Page 56
And as I lose myself completely in Mason’s arms, I’m pretty sure I’ve lost a little more of my heart to him, too.
* * *
“Mason?”
“Yeah?”
“I’m not trying to be a bitch or anything, but you need to get dressed and get out.”
Mason laughs loudly, and because I’m cuddled up on his chest, that wonderful sound reverberates through me. I laugh, too, and I smile as his lips brush the top of my head. I’m lying on his chest, and he’s holding me to him, one strong arm wrapped around me, his fingertips lazily stroking my upper arm in the most delicious way. I’m enveloped in his warm skin and crisp white hotel sheets, and I swear I never want him to leave this spot.
But I know he has to.
“What? Leave? Have I become a hookup?” Mason teases.
I roll over and prop myself up on his chest, so I’m looking down at him. His eyes are warm and soft, and I lose myself in them for a moment. He’s so beautiful. And I never dreamt I’d be in his arms, having him look at me like this.
“You are most definitely NOT a hookup,” I say, leaning down and dropping a kiss on his upturned mouth. My hair cascades around us like a dark curtain, and Mason reaches up with one hand to gently hold it back.
“Good. Because I’m not willing to share you with anyone else,” he murmurs softly.
I kiss him again, this time slowly, deeply, and then I pull back. “But you have to go, Mason. I don’t want you to, but I don’t want you to get distracted. You need to sleep. You have qualifying tomorrow.”
“Catherine. Do you think Caleb and Isla are in bed by nine o’clock every night with a chaste kiss good night before turning away from each other to sleep?”
I sit upright, straddling him. “EW! I don’t want to think about my brother having sex!”
Mason roars with laughter. “I guarantee he is.”
“Bad example! Stop it!”
“Okay. Xavier. Do you think he’s tucked into bed right now, the sheets up under his chin, dreaming of a pole position tomorrow, or hooking up with some hot girl he met in the paddock earlier today?”
“I thank you for using Xavier instead of my brother, and no, I don’t see him sweetly asleep in his hotel bed.”
“So maybe this is what I need,” Mason says, the corners of his mouth moving up in that playful smile that I love so much as his hands slide to my hips. “Some hot sex with my girl, then tomorrow I’ll go and take pole.”
“Mason, you need to go back to your room. Seriously.”
His thumbs drag across my hipbones. “No.”
I laugh. “Do I have to throw you out?”
“Now, that I would like to see you try.”
“You need to sleep!” I protest.
“I do. But I need to sleep with you.”
I blink. “What?”
“Baby, let me sleep here with you. I don’t want to have sex and leave. I don’t want us to be like that.”
I don’t move as his words wash over me. I don’t want us to be like that.
Mason doesn’t want to have sex and then sneak his way back to his hotel room. He wants to stay.
I draw my lips together, pressing down tightly and willing myself not to tear up.
