Her Vigilant Seal (19 page)

“He walked out on us a week later.”

“Motherfucker.” He hauled her into his arms. She fought him, but he couldn’t care less.

“I’m not done. When I was a junior in high school I had my first boyfriend. He said I was too clingy and I cramped his style. He dumped me and started dating a cheerleader the next week.”

“Honey, he was a pimply faced little boy. That’s what little high school boys do. You can’t base your beliefs on that.” Mason ran his hand down her back.

“But almost the exact same thing happened in college when I was a freshman. He was the only other man I ever slept with. His name was Lewis. He said I wanted too much from him. That I expected more than any man could ever possibly give.” She shoved at his chest trying to get out of his arms but she was no match for his strength.

“You’re going to finish it,” he insisted.

“I found him in bed with another girl. He said he still loved me and we shouldn’t break up. He said an adult woman would be able to get past it. That I was too needy. That my father was right about me.”

Mason had to work hard to understand what she was saying because she was crying so hard but he knew he wanted to find the guy and pound him into dust.

“They were wrong, honey. They were all wrong. Each and every one of them should have realized the treasure you are.”

She pushed at his chest again, but this time she reached out one hand to the night stand to pull out a wad of Kleenex.

“Yeah, some fucking treasure. Look at me, I’m crying all over you. I’m a mess.” Again she tried to get out of his arms.

“Sophia, get it through your head I’m not letting go.”

She looked up at him with dazed eyes.

“Just leave now before you break my heart.”

He couldn’t help his smile.

“If I could break your heart that means you’ve already given it to me. And I thank God, because girl, I’ve given you mine.”

“You can’t possibly mean it. I told you, I’ll end up letting you down. I won’t be enough for you.” She looked so small and forlorn in his arms he had to gather her closer.

“Honey, you can’t let me down. We’re in this together. I’ve been falling in love with you since you told the doctor you’d been in a bar fight.” She gave one of her giggle snorts he adored.

“You are so full of shit, Gault.”

“Actually I’m not, honey. You showed so much bravery, such a good heart the way you cared about your brother and the young prostitute. I was so impressed by your intelligence and humor. There is a lot to like and admire about you.”

“That’s what I’m telling you—it’s an act. I was just trying to keep it together that night. I was scared out of my mind and in so much pain.” She gripped the front of his shirt to make her point, her voice pleading.

Mason could see he wasn’t being heard. Sophia saw herself through the distorted mirror of those who had come before him. It was her father who really had the most to answer for. “Do you want me to go home? Is that what you want? Are you really going to make me leave tonight?” He was balancing on the thin edge of a sword. He was counting on the fact she wouldn’t have the heart to make him leave. He watched as she struggled.

“No, you’re just as tired as I am if not more so. Let’s just get back to sleep.”

Twenty minutes later they were right back to where they were before. Sophia was pretending to sleep. Mason knew how to solve the problem. It had worked that first night at his house and he’d be damned if he wasn’t going try it again. Only there would be one change.

“You just tried to fake it again, Ms. Anderson.” She let out a gasp as he pulled her hard against his chest and took one of her breasts in his warm hand, then gently trapped her head beneath his chin.

“Mason,” his name another gasp, or was it a sigh?

“Right here, honey.” He thumbed her nipple the way she liked and soon she was wiggling her butt against his cock just the way
he
liked. Back and forth, touching the tip that felt like a pebble encased in velvet. He moved his thumb up and put it to her lips.

“Suck my thumb, baby.”

“Huh?”

“Suck it, get it nice and wet,” he said as he brushed it against her lips. She finally took it into her mouth and his cock jerked painfully against her ass as she laved the digit with her tongue.

He jerked his thumb out of her mouth and went back to torturing her nipple, at least that’s what he hoped he was doing, considering that’s what was happening to him. Now he knew what she felt like, touching her like this was both the best and worst kind of torture in the world.

“Why are you doing this? We need to sleep.”

