Mason shook hands with Colt and Wilbur before facing the woman who was obviously involved with Victoria. She was a little pissed Victoria hadn’t mentioned that little tidbit, but she had no right to be upset. It wasn’t like they’d had some deep conversation about whether either of them was with anyone. “You can stay if you and Victoria need more time together. She’s welcome to have any guest she wants.” It was the last thing she wanted to say, but damn all those pesky manners her parents had insisted on. They sucked in moments like this.
“I have a shift later tonight, so I can’t, but you’re sweet to offer. I’m Josette Starling”—Josette held her hand out—“and I’m a friend of Victoria’s. It’s not at all what you’re thinking, so you can take that dead fish out of your mouth.”
“Mason Liner.” She took her hand before putting it back in her pocket. “What do you think is on my mind? We’ll discuss the fish comment after that.”
“Victoria and I are friends, and I’m still looking for love.” Josette laughed and it made Mason smile. “I listen to dozens of songs about that every night, but it’s a bitch when you’re the one who’s waiting for Mr. Right.”
“If I run across anyone also on the hunt, I’ll let you know.” Why this woman was telling her all this was a good question, but she was entertaining.
“I’d appreciate that, and while you’re at it, could you keep an eye on my friend in there?”
Mason looked up at the house for a moment before turning back to Josette. “I’m not sure your friend would appreciate that, especially if it’s coming from me. If everyone has a Patronus, hers is the offspring of a porcupine and a cactus. I’ve been pulling quills out of my ass since our first meeting.”
“That sounds like her, and whoever decides to try to breach that quill zone needs to be someone who understands a few vital facts.”
Mason nodded. Colt gave her a wave as he kept Wilbur entertained, signaling that she could finish this conversation. “What facts?” She amazed herself that she was still standing there, but it seemed important to Josette for her to play along. And if it helped Victoria…
“They’d need to understand how important Sophie is to Victoria, and what it is that Victoria wants more than anything.” Josette stopped talking and smiled.
“Okay, I’ll bite. What’s she want more than anything? The Sophie part I’ve got in spades.”
Josette laughed and shook her head. “There’s only so many hints I’m willing to give. If you want it, you need to work for it.”
“Thanks for the vagueness, and come back whenever you like.”
“You have a beautiful place, and I love to ride, so I might take you up on your invitation if it comes with access to all the pretty horses.”
“That you can do every day, so don’t be shy.” Mason noticed Victoria standing at the window now, and she was ready for the day to be over.
“Shy is the last thing I am. Thanks, Mason, and don’t forget to work hard for that answer. Make us all proud.”
She laughed as Josette joined the guys for the walk up the hill. The contracts and paperwork in her briefcase really needed her attention, but that was the last thing she wanted to spend time doing. Victoria wasn’t in the window any longer, but there was no way she could have left without Mason seeing her escape.
“You’ve been holding out on me,” she said when she found Victoria sitting on the back porch.
“Don’t believe everything Josette tells you. I saw you out there with her.” Victoria had made herself a cup of tea, but there was another cup on the small table between the deck chairs, and Victoria nodded at it when Mason sat down beside her. “She’s got a vivid imagination, and she likes to involve others in those wild fantasies of hers.”
“I don’t need Josette or anyone else to tell me you have a beautiful voice, and that you play just as beautifully. Thank you for doing that today. Colt seemed appreciative, and it was good to pair him with another voice while he tried out those songs.” She took a sip of her tea and gazed at the water. Everything she was saying was true, but Victoria seemed more comfortable when she wasn’t being studied like a specimen.
“Why were you crying?” Victoria asked. She was staring at the water as well but turned in her seat when Mason didn’t respond immediately. “You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, but I saw you tearing up, and you don’t strike me as the overemotional type.”
Sometimes the simplest answer was the most honest one. “Your voice touched me, and you remind me of someone.” In her life she’d met thousands of people, but very few of those were memorable enough to live in her heart after they’d moved on. Natalie Barnes was one of those people, and she was why Mason would’ve helped Sophie and Victoria even without her father’s assignment. Love and loss went together in so many songs, but in real life, it sucked. The reality of that loss had stayed with her, and she still hadn’t found the answer to drive the memory from her heart and mind. “And don’t tell me you’re not that good. I know better.” She smiled when Victoria blushed at the compliment before going back to staring at the water.
