Page 3 of The Partner Predicament

Mason

I knew the moment I saw Aspen’s face after my outburst that she was afraid. What I couldn’t understand was why she would lie about it. I haven’t been anything but accommodating since she’s arrived.

The phone call changed everything and although I tried my hardest to keep my temper in check, I couldn’t seem to help myself.

I was working up the nerve to seduce my Partner. Tonight would have been the night that we would fully become Partners. But now I need to have a strained conversation with Aspen about our future.

“Aspen, please join me.” I gestured toward the seating around the kitchen island.

“But dinner will get cold,” she said. She nodded toward the roast she’d just removed from the oven.

“It will have to wait.” I tried to keep my voice level and calm. “There’s something important I need to discuss with you.”

Aspen grabs a dish towel and nervously wipes her hands. I watch her take a deep breath and gather courage before making her way toward me and taking a seat. I wonder what could have happened to her before she came here. My outburst has changed her entire demeanor. I make a mental note to talk to her about it later. Now I need to prepare her.

“Did I do something wrong?” Aspen asks quietly. “Are you going to send me back?”

Shock courses through my system. “No!” I reply too loudly. “Why would you ever think such a thing?”

Aspen doesn’t answer, only shakes her head hiding her beautiful face beneath a waterfall of raven hair.

“Aspen?” I use a softer tone, trying to get her to look at me.

It’s then I hear the sniffle and the realization dawns on me that she is crying. My heart breaks a little knowing that I’m the reason she has tears in her eyes. Before I can second-guess myself, I round the counter and lift her from her seat. Cradling Aspen against my chest I walk us into the lounge before sitting down on the couch with her on my lap.

“Hey, beautiful,” I say softly tilting her chin up with my index finger. “Tell me what’s wrong.”

Her teary gaze locks with mine and I can almost see the wheels in her mind turning as she decides how much to tell me.

“I don’t want to make you angry,” Aspen whispers. She tried her best to look away from me but I held her steady.

“You won’t.”

Her gaze scans my face. “Iknowyoudon’tlikeme,” she says so quickly it comes out as one word instead of a sentence.

Brushing her hair from her face, I smile at her nervousness. “What makes you think that?”

Her features crumble as another tear slips down her cheek, which she angrily swipes away. “You don’t want me here. You’ve been saddled with a Partner you don’t want and now it’s time for me to go back to the House of Fertility and hope that the next man I’m partnered with can at least stand to touch me.”

Jealousy and rage twist inside me. I want to tear my house apart brick by brick using my bare hands at the thought of another man touching her.

Chapter Four

Aspen

Mason goes deathly silent after my impromptu little speech, and I can see the anger across his features. Trying to get off his lap, I feel his hands grip my hips tightly. Having him touch me has a gasp slipping from my lips.

“Shit.” He pulls his hands away from me. “Did I hurt you?”

“No.”

He didn’t. Not physically at least. But his rejection hits me in the center of my chest making it hard to breathe.

“I think the two of us have a communication breakdown,” Mason says. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on in that pretty little head of yours? That way I can explain why you’re wrong.”

“And will you tell me what made you so mad?”

“Yes,” I answer, even though that’s the last thing I want to do.

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