Page 37 of Stood Up
“Red. Let’s start with red. With your coloring and that hair of yours, I see you in beautiful red.”
* * *
“So, what did you pick?” Mason asks after Randolph leaves his house. The whirlwind that is Randolph still ticks in the air in a strange way, giving off his excitement to all of us.
“I’m not telling. You get to be surprised.”
He pulls me into his body, wrapping his arm around my waist. “I like that.” His lips come to mine in a sensual kiss that makes my knees weak and my body crave him like a drug. His lips never lose contact, and he never takes the kiss any further. But I love when he does this. Makes me feel cherished and cared for as if I’m precious to him, and he wants to soak up everything that is me.
Beeping comes from the kitchen, and Mason pulls from my lips. “Dinner,” he whispers just as my stomach growls. Damn.
“Let’s eat.”
Dinner is pot roast with potatoes and carrots. He’s damn good in the kitchen because the meal is divine, and it’s not my thing. We’re just finishing up when the doorbell chimes then there’s a tap on the door.
I look over at Mason who’s loading the dishwasher. “Expecting someone?”
“No.”
Mason wipes his hands on a kitchen towel and tosses it to the island. I take over what he was doing. Whoever it is, didn’t come to see me, but with the open floor plan, I can see the door from where I stand. And no doubt hear it, too.
“What do you want?” Mason says instead of greeting whoever is on the other side of the wood, pulling my attention from the dishes and to him. I can’t see anything but Mason and the door, but my curiosity is itching.
“You act as if I haven’t been here before, Mason.” A woman’s purr of a voice comes through the room, and instantly chills pop up all over my skin and my blood starts thumping.
“You need to leave.” Mason’s tone is deep and demanding, but not in the sexy way he speaks to me in the bedroom. No, this is angry, controlled, and a bit scary.
The woman steps forward, reaching out a hand to Mason who steps back away from her touch.Holy shit.It’s the woman with the honey blonde hair from the elevator at his building. She’s still gorgeous with not a hair out of place, makeup perfection, and clothes pristine. But why the hell is one of his employee’s here and has such a close relationship with him.
My feet lead me forward until I’m standing a few feet away from the both of them. The woman’s head swings to me, and her eyes penetrate me up and down as if she were checking me out to see if I’m worthy of being in her presence. It’s the same feeling I had before in the elevator.
“Already have someone to play with I see.” Her condescending tone has my spine stiffening, all the starch coming back hard and fast.
“She’s not a plaything, Elizabeth. I don’t have playthings. You need to go.”
“And what, not meet her? Hi, I’m Elizabeth,” she says coyly, but her snarl is there as well. She likes Mason—a lot, and having me in his space is not making her happy.
“Aiden.”
“Aiden, isn’t that a boy’s name?” she asks then laughs to herself. “Oh, of course, all those new names out there.”
I’m not sure what the hell this woman is smoking, but she’d better lay off before she goes totally nuts.
“Aiden, this is Elizabeth, an old friend,” Mason says coldly, and I do a fine job at hiding the bile that rises up my throat from the thought of Mason with this woman. Touching her. Kissing her. Hell, loving her. I only nod.
“I can see she doesn’t talk much.” Elizabeth dismisses me, turning back to Mason. “You usually don’t bring your playthings to your home.”
“Elizabeth,” Mason growls low, “I told you she’s not a plaything. She’s staying in my home, but as for you—you’re leaving.”
So much was said in that statement. One, that Mason didn’t bring a lot of women here, which I appreciate. But two is, that he did bring Elizabeth here. She looks comfortable in the space, like she’s been here often and could go in the kitchen and make herself a cup of coffee then relax on the couch. A couch where Mason and I have been.
I’ve never been the jealous type. I’ve always rolled with the punches, but that was before Greg cheated. Now, I feel this twist in my gut that she has part of Mason that I’ll never have. That she means something to him in a way I won’t understand. That there is more going on here than meets the eye. All of it is a pill too big to swallow. But I refuse to back away. I refuse to let her dismiss me.
“You really should go. We just had dinner and need to clean up.”
Elizabeth’s eyes bore into mine, a hint of pure hate behind those brown eyes. “What are you, the maid? Mason, that’s so beneath you.”
I laugh, full out no holds barred, laugh. “She thinks I’m the maid,” I say to no one in particular as I continue.