“I’m passable, but I do love playing. Wilbur is wonderful.” Victoria kept her face turned toward her and she sounded at ease. She was like a Siren and Mason had no choice but to turn back to her.
“You’re good at changing the subject.” She finished her tea and pointed in the direction of the main barn. “Want to take another walk with me, finish your book, or play some more?”
“Where are we walking to this time?” Victoria stood and grabbed both mugs. “The book will keep, and I’ll be too self-conscious to play now, so a walk it is.”
“I’m not that harsh an audience,” she said, opening the door. It was getting late but there was still plenty of daylight left. “Am I?”
“Wilbur said you told him he sucked.” Victoria laughed and it completely changed her face. She couldn’t really say transformed because Victoria was beautiful, that never changed, but her laugh brought out something wonderful that made her hard to ignore.
“That was being honest, not harsh. Wilbur really did suck, but his heart was in it, and he loves working hard. I could see his passion and desire for more when he was playing on that sidewalk. Once he’s as good on the guitar as he is at making a cinnamon twist, I’ll put him with someone good. His dad’s a little worried about the career path he wants to take, but I promised I’d look out for him.”
She took a jacket out of the closet in the office and handed it over.
“Thanks,” Victoria said, turning so Mason could help her on with it. “I don’t think he minded the truth. He certainly seemed to love telling that story almost as much as he loved showing off his skill.”
“He’s a good kid.” They headed out, and she led Victoria into the trees. Once the house was out of sight, she opened the gate and locked it behind them. Chasing horses out of her landscaping was a night of fun she never wanted to repeat.
“This place really is beautiful.” Victoria closed the too big jacket, put her hands in the pockets, and faced the wind as if to keep her hair out of her face. The odd angle of her head made her miss a tree root, and she flew forward with a yelp of surprise.
Mason had good reflexes and caught her before she hit the ground, and they ended up in a pose as if she was dipping Victoria after a dance. “Are you okay?” Their faces were close together, and while she hoped Victoria wasn’t hurt, she was enjoying this.
“Sorry, I didn’t see that, but I’m glad you caught me.”
She slowly came upright and kept her hands on Victoria’s hips, wanting to keep some contact. “No need to apologize. My first week here I broke a bone in my ankle on one of the stupid things.”
Victoria grimaced, and at first Mason thought it was in sympathy, but after a few seconds she realized Victoria wasn’t just feeling her past pain and was standing on one foot. “I can sympathize. I don’t think mine’s broken, but it’s definitely twisted.”
“Let’s get you to a doctor.” She didn’t hesitate and scooped Victoria into her arms. “We should’ve gone with the reading option.”
“If you help me, I can walk.” Victoria didn’t seem to know what to do with her hands, and the uncomfortable prickly expression was back.
“It’s not that far back to the river house.” She gazed at Victoria with a small smile, wishing she’d simply go along.
“You’re definitely getting your money’s worth out of your shining armor.” They started back to the fence, and Victoria moved her hand to hold on.
Mason tried not to shiver at the feel of Victoria’s hand on the nape of her neck. It was warm, and soft, and most definitely a place she liked feeling a woman’s hand under other circumstances. “Zeus would drop me on my head if I tried armor, and I’m sure you’d do the same if I referred to you as a damsel.” She had to put Victoria down to unlock the gate, and Victoria held on more tightly when she picked her up again, even draping her arm over Mason’s shoulders so it was easier to carry her. Jeb would have to lock the gate back up because she didn’t want to let go of her.
“Is Zeus your horse?”
“The big menace surely is. I’ll have to introduce you. Jeb’s had him in the back pastures, or he would’ve hogged all your apples.” She took her time going back, but not so slowly that Victoria would worry about making it. “Now that I have you at my mercy, when did you learn how to play?”
“You didn’t plan this, did you?” The way Victoria teasingly pulled the hair at her collar came close to making her drop her, as the feeling shot straight to her clit.
