Page 117 of Gin and Lava

Mason’s restless.

We stopped by my apartment on the way back from the Gin n’ Lava and I gave him all of my finished jewelry pieces. He promised to take good care of them, even though he wouldn’t tell me what he’s doing with them. He was all mystery and jokes and naughty innuendo, especially when it was just the two of us. But then, when we got back to the beach house, something changed. Mason was his normal crass self, but there was an edge to everything he said.

The stars are out now, and we’ve been lying side by side on the air mattress for over an hour, trying to sleep, but he can’t get comfortable. Mason keeps flipping and fidgeting, so I wrap my arms around his ribs and slip a hand under his T-shirt, brushing my fingers over his chest. He grunts.

“Tell me why you can’t sleep,” I whisper, keeping my voice low so Sam can’t hear us in the living room.

“It’s probably because I need your hand lower, Princess,” he tosses back, only the muscles in his back tighten to reveal that’s not the real problem.

“Mmmmm,” I hum in his ear, inching my fingers to the elastic of his boxers and playing with the hem. “You’re full of shit, Haas. I’m a masseuse. There are muscles in your body you didn’t even know could tense. Your back is screaming something’s wrong.”

“You’re not even touching my back.”

“Not with my hands,” I correct, my body pressing against his spine. “I don’t need them to feel your tension.”

“Mmmm, but your hands, though …” Mason makes a low noise of approval in his throat “Do you have to be pressed up against me to figure out my tells? Is this something I should be weary of if we ever play strip poker?”

“You’re deflecting,” I reply.

“I miss your pussy on my tongue.”

“We could go down to the beach and remedy that,” I say, sweeping my hands back up his ribs. “But I think that’s just another distraction tactic.”

“Don’t need to get technical, Princess. We both know that’s all I am.”

I lie in the quiet, listening to the shift of the ocean, calmed by the rise and fall of his chest against my hand. Easy. Comfortable.

A distraction … that’s all I am.Did Arie get under his skin tonight?

“Is that what’s bothering you?” I ask, tracing my fingers over his abdomen.

“Nothing’s bothering me, Princess,” he says, flattening his hand over mine and stopping the way my fingers flirt against his skin. “Go to bed.”

“I can tell you’re lying.”

“I told you I was shit at it.”

“Is there something I did? Something I should—”

Mason turns on the mattress, flipping over so we’re nose to nose. “There’s nothing you did,” he says, cupping my neck and pulling my lips to meet his. He sweeps his mouth over mine and it’s so soft my insides start shivering. “You’re perfect, Naomi. You’re perfect, and gorgeous, and there’s nothing you need to do differently. Ever. Stop worrying about me.”

Perfect.There’s that word again. Rubbing me the wrong way.

Perfect Naomi. The pretty perfect little woman … The word sits in on my tongue like a dead moth, and it feels like an insult. He’s definitely using it as a shield to brush me off.

“I’m not perfect, Mason. I’m a mess like every other woman on this planet.”

“You’re not likeanyother woman on this planet.”

“I was asking about you.” I refocus the conversation on him and slide my hands up his spine. “You’ve still got tension right through here.” I trace the muscles.

“Did you feel those muscles when I fucked you on my desk?” he asks. “Was there tension then? Or was my cock the only thing you could feel?”

He nips at my lip, deliberately pushing buttons and deflecting. So I try a different tactic, moving my hands behind his neck and urging him toward me. My tongue flicks open his mouth and he groans as I kiss him deeply.

My insides squirm.

So many new things get mixed up when I’m kissing Mason. There’s my jewelry and my brand, creating something new and sensual. There’s the woman I am when I’m naked with him, the heat of our connection burning hotter and hotter each time my mouth seals over his. There’s the wordperfectgrating uncomfortably between us. There’s the privacy of this moment and how easy we are when we’re alone. But when other people are around, it’s not the same. And then there’s this kiss. This kiss that says,I want you,but it also feels like a game. I need him to know that my desire isn’t fake, even though so many things between us tread that line between true and false.

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