Mason gets off the phone and looks at the two of us. “We’ll stay here tonight. Why don’t you ladies get freshened up. I’ll see what’s in the refrigerator and start cooking. You need something to soak up the rest of the alcohol and drugs that were put in your system,” he says, glaring at Bobby Ray.
He points out of the dining room and down the hall, gesturing for us to go.
I give Jules a wink and roll my eyes skyward. “Yes, sir,” I mock, heading down the small hall to check out the rest of the house. “He’s so bossy, arrogant, and what’s the word I’m looking for?” I ask Jules.
“Hot as a long day in Texas,” she drawls, as we make our way down the hall. I know Jules; she’ll try to make light of it to make sure everyone else feels okay, but I don’t feel okay. The enormity of everything that could have happened keeps swirling in my still alcohol-dazed mind. Things could have turned out way differently for her tonight if it were not for Mason.
Jules puts her hand on my shoulder. “Are you okay?”
I turn and give my friend a hug. “No, nothing’s right. I feel horrible about drinking so much and leaving you at the bar, like the worst friend ever. I’m just glad nothing else happened. It didn’t, right?” I ask, all of a sudden seized with a moment of fear.
Jules face turns somber, and she shakes my shoulder. “You listen to me. I am a big girl. I was drinking. I am responsible for me, not you. And it’s not either of our faults that Bobby Ray hooked up with Jake Eldridge, and would do such a crappy thing to me, understand? Sherriff Cates is going to have a hell of a lot to say to him tomorrow.”
She’s right, we’re both adults, but this feeling of guilt is not going to go away quickly. “I’m just so glad that you’re okay. And, more than a little ashamed of myself for thinking so poorly of Mason at first. He really came through tonight. I mean, seriously came through for us. I don’t know if we would have found you without him. I bet by now even the emergency vehicles can’t make it out on the ice.”
Jules, ever the matchmaker, gives me a wink. “Yes, he did. You should have seen him marching Bobby Ray over to that chair with that gun of his at the base of his neck. He was a man in charge; I’ll tell you that much.”
The longer we’re away, the guiltier I feel about how badly I’ve completely and unfairly treated Mason from the very start because of baggage I’ve never let go of from the past. “Let’s take a look at the sleeping arrangements and head back. I’ll help Mason cook us something to eat.”
Jules makes her eyes go wide dramatically. “You, cook, and with an out of towner? Oh, this can only mean one thing. Don’t tell me you’ve gone and fallen for the bodyguard? We have to quit letting them come to town. These handsome devils waltz into town, and my friends get all googly eyed and lose all of their common sense.”
My face heats with embarrassment. No one knows me better than Lacy and Jules, because that’s exactly what this man has done. “Stop it. I’m just trying to be nice. The devil’s probably hungry after all that … you know … with all that macho shit he does.”
Jules laughs. “Fine, let’s go be nice to the tall, dark, out of towner who has your panties in a twist.” I don’t tell her that he almost had them in his pocket too. My overactive hormones and attraction for the hot bodyguard is what got us into the situation in the first place, no matter what she says.
Thank goodness he was able to get the situation under control. I may not be the damsel in distress type, but there’s no denying he was the hero to the rescue tonight and didn’t take advantage when he could have done just that.
Jules points to the kitchen. “Go, cook with Mason. I’ll get the bedroom situation sorted and see if I can find some clean sheets or wash some for the beds.”
I head back to the kitchen. Clean sheets. Very, very good idea. Mason is boiling water in a pot on the stove and puts a pound of spaghetti noodles into the water. He pulls out a bowl of ground beef from the microwave above the stove and separates the little frozen bits as he puts it into a fry pan. “It’s not quite dethawed, but it’s close,” he says, breaking the rest of it apart with the edge of the wooden spoon. “The kitchen is pretty well stocked except for fruits and vegetables. Spaghetti and garlic rolls with no salad will have to do.”
Bobby Ray clears his throat. “I don’t eat rabbit food. And I need to take a leak.”