Oh yeah, he was going to help her sleep. He pulled his hand away from her luscious tits and dragged it downwards, to forage beneath the soft fleece of her sweatpants. He knew she wasn’t wearing underwear but finding her wet curls made him sweat. Everything about her was soft and silky, inviting and lush, and he savored her trust. She was panting and twisting.

“Mason, let me.” She tried to roll over. He held her ruthlessly still. This was his show.

“In a few minutes, honey,” he lied easily. That calmed her.

His fingers parted the seam of her sex and then she was no longer calm. She shuddered, so he knew he was doing something right. He moved his other hand and started playing with her neglected breast as two fingers thrust deep and started a bluesy rhythm.

“Mason,” her voice sounded a musical counterpoint to his forays. Then he pressed down hard on her clit, and she screamed as she came.

Mason wasn’t all that surprised by the huge sobs that came next. She’d dredged up a whole lot of shit to tell him tonight. Stuff that men, starting with that fucker of a father, had piled on top of her, and she still believed to be true.

“Let it out, honey,” he crooned softly. He turned her around so her face was tucked under his chin. Then he wrapped his arms gently around her.

“One day when my nightmares get bad, and they do Sophia, I hope you’ll hold me,” he whispered. He felt her stop and look up at him through a cloud of tears.

“I know you don’t believe me, but this is a two way street. We both lean on one another. You need to know something, honey. I wasn’t completely honest earlier. I told you I was falling in love with you. Well I lied. I’m so far past falling. I am in deep, like quicksand deep, like ocean floor deep, and I’ve never been so happy. I love you, Sophia Anderson. Now why don’t you lie here in my arms and not fall asleep, okay?”

“But Mason,” she started.

“Uh unh, we’re lying here pretending to be asleep, remember?” He kissed the top of her head and started a slow rocking motion. She tried a couple of more times to talk, but each time he cut her off. Finally she started her fake sleeping routine. He checked his watch. It took exactly seven minutes for fake sleep to become real sleep. His took a hell of a lot longer. Maybe he would go find the asshole father in Mission Hills. He’d have to talk to his team. They’d either be with him, or explain why he was out of his mind. His team always had his back. With that thought he finally slept as well.

It’d been four or five days since her attempt at breaking up, and Sophia had never been happier. It was Saturday afternoon and she was going to close up the diner, get ready to go over to Mason’s house, and spend all of Sunday with him. She had a big surprise ready for him and his teammates.

“Brenda, I’m so glad you were able to come to work on a full time basis,” Sophia said to the woman who was in her early thirties.

“Yeah, well it’s been different but okay I guess. Thanks for the paycheck.” She shoved it into her oversized purse and walked out the front.

It was terrible but Sophia didn’t like her. Not once had she asked how Margie or her daughter-in-law were doing. She just did the bare minimum to get by. She only really smiled when she thought it would help get her a tip. She needed to talk to Margie, it was time they started looking for someone new and then fire Brenda. What’s more, there was the ugly shit with Tate, Brenda’s boyfriend. Sophia grimaced. But she firmly put that crap behind her. She’d handled it. She locked the front door of the diner, turned around, and grinned.

She walked through the empty diner towards the back staircase to her apartment, thinking through her plans. She really hadn’t wanted Margie to come down to San Diego, but when she’d talked to her, Margie sounded like she could use a break. Helen’s mom was going to come over and watch the kids and Margie was going to spend tonight in La Jolla with a friend. She and her friend would be over at Mason’s Sunday afternoon with enough food to feed an Army or a Navy, she quickly corrected herself.

Frannie and Tony would be over two hours before the festivities began. They had a lot of questions about Mason’s kitchen, so Sophia knew she had to get her baking done early while Mason and Billy were gone. She still couldn’t believe Mason had taken it upon himself to call the Bards and request to take Billy surfing. Talk about being ocean deep in love, Sophia planned to tell him tonight that she loved him too.