“Yes,” she said, laughing. “I had Jeb out there with a remote-controlled root. We’ve been practicing getting it right under your feet, and that awesome catch I made, since you got here. I figured you couldn’t hate me forever and would be thrilled to fall into my arms.”
“I don’t hate you,” Victoria said and laughed when she arched her eyebrow in response. “I marginally disliked you at first, but I admit that was wrong of me.”
The house came into view and she was sorry. “And I admit you have a few things going on in your life that would’ve made anyone want to burn the world down around them. All that cursing was totally understandable, and I was a bit of an ass.” She walked up the steps and bent so Victoria could open the door with her free hand.
“I could keep up the mutual admiration thing we have going and tell you that you weren’t an ass.”
“But you’re not going to?” Mason laughed after the long pause.
“But I’m not, so put me down, Mason.” Victoria pointed to the office. “You must be exhausted by now.”
“Hold on.” She knelt, carefully put Victoria on the couch, and quickly put a pillow under her foot. “Does it hurt a lot?”
“It’s bearable. Give me a couple of days, and I’ll be fine. I only have one problem.” Victoria reached out and grabbed her hand when she went to move away to call for help. “I’m fine, but I’m hungry. Can you help me with that? And join me?”
“Tell me what you’re in the mood for.” She knelt next to the couch and placed her hand on the cushions.
“I bet that works all the time.” Victoria surprised her by running her finger along Mason’s jaw. “Doesn’t it?”
“What’s that?”
“That voice, and this face.” Victoria caressed her cheek. “You must have women falling at your feet.”
“I’ll have to introduce you to my mother, and she’ll explain otherwise.” That Victoria noticed her in any way other than as the person helping her with Sophie made her happier than it should have.
There were lost causes that should never be attempted no matter how much you wanted to complete them, like climbing Everest in only your underwear, and then there was trying to romance Victoria Roddy. Both could end in the loss of vital parts, if not death, but life was more rewarding when you took chances rather than going the easy route. Her mother had taught her that as well.
“That doesn’t come after the voice and the face have lowered everyone’s defenses? Introductions to your mother, I mean.”
Flirty Victoria was sexy, but some part of her brain was wary and treated it like a Bigfoot sighting. Those weren’t common and were never in focus, which made sense because she couldn’t really make sense of this. Victoria had gone from mistrustful to flirtatious, so maybe she hit her head as well as sprained her ankle.
“I’ve never introduced my mother to anyone who wasn’t business related, but once you meet her, she’ll be happy to explain her many lessons about using my voice or anything else to get one over on a woman. And if you meet my mother, it won’t have to do with business.” She moved slowly to wipe away the tears she didn’t think Victoria realized were falling. “Do you want me to get you a doctor? Are you in pain?”
“No.” Victoria allowed her to wipe her tears and smiled, but it only made her appear sadder. “Sorry. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.”
“Stop apologizing already.” She smiled and shifted her weight to her feet. “Would you excuse me for one second?” She stood and Victoria looked away. Sitting there on the couch, she looked small and alone, and it made Mason’s heart ache. “Jeb, could you call the Golden Dragon and put in an order? When it arrives, please bring it down to the river house.”
“Do you…I mean…would you be more comfortable back at the house? I don’t want you to think I’m holding you hostage down here.” Victoria didn’t seem like the type of woman who stammered, but between the end of their afternoon with all their guests and their walk, something had changed, and it seemed like maybe a little piece of her fortified wall had crumbled. “It seems like I’m always apologizing to you, but I’m sorry.”
“There you go again. I’m confused as to why you’re sorry now.” She moved a chair closer to the couch and sat down. “And I feel anything but trapped. Sometimes life gives you exactly what you want, and you need to learn to sit back and enjoy it.”
Victoria laughed and pointed to her foot. “I’m apologizing because somehow your job now revolves around babysitting both me and my mother. I’m sick of us, so I can just about imagine how you must feel. But you’re nice and polite not to admit it.”
“You keep saying that too, which makes me curious.”
“About what?” Victoria’s nails sounded loud as she dragged them up her jeans, and the move seemed like a nervous gesture.
