Mason read through some proposals the next morning as Victoria slept in the same spot she’d spent most of the night. She slept like the dead, considering Mason had gotten up, gone to the bathroom, gotten some stuff off her desk, and come back to bed. It’d been cute to watch Victoria inch back over until she was plastered to her side again. The last time she’d had a sleepover was in the first grade, but last night had been nice. Having Victoria next to her for the entire night was making her inexplicably happy, and she didn’t want to stop and analyze why.
Being too analytical was a gateway to questions—questions she didn’t have answers to.
She’d put her arm around Victoria and still managed to read through all the items Scarlet had edited and sent back. The stuff was ready for her father’s approval, which opened up her day for the picnic she’d planned. A long breath from Victoria warmed her shoulder, and she wondered if this was the beginning of her waking-up ritual.
The stack of papers she’d finished didn’t make a sound as she dropped them to the floor so she could concentrate on Victoria. “Good morning.”
Victoria’s eyes opened when Mason spoke, and there was a second when she thought Victoria would flee, but it didn’t happen, and Victoria relaxed again. “Good morning. Thanks for staying with me last night.”
“Slumber parties are my favorites.”
“I’ll just bet.” Victoria sat up and finger-combed her hair. “Let’s see if I can make it to the bathroom on my own steam.” Mason rushed to the other side of the bed and waited, doubting a night would heal a sprained ankle. Victoria hissed after trying to put weight on it, and Mason lifted her into her arms.
“Give it a few days, or you’re going to have to get used to me carrying you around for a while when you do some real damage.”
“Why do I get the impression you’re enjoying this?”
She stood Victoria up in the bathroom and studied her to see if she was kidding. “Because I totally am,” she said hesitantly.
“Get out of here, so I can figure out a way to shower that doesn’t involve you carrying me anywhere naked.”
Mason groaned and leaned against the doorframe. “Great, put that image in my head, and exile me to the other room.” She walked back to the kitchen to start the coffeepot and check for any urgent messages.
“Mason, I’m done.”
She heard Victoria laugh when she walked back in with her eyes closed and her hands out in front of her. “Where would you like to go?”
“To the sink. Would you happen to have an extra toothbrush?”
“My staff stocked this place with about three hundred extra toothbrushes, and one in that drawer has your name on it.” Her joke backfired when Victoria lost her smile. “It’s a guesthouse, honey, not a revolving door of my conquests.”
“Sor—”
“Don’t apologize again.” Mason pinched her lips closed. “Eventually, you’ll figure out how totally awesome I am, and that I’m not an asshole. At least, not an asshole all the time. That big-hair tweet I read to your mother was over-the-top asshole behavior, but I promise to do better in the future.”
“Do you have a blue one?” Victoria bunched her hand in Mason’s shirt as she asked.
“I’m sure I do. Hang on to me.” She sat Victoria on the counter and gave her everything she needed. They enjoyed their coffee on the couch in the office to avoid the morning chill, with Victoria’s feet in her lap.
“Would you take my sock off and see what the damage is, please?” Victoria tensed her uninjured foot and pressed the heel more firmly against her thigh.
She was as gentle as she could manage and grimaced at the bruise that covered most of Victoria’s foot. “I know you don’t want to, but we really need to get this checked out.”
“What about the picnic you promised me?”
“I’m not reneging, but I’ll feel better if the doctor tells me there’s nothing broken in there.” She accepted Victoria’s empty cup and placed her hand on her knee. “I can call my guy, and we can be back here before lunch.”
“Okay, but I really do need to shower and change clothes.” The shirt Victoria was wearing looked slept in, and her pants weren’t that much better.
“Okay, what about I suggest something—and it’s not a come-on.”
“This should be good.”
“How about a bath instead, if I can help you in and out of it.”
“You’re right,” Victoria said pointing at her. “That’s more of a blatant request to see me naked than a come-on.”
“You have such a low opinion of me, Miss Roddy. Tell me what you want to wear, and I’ll call up for it after I get you in the tub. Or I can have someone bring your bag down.” The way Victoria was staring at her was putting the idea of begging for some naked time together into her head, so she shook it to knock that notion right out of it.
“Would it be okay to stay down here?” The question seemed to come out of Victoria’s mouth without her permission, since she closed her eyes tightly and blushed.
“That’s a great idea if you don’t mind me staying with you.” This would be a good way to get out of the office and get some work done, and it would give her the chance to get to know Victoria better, now that no subject seemed off-limits. “Let’s see what the doctor says, but no matter what, you might need help getting around.”
