I’m telling myself I need the distraction, but deep down I want to milk every single second of time with Callie while I have her. I don’t know what’s going to happen after. Of course I hope that Zavala honors his deal, but with Amador still hunting me, I’m still living with a sense of impending doom. I need to do everything I can to forget that, at least for a little while, otherwise I might just go insane. But really? I just can’t get enough of her.
Her eyes brighten, and fuck if my heart doesn’t just start beating double-time. “I’d love that. Under one condition.”
“Name it.”
“You better come find me when you make it back to LA. Don’t you dare let me go three more years believing you’re dead, okay?”
20 Callie
A cold, bitter rain is falling when Nina and I leave the hotel the next morning after breakfast. It pours down in icy sheets, heavy droplets smacking against the window of our rideshare as it pulls up to the curb outside Mom’s building.
“Shit! I don’t have an umbrella. Or a raincoat. Can’t you get any closer?” I beg the driver.
He apologizes with a shake of his head, gesturing at the other cars in between.
“Shit,” I mutter again, eyeing the stretch of unprotected sidewalk between where the car idles and the entrance to the building.
“Better get a move on,” Nina says. “Call me with a report later, all right?”
“I will, but I don’t know about this weather. What if he changes his mind?”
I pause with the car door cracked, not enthused in the least about stepping out into the shitty weather.
“Sweetie, I saw how he kissed you goodbye in the hallway this morning. I’d be surprised if he’s not already waiting on your doorstep.”
I smile to myself, remembering that particular kiss, my entire body tingling. Then I look pointedly at my friend. “Yeah, well, you want to explain that exchange between you and Wyatt? That looked at least as intense as what Mason and I have going on. How deep did you two get last night?”
Nina blushes and stares at her hands. I gawk at her. She only ever gets that look when she’s either ashamed about something or . . . holy shit. Is Nina actually falling for the guy?
“No way. Okay, I need to woman up and go. But you are going to call me as soon as you get home. I need to know everything. Love you.”
I lean in and kiss her on the cheek, then brace myself to plunge into the icy January rain.
“Love you too,” Nina calls after me.
My clothes are a cold, sodden mess when I reach the elevator, garnering a few down-the-nose glances from one or two of the more high-brow residents who are well-equipped with trench coats and umbrellas. All I have is a thin, cashmere cardigan that’s now drenched. Fuck them. I’ll drip where and how I please.
I drip defiantly all the way up the elevator ride to my floor. My hands shake from the chill when I try to fit my key into an unresponsive lock.
“Fucking get in.”
The ornery lock relents and I tumble through the doorway into the big, airy loft. Mom’s probably back in Englewood at the estate now that the party’s over. I’d like to think she’ll follow through on her promise to spend time together before I leave, but I’m not holding my breath. I didn’t see her again at the party last night, though I know she was there. Admittedly, by the time I found Mason, I had no interest in anything but him.
“Damn icebox,” I mutter, closing the door behind me and shivering all the way to the thermostat in the kitchen. I set the temperature in the high 70s. If Mason does manage to brave the weather, I want it nice and inviting in here.
I take a hot shower while the place heats up, then spend far too much time contemplating the style of panties I should wear, finally settling on a silky blue set that feels nice against my skin. Over those I pull on leggings and a tank top, tossing on a bulky, cable knit sweater to top it all off.
The clock moves with incremental slowness. One o’clock.
Mason and I agreed that he’d come by around four. Three hours. Christ, am I that desperate to be counting the minutes? Not desperate, I decide. It isn’t about the sex, though frankly, it was spectacular, and I’m looking forward to a whole weekend of more. But after discovering who he is, that in one night I’ve managed to solve the biggest mystery of my life, I realize I still want more.
Maybe it’s all about the secrets? It’s possible that I’m attracted because he’s being cagey about his life. Maybe Nina was right and Barnaby never did it for me because he was just too normal. It made it easy not to push to get him to move, and I just let myself keep thinking we were being reasonable adults by letting each other pursue our careers in different states.
Mason’s secretive nature is probably not a healthy reason to want to spend time with him, but there is more to my attraction than that. He awakened a part of me I didn’t know even existed until that night on the plane. And a full night together only made me want more. As the minutes tick by, I realize I’m probably going to drive myself crazy staring at the clock.
Desperate for some perspective, I dig into the pantry and pull out a bottle of wine. Uncorking it, I inhale the heady aroma of the tannins and pour, watching the burgundy liquid catch the light as it fills the
