Page 29 of The Run In

Whatever it was, I didn’t want to get tangled up in him.

Or did I?

Shit. Shit. Shit. No. I promised myself I wouldn’t get involved with anyone until I knew for sure it was with therightguy.

I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried to speak. My voice was noticeably weaker and sounded unsure. “Well, it really isn’t any of my business.”

He turned to face the window. “I stopped by your place after I found out you’d left with Drake.”

My heart dropped. “What?”

“When I pulled up, the doorman said you had a man with you. I made it all the way up to your floor before I realized what I was doing.”

My eyes widened in shock.Mason came to my apartment last night?

“Once I stepped off the elevator, I realized how crazy I was behaving. You’re a grown woman who I haven’t even known a week, yet I felt like I had to defend your honor somehow.” Shrugging, he continued. “Maybe it was because I’d invited you to the party and if anything had happened to you…well…I’d have felt terrible.”

“You came…to my…apartment?” I asked, attempting to keep my erratically beating heart steady.

He turned again to face me. “No. I got halfway there and turned and left. I got in my car and left.”

Mason had come back for me.

The thought made me giddy inside, and I had to fight with all my might to keep a neutral face. Should I tell him Drake hadn’t been there? That I’d actually been hoping Mason would show up and make love to me until I could no longer move?

“Drake didn’t go into my apartment with me. He walked me to my door and then left. Mason, I’m not the type of girl who’d randomly screw some guy. Yes, I know Drake, and when I told him the guy I’d come to the party with had gone off to have sex with some woman, he offered to take me home. That was it.”

Something moved over Mason’s face, and I couldn’t really read what it was. He almost looked…guilty about something.

Then a thought hit me. If Mason cared enough to not sleep with Natalie and he’d had come all the way back to my apartment because he’d thought I was with Drake, was he interested in me in some way?

There was only one way to find out. “Why didn’t you knock on my door?”

He pinched his brows together. “I figured you were with him. At first, the idea pissed me off.”

My heart jumped. “At first it pissed you off?”

Nodding, he replied, “Listen, I’m not going to pretend that there isn’t some strange connection between us, Saylor. I can’t figure out if I’m attracted to you because you said you weren’t interested, or if there really is something else here. This has never happened to me before, and it’s confusing the hell out of me.”

Pressing my lips tightly together, I gave him a hint of a grin. I loved his honesty.

“You said it pissed you off at first. So then how did you feel?”

That’s when his eyes turned sad, and I had a feeling I knew why.

“I wanted to kiss you so damn badly in your bedroom, Saylor. So much that I felt like I was going to fucking explode. When I was almost at your apartment later, well, I realized I had no right to be there. You made it clear you’re not interested in me. So, I left. I called a friend and went to her place.”

It felt like someone hit me right in the middle of my chest. “Herplace?”

“Yeah, Annie’s an old…friend of mine.”

I stood, my body trembling. “I see. So you got your fuck in anyway, didn’t you? Couldn’t have me and felt too guilty screwing Natalie while I was in the other room, so you went for option number three. Nice. I see your reputation precedes you.”

Mason glared at me.

Where did that come from? I sound like a jealous ex.

Placing my thumb and finger on the bridge of my nose, I sighed. “Mason, I’m sorry. I had no right to say that to you, and I’m not sure why I even did. It’s just—”

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