“Let’s get going, then.”
Victoria agreeing right off was like a minor miracle, and she carried her back to the bedroom before she changed her mind. “Relax for a minute, and I’ll get your bath ready.”
She started filling the tub and opened the blinds that overlooked the walled garden outside. The house was remote, but the privacy wall prevented any landscaper or any of the farmhands from getting a glimpse inside. All she needed now was one of the large bath sheets, which she placed on the bed next to Victoria.
“Ready?”
Victoria glanced from the towel to her and cocked an eyebrow.
“Take your time getting undressed, and then wrap that around you. You can get in the tub with it, and I’ll leave another one for when you’re finished.”
“Mason, I don’t—”
“I can call my housekeeper if it’ll make you more comfortable.” She started toward the phone, and Victoria almost fell off the bed grabbing her by the wrist.
“Stop interrupting me and sit down.” Victoria kept hold of her wrist and tugged until she sat. “Do you have a robe down here?”
“There should be one in the closet.” She started to stand up, and Victoria moved her hand to the back of her collar and held her in place.
“You’re not some pervert, Mason, and the robe will be fine.” Victoria let her go but only to put her hand on her shoulder. “You’re not a pervert, are you?”
She shook her head and tried her best serious face. “Maybe a little, but nothing that’ll freak you out when the moment’s appropriate.”
Victoria’s laugh really was wonderful, and in a bizarre moment of conscious thought, she wanted to give her a lifetime of reasons to laugh, but she’d start with a day. “I’ll get the robe and finish in the bathroom while you get ready.”
Victoria started unbuttoning her shirt before she left the room, making it plain they’d gotten past the awkwardness of where they’d started. They didn’t talk as she carried Victoria to the bathroom, and Mason closed her eyes again when the robe hit the ground. The sensation of all that skin tempted her to open her eyes, but she resisted.
“Do you need anything?” She turned her back on Victoria to dry her arms and heard the trickle of water as Victoria moved around.
“This feels heavenly.” Victoria’s voice was soft and oh-so feminine. It was that soft tone that wrapped around the part of your brain that wanted to experience all the pleasure a woman like Victoria could give you. “You won’t go far, will you? I don’t want to break my ankle for sure, trying to get out of here on my own.” The room filled with the scent of lavender, meaning Victoria had found a bottle of something on the bath ledge.
“I’ll sit on the bed and wait.”
“I hate to ask.” The hesitancy in Victoria’s voice made Mason almost turn around. “Would you stay with me?”
“That sounds better than cooling my jets in the bedroom.” She sat on the closed toilet seat with her back still turned, wanting to give Victoria as much privacy as she could while being in the same room. Victoria pulled the curtain so only her head was visible, and Mason was able to turn toward her.
“You’re really sweet.” Victoria leaned her head back and wet her hair. “You didn’t come off like that at first, but you really are.”
“It’s a good thing you think so, but there’s plenty of people out there who’ve had to negotiate with me who’d disagree.” She watched Victoria rest her head back on the towel she’d placed on the edge as a pillow and fantasized about running her fingers through her hair. That she was thinking about that and not the million things she had to do for Colt’s upcoming tour proved she needed an examination of her head as badly as Victoria needed one of her foot.
“That’s business, and you said this didn’t have anything to do with business.” Victoria turned her head to the side and smiled lazily at her. She didn’t think anyone could pull that off outside of a romance novel, but here was the proof. “Tell me why some eager young lady hasn’t taken you off the market.”
“You’re not a fan of the gossip sheets, are you?”
“Tell me you’re not a boldfaced name. Was I right about the voice and that face?”
She laughed at the fact that Victoria had a talent for making her self-conscious. No one had done that in a long time. “The trashiest one in the bunch named me the most eligible bachelor last year. It was a dig at my supposed talent with the ladies.”
“Does that mean you don’t have a talent with the ladies?” Victoria’s smile widened. “I can’t imagine you had grounds to sue for libel over that one.”
“Granted, but it makes me sound…I don’t know, animalistic. I’m not that shallow.”
“No, you’re not shallow at all, but there has to be someone in your life. You’re sweet, a great friend, and there’s that voice and face combination. Do you date a lot?” Victoria’s gaze still had that lazy but sexy appearance, but Mason could sense it drilling all the way to the back of her skull as she dug for information.
