“Let’s eat before the food gets cold.” He led me to the table, his warm hold on my arm a comforting presence. We sat and the delicious smell of the food assailed my nostrils making my mouth water. I picked up my fork and dug into the creamy chicken and pasta as he poured us both some wine. I raised an eyebrow at him when he poured a small glass for himself.

“Only one,” he chided me gently, so I lifted my glass, the warm air already causing condensation to bead the sides, and after clinking with his, took a big gulp, hoping the alcohol went some way to loosening the residual tension in my neck and shoulders.

“So,” I said, needing a change of topic to get us back to normality. “I’m gonna make a start with the demo work on my house tomorrow morning.” I gave him a crooked smile. “I’d appreciate your help; if you still want to, that is?” He’d offered earlier, but I wanted to ensure I wasn't forcing him into working with me as he’d only mentioned it one time.

His grin went from ear to ear, warming me all the way through. “Yes, I want to, though we’ll need to check out and apply for whatever permits you need before we begin. So, any demo will have to wait until we have those.”

“Not a problem. Aunt Mary Ellen had told me she’d finally decided to renovate her home and had received all the relevant permits before she…she…before she died.” I swallowed the lump in my throat. I found saying the words out loud so hard to do. I cleared my throat, my voice only cracking slightly when I continued. “They should still be valid, but I’ll check the dates on them to be sure. All I’ll be doing is following her original plans, as what she wanted to do is pretty much the same as what I want too, so we shouldn’t need to apply for any additional ones.” When I’d lived with my aunt, we’d often discussed updating the house and what changes we’d make. Perhaps she somehow sensed her time was running out and wanted to be prepared, to give me a reason to stay rather than just sell her home to strangers.

I needed a moment to compose myself so forked in another mouthful of the delicious food, savoring the taste.

“Have you done any demolition on a house previously, since you know all about permits?” I asked, wanting to move on from thinking about my aunt.

He chewed his food, and as he swallowed, I wondered how the motion might feel under my lips. “Once or twice,” he replied airily, his comment coming across as too offhand for some reason, instantly pinging my radar.

“So, what is it you do again?” I asked, knowing full well he’d never told me what he did for a living.

He smirked. “I run a construction company with three friends.”

My eyebrows shot into my hairline at this tidbit of information. “Wow. So cool. That means I get to have my own personal contractor on hand every day. Do I need to get references, to make sure you’re legal and have your license?”

His laugh was light and carefree. “It’s always wise,” he replied, his eyes twinkling, setting butterflies off in my belly. “Otherwise, you’ll end up getting screwed.”

The very notion of getting screwed by Mason nearly gave me heart palpitations. Fuck, I could just tell he’d be amazing in bed. He gave off an innate raw sexuality and subtle dominant vibe. Nothing too overt, covering his true self with a veneer of civility, but I imagined once he got someone in bed and under him, they’d witness his real nature emerging and be in for the ride of their life.

God, I wanted so badly to be on that ride.

“And we wouldn’t want anyone to be screwed, now would we?” I’d deliberately left my response as a question to gauge his reaction, and the way his cheeks colored pleased me to no end, confirming his mind had followed along the exact same path mine had.

His gaze became heated once more, rapidly flicking up and down my body, giving me a quick once-over. “Definitely not,” he murmured in reply, leaving me unsure. His eyes were saying one thing, but his mouth something else entirely. Which one was real? Which one was true?

“Is it only the four of you working at the company?” I asked, lifting my glass to take another sip of wine, trying to get the conversation back on track.

He studied me for a while and I resisted the temptation to squirm as his eyes searched my face, like I was being weighed and measured, trying to decide if he should give me more information or not or if he trusted me enough with what he was about to reveal. A small thrill went through me when he finally spoke, as I recognized he’d made up his mind. “We have a few more people working for us,” he hedged.

I instantly deduced he hadn’t told me the whole story, so I arched my eyebrow again and waited.

His lips quirked, showing he liked the fact I didn’t let him off the hook so easily. “Okay, okay.” He inhaled deeply and let the air out long and slow before giving me another direct look. “At the last count, we employed around forty-five thousand people.”

My jaw dropped and my eyes bugged.

Holy shit!

“The numbers go up and down, and not all those are full time. We hire a lot of contractors for the construction jobs, but all those are overseen by permanent personnel.”

I sat there, dumbstruck, staring at him as he studied my reaction like a hawk.

“Mason,” I croaked. “The fuck?”

His deep laughter, rich and sexy, filtered into my consciousness despite dealing with the shock of what he’d told me.

He owns a huge ass construction company. God, how embarrassed am I, asking him to help on my crappy little house demo? I must look such a fool and so small town compared to him when he builds whole housing developments or hotels or offices or whatever he does.

“So, only the one or two demos then, huh?” I managed to add.

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