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After a few moments, Mason begins stroking my hair. “I know this is reckless,” he whispers, his eyes locked on mine.

“Very,” I whisper back.

“But I had to kiss you.”

“I’m glad you did. Because I needed to kiss you, too.”

Mason brushes his lips across my nose sweetly, gently. “Go on. I’ll see you upstairs. And try not to think about what we just did in here the whole time I’m there.”

“You’ll see me looking more glam at the sponsor dinner tonight,” I promise, running my index finger down the slope of his nose. “I’ll wear something sexy for you.”

Mason groans. “Stop it. I need to calm down before I can leave this room, and thinking of you in a sexy dress is not helping.”

I laugh and go around him, taking a moment to fix myself in the mirror. Thank God I wore a lip stain today, otherwise we’d both be a mess. I run my fingers through my hair and straighten out my polo shirt. I give him one more quick kiss on the lips and go to the door. As I put my hand on the handle, Mason says, “Catherine?”

I turn and look at him. Mason’s leaning against the sink, his arms folded across his chest, looking more dishevelled now than when I first walked into the room.

“Yeah?”

“I really, really like you,” he says softly.

My heart leaps from his words. From the way he’s looking at me right now, from the way he had to steal this moment just to kiss me. “That’s good, because I really, really like you, too.”

Then I leave his room, shutting the door behind me, and find myself looking at another door directly across from me. The door that says, “CALEB COLLINGS.”

As I stare at my brother’s name, and think about the way Mason just kissed me, I decide I’m not waiting a minute longer to tell him the truth.

I need to rip the plaster right off. I’m going to tell Caleb. No more waiting. I bite my lip, thinking of the possible outcomes from this conversation. It would be so much easier to keep this a secret.

But I can’t. Not from Caleb.

So I rap on his door. My heart pounds anxiously against my ribs.

And I hope the person closest to me in the whole world can understand why I want to date his biggest rival.

Chapter Fourteen

“Caleb?” I say, rapping my hand lightly on the door. “It’s Catherine. Can I come in?

“Yeah, it’s fine,” he calls back.

I open the door and find Caleb standing with his shirt off, his driving suit hanging off his hips. He reaches for a clean fireproof shirt on his rack and tugs it over his head.

“What’s up?” he asks, raking his hand through his hair before reaching for a baseball cap with the familiar CM logo on it and putting it on his head.

I shut the door behind me and lean against it. I feel my nerves grow as I study my brother, wondering how he’s going to respond to the news that I am secretly seeing Mason.

“Caleb, I have something I want to tell you,” I say with a calmness that doesn’t betray how I’m feeling inside. “And I’m just going to say it. I’m dating Mason.”

Caleb stares at me, his eyes wide and his mouth parted. He searches my face—probably to see if I’m joking—but I remain serious.

Then a curse escapes his lips, and I wince.

“I owe Isla a hundred pounds,” he blurts out.

What? That’s his first reaction? I’m stunned. In the best way possible.

“What does that have to do with me seeing Mason?”