Page 30 of My Secret Santa Mason

I took a sip of the wine, letting the warmth settle in my chest. It was strong, smooth, and the tension melted from my shoulders.The nervousness I’d been carrying around since I came to Silver Ridge faded away and I finally felt like I could breathe again.

Why hadn’t I had something to drink sooner? But it wasn’t just the wine. It was everything about this cabin, about the rugged mountain man who sat next to me, closer than before.

I liked it. His warmth seeped into me and his big blocky form was comforting.

Mason seemed more relaxed, too. He didn’t seem so broody, like he was waiting for something to go wrong.

“This is nice,” I said, swirling the wine. “I don’t remember the last time I sat and just… enjoyed the quiet.”

Mason looked at me, his eyes intense. “There’s never really time to relax, huh?”

I shrugged. “I guess not. I’m always thinking about the next thing. The next event. The next goal. That’s the only way to move forward and grow, you know? Always keep moving.”

“That’s a very wise way of looking at the world.”

He leaned back in his chair, his large frame filling the space, but there was something almost gentle about the way he looked at me. “So, what are you working so feverishly toward, then? What’s the reason you don’t stop moving?”

I chuckled. “That’s the question, isn’t it?” I sipped my wine. “I haven’t really put it to words.” I thought about it, looking toward the fire while I thought. “I want… more than what I had before. If that makes any sense.”

Mason only nodded, keeping quiet so that I could fill the silence.

“I want a life I can share with someone. I want to build something that lasts, something that shows I was here. It seems silly to say but I want to have something to prove that I was alive, that I existed. I don’t want to fade away, forgotten.”

“I doubt you’re someone anyone can forget,” Mason said with a smirk. “You’re a force to be reckoned with.”

I raised my eyebrows. “You think so?”

“You’re the only one I know who would fight me in a blizzard.”

I laughed. I guess he was right, although that wasn’texactlywhat had happened. I’d just been caught off guard by his large looming shape in front of me when I’d thought I was lost and alone, that I would be stuck out there forever.

Mason’s eyes softened as he listened, and there was something in his expression that made my heart skip a beat. “You’re strong,” he said. “Stronger than you think. Whatever you want to do… you can do it if you really put your mind to it. It’s just a matter of willpower.”

I blinked at him. No one had ever said that to me before. Not like that, in so many words.

Actually, now that I thought about it, not at all.

My ex-fiancé had always made me feel like I wasn’t enough, like I had to prove myself to him, to everyone. But Mason looked at me like I was already enough.

Like I didn’t need to change a thing. It was a new sensation and it made me shiver.

“Thank you,” I said softly. “I don’t think anyone’s ever said that to me before.”

His brow furrowed. “Then they didn’t see you for what you are.”

A lump rose in my throat. It was this damn wine, making me emotional, making me say things I usually wouldn’t.

The air shifted between us, the atmosphere growing thick. Electricity crackled just beneath the surface and it was impossible to ignore. I suddenly yearned for Mason. I wanted him to touch me, to kiss me. I wanted him to cover my body with his, to slide into me so that we were melded together. The way he looked at me, the way his eyes darkened when I spoke, made me ache.

Mason shifted a little closer and slid his hand under my hair, cupping my neck. His thumb brushed my pulse and my breath caught in my throat. His eyes were drowning deep and filled with a lust that echoed mine, and it sent a shiver down my spine.

Mason was so much larger than me, so much more intimidating, but there was a gentleness about him. Something that made me feel like he could take me, he could break me, but he wouldn’t.

My eyes slid to his lips.

Mason moved closer, his thumb tracing my jaw and sparks shot through my veins. I was breathless, frozen in place as he leaned in, his presence overwhelming, his scent intoxicating. He was so close now that the warmth of his breath caressed my skin, the tension between us unbearable.

Then he kissed me.

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