Believe Me (Hearts for Ransom Book 3) (21 page)

“It’s five card stud with deuces wild,” Emily announced, dealing the cards around the table.

Mason sat sideways so his legs were parallel to his side of the folding table Logan had carried in. Colton and Joni, both carrying folding chairs, had tagged along, and they were all playing penny ante poker.

“Your wife cheats,” Colton told Logan. “Nobody is that good at poker.”

Mason had to admit, Emily was pretty darn lucky. She had a growing pile of coins in front of her while everybody else’s dwindled.

“I do not, Colton Rennard,” she said indignantly. “I’m just an awesome player.”

“You’re a card shark, sweetheart,” Logan observed.

They played the hand, and Emily won again, causing Colton to groan. Mason just laughed. He could easily imagine Claire sitting with this group. She’d fit right in with these guys just like she had with Bo and Jan.

“Earth to Mason!” Emily was practically yelling. “Where were you? It’s your turn to deal.”

“He was mooning over Claire,” Colton told her.

“That’s better than if he was mooning us,” Logan stated.

Mason wished he could moon them. At least he’d have to be standing up that way. The next day couldn’t get there fast enough.

“Five card draw,” he announced before dealing.

“Bo-ring!” Joni spoke to the ceiling.

“Well, just a minute and I’ll do a little dance to entertain you,” Mason retorted. “But wait! I forgot I can’t even stand up. How about if I wiggle my toes? Is that enough excitement for you?”

“Hey, Em.” Joni was excited. “We could draw little faces and hair on Mason’s toes. He can’t reach them to wash it off. Want to?”

Emily giggled. “I could bring in some elastic hair bands and we could put little skirts on them.”

Mason wasn’t worried. Now, if Abby were one of the women plotting to make females out of his toes, he’d be begging for plaster boots. These two were just all talk.

“Finally!” Colton was excited when he won the hand a few minutes later.

“Pizza’s here.” Coop and his wife, Marie, walked into the room, each of them carrying a couple of large boxes of pizza. “We ran into the delivery man and figured he was coming here, so we just took care of it and brought them the rest of the way.”

Everybody deserted their cards to head for the pizza.

“Just sit tight, and I’ll get you a couple of slices,” Logan instructed him. “What kind do you want?”

“I’ll take the Canadian bacon.” This was almost as good as being at his apartment for one of his regularly hosted poker nights. Would he still be able to do that once he and Claire were married? Spence would be able to fend for himself while they played cards, but what would Zoey be doing? This was going to be a whole new ballgame for him.

There he was, counting his chickens before they hatched again. He still hadn’t gotten Claire to say she loved him. She just kept telling him she was “getting there.” He hoped she hurried up and got there. It had been way too long since he’d been able to satisfy his sexual appetite, and there was only one woman he wanted to be with now. Since he intended to show her the respect she deserved, and that no man, including himself, had ever shown her before, he was going to wait until after they were married to make love. He could even think of it as making love. He had never equated sex with love before Claire. Love had always been for those poor saps he called friends. Look at him, though. Now he was just as caught up as any of them.

“So, how’s everything going with Claire?” Logan asked after he placed two paper plates laden with pizza on the table, one in front of Mason and one he kept for himself. Logan took a big bite as he sat down beside him.

Mason grinned. “Good. She brings Zoey, and the four of us have been spending evenings together during the week. Then on Friday and Saturday nights she comes here, and it’s just the two of us.”

Logan’s eyebrows went up. “So, that’s how you’re dating?”

“Yeah,” Mason answered. “I don’t have a lot of options right now.” Not yet, at least.

“Been romancing her?”

“What?” Mason didn’t know what Logan was talking about.

“You know. Sending her flowers at work. Buying her little gifts.” He grinned. “I bet there are all kinds of treasures for sale in the gift shop.”

Mason felt like a fool. They were dating, but she was doing all the work. Claire brought the food and movie. He sat and enjoyed it. Of course, he should be doing things for her. And he’d start first thing in the morning. He may not have ever been in love before, but he was sure he could romance the woman he intended to spend the rest of his life with.