“Was there another option you think I should’ve gone with?” Victoria’s expression bordered on panic now. “You don’t need to answer that, and you can be sure that I’m here because I want to be. That part I wasn’t exaggerating about.”
“Why did you really sign up for this?” What Victoria appeared to want was an essay, complete with bullet points and graphs, that explained how everything came with a price. No short answers would appease her distrust of her and the world at large.
“Answer something for me first. What do you think I have to gain?”
“I really don’t know, but it’s got to be something. People don’t usually go out of their way unless there’s something in it for them.” Victoria fiddled with her fingers and dropped her head as if she couldn’t meet her gaze.
“I know exactly what you’re feeling, and I blame it on the business we’re in.” She sat back and crossed her legs so she could tap on the heel of her boot. “People usually do want something from you if you’re in a position to give it to them. It’s a vicious cycle that puts you on a hamster wheel that makes you run faster and faster until you lose control, and the fall might just send you careening head over fluffy ass off the wheel.”
“Tell me more.” Victoria looked up at her, making Mason think she’d forgotten she was embarrassed.
“Once people achieve fame, the kind of fame Sophie has climbed to, you spend a lot of time wondering if people are with you because of you or the money.” She shrugged because it was the same for her once people knew who her father was. “When people are chasing fame, they’ll do anything to get it, and the people they walk over to get their fifteen minutes are left wondering if they cared or were just using them all along.”
“That makes sense, but what does that have to do with all this?”
Mason inhaled and held it until her lungs burned. “Hopefully, Sophie will leave here sober and go on to even bigger things. She has so much more music to make, and with hard work she can do that while keeping everything she’s accomplished.” The nervous tapping was aggravating so she dropped her foot to the floor and took another deep breath. “All that’s speculation on my part, but there is one certainty I’ll swear to.”
“Please tell me.”
“Sophie will never record another thing for Banu.” She put her hand up when Victoria seemed about to say something. “Not because we’ll let her go, but because she’ll never forgive me for this, much less my father.”
“And you did it anyway?” The incredulity in Victoria’s voice made Mason laugh.
“It’s an old-fashioned notion, but there’s such a thing as doing right by people. My father wanted to do this because he was set on showing Sophie his appreciation for all those years they worked together, and my mother wanted it done because she’s a big fan.”
Victoria smiled and held up a finger before pointing at her. “How about you? Why did you want it? We’re at your house, after all, not your father’s.”
“Maybe it was because I want to spend time with you.”
“Ha,” Victoria said loudly. “That’s the last thing I believe.”
“Are you kidding? After all those great times we’ve shared when you cursed me out and slapped me around, there was no way I was passing up the chance to spend quality time with you.” It felt like signing the hottest act in the world when Victoria laughed. The knock at the door made Victoria stop, so Mason hurried to get rid of whoever it was. Jeb handed over a bag and pointed to the utility vehicle. She shook her head, wanting no easy escape for either of them.
“If you help me up…” Victoria said, swiveling to put her feet down.
“Whoa.” She put the food on the chair and took hold of Victoria and pressed her into the same position she’d been in. “I can put food on a plate and bring it in here. Now if I offer to cook for you, that’s when you want to run, injury or no.”
“That asshole persona is starting to crack under pressure.” Victoria’s smile was the widest she’d ever seen it, and it signaled that perhaps they’d crossed some boundary that had been in their way from the very beginning.
“And you’re—” She stopped before the word bitchy got Victoria to brick up the wall again and shut her out. “Probably hungry. Give me a second, and I’ll be right back. How about a beer?”
“Sure.”
The time in the kitchen gave Mason a chance to give herself a pep talk. She needed to talk herself off the ledge. Women in no way scared her, but if she made a wrong move now, the fall might hurt, because Victoria was no casual relationship with no strings attached. She thought of her promise to Belle, and it finally made sense. Victoria wasn’t a woman who was angry at the world because it didn’t conform to her—she was angry because she was in a world she felt she had no place in.
“Here you go.” She set a tray across Victoria’s lap and went back for her own, as well as the ice pack she’d made up for the sprained ankle. “If I go slowly, would it be okay to take your shoe off?”
