Not passionate.
That was definitely not the word for what he felt.
He was pretty sure she wasn’t feeling passionate, either.
Swiftly ending the kiss, Mason lifted his head, trying not to let the disturbance he felt show in his expression.He liked Yasmine, dammit.He didn’t want to hurt her feelings.But it was a relief to see that she looked concerned as well.
“Um.”
“I just thought we should try a real kiss,” he explained.“Now that we’re out as engaged.”
“Right.That was a good idea.I don’t object, I just think I wasn’t prepared.”She didn’t move away from him, but the awkwardness between them was growing.Standing with his arm around her felt odd.As though they were invading each other’s space rather than enjoying the closeness.
“Should we try again?”
“Um.”
Dammit.If he wasn’t feeling so guilty about his attraction to Audrey, he might be insulted that Yasmine clearly wasn’t excited about kissing him again.Then again, even if Audrey didn’t exist, he wasn’t feeling excited about it, either.Mason didn’t have a sister, but he imagined this was what kissing his sister might feel like.Except he would never kiss his sister with tongue.
Obviously, this was something they were going to need to get past.Just not tonight.They couldn’t force things.
“Maybe tomorrow?”he suggested.“We should start trying to get used to the physical side of the relationship.”
“We should.I think I just need to readjust my mindset,” Yasmine agreed quickly.“I know we’ve been talking about marriage and talking about having kids and everything, but we haven’t… done anything.It’s just a shift, going from thinking of you as a friend to, um, romance.”
“Yeah, it is.Like I said, we’ll get better at it.”He dropped his hands from her hips, easing back.The distance eased some of the awkwardness between them, to his relief, the expression on her face echoing how he felt.“It’s a shift for both of us.Maybe next Friday at the club we could try a scene?”
Even though they were both kinky and both had been members of the Outlands for a long time, they’d never scened together.Although he wouldn’t have said he had anything against scening with her, Mason hadn’t wanted to risk the curse.He wasn’t interested in marriage until recently, and the idea of dating her and then accidentally ending up in a relationship that required settling down hadn’t appealed.
“Yeah, that sounds good.We should do that.”She smiled, her shoulders relaxing.Mason wasn’t sure if she was relaxing because he had suggested a scene and she thought the kink would help, or if because they had a week before they had to try romance again.
He was a good kisser.He was a good Dom.
Next week, he’d be able to prove that to her.
Holding the door open for her, he waited until she was in her car to close it.She gave him a little wave through the window, which he returned before returning to the sidewalk.Watching her drive away, he let out a long sigh.
Maybe he should just head home.
But if he did that, it would be admitting that Audrey had gotten under his skin; the only reason he wouldn’t be going back inside to spend time with his friends was her.Or, more accurately, the guilt he felt over his reaction to her.Maybe what he needed wasn’t distance from Audrey—which he’d gotten plenty of all afternoon, and it hadn’t helped—but exposure therapy.
Most people tended to annoy him after a while.If he spent more time around her this evening, surely she would do something annoying, then he could get back to his planned future with Yasmine without Audrey taking up space in the back of his mind.
Audrey
As Cassidy and Audrey came up behind Audrey’s grandmother, to her shock, Mick pulled up his shirt.Not that he was looking at her and Cassidy.Nope.He was looking at her grandmother and grinning as he showed off an admittedly impressive set of abs.
“Ooh, you really do have a six-pack!”Grandma said, reaching out and putting the hand that wasn’t holding her drink on them.
“Brenda!”
“Grandma!”
Cassidy and Audrey reacted at the same time.Grandma lifted her head away from Mick’s abs, turning to look at them, but she didn’t move her hand.
“You two should come feel these; they’re great,” she said, grinning widely.“Mick has a very impressive body.”
“Thanks, Brenda,” Mick replied, winking at her, still happily holding his shirt up for her convenience.Audrey was starting to have more sympathy for David’s dramatics about their grandmother’s antics.