“Mason, can I ask you something?” Joni’s voice was soft as she sat beside him.

“As long as it’s not if you can draw things and dress up my toes,” he told her, “because the answer to that will be an unequivocal no.”

She grinned, but then she sobered. “You’re a man, so I know you wouldn’t have noticed, but Claire really doesn’t seem to have many nice clothes. In fact, I think she probably buys her clothes from a second-hand store.”

“So?” She’d better not be trying to tell him Claire wasn’t good enough to hang with the group. He was going to lose it if that were the case.

“I get a good discount as the manager at Rivets,” Joni, seemingly unaware of his agitation, reminded him. “I was just thinking, if she knew she could use my discount, she might be able to stretch her money far enough to buy herself some new clothes. I don’t want to insult her or hurt her feelings. I just want to help her if I can. Every woman likes new clothes once in a while.”

“I don’t know what to tell you,” Mason answered. “Maybe  you can talk to her and see what she says.” He had inaccurately presumed the exact opposite of what Joni was trying to do. “It’s thoughtful of you to offer, though.”

Joni smiled and returned to her pizza.

She had been correct about one thing. He hadn’t ever paid attention to what Claire wore. She was such a stunningly beautiful woman, he hadn’t noticed her clothes. How would she feel about buying new clothes at Rivets? He’d have to wait and see how she responded to Joni’s offer. When it came right down to it, he was more interested in her visit the next day. Hopefully, she’d be thrilled. He sure knew he would be.

Nope. Tomorrow couldn’t get there soon enough.

Claire couldn’t believe how busy Butlers had been since she arrived. There was some kind of auto show in town all week, and it looked like Butlers Inn was a favored place for car owners to stay, resulting in many of them dining in the restaurant. The visitors were evidently wealthy people, too. She received some outrageously generous tips. She might have to stop by Seasons and Such sometime this week and see if she could find herself a new outfit. Mason might like to see her dress up a little bit more than her usual jeans and blouses.

Mason. Just the thought of him brought a smile to her face. It was all she could do not to run back to the break room and check the beautiful bouquet of roses he sent her. Of course she was going to thank him…effusively…but he really shouldn’t be spending that kind of money on such an extravagant gift. With his hospital bills mounting and having to miss work, he was probably pinching pennies the way it was.

“Four customers at table seven,” Alma told her.

Claire pushed the roses out of her mind and apologized to her aching feet before preparing a tray and walking to the table. She wanted to stop and turn around when she saw the four women sitting there. They were all four blonde, extremely busty, and wearing “Trimble’s” tops. Claire tried not to be judgmental, especially since she met Betsy and discovered how wrong she had been about her, but like it or not, most of the women who worked there wouldn’t be considered respectable women by any definition.

She smiled as cheerfully as she could while she set down their water glasses and handed out the menus.

“Do you ladies know what you’d like to drink, or do you need a few minutes?”

“I’ll have a Cosmopolitan,” the one with the largest chest told her. Just looking at the woman made Claire’s back ache. Claire was a bit chesty herself, but she couldn’t imagine how that woman could hold those things up.

“Just make that four,” another one told her after conferring with her friends.

It seemed awfully early for mixed drinks, but it wasn’t any of Claire’s business. She walked into the bar and ordered the drinks. Even Tommy gave her a disbelieving look when she told him what she needed.

“Kinda early in the day for vodka mixers, isn’t it?” he asked.

She shrugged. “Not my idea. I just take orders and deliver.”

She soon arrived back at the table and placed a drink by each woman. “What can I get for you to eat?”

They must have thought like lemmings, because after the gargantuan-chested woman ordered a filet mignon and twice-baked potato, all three of the other women did, too. They all even wanted their steaks medium well. That would make it easy to serve their meals.

