I nod, moving to stand in position with my head dipped, still feeling silly at my over-the-top enthusiasm.
“No, your profile,” he says, walking to me and planting his hands on my waist. He turns me to face the mirror. “Profile to the mirror.”
Joey’s fingers flex into the silky material at my hips as the studio door clicks shut. Mason stands just inches away, his eyes wild.
“Mase,” I say in surprise, watching as he stands unmoving.
He seems to have a laser focus on me. It’s like he is seeing me for the first time, his eyes boring dangerously into my own, questioning.
He steps back, flicking his gaze to Joey.
“Are you okay, Mase?” I try, but my heart drops as his eyes only blaze straight through me, a hard expression masking his face.
“Nina, I have some things I need to get to. Are you okay here?” He starts to leave, and I move for him.
“Mase?”
I jog after him, the studio door banging closed behind me, but he’s already halfway down the stairs, his suit-clad back moving farther and farther away from me.
My shoulders drop as disappointment fills me.
What the hell?
I expected more.
* * *
Mase
I slideinto the back of the Audi, slamming the door and dropping my head between my knees.
“FUCK!” I shout, the sound vibrating off the windows.
“Mason?” Vinny mutters.
Lifting my head, I place my forearms on my knees, staring down at the note in my trembling hands.
Nina,
I had to go home to Mum.
I will call when I can.
Erin.
I’d know it fucking anywhere, and everything I thought I’d feel seeing it again is an afterthought, my only concern being Nina.
“Mase.”
My mind is a cluster of thoughts, each one more confusing than the next, and each one threatening to rise up from a buried past and pull me down with them.
“The woman who owns Nina’s studio, Erin. Get me all you have.”
He gives me a tight nod. “Home or The Montwell?”
“Office.”
* * *