Sophia looked at her phone to check the time and realized she better get a move on. She flew up the stairs and was showered, dressed, packed, and out the door in less than an hour. She could have been done sooner but a gal had to put some time in front of the mirror to look good for her guy. Especially when he was the handsomest man on the face of the planet. Yeah, get a towel and wipe the drool off your chin girl, she said as she headed for her car.

Her phone rang. “Sheesh, I’m on my way already.”

“On your way where?” She dropped her phone. She looked at the asphalt and stared at the pretty pink rubber wrapped case in horror. She wanted to stomp on her phone.

Cool it, Anderson, no replacements phones for conniption fits.

She waited two more minutes. Picked it up and hurriedly pressed end before anyone could speak. It creeped her out that there had still been someone on the phone. She checked history. Yep, still an unknown caller.
Great.

She was trembling when she got behind the wheel of the car. She took some deep breaths and thought through her crank call issue.

She’d actually gone through her call history yesterday. In the last three weeks, she’d had fifteen hang-ups from unidentified callers. Some during the day but most in the middle of the night. She needed to talk to Mason about this. He was going to be pissed if she didn’t
share.
The problem was she really thought it was Brenda’s boyfriend. The calls started after her confrontation with him. Sophia winced. That was another thing she was going to have to
share
. Occasionally she considered that it was one of her attackers, but that was just to awful to bear, so she focused on Tate.

Now she had her sharing plan figured out, she could concentrate on the great surprise she’d planned for Mason and his team. The drive down to San Diego was beautiful. It was one of those clear days when you rolled the windows down, breathed in the ocean, and felt like the blue of the Pacific could suck you in with its beauty.
How lucky am I to be able to drive on a freeway with this kind of scenery? Okay, I might be a little over the top just to compensate for the call, but hey, whatever it took, right?

By the time Sophia got to Mason’s house all thoughts of the call were gone, and when he opened the door she was grinning. He scooped her up and she squealed with delight.

“I missed you. It felt weird to sleep in my bed without you last night.”

“But you did sleep some, right?” He asked with concern. He set her down and cupped her cheeks tracing the hollows under her eyes.

“Some, I slept a little bit.” She refused to lie anymore. He kissed the tip of her nose for her honest answer. He drew her into the kitchen and poured her a glass of lemonade. She took two long sips.

“Well, you’ll sleep tonight and tomorrow we’ll have a hell of a barbeque. I can’t believe you’re willing to go to Costco with me. All of those people and lines give me the heebie-jeebies.”

“Come on, you must love all the free samples,” she teased him. She saw the lines at the corner of his eyes fan out.

“You caught me. It’s the one thing that makes it bearable and most of those ladies remind me of my nana. You’re going to love meeting her.” She pulled back and stared at him. He just cocked an eyebrow.

“Deal with it, Anderson. I don’t want any guff from you. You’re going to have to deal with the hell of knowing you’re the type of girl I want to take home to meet my family.”

A load of sawdust landed in her mouth and throat. Luckily it was hard packed, so she didn’t cough, but she needed more lemonade.

“Come on, my family isn’t scary. They’re nice. You’ll like them, I swear.” She gave him an incredulous look.

“Of course I’ll like them, you doofus. The question is what will they think of me?” He was out of his mind it was just that simple. “So when are they coming to visit?”

“They aren’t. I was thinking the two of us could take a trip up north in a few months to see them. It’ll be great. Maybe around Thanksgiving? You should have custody of Billy by then so he should be able to come too, right?”

“Boy, when you decide to go all in you really do it, don’t you?” His eyes were steady. She set down the glass and pulled him off of his barstool and dragged him into the living room.

“Why are we in here?”

“I want to sit on your lap.”

His eyes warmed and he pulled her down, then she situated herself perfectly so she was cuddled close.

“So you’ve decided to cement our relationship with family holiday trips even though I haven’t committed to you, huh?”