Page 35 of Sensual Nights

Officer Voss grinned. "That helps." He strode toward the bottom edge of the brush, and Mason stood watch, not sure what he should do to help other than stand there in case the man came back out.

After a few minutes, he heard Officer Voss yell, "Stop and put your hands in the air. I said, stop! Stop. Stop. Stop."

Then a gunshot rang out and Mason's legs crumbled beneath him.

19

Carley's phone rang, and she saw Margo's name on her screen. Tapping to answer the call, she cheerfully said, "Hey, sis. What's up?"

Margo's voice was a bit stressed. "Carley, honey, don't be alarmed but Mason had a PTSD attack. He chased the man who put the note on your car and the man ran. Officers went in search of him and shot at him. It triggered an attack for Mason. He fell in the road."

"Oh my God. Is he okay? Where is he now? I have to get to him. Where is he?"

"Listen, Carley. Listen to me. You can't run in here panicked. You need to be calm and supportive. Do you understand?"

She closed her eyes. Panic was the first thing she had done. What would happen if she panicked in front of him when he had an attack? Would it make it worse? Would it make him think he didn't want to be with her? He tried warning her away.

She took a deep breath. "I understand."

"Okay. He's here in the office. Come in the back door, I'll wait for you there."

"Okay."

She didn't say goodbye, she simply rushed from her office and called out to Addison, "I'll be back in a bit."

"Okay."

She hustled out the back door and nearly ran to her SUV. Then she remembered safety and to be calm. She sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. She hurried back to the office door and checked to make sure the lock had engaged. Satisfied that it had, she returned to her SUV and climbed into the driver's seat.

She purposely drove slowly to give herself time to calm down. She talked to herself the entire drive, which wasn't that far, only a few blocks. "Be calm. He's not hurt, he had a panic attack. He gets these. It's fine."

Pulling into the parking lot of the Sandbar, she parked closest to the side door near the storeroom. Inside was a hallway that led to either the office or the storeroom. If the bar was full, Jace and Margo could slip in the back way. Also, that’s where they unloaded trucks, so everything went to the storeroom rather than the kitchen.

She tried opening the door, but it was locked. She knocked on it in case Margo was waiting for her.

The door opened and her sister's pretty head popped out.

"Hi. Come on in. And remember…calm."

"Is he alright?"

Margo stopped and stared at her for a moment. "Yes. He's fine. He's embarrassed. And he hit his head pretty hard. He's going to have a headache for a day or two."

"Oh. Poor man."

"Right."

Margo turned and continued walking toward the office. She put her hand on the knob and looked at Carley before pushing the door open.

Carley nodded and whispered. "I'm good. Calm. I'm calm."

Margo nodded and pushed the door open.

Mason sat in a chair at the back of the office. He had a bandage on his upper thigh and one on the side of his head. Jace sat in a chair next to him but turned it to face Mason and spoke to him softly. She couldn't hear what Jace was saying. Margo quietly moved to her desk and sat in the chair. Carley swallowed the knot in her throat and eased forward.

She took in the bandages, but she didn't understand them. Mason's eyes opened, and the instant he focused on her, she saw his breathing increase. Deep huffs of breath pushed from his lungs, and she wasn't sure if she should approach him or not. Slowly, his hand rose from where it rested on his thigh, and he held it out to her.

She stepped forward slowly and took his hand in hers. There wasn't a place to sit so she knelt in front of him. "Are you alright?"

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