Her heart gave a little jolt at the sight of Mason. She reminded the recalcitrant organ he was currently persona non grata.
For a full ten-second count, he stared at her with those damned eyes of his that were the clearest, richest blue. Eyes ringed by lashes so thick and dark they made him look like he was wearing mascara and—
“Did you need something?” She blank-slated her expression and wasn’t surprised when his reply was one of his patented grunts. “Yes.” She nodded as if he’d spoken actual words. “Very articulate. Now, if there’s nothing else, I’m going to enjoy my cheeseburger before it gets cold.”
She went to shut the door, but was thwarted when he smacked his palm against the wood. She gave him another ten-second count—okay, so this one was probably closer to five seconds—before sighing with exasperation.
“You understand that whole ‘Silence is golden’ thing doesn’t apply to a woman who has been lied to, shot at, and questioned for hours in a hot tin-can of a room, right?” she asked tiredly. “Just say whatever it is you came to say so I can eat my food and go to bed.”
His brow wrinkled, which drew her attention to the hair that’d flopped over his forehead. It was long and wavy, in need of a cut. The little curls that wrapped around the tops of his ears seemed to be shouting out an invitation to touch.
She fisted her hands inside the pockets of her robe.
“For the love of living!” she exclaimed when he continued to stand there, all big and bulky and disturbingly male.
And mute! Let’s not forget the mute part!
A flicker of doubt crossed his eyes. But it was quickly replaced with steely determination. “Came to apologize,” he mumbled.
“Huh?” She cupped her hand around her ear, the devil in her fiendishly delighting in making him repeat himself.
“Isaid,” he ground out from between clenched teeth, “I came to apologize.”
“Oh.” She nodded. “That’s what I thought you said. But I couldn’t be sure I wasn’t suffering déjà vu. Didn’t we do this on the catamaran? And has no one ever told you the way to keep from having to apologize to someone over and over again is to stop doing things you need to apologize for? Now, thank you for saying you’re sorry.Again.I accept. Good night.”
“Wait!” He pushed the door wide. “Dontcha wanna know what I came to apologize for?” As a fast talker herself, she appreciated the swiftness with which he spoke. But unlike her, he accomplished the feat by leaving out consonants.Want tobecamewanna. How are youbecamehahwahya.It was a winsome trait.
As if he needs more of those, she thought testily.
“I assumed it was a blanket apology for all your lies and for having spent the last few weeks making a complete and utter fool of me,” she told him with a lift of her chin.
“Never meant to make a fool of you. I just…” He blinked, and a scowl once again possessed his face. “Wait. What lies?”
“Oh, I don’t know.” She tapped her lips sarcastically. “I suppose number one”—she held up a finger—“would be when you told me the reason you wouldn’t sleep with me was because you’d convinced yourself, despite my many assurances otherwise, that I was after a couple of ‘I do’s.’ Two”—a second finger joined the first—“would be when you changed your story and said therealreason you wouldn’t sleep with me was because you were afraid if you did, you might not want to stop. That was my favorite, by the way, because I almost fell for it. And three”—now three fingers were standing at attention like the spines of books on a library shelf—“would be when you decided to keep the lovely Donna, therealreason behind your rejections, a secret.”
“Hang on a frickin’ minute.” Two red patches stained his cheekbones. “You may be right about that first thing. Iwasusing that bullshit about husband hunting as an excuse. But what I said on the catamaran was true. And Donna? Never so much as mentioned her name, so how could I lie about—”
“A lie by omission is still a lie.” Her gaze was cool as she gave him the once-over. “And that’s the gospel according to Alex.”
For a moment, she thought he would argue, and she watched in fascination as a muscle twitched beside his right eye.
He was nearing his limit. But his limit of what? Patience? Penitence? His ability to withstand any more slices from her glib tongue before responding in kind?
Lordy, how she’d love to see him lose that stony composure. But to her annoyance, he took a deep breath, wiped his expression clean, and said, “Didn’t say anything about Donna ’cause there’s nothing to say. We’re friends.” Her disbelief must’ve showed on her face. He quickly added, “What I mean is, we aren’t exclusive.”
She hadn’t realized there was a vise around her heart until his words loosened it. It took everything she had to keep the relief from showing on her face. “Fine. Good. Whatever. Now…” She made a shooing motion with her fingers.
“Look”—he ran an agitated hand through his hair—“can I come in? Standing out here in this fucking hall makes me feel like a naked penis at a petting zoo.”A nekkid penis atta pettin zoo.
His accent, combined with the imagery, tickled her funny bone. But through sheer force of will, she managed to keep a grin from tilting her lips. With a put-upon sigh, she stepped aside and motioned for him to enter.
He started forward with steps that were…not hesitant. But they weren’t exactly determined either. It was as if, now that he had her permission, he was having second thoughts.
What?she wondered acerbically.Does he think I’ll tackle him to the floor and have my way with him?
Come to think of it, the idea had merit.
After closing the door, she watched him stop at the foot of the bed, his stance uncomfortable. Then he moved on to the desk. Placing a hand on the back of the chair, he asked, “Do you mind?”