The bath was a strange place to have this particular conversation, but it would be better to get shot down early than later, after she’d exposed her heart. “Believe it or not, I don’t. I always have a date for events and that kind of thing, but my schedule is murder on my personal life.”
“Sonny can’t be that much of a taskmaster.”
“He isn’t, but considering I’m usually not tempted by or interested in dating a lot of people, I volunteer for more than my share. I’m a workaholic at heart.” She put her hands up before Victoria said anything else. “And don’t interject anything about your mother here. Neither one of you is something he railroaded me into.”
“I wasn’t going to say that,” Victoria said with a small shake of her head. “All I was thinking is that you’ve taken quite a few days off since I’ve been here.”
“How about that.” She winked at Victoria and got her to blush again. “There’s been only one serious girl, and the bad ending left me a little skittish.”
“Someone left you?” Victoria sounded really surprised. “Was she not real bright?”
Mason grinned. “You’re good for my ego, but no. Natalie was my high school sweetheart who followed me to college, and my plan back then was to graduate, work for my father, and marry Natalie.” It’d been a long time since she’d said Natalie’s name out loud. She thought about her every day, not obsessively, but briefly. The pain wasn’t raw anymore, hadn’t been in years, but it still lingered. “That’s not how it worked out.”
There was a heavy silence. Mason didn’t want to go into detail, and Victoria obviously picked up on that. Victoria sat up and finished bathing, seeming in a hurry to be done. “Will you help me out?”
The earlier lightheartedness disappeared as they worked together to get Victoria out, dried, and back in the robe. Jeb brought the housekeeper down with Victoria’s bag. Mason was lost in her own thoughts, and Victoria said she was okay to get dressed on her own, so Mason went out and talked to Jeb about the vet visits they had coming up throughout the week, and about the mares that were due to foal. When Victoria called out, Mason carried her to Jeb’s truck and was touched at the way Victoria laid her head against Mason’s shoulder. It was sweet and open, and it made Mason swallow hard against emotions she hadn’t felt in a long while.
Jeb gave them a ride to Mason’s truck, and they headed out to the medical center. Thankfully, while the doctor ordered Victoria to stay off her foot for a few days, nothing was broken. The only drawback was the boot and crutches the doctor provided eliminated the need for her to carry Victoria anywhere.
“Are you sure you don’t need to be doing something else?” They’d taken one of the utility vehicles down the hill and back to the river house, because it was easier for Victoria to get in and out of it than Mason’s truck. After the mention of Natalie, their conversation had been all business.
“I promised a picnic, and unless you’re tired, it’ll be nice to enjoy the day. With you, I mean.” She didn’t want Victoria to think she was an afterthought. Thoughts of Natalie had crowded her head this morning, but as the day progressed all she could see and feel was Victoria. Instead of freaking her out, though, it made her crave more, and she wanted Victoria to feel the same way.
“I’m not tired at all, but the incline to get near the water looks pretty steep.” They were sitting in the Gator, and Mason had to smile at what Victoria was implying. “It’d be tough to navigate on crutches.”
“I could help you with that, or we can keep it to the porch.”
“Food on the porch is just lunch.” Victoria placed her hand on her forearm and took a breath as if for courage. “I’d really like to spend the day with you, but I don’t want you to neglect anything you have going on.”
She lifted Victoria out of the vehicle and started down the incline to the spot she had in mind. The two tall pines created a level area close to the water but gave them some privacy from any boaters passing by. Jeb had spread a blanket and left the cooler of drinks she’d asked for, leaving her with only one more walk up the hill to get lunch ready.
“You make me feel special,” Victoria said when she carefully put her down. Victoria ran her hand over the soft blanket and looked up at her with that smile that made her want things.
“I’m glad, because you are special.” The breeze made it cool, but she took her boots off and sat next to Victoria.
“I sure haven’t given you any reason to think that, but you have to believe those first times we met weren’t me. I mean, obviously they were me, but not really.”
“We’ve been over this already, and you need to bury it, with the knowledge that I’m not going to judge you forever based on those nights.” Victoria didn’t respond, and it made her sad. Not for whatever was going on between them, but because of the way Victoria obviously saw herself. “I’m not, just like I’m never only going to see Sophie Roddy’s manager. You’re so much more than a few bad nights and your job.”
“Funny, you’re the first person who’s ever said that.” Victoria bent her uninjured leg and rested her head on her knee.
“That’s because I’m brilliant, and we have a lot in common.”
Victoria laughed and leaned against her shoulder. “Is brilliant something we share or is that only you?”
