Chapter Seven
Two Weeks Later
Mason pulled onhis jacket and glanced over to his boss, Drake, who was just finishing a call on his mobile. “Finally found homes for the last two kittens,” Drake said, sounding infinitely relieved.
Mason grinned. He’d never thought Drake an animal lover until his kids’ cat had unexpectedly produced kittens a couple of months ago.
“Catch you tomorrow,” he said as he left the garage. One good thing about working for Drake was he always had plenty of overtime and Mason was more than motivated to work every weekend.
He glanced at his phone. Piper was working half day this Saturday. If he got a move on he could surprise her at the vet’s and they could spend the rest of the day together. That’d make a change. They didn’t get a lot of free time what with his overtime and her studying.
As he got in his car he realized he had a crazy smile on his face. He couldn’t help it. They’d seen each other a few times over the last couple of weeks, and she wasn’t backing off. He’d been wrong thinking all she wanted from him was a one night stand.
This can work.He pushed the guilt to the back of his mind.I’m not betraying Colton.He would never have touched Piper if his brother were still alive. No matter what.
But it didn’t stop the guilt because if not for him, his brother wouldn’t be dead.
*
“Hey, gorgeous,” hesaid as Piper walked out of the door of the vet’s. She swung round and stared at him as if she’d never seen him before.Doesn’t she want the people she works with to know about us?
“Mason.” Her smile lit up her face and she went onto her toes to give him a kiss.What am I thinking?That damn guilt was going cripple him if he didn’t lock it down. “I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“I knocked off early. Thought we could go for a coffee.”
She tucked her arm through his and snuggled close. It felt so good whenever she did that.
“I’d love to. There’s a café just up the road.”
The café was an old Edwardian shop with a big bow window that looked out onto the street. They found a table in the corner and ordered their drinks.
“How was work?” She always had some funny animal story to relate.
“Good.” She wriggled out of her coat and regaled him with a tale of two horny rabbits. He laughed, but in the back of his mind unease lingered. She’d told him this was what she wanted to do with her life. But sometimes he couldn’t help the doubt. Why would she go to all the trouble of studying if she had no intention of using the qualifications?
“Are you going to stay there? Or have you got other plans?”
She swirled her spoon around her hot chocolate before looking at him. “Actually, my dream is to open an animal shelter.”
He hadn’t seen that one coming. And yet, as he watched her suck a marshmallow into her mouth with evident ecstasy, it seemed so right. “It’s a big commitment.”
“I know. I won’t be able to get it off the ground for a few years yet. But I have plenty of plans.”
He knew all about having plenty of plans. “Good to have a goal to work for.”
“Exactly. I mean, I know there’s nomoneyin it.” She sighed and shook her head. “But as long as I can get by. I know I’m lucky I don’t have to find rent every month.”
“Couldn’t your parents help set it up?” He hadn’t mentioned her parents to her before. None of his business. But he still couldn’t get over the state of her car. And it wasn’t as though she was estranged from them. A couple of times when they’d been together one of her parents had text or called her. He couldn’t figure it out.
“They make charitable donations and go to big charity bashes. But setting up an animal shelter isn’t what you might call,” she paused for dramatic effect, “Sexy, is it?”
He’d never thought about it before. “Guess not.” He gave her a sideways look. “Tell me to butt out if I’m crossing the line. But you and Peyton don’t exactly live like your parents own half the country.”
“Hardly half the country.” At least she didn’t look pissed off with him for raising something that’d been bugging him for the last two weeks. “The thing is…” Her voice trailed away and she glanced down at her hot chocolate. “They can be very overprotective. Which isn’t abadthing, but when I dropped out of school it all became kind of suffocating.”
“Yeah.” It came out as a growl. Why had he pushed for answers? He didn’t need any more reminders of why she’d dropped out of school. He knew why.
“Peyton and I moved in together when we were nineteen, and decided to go it alone. I know Dad expected us to cave, especially when Pey found out she was pregnant. But it kind of became a point of principle that we could make it on our own terms.”
