*
After the fastestshower in history, Piper towel dried her hair as she mentally went through her wardrobe. What did a girl wear under these circumstances? Would Mason expect her to be all sexy in some slinky lingerie or would that look like she was trying too hard?
She was almost tempted to call her sister and ask her advice, except Peyton’s love life was even worse than her own. In the end she pulled on a pair of skinny jeans and sweater. By the time she’d finished her hair, she’d changed her mind. It was one thing not going for the overttake-me-nowlook, but jeans and sweater? Seriously? She pulled a face at her reflection, but as she popped the button on her jeans the doorbell chimed.
“Bugger.” She forked her fingers through her still damp hair.Why didn’t I put some makeup on?Her stomach churned and she took a deep breath.Calm down.Anyone would think she’d never had a hot date before.
This is hardly a date.Barefoot she went into the living room and caught sight of her clothes tossed across the floor. She quickly stuffed her knickers and bra behind a cushion on the sofa and flung the rest onto a chair before dashing into the hall and opening the door.
Her stomach fluttered when Mason gave her a slow smile, as his appraising gaze slid over her. Honestly, she was as jittery as a sixteen year old virgin. Had she ever been this hyped up with any other guy she’d been with?
“I got some wine to go with it.” He handed her a bottle and pushed the door shut behind him.
“You never struck me as a wine drinker.” They went back into the living room.
“I can be civilized if I have to.”
She smiled and put the bottle on the table. “I never thought you were uncivilized when you were nineteen.” No, she’d thought he was dangerous and sexy and the baddest boy she’d ever met.
“You’ve got a bad memory. I chugged back beer while the rest of my family and God knows how many relatives drank tea and pretended to ignore me.” He laughed, slung his jacket on the sofa and opened the bottle.
She ducked into the kitchen for cutlery, and leaned against the counter for a couple of moments. He remembered the night they first met? Sure, it was engraved in her mind for all time, but she’d never imagined Mason could pinpoint the exact date.
Halloween, just over five years ago. She and Colton had been dating for three months, and his parents had invited her over for a big family dinner. In deference to her under age status they’d all drank tea. All except Mason, who’d stolen her senses with his brooding biker vibes.
“You need any help?” He strolled into the kitchen as though he owned it. She handed him a couple of plates and hoped he hadn’t noticed her moment of shock. Just because he remembered the night they met didn’t reallymeananything.
“I think that’s everything.” She waved the cutlery at him. “Glasses are in the other room.”
They sat at the table as if this was something they did all the time, and she watched him pour the wine as though it was the most fascinating thing she’d ever seen. Then again she wasn’t exactly thinking about his hands on the wine bottle, was she?
Her face heated and she tore her gaze from his clever fingers and opened the boxes of takeaway. The fragrant aromas made her stomach growl.Lovely.
“This place is nice,” he said and she gave a silent sigh of relief that he’d ignored her misbehaving digestive tract.
“Yes. Peyton and I inherited the house from our great aunt Laura a few years ago. It’s been perfect, really.”
“The house?” He paused, a forkful of stir-fried beef poised halfway to his mouth.
“Great aunt Laura lived in this flat but rented the rest of the house out. We’ve got four tenants. It keeps things ticking over.” That was putting it mildly. This flat, and the income from the tenants, had totally saved her and her sister’s arses over the last few years, after they’d both decided to go it alone, away from their helicopter parents. It’d seemed like such a great idea at the time. Not that she was going to sharethatwith Mason. Especially since she and Peyton were still struggling with the whole budgeting thing.
He gave a noncommittal grunt and she took a quick sip of wine to calm her nerves. But all she could think about was dessert.
She smothered her ridiculous giggle with a mouthful of spicy glass noodles.
“How’s your vet degree going?”
She choked and pressed her napkin to her mouth. She never guessed he’d remember those teenage dreams. It all seemed such a long time ago now.
“I didn’t go to university in the end.” She couldn’t meet his keen gaze and focused on her plate, as the infuriated arguments she’d had with her parents five years ago over her future hammered through her mind. “I’m a veterinary care assistant.” She’d received her Diploma last year, and intended to continue training so eventually she’d qualify as a veterinary nurse. The truth was she loved her job, even if it wasn’t the exalted one of veterinary surgeon she’d always been expected to land.
“You changed your mind or you didn’t get the qualifications you needed?”
She puffed out a breath. Nothing like being direct. “If you must know, I dropped out of school after—before my A Levels. So I didn’t even apply.”
He was silent after that and she risked giving him a glance. And then couldn’t look away. He was staring at her as though she’d just confessed to a terrible crime.
Will I ever be able to move on from that guilt?
“I’m sorry.” There was a strangled note in his voice, which didn’t make any sense. The reason she’d become a high school dropout had nothing to do with him.
“That’s okay.” She gave an awkward shrug and played with the stem of her wineglass. “I couldn’t concentrate on anything after the accident.”Because Colton would never have done anything so stupid as take Mason’s bike if I hadn’t dumped him that night.
“Can’t you go to night school and take your A Levels?” There was a ferocious frown on his face. If she didn’t know him, it’d scare the crap out of her, but instead she found it oddly endearing.
“This is my second year of study. Fingers crossed I pass my exams in June.” If she passed, at least her parents’ couldn’t throw her lack of qualifications in her face as the reason she was working as a vet care assistant. Maybe then they’d finally believe she was doing what she wanted with her life, and she wasn’t stuck in a non-academic rut because she’d fallen apart after Colton’s death.
