Any tender feelings I had brewing needed to be squashed, and fast. We weren’t even friends. A month ago, I’d kind of despised him. We were two people who had awesome sex, that’s all.
Moving through my trailer, I made sure everything was in its proper place. Imagining it from Mase’s eyes. I wanted him to like it. This was my home, it had been my home most of my life.
My little bedroom was clean and tidy, bed made, laundry folded and put away. The living room consisted of a three-seater couch along one wall, a TV opposite. The couch was emerald velvet and had belonged to Gran. I loved it. I’d found a colorful rug for the floor and a cute coffee table. The curtains were colorful and bold, all jewel tones. At the opposite end was a compact kitchen. It was L shaped, hugging the wall with barely any counter space, but Gran and I had made it work.
And right beside that was a small table. It only sat two comfortably. The chairs didn’t match, but I’d painted them both white and made red cushions for the seats. I mainly used the table to sketch designs for my clients.
Tonight, it would be used for…something else—
I clenched my thighs and took a steadying breath.
A car door closed outside, and Jimmy barked from the bedroom.
He was here. Legs shaking, I walked to the table. My heart was racing, palms sweaty, so turned on I felt dizzy.
I bent over—
A knock rattled the door.
I spun around. Would Mase knock? Maybe I misunderstood what he wanted me to do? No, I had every word memorized, and I’d played them over in my head all day.
“Who is it?”
“Babe, it’s Brick.”
What was he doing here? I moved to the door and pulled it open.
Brick stood there, smiling up at me. “Fucking cool trailer. Love these old Airstreams.” His gaze dipped, taking in my dress, and the smile dropped.
“Um…hey.” I wanted to cover up because I was naked under the dress and thinking about Mase showing up meant my nipples were probably pretty noticeable right now, but I didn’t want to be obvious either.
“You mind if I come in for a minute? Brought those pics. Forgot to leave them with you this morning, and you said you wanted to get a jump on the design tonight?” Brick said, that grin back.
He’d been in for his consultation this morning, after Mase left. He was booked in to get his tattoo in a couple of days, so I needed his photos sooner rather than later. Still, I was having trouble switching gears. “Um…”
His grin slipped again. “Shit, I probably shouldn’t have just showed up like this? Riff said it’d be cool…” He lifted his hands and took a step back. “Last thing I want is to freak you out, Trix. I just thought because of Riff and Lila it’d be okay. I’ll come into the shop tomorrow instead.”
The big biker in front of me looked kind of mortified, and I instantly felt bad for him. I pushed the door open wider. “No, it’s fine, you just surprised me. Come in.”
“You sure?”
“Yeah, of course. Show me the photos.”
He stepped inside and I motioned him to the table. We sat and he laid out the pictures he’d printed out.
“These are great. May’s so cute. She has your smile, Brick.” I looked them over again. “These are all fine. Which ones do you like best? I can definitely work off what you have here no problem.”
He took two from the group and slid them to me. “These two.”
“Yeah, nice. She has the sweetest little face.” I lifted my gaze, and he was watching me.
“Babe, was bummed you had to leave the other night.”
I’d felt guilty since I’d left him at the bar. “Sorry about that, I didn’t mean to lead you on…”
“Whoa. You didn’t lead me on. I’m a grown-ass man, I can take rejection.” He rested his hands on the table, his dark eyes meeting mine. “But you have a change of heart, you let me know, yeah? I like you, Trix. Would love to get to know you better.”
He really was a great guy, like really great. “I’ll keep that in mind…”
The door opened before I finished my sentence and I spun round. Mase stood there, still in his uniform, and with an expression that was kind of terrifying.
“Sorry,” he said, but didn’t look it in the least. “Am I interrupting something?”
I smiled, and it probably looked as forced as it felt. “Nope, Brick and I were just discussing the tattoo I’ll be doing for him.”
Brick stood, and suddenly my small trailer was a whole lot smaller. “No one taught you to knock, Sheriff?”
Oh hell.
I looked up at Brick. “It’s fine…I knew he was coming. I decorated his house and we have some things to go over.”
Mase stood ramrod by the door, looking seriously unhappy.
Brick didn’t look any happier.
The silence stretched out. “Okay, so I guess I’ll…”
Brick looked down at me and the hard look was replaced with that sexy grin. “I’ll see you in a couple days.” His gaze dipped to my mouth and back up. “And don’t forget what I said, Trix, yeah?”
“Um…yep.”
Then Brick left, shutting the door behind him, leaving me alone with a surly Mase.
“Hey,” I said.
Mase’s gaze moved over me and his jaw tightened. “What shouldn’t you forget?” He moved closer.
Goddamn, he was intense. So much so, he overwhelmed me at times. I didn’t think he meant to be, but I often found myself stumbling over my words around this man. We were sleeping together, but he wasn’t my boyfriend, and I had nothing to feel guilty about. “I kind of told Brick I couldn’t go there with him that night at the bar.