Mason ignores him and looks at me. “You want to finish the hamburger? I saw some canned mushrooms and some onion in the fridge. It’s not exactly Mamma’s sauce, but it’ll work for a night like this. I’ll untie him, run him to the bathroom, and then pop in some dinner rolls when I get back.”
I take the spoon from his hand, and his fingers brush against mine, sending that tingling charge right to the very end of me. My cheeks heat, remembering his rebuff of my earlier advances. Well, that’s not going to happen again, that’s for damn sure, no matter how attracted I am to the sexy as sin devil and his snug fitting jeans.
He unties Bobby Ray and walks him to the bathroom, but he’s careful about where and how he holds that gun of his. Mason isn’t taking any chances with being overpowered by the heavier man who would like nothing better than to get out of the trouble he’s undoubtedly going to be in come tomorrow.
I finish up the meat, mushroom, and onion mixture and pour in the sauce to heat while finding the rolls in the freezer. I have them out and the oven preheated by the time he returns with Bobby Ray in tow and ties him to the chair. “Would you mind finishing those while I run out to get my bag? I have some handcuffs in the bag that’ll make things easier for the rest of the night.”
I look at the meat sauce gently bubbling. “Sure, no problem at all. I’ve got this,” I tell him. “The instructions on the rolls said to put them in the oven for a few minutes, until they’re golden. I think all this mystery around cooking is just a big over-exaggerated thing. A few minutes in the oven and dinner will be ready.”
He comes to stand beside me. “Time to drain the noodles, or they’ll be mush.”
I inhale deeply and laugh. “You didn’t tell me to drain the noodles.”
Mason laughs and grabs some potholders. “Well, move over, little missy, and let me show you how it’s done.” He adjusts the lid and tips the pot, letting the water run out. “No colander around here.”
I watch as the noodles drain. “Truth be told, I’m not much of a cook. I can find my way around the kitchen when I need to, but I’m a pretty simple person; no lavish four course meals or anything for me.”
Mason moves the pot back to the stove. He sure doesn’t act like the asshole I thought he was, and I know that’s not just my overactive and neglected for far too long libido talking. My eyebrows crinkle as I get out of his way. “I thought you were a city boy. City boys don’t say Mamma or little missy. Where are you from?”
Bobby Ray moves the chair he’s sitting in, and it scrapes the floor, causing both of us to look his way. He doesn’t say a word, just glares at us from the position he’s liable to be in all night long.
Mason grabs his coat. “I grew up on a ranch down in Texas, but my parents have both been gone for some time now. A car accident on a stormy night took them both. My aunt took me and my little sister in until we were grown in a suburb near Chicago. I guess a few phrases just hang on a little.”
My chest tightens learning his parents were in an accident, and still, he risked coming after Jules in bad weather.
He touches my shoulder and pushes a wayward piece of hair from my face. “It’s been a minute since I thought about that. I’ll be right back.” He looks at Bobby Ray. “You move an inch, and I’ll leave you in that chair all damn night.”
I pull my arms tight around my middle as he heads out into the weather, and the cold, damp air blows into the room, regardless of the heat generating from the stove.
Jules walks into the kitchen, looking much better than she did before. “A hot shower is all I needed. The beds are all made. A little food and something for this headache that’s already starting to throb, and hopefully I won’t be as hung over as I should be tomorrow morning. Note to PJ. Do not let Jules drink so much ever again.” She glares at Bobby Ray. “Then maybe I can be prepared the next time some asshole tries to slip drugs into my drink. You asshole.” She turns to me. “You should jump in the shower; the water should be warm again by now.”
I grimace, because the sheer fear and pure adrenaline of Jules being taken may have sobered me up some, but the after effects of all that alcohol is bound to hit me like a freight train later. “I’ll take one later. I don’t even want to look in the mirror right now. My hair is probably a mess, makeup is nonexistent or all over my face, dark spots under my eyes from lack of sleep this week, and…”
Mason walks in through the dining room, dangling three pairs of hand cuffs. “You look beautiful to me.”