She had two more tables to take care of before the steak dinners were ready for the Trimble’s waitresses. As she was setting their plates down, the spokesperson for the group made a comment that nearly caused Claire to drop a plate.

“I’m just waiting for Mason Wright to get himself back in action. He knows how to give a woman the ride of her life.”

“We were in the back seat of my car once, and you wouldn’t believe the position we used—never felt anything like it.”

“Did you know he poured beer on my…”

Claire hurriedly placed the last plate on the table and rushed away, not even bothering to ask if any of them needed another drink. She did not want to hear Mason’s backseat exploits, where he poured his beer, or what happened after he poured it there.

She knew Mason had a history with women—many women. Those waitresses were talking about past experiences. She had no rational reason to be upset. But she was. She didn’t want to hear about the man she loved having sex with other women…at any time. The man she loved. She loved Mason. Why had those women shown up and made her feel like this? They ruined what should have been a joyous occasion. She finally realized she was in love with a man who loved her back.

But she had all these feelings flowing through her now, that she didn’t know how to handle. If she told Mason she loved him and they got married, were they destined to run into women he had slept with during the past six years, all of them expecting him to behave like he used to? And with women who looked like those from Trimble’s after him, how would she ever manage to keep his interest? He would undoubtedly be tempted…and stray.

What was she to do?

She was still asking herself that question an hour and a half later when she followed Spencer to Mason’s room. While she had been looking forward to seeing him earlier in the day, she was feeling too conflicted at the moment. Maybe she should have just asked Spence to tell Mason something came up, and she couldn’t make it. But that would have been a lie. And she didn’t want to lie to him.

She walked into Mason’s room behind Spencer. Mason turned from where he stood in front of the window.

She realized it just as Spencer shouted it. “You’re standing up! You’ve got the cast off of your leg!”

The doctor had removed the cast from Mason’s right leg that morning. While he still needed crutches to get around, and his right leg was weak, he could stand up and hobble around. He started physical therapy that morning right after they removed the cast.

He grinned at Claire. “I can go home tomorrow. I have to come back for outpatient physical therapy every day, but I can use a taxi for that. And we can go out on real dates now.”

She walked over and hugged him. There was something different about the way she was acting, but Mason couldn’t put his finger on what it was. It made him feel uneasy, though.

“Spence,” he said. “Why don’t you get a few dollars out of my wallet and get us some soda out of the vending machines? We’ll celebrate.”

Spencer happily did as Mason asked. As soon as the boy left the room, Mason cast a worried look at Claire.

“What’s the matter? Something’s wrong.” He used his free hand to keep her from looking away from him. “Please tell me.”

She drew a shuddering breath. He wanted to know what was wrong, so she would just tell him. “I thought I was okay with everything, Mason. I really did. But today…at work, some of the…women from Trimble’s came in.”

Mason’s heart was pounding so hard he was afraid he wouldn’t be able to hear her. She couldn’t be telling him what he thought she was.

“They were talking…about you. Some of the stuff you did. I couldn’t…I can’t deal with it.”

“The stuff I
did
. I haven’t done anything like that for a long time. Since I was with you. Remember?”

Her eyes met his. “I believe you.” A lone tear fell from her eye. “But what will it be like for us? How many times will we run into one of your former…conquests and have them expect you to act the same way? And how many temptations will it take before you fall back into your old lifestyle?”

He shook his head. “I can’t go back and change what I did. I would if I could. I told you that. I’ve been honest with you about my past.” He felt like he was going to be sick. “But I won’t ever be tempted back into my old lifestyle. Because there is only one woman I’ll ever want to be with again, and that’s you. Please, Claire, you have to believe me.”

She pulled away from him, more tears falling. “I just don’t know, Mason,” she said miserably. “I just don’t know.”

He felt like he’d been run over by a train. “You still don’t believe me. You’ve never really believed me, have you? I told you the truth from the beginning, but you never really trusted, deep down, that I’ve changed.”  He turned away from her so she wouldn’t see his tears. “You should go meet Spence in the hall. Just tell him I’m not feeling good enough to help him with his homework today. I’m too tired from my physical therapy. If you don’t think that’ll work, I’ll come up with another lie. That’s all you expect from me anyway, isn’t it?”

