“Take your time. I’m in no rush.”

I’d forgotten that about him—his stamina…and a delicious flashback of our night together ripped through my brain.

“Mace…”

“That’s it. Come for me. I’m right behind you.”

I pumped my hand firmly up and down, my climax crashing through me just as I felt his hot, sticky release. Together.

 Remembering our night together, I realized again how uncanny it was how in sync we were. This wasn’t normal, was it?

Pulling his T-shirt off over his head, Mason balled it up and used it to wipe the semen off my hand, and then his rock-hard abs.

What kind of man cooked a perfect steak, delivered prenatal vitamins to you at work, and then brought you to orgasm in five minutes flat?

Chapter Fifteen

Bren

What had just happened… What was everything I had just felt? It was too much, too fast. Overwhelming and scary and real and if I didn’t get away soon, it would only get worse. White-hot panic enveloped me, creeping into every single cell in my body. It screamed for attention.

I had to get out of here.

With every breath, every beat of my heart, I knew it.

My heart was still hammering wildly as I pulled away, trying not to make eye contact with Mason as he wiped me clean. He ran a possessive hand over my belly as I sat up, his eyes lingering there as he studied me.

As I stood, Mason fastened his pants again and then paused, shooting me a questioning glance.

“I’m going to get changed and we can decide what to do for the rest of the night,” he called over his shoulder, his gaze raking over my body and sending a shiver through me.

Slowly I trailed behind him, trying to come up with some excuse for why I couldn’t stay. I didn’t have a dog or cat to feed and no roommate was waiting for me at home. I didn’t have to work the next day. Still, I didn’t think “I’m a big fat chicken” felt like a valid excuse, and it certainly wasn’t one I wanted to utter out loud. This whole damn situation defied logic so I couldn’t justify my behavior. I wanted to run. Period.

With a deep breath, I followed him into the bedroom and watched as he pulled on a hoodie and pajama pants, then tossed a T-shirt and pants onto his gray comforter.

He nodded toward the clothes. “For you. If you want to get more comfortable.”

I forced a smile. “No thanks. I think I’m going to get going.”

His gaze narrowed on my face and it was all I could do not to squirm. Even though he didn’t say anything, his expression said it all.

Coward.

“What’s the rush?” he asked softly.

You just knocked my socks off again and that wasn’t supposed to be how it went. You can own my body but you can’t own my heart.

But I couldn’t say that either.

“You should stay. We’ll go into the living room and watch some TV.”

I shook my head, panic ceasing my heartbeat in my chest. “I don’t think so.”

“Something better to do, or just need some space?” he asked as he picked up a pile of socks and shoved them into a new drawer before turning to face me. It was freakish how well he knew me after so short a time. He was getting close to figuring me out. Too close.

“What are you doing?” I asked, my voice going shrill.

“Making room for you. My place is closer to the zoo than yours, and that way, if there is a night you do decide to stay, it will be easy. You can keep some clothes here and—”

“What? No.” I blinked. “We barely know each other, Mason.”

He closed the drawer before turning to face me and crossing his arms over his chest. “We know that we fit together like hand in glove,” he said, his eyes skimming over me and making me shiver. “We know that I might be the father of your child. And we know that we like each other’s company. It only makes sense that we try to spend some time together so that we can get to know each other even better, doesn’t it? Isn’t that what we agreed to do?”

“No, it doesn’t make sense, and no, that wasn’t what we agreed to do,” I shot back. “None of this makes sense. Look, what we just did? That was a mistake. I should have gone before. Just pretend it never happened, okay? I don’t know what I was thinking.”

“You were thinking you’re attracted to me. Just like I’m attracted to you. I thought we established that.” He took another step toward me, but I retreated, making my way toward the bedroom door.

“I need to get some air. Some time to think. I’ll call you…or something.”

I sprinted for my sandals and slid them on quickly before heading for the front door. When my hand closed around the knob, I felt a warm, masculine hand on my bicep, but I yanked my shoulder away and hurried out the door without bothering to turn around.

That orgasm?

My own drawer?

Oh, hell no.

It was all too much. He was too much, and I had to get out of there before this thing between us swallowed me whole.

Chapter Sixteen

Mason

I got as far as the hall outside my apartment, watching her almost insane mad dash to the elevators, when the phone in my pocket vibrated.

At first, I thought it might be better to ignore it—to follow Bren down to the lobby and walk her to her car at the very least, but after what just happened, there was no doubting that she needed space and I had no choice but to give it to her. Even though I didn’t work at the zoo like she did, I knew what happened when you tried to cage a wild animal.

The only question was why she needed space to begin with.

After everything that had happened today—the zoo, dinner, and the mind-blowing almost-sex—I thought we were finally making progress. But she felt different…

I heard the distant ding of the elevator doors, then headed back inside my apartment, and my phone buzzed again against my thigh.

Gritting my teeth, I fished the device from my pocket and swiped my thumb across the glass to see that I had missed a call from my mother and she’d left a message.

I thumbed the voice mail button and pressed the smartphone to my ear, listening as the warm, familiar tone of my mother’s voice floated through the speaker.

“Mason, honey, it’s mom. I was calling to ask if you might be able to come over tonight or tomorrow? Your father and I have something important to tell you and we’d like if you could stop by the house so we can do it in person.”

My heart jumped into my throat as the recording ended.

Something important to tell me? The last time I’d gotten a call like this, I’d been on my way to Johns Hopkins, ready to start my freshman year and make a name for myself, only to turn around and find that the world was coming apart. My mother was sick with cancer. Potentially terminal.

The idea of a recurrence hadn’t been far from my mind ever since. It was the reason I’d never moved away and tried to make sure I always made time with both my parents, no matter how busy life got. And if my mom was sick again…

My stomach tightened at the thought.

I’d been on top of the world only ten minutes before, with Bren’s warm, solid palm pressed against my cock, and now my whole life had turned into one giant shit show.

I shot a quick text to my mom and slipped into a pair of shoes before locking my apartment and heading for the parking garage. If my parents needed to tell me something, then I was going to be there to hear it—come hell or high water.

I broke nearly every traffic law on the books trying to get there, but when I finally pulled up in front of the classic brick house where I’d grown up, I felt worse instead of better. It just all felt so familiar—the call, the drive, all of it. And when I went inside, I felt intense dread, like I already knew what would be waiting for me on the other end.

Steeling myself, I rapped on the door once before letting myself in with my spare key. My mother appeared on the other side of the door just as I stepped in, her blue eyes wary as she looked me over.

“You got here awfully fast.”

“If there’s something you couldn’t tell me on the phone, I wanted to know what it was right away.”

She nodded, pursing her lips. “I can understand that. Come in. Your father just made coffee.”