Page 77 of The Snuggle is Real
I’d refinish the living room and dining room floors during the workweek. The industrial sander would be noisy—and it was really a one-man job, anyway.
That’s how I preferred to work, but after I’d returned from the hardware store the day before, Mason had insisted onhelping.
Closed up in a room with him, stripping the last of the wallpaper in awkward silence had beenawful.I couldn’t stop remembering the first time I’d come into this room. When I’d shown Mason how to strip—stumbling over my words, flustered by his teasing but liking it too. The way he looked at me, the way he smiled.
Well, there were no smiles now. Not after I’d kissed him then walked away like a coward. Didn’t help that I showed up here in a shit mood after LuAnne’s call about getting out early and taking Charlie away.
I hadn’t expected Mason to seek out amatchmaker,though. Was he really that eager for a boyfriend that he’d kiss me one night and search for someone new the next?
Was that moment with me not meaningful to him at all?
Not that I wanted it to be. I couldn’t date anyone right now, much less a man. I had to focus on Charlie. Had to come up with a plan. If Lu got out early and came for her, I had to make certain Charlie was going to a safe, stable home. And if she wasn’t…well, then, I had to figure out how to fight for her.
“Hey.” Mason came through the door. “You’ve made good progress in here.”
I kept painting. “This is the easy part.”
“Yeah.” My back tingled, almost as if his gaze was a physical touch running up and down my spine.
When I finally looked over, though, he was frowning at the floor.
“Regretting that we decided not to refinish that?”
“Hmm?” He blinked and looked up. “Oh, no. Just distracted.”
“The matchmaker gave you a lot to think about, huh?” I said, then regretted it instantly. I didn’t want toknow.
“I guess,” Mason said, joining me by the wall and picking up the paintbrush Charlie had abandoned. “There were a lot of questions to answer. I have to get back to Nick with a few of them because I just wasn’t sure…”
“What kind of questions?”
Damn it. Why did my mouth keep speaking? I focused harder on rolling paint.
“Just what qualities are important to me in a partner,” Mason said. “Not just the stuff like looks, but like, what personality traits are most important to me.”
I resisted the urge to ask what those traits were, but just barely. I was burning up with curiosity.
“Some of it’s easy. I want someone honest, someone with a good heart.”
“Of course,” I murmured.
“Someone who can make me laugh.”
Damn. Did I make him laugh? I wasn’t sure I did. Mason kept listing qualities. Strong. I had that one covered. Smart. Ihopedhe didn’t think I was dumb, but I sure as hell wasn’t educated. I was a roofer/handyman. Would someone like Mason consider me in the same league at all?
Fuck, my head was all kinds of messed up right now.
I had to be his type. Otherwise, why had he asked for that kiss in the first place?
But hearing him list his ideas of aperfect manwas getting to me.
It wasn’t as if Mason didn’t deserve a good guy in his life, but what was the big rush? His family was visiting for Christmas. He wouldn’t be alone in this house.
Not like I would be once Charlie left.
“…but then if I list all these ideal qualities, will I be ruling out a perfectly good man?” Mason was musing as he brushed paint up and down the walls.
“I don’t know,” I said, wishing the conversation would just die.