Victoria nodded. “It’s not throbbing as bad as it was when it first happened.”
“Good.” She sat by Victoria’s feet and slowly untied the athletic shoe, and just as slowly took it off. The sock made it hard to see how swollen her foot was, so Mason put the ice pack over it. “Tomorrow I’ll take you to the doctor to make sure it’s only a sprain.”
“By tomorrow I’ll be fine.” Victoria speared a piece of chicken and held it out to her. “You don’t need to waste time taking me to a doctor for no reason.”
“Are you always this stubborn?”
“You’re not used to anyone disagreeing with you, are you?” Victoria gave her another bite, staring at her as if she really wanted an answer.
“Miss Roddy, you have the wrong impression of me. People disagree with me all the time even when I’m totally right and it’s in their best interest to listen to me.” She moved to the chair but dragged it closer before she sat.
“How often are you right?”
“It’s my curse, but every single time.” She joined Victoria in laughing and started eating. They stopped talking while they enjoyed dinner, but eating together was something they were used to. Mason took the tray away when Victoria was finished and piled the dishes in the sink. The cleaning staff would take care of them, which only left her with the decision of what to do about Victoria tonight.
“Do you think someone can drive down and pick us up?” The ice was starting to melt, but Victoria’s voice was steady. She didn’t seem to be in a lot of pain. “I’m not going to let you carry me, so forget it.”
“Actually, I was going to suggest something else. Give me a few minutes, and don’t run off.”
On the other side of the room with all the instruments were a bedroom and bathroom, in case she used the space as a guesthouse. Up to now only Colt had spent the night, after a work session that ran way late. It was still early but going up that hill and back to the house meant not only the end of their night but going back to work. Mason didn’t want to do either one, so she turned the bed down and got it ready for Victoria.
“You aren’t going to punch me, are you?” She knelt by the couch again and placed her hands close to Victoria’s body.
“I haven’t yet, have I?”
“You give me the impression that it’s only because you have incredible self-control.” She smiled at Victoria’s laugh and took advantage of her good humor to pick her up.
“I told you that I’m not going to let you carry me up that hill.” Victoria put her arms around her and gazed into her eyes. “I’m too heavy for that.”
“How about you stop exaggerating and hang on.”
She walked to the back corner of the house. During the renovation she’d put in two walls of windows, giving the room an excellent view of the river. When there was a full moon, it was visible even at night, but tonight the view was a black void that was quiet and seemingly infinite.
“Ah, you have a casting bedroom instead of a couch, huh?”
Mason was about to protest but calmed when Victoria winked at her. “My only guest so far has been Colt Kenny, and I have no desire to see him naked.”
“He’s handsome enough,” Victoria said as Mason put her down gently. “Why wouldn’t you want to?”
If she’d mistaken any of their exchanges for flirting and the beginning of a different kind of relationship, the Colt Kenny haze quashed that fantasy. “Colt’s not my type.”
“What’s your type?”
She lifted a blanket over Victoria’s legs after putting her foot on another pillow. “The exact opposite of Colt, and I’ll be in the other room if you need anything.”
“No hints?” Victoria lay back and seemed to want to keep up their conversation.
“I thought I just dropped a big one.” She turned off the overhead light and pointed to the nightstand. “The remote for the TV is in there, and I’m not leaving, so I’m only a yell away if you need anything. Get some rest, and we’ll get you set up to be more mobile tomorrow.”
“Thanks, Mason.”
“You’re welcome, and don’t be shy about asking for help. You aren’t a bother, and you’re light as a feather.” She had to admit strawberry-blond hair was even sexier when fanned out over a pillow.
“I’ll remember that.”
“I won’t let you forget.”
She stared a moment longer before forcing herself to walk away. The truth was, she wanted Victoria there in her bed, needing her, and she’d never wanted anything remotely close to that. She shook her head at the thought as she went back to the office to get lost in work.
“Fuck me.” She had to say it because there was no way in hell anything in her life was distracting enough to blow Victoria out of her head, no matter how hard she tried.