“See, if I don’t agree to the sharing, I doubt you’ll go out with me again.” Victoria laughed again and she loved it. “But you are brilliant, and you’ll get all the slack you’ll need from me because I probably understand you more than anyone in your life.”
“I think you’re right, even though we haven’t known each other long.” The way Victoria searched her face as if she’d find some answer to a hard question made her want to kiss her. “Why do you think that’s true?”
“Because I know what it’s like to be judged or measured against someone fate genetically linked you to.” She took Victoria’s hand. “It’s a heavy load, and any perceived mistakes make it harder to carry. I know, probably like you do, how the world is always watching.”
“You do understand.”
“That I do, and hopefully that’ll make you understand the truth of me cutting you slack.”
They sat holding hands, having come to some mutual understanding. She leaned back against one of the pines, Victoria leaned against her, and there was really no need for any more words for a long stretch of time. Sometimes the best days were when you got to sit quietly with someone you cared about. You could just watch the hours go by, and the silence would tell you all you needed to know and more.
“Will you tell me about her?” Victoria finally asked. “The girl who broke your heart.”
The question surprised her, but then she’d opened the door earlier. There was no reason to dredge up the now ancient history, but she would because Victoria wanted to know. “Are you sure you want to hear this? Believe me, she’s not a factor in my life any longer.”
“I realize that, and I do want to know. That way I won’t repeat old mistakes.”
“Oh, honey.” She put her arm around Victoria, liking the closeness. “I don’t think you could.”
Mason closed her eyes and let herself be swept back to a time she’d tried to leave behind.
* * *
University of Tennessee, Six Years Prior
“You need to talk your father into that Los Angeles job and tell him you want it to be permanent.” Natalie Barnes stood swaying in her underwear in the living room of the condo she shared with Mason, talking a little too loud for Mason’s comfort, considering their neighbors.
It was only eleven in the morning, and Natalie was already impaired. Mason sighed, already guessing what the next part of the day was going to be like. Natalie would escalate, if only to drive her insane or to get her to change her mind and go along with what she wanted. It was a crapshoot with no good payoff either way. “You know he’s not going to do that, and that’s not what I agreed to.”
“Mason, for fuck’s sake.” Natalie’s voice started to take on that shrill quality that started a painful beat over Mason’s left eye. “You loved LA as much as I did, and it’ll be boring as hell getting stuck back in Nashville. If he puts you in LA, you can grow the label the way you want to. Try to sell it like that.”
She packed her tablet and laptop, ready to head to school early if only to get away from this conversation—again. They’d taken a trip to LA over their break to run some errands for her father, and Natalie had fallen in love with the fast pace and nightlife, and the excitement she kept insisting didn’t exist at home. What had been her dad’s way of treating them to a short vacation had turned into Natalie’s obsession with moving to the city.
“What’s wrong?” She shouldered her bag and saw Natalie grab the back of a chair for balance. “You were out late last night, but the hangover should’ve burned off by now.”
“Nothing’s wrong, and stop trying to change the subject.” Natalie wiped her brow as if she was burning up, but the condo was cool and dark with all the blinds closed.
“You know what the plan is, it’s not going to change, and you know why. It’s time to accept it.”
“I’m not staying with you if you’re going to be this unreasonable.”
Mason shrugged, tired of the game. “I’ll talk to my father and see if there’s something he can find you in LA if that’s what you really want.”
“Really? I swear you’ll be so much happier with that than going home.” Natalie started for her and Mason shook her head. “What, baby? I know what we had planned, but things can be so much better there. You know Sonny will give you whatever you want.”
“I meant a position for you, not me. After graduation next month I’m going home and accepting my father’s offer. What I want is for you to join me, but I won’t stand in your way if that’s not what you can live with.”
“Are you being serious? I don’t want that at all.”
Mason smiled, stupidly thinking Natalie was changing her mind. Why that notion had formed in her brain was a mystery, but it was born out of the years they’d shared together. Natalie had been hers from the time they’d started sneaking off to kiss when they were sixteen, but something had changed. The woman she loved was gone, even though she was standing right in front of her, and she was at a loss as to how to reach her.
“I want you to come with me, but are you being serious?” Natalie asked.
“Am I serious about what exactly?” she countered, if only to see if they were on the same wavelength.
“You’d talk to Sonny for me?”
And that was that. Did Natalie realize the ramifications of her question? It didn’t matter. It was done. “Sure, babe. Whatever you want.”