I couldn’t read the expression on her face as I pulled up and shut off the engine. Shoving the door open, I climbed out and strode toward her. Yeah, I didn’t like that blank look on her face, not one bit. It was hard, but instead of pulling her out of that seat and kissing her, holding her, I took the one beside her.
She handed me one of the glasses, a wide, fake-as-hell smile curling her lips. “Ice tea, the way my gran used to make it. She taught me that you should always offer your guests a refreshing beverage.”
I took it, ignoring the pounding of my heart, the fear uncoiling in the pit of my stomach. And the fucking hurt, Christ, the anger, that she would just assume that I’d shove her aside. That she meant nothing to me beyond an easy fuck. “Kitten…”
“I think it’s time to retire that name, don’t you?”
She’d shut me out completely.
“You left. You didn’t even bother to tell me you were going.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “We don’t owe each other anything. We had some fun. Now it’s over.”
“Is it?” I bit out.
Her gaze slid to me. “Of course it is, Mase. What did you think was going to happen?”
Putting down the drink, I forced myself to stay in my damned seat and not grab her and make her listen to me. “And I don’t get a say in this?”
“No.”
There was no emotion in her voice, on her face. She’d locked it all down tight. “What you saw yesterday. It’s not what you think.”
“No?” She sipped her drink. “I still got the message loud and clear.”
“And what message was that?”
She huffed out a humorless laugh. “This is Trix, I watch her dog sometimes,” she said, doing what I assumed was an imitation of my voice. “It’s okay, Mason, your secret is safe with me. I mean I knew you’d eventually get back together with your wife, but not while your bed was still warm from having me in it.”
“That’s not what that was…”
“She calls you Mason as well. Is that why you liked me calling you that so much? Did it get you hard to pretend I was her?”
I shot out of my seat. “What the fuck?” Shoving my fingers through my hair, I paced away, then back, and bit back several more curses. “Janie never called me Mason when we were together. Maybe once or twice, fuck if I can remember. To her I was Mase, always Mase. I don’t know why she called me Mason today. But I sure as hell didn’t need to think of anything but you to get hard, kitten.”
She said nothing.
“And you fucking agreed to keep what we were doing a secret. If I remember correctly, it was your idea, and the only reason I didn’t introduce you as mine yesterday was because I didn’t want to rub that in her face.”
“Hasn’t she been seeing someone else? I mean you’ve been separated a year, why would she care?” she said, some fire creeping into her eyes.
“She wanted to discuss us getting back together…”
“No shit,” Trixie said, a look of twisted triumph on her face.
I moved to her and she shot out of her seat, putting distance between us.
“We aren’t getting back together, Trixie. Like you said, we’ve been separated a year. Why the fuck would I do that? Why would I get back together with her? Tell me that?”
“Because you still love her,” she said, her voice cracking, giving me the first bit of real emotion since I arrived.
How could she believe that? “What you saw was ten years of history. Yes, I care about Janie, but I’m not in love with her, Trixie. She was a big part of my life, and I can’t just forget it or erase it. But I don’t want her, I want…”
“It doesn’t matter what you want, Mason. I let myself get swept up.” She waved a hand toward me and shook her head. “I know better.”
“Fucking hell, kitten, stop acting like you don’t fucking care.” I moved closer and my heart cracked down the middle when she took another step back. “I know you do. I’m not your ex-boyfriend, Trixie. I’m not that fuck, Adam.” How could I have not thought about how that fucker had hurt her, that seeing me with Janie would have brought that all back.
Her gaze dropped, then lifted, locking on mine. “No, you’re not my ex-boyfriend. You’re not my anything, and still you made me the other woman.”
I jerked back. Yeah, that fucking cut. “Jesus, Trixie…”
“You’re still married, Mason. She’s still your wife. I don’t fuck around with married men.”
“I told you, she was taking the paperwork to her lawyer when she got back, so we can still…”
“I’m leaving Rocktown.”
I froze. “What?”
“I’ve been here long enough.” She held my gaze. “It’s time to chase my happy.”
“What the fuck are you talking about? It’s right the fuck here.”
She shook her head, her blond hair falling around her face, her red lips curling gently. “I was never meant to stay here this long. I’m a Faraday. We stay while things are good, we have fun, and we don’t get attached. I’m not having fun anymore. I’m not happy. It’s time to find some more.”
I reached for her and pulled my hand back, cursing under my breath when she took another step back. “That’s bullshit. Your gran ran when things got hard, that’s no way to live your life.”
She turned away from me. “Come on, Jimmy.” Her dog trotted up to her, for once not rushing to me, like he could sense the tension. Trixie looked back at me.