“Stop it!” She walked around to stand in front of him. “I’m not going to stand here and watch you beat yourself up again. I do believe you’ve changed.”

“Then, how can you think I’d ever want to go back to the way I was? To other women?”

“I don’t know,” she admitted. “Just give me some time to figure this out.”

He smiled sadly. “If you need to figure it out, then there’s really nothing there to figure out in the first place, is there?”

“Mason, I—”

“I got root beer for all of us,” Spencer announced as he walked back into the room.

Mason cleared his throat. “I’m sorry, Spence. I guess I overdid it with my physical therapy this morning. I’m not feeling too well. Why don’t you take my root beer home with you? You can drink it later.”

Claire didn’t want to leave things like this. She wanted to talk this out with him. She wanted to tell him she loved him. Then she wanted him to hold her and tell her he loved her, and everything was going to be fine.

But Spencer was there, a confused look on his face. Her son was too smart, sometimes. She wasn’t going to talk about this in front of him.

“Come on, Spence.” She hoped he would just go with her without asking any questions. “Let’s let Mason rest.”

Spencer looked from Mason to his mom. “Are you guys breaking up?”

“No,” Claire answered at the same time that Mason said, “I don’t know.”

Spencer set the bottles of soda on the tray. “I’m going to call Judy to come and get me. I’ll watch Zoey, Mom. You stay here and talk to Mason.”

“That’s not necessary,” Mason told him.

“It is, too!” Spencer shouted loud enough, Mason fully expected Sandra to crash through the door. “You two love each other, and you’re going to be my dad, so my mom is going to stay here, and you’re going to talk things out instead of bulling up and running away from each other.”

With that, he turned and left the room.

Claire was stunned. Her son had just set both of them in their places.

“So, can we talk?” she asked Mason.

He turned and looked into her eyes. “I love you more than I ever thought it was possible to love another human being. I will never…and I mean
never
cheat on you. If we’re out and we run into one of my old conquests, as you call them…I call them mistakes…I’ll tell her I’m happily involved in a committed relationship. That’s the best I can do because I can’t go back and change the past. Can you live with that?”

She slowly nodded. “Will you wear a wedding band so other women will see it, and maybe not even approach you anymore?”

He thought he was hearing things. “Will I wear a wedding band? I will when we get married. I’ll wear the widest one we can fit on my finger if that will help.”

“When will you ask me to marry you?” Her entire body hummed with electricity.

That was an easy question to answer. “When you’re finished getting there and decide you love me.”

She smiled gently. “Then ask me.”

Now he knew he was hallucinating. Because if he heard her right…He had to find out.

“I love you, Claire.” He held his breath as he waited for her response.

“I love you, too.”

He started shaking. She loved him. Finally.

“Will you come over to the bed so I can sit down?” he asked.

That wasn’t the question she was waiting to hear. “Okay.”

She followed him to the bed, where he first opened the drawer on the table next to it before he finally sat down.

“Come stand in front of me,” he requested.

She walked over and stood a few inches from his knee.

“I know I was optimistic, and getting ahead of myself, but one time when Brody was…visiting me, I asked him to bring his laptop. He helped me find the site I ordered your necklace from, and I found something else I wanted to give you. It just hasn’t been the right time before.”

Claire stood there, waiting for him to continue.

He laid his crutches aside and held out a small box. “This is as close to getting on one knee as I can get right now.” He opened the box and showed her a beautiful, heart-shaped diamond ring.

Claire’s heart sped up.

“Claire Hadley, I love you, and, if you’ll let me, I’ll prove it to you every day for the rest of my life. Will you marry me?”

Tears of joy sprang to her eyes. “Yes.”

He took the ring out of the box. “It probably won’t fit. We’ll have to take it to the actual store and have it sized for you.”