Page 21 of Sensual Nights

"I really like you, Mason. Really like you. I've been watching you from afar for a long time, and while I didn't expect us to have sex today, I'm not sorry. I... I guess I don't know what else to say. I don't know what you're looking for. I'm not necessarily looking for anything from you. I just wanted to get to know you better, and things got sexy, and I'm not sorry."

He watched her as she spoke. A grin hitched up on one side of his mouth. He said, "I'm not sorry either and I've been watching you from afar too. I saw you the first time you came in with your sister. I think it was after her husband died, and you all looked..." He swallowed. "Well, I'm gonna take that back. She looked sad. You and your other sisters didn't look as sad, more mad or something. But I remember watching you. You comforted her. You were there for her, and I thought you were incredibly beautiful. I don't want to burden you with anything, Carley. I would like to get to know you better, too. I just want to be honest, I guess. It might not be easy."

She smiled. Her heart felt a little lighter, knowing he wanted to get to know her better, too. "Well, I can't say I'm looking for easy. What I'm looking for is someone I really want to spend time with and someone who really wants to spend time with me. I've never had that ever. I have never had that in my entire life. And you seem kind of lonely, and I am lonely, and I thought maybe our two loveless souls would find each other, and we'd enjoy each other's company."

He kissed her lips softly. "I'd like to get to know you better too. I’m not gonna lie, I liked our afternoon together."

She chuckled. "I did too."

He kissed her one more time and then he pulled her to his body and hugged her tightly.

She wrapped her arms around him and hugged him right back. They stood together for a long time, just holding each other, and that felt better than anything she could ever explain. To just have someone hug you, want to hug you, and want nothing else from you. She hadn't even realized it till right now. What did that say about her?

14

Carley left a while later. He wanted to ask her to stay. They could have watched a movie, but he didn't even have his TV up, and maybe it was just time for them to part for the day. They both had a lot to think about. Maybe tomorrow she would decide he was more bother than he was worth. She didn't really understand what it was like with him. He didn't know how to explain it.

He started unpacking a box in the living room and putting together a shelving unit he had purchased before and never set up. He hung his TV. The whole time he was doing all this, even though he was excited about his new condo and how it was coming together, it felt sort of empty. He liked watching Carley in the kitchen putting things away. She hummed. She seemed happy doing even menial tasks. So much different than what he was. She really was a bright ray of sunshine.

He looked at his phone. It was about eight-fifteen. Normally, he'd be working this time of day, but Jace told him to take the day off. He'd unpack for another hour, and then he'd go to sleep. Actually, what he should do is go in his bathroom and get that organized. He was gonna take a shower every day. Maybe two,the way things were working out here. It was pretty warm and humid in Florida.

He sauntered to his bathroom and began unpacking the boxes. There were only three. Bath towels took up one box. The other two were a scale and his razor, blades, and bandages. The last box held shampoo, shower soap, his brush and comb, a blow dryer, aspirin, and other pain reliever products. He probably could have gotten the last two boxes into one, but he had the boxes and decided to keep them light.

After unpacking his bathroom, he unpacked his clothes. He felt pretty good about his first day at the condo. He never dreamed he and Carley would have had sex and hoped it wouldn't be the last time. Then again, he was apprehensive about getting involved. Tomorrow would be a new day, and he'd see how things were with him and Carley then.

The next morning,Mason woke, looked around the room, and realized he'd slept most of the night. He remembered waking up a couple of times, but he went back to sleep easily. He didn't have the nightmares. He just woke up. His mind thought of Carley every time he woke. He laid back down and closed his eyes and remembered how she felt, how she smelled, how she sounded. He managed to go back to sleep and liked that feeling the most.

He woke, stretched and scratched his chest. Leaving his comfy bed, he strolled into the kitchen and grinned. Carley had made the coffee and set the timer. He looked into each of the cupboards to see where everything was and chuckled. She had everything so neat and organized. Even his coffee cups were perfectly lined up.

He grabbed his phone, sat on the sofa with his cup of coffee, and texted her.

"Good morning. Thank you so much for organizing my kitchen and making coffee. It was easy for me to find a cup to pour my coffee in this morning. What a nice surprise. Thank you again for all you did yesterday. I really do appreciate it."

He sent it off with a huff wondering if she'd respond right away. He sipped at his coffee, scrolled on his phone looking at the news, and then her text popped up.

"Good morning. I was happy to help you out. I'm available anytime you want some help, and I really did enjoy getting to know you better. I hope to see you soon, Carley."

He stared at the text, "Hope to see you soon."

He responded without giving it a whole lot of thought.

"I have to work tonight until eight. If it's not too late, we could go out for a drink somewhere, or we could just go for a drive, or something else."

He sent it off wondering if that was the right thing to do, and if she said yes, what would they do? No sense in worrying about it all right now. He could always ask Marco where to go. She responded right away.

"Or something else, what does that mean?"

He laughed.

"Yeah, that probably did sound bad."

Another text came in from her before he could even respond.

"I have a showing at the condos at two-thirty and nothing after that. We could do something when you get home. I hear there's a band playing in the park, some local ensemble that's trying to get their name out there, if you're open to it."

He chuckled and his fingers flew across his phone,

"That sounds good. I'll plan for that. See you later, Gator."

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