Page 85 of I Need You Tonight
I wiped away a new crop of tears.
Nolan pushed himself to his feet and held out his hand for me. “We should head back before you turn into an ice sculpture.”
I giggled, possibly slightly delirious because of the cold. “Just add lights to me and I’ll fit in perfectly with this city.”
Instead of walking back to the hotel, Nolan insisted we take a cab. While we drove back, I pulled out my smartphone and booked my flight home. Even though it was Thanksgiving weekend, I was able to find something—not everyone in the United States was traveling from Atlantic City to Desert Springs.
At the hotel, Nolan escorted me down the hallway to the room Mason and I were staying in. “Thanks,” I told him. “I’ll be fine.” I hugged him and asked him to say goodbye to the other band members for me. It was hard enough for me as it was without having to say goodbye to them too. I would miss them…and I would miss Hailey and Callie. Even in the short time I had known them, they had all become like family to me.
Using my key card, I entered the room, only to find Mason pacing, the way he’d been doing the other night. I couldn’t tell if the pacing was because of what had happened downstairs or because his addiction was pleading for him to return to the casino.
Hearing the click of the door as I entered, Mason snapped his head in my direction. An array of emotions paraded on his face—regret, shame, sadness, love. Then they were gone. He didn’t move or say anything. He just continued to watch me, now with a guarded expression.
My mouth went dry as my brain scrambled for the words I needed to say.
“You’re leaving, aren’t you?” The indifference in his tone nearly gutted me.
I nodded, the only thing I was capable of, and gathered up my belongings. I didn’t have much time before I had to be at the airport, and I still had to go to where the tour bus was parked at the arena and pack the rest of my stuff.
“I’m needed back home,” I said at last. That was partly true. There was still so much to do before Blooming Love’s grand reopening, and I really did need to be there to help Heidi.
Or at least that was what I kept telling myself.
Plus I needed to work on my glass etchings…the design of which still eluded me.
“Yes,” Mason said, rather briskly. “You should go home. I’ll let you get back to packing.” He turned to leave.
The tears from earlier threatened an impromptu encore. I knew I should just let him go. That would be the smart thing to do. But I couldn’t walk out of his life the way so many other people he loved had done to him.
I grabbed his arm. He paused, muscles ready to snap from being so tense, but he didn’t turn around. I stepped closer and kissed his cheek. “I’m not your family, Mason. I love you, but you know our lives are so very different. It never would have worked out between us. We both know that.” So why did it feel like my heart was shattering into a million pieces?
I stepped back to let him go but didn’t get far. His lips crashed against mine. Without thinking what I was doing, I automatically let him in.
The kiss wasn’t tender or sweet. It wasn’t a goodbye kiss. It was hungry, possessive, mind-numbing. A kiss no other would be comparable to—now or in any other lifetime.
Once it was over, Mason left the room without saying another word.
And my heart shattered some more.
