MASON (Second Chance Novels Book 2) (5 page)

"My chair," I say with an arrogant grin…until her knee jams into my spine. This woman is a fucking ninja.
 

"I don't give a fuck whose chair it is," she grins as she takes my temporary immobility as a means to push me back and stand over me. "Actually, I do care. It's mine."
 

I stand quickly and lock my arms around her thighs as I do. I lift myself quickly, bringing her frame with me and hefting her body over my shoulder. I walk her to the couch and drop her ass-first in the very-sunken cushions. "Mine."

She laughs at me, executing a swift gazelle-like jump to my chair and crossing her legs triumphantly. She simply smiles at me and picks up her coffee cup.

Knowing this little game is over, I shake my head again and sit on the arm of the chair beside her. She laughs, completely amused, as I pick up my own coffee cup. We stare at the board again as our smiles slowly fade into expressions of pure focus and analysis. We both rescan the familiar information and I stand up and tap Simms' picture.

"Go time," I say plainly. "Ready for surveillance?"

"You got days, I got evenings," she nods.
 

Hell yes.

We sip our coffee while we check updated phone logs and credit card statements, soaking in every detail one last time before we take this investigation off the board and into action. I don't mind pushing the duty back a few minutes or hours for the chance to chat with Dig. She's a fucking riot along with all the badass and I find myself laughing freely over her cop stories.
 

What blows me away most about her today, however, is her hair. This is the first time I've seen her tresses out of the constraints of her standard professional knot at the base of her head. Today I can see exactly how beautiful her hair is. The thick, almost-curly waves fall well past her shoulders and offer a feminine softness to her appearance. Dig can easily be described as beautiful. I can also easily say she's beautiful
without trying
. She's not wearing a stitch of make up or jewelry, and I doubt she put any effort into her hair. Her dark features and heavy-lashed eyes are striking alone. She may be thirty-one, but she could pass for twenty-two.

We finish our coffee, and within minutes I'm in my truck heading towards Simms' house. His car is there so I set up almost two blocks down…and wait. His house appears quiet. I have an unrealistic hope that he'll inadvertently cooperate with my timeline and do something evil in the next fifteen minutes. That sort of luck doesn't exist, however, so I sit for another two hours staring at a peaceful neighborhood home.
 

My thoughts are interrupted today by the sound of Dig's voice as she climbs into my truck before our daily shift change. "Anything?" she asks simply.

"Maybe. He had lunch today with some suit I didn't recognize, but I got the license plate."

"I'll run it tomorrow," she responds as she opens the door again.
 

"Right," I nod. "Thanks. Guess I'll see you tomorrow."

With a simple wave to Dig I leave to get take-out for me and Shel.

I get to Shelby's place carrying a few styrofoam containers and take-out boxes. She smiles at me as she lets me in. I set the food on her table and she pulls me in to a deep kiss, and I'm reminded of how good she is for me. She's the force keeping me grounded and a truly beautiful part of my life.

"Hey, baby," I finally say with a tight squeeze to her ass.

"Hey," she smiles as she steps away to unpack our dinner. "Thai tonight?"

"It sounded Thai-riffic?" I grin at her, falling into the persona I use here. She has no idea that I fell in love with Thai food in-country. She rolls her eyes at my pathetic joke. I smile and shrug. Back to conversation. "How was work?"

"Good," she says while she splits the food across two plates and sits down. "I got through the server upgrade ok, but Monday I'm sure there will be a nuclear-scale fallout when everyone starts working in the new system. I have a feeling it will be a long week."

"Yikes. Sounds like we should have fun this weekend while we can," I smile and waggle my eyebrows. She laughs and sits to take a bite of her dinner and asks about my day. We're seriously sitting here talking about our day like I'm a nine-to-fiver along with her. But this is what I want: two stable, happy people in a relationship, laughing together, and asking about each other as we share a meal at the table. I work to bring my thoughts back to the happy guy I've been working toward. Until this project, my efforts had been working easily.
 

Suddenly, Shelby's face turns more serious. "Mason, can I talk to you about something?"

"Of course," I say cautiously. "Is everything ok?"

"This investigation…" she starts hesitantly. "We already know these people are power hungry and don't care much about anything but maintaining the little circle they have going."

"That's why they need to be taken down," I say simply.

"But does it have to be you? Can't Dig do that without you?"

"She needs a partner. A person can't do this alone."

"This is dangerous, and I don't want you to get hurt…or worse."

I smile softly at her. She is working under the assumption that I can't handle this with efficiency and skill. I've kept that part of myself from her, but I hope she can trust me anyway.

"I can handle this, and it gives me something important to do. Don't worry, please," I say. "Actually, you can help us work faster. Can you show me more of the computer work you used for Cam? I'm good with computers, but hacking is not my thing."

I don't bother telling her we had a support team who specialized in data infiltration. She hesitates, but at least she sees the benefit in helping with the information gathering.
 

"Yeah, I guess," she says, softening. "Promise you'll be careful."
 

I don't roll my eyes at such a statement, but I want to. Instead, I wait a few moments and try to lighten the mood again.

"Speaking of computer skills…when you're at work, do you put on nerd glasses and a pocket protector?"

"Shut up," she chuckles, happy to change the tone of the conversation along with me. "No, I'm plain old me. I'm only nerdy on the inside."

"You're far too hot to be a nerd," I grin obnoxiously as I push what's left of our meal aside. "Well now that you're back from playing Dr. Frankenstein with the server, and now that we're unencumbered by the constraints of formal dining, how about we play some strip-poker…without the cards…"

I toss a hot grin her way and reach for her hand. I pull us both to standing and direct her to me where I lock her tight in a quick move. She lets out a sudden gasp through a brightened smile that turns me on instantly. Hell, yeah, this is what I need tonight. I kiss her hard, needing a taste of adrenaline and the hot physical crush of raw sex to go along with all the energy I'm gaining from the project. I fucking love that high.

Pretty soon we're both naked and I carry her to her bedroom. I'm not taking my time with her tonight like I often do. No, I'm going to fuck her hard as soon as I get her on her bed. I'm going for off-the-charts tonight. I can't help but notice, however, that Shelby isn't quite there with me.
 

"Mmmmm," she purrs in a sexy, seductive way when we get to her room.
Damn it.
A growl would have been more my speed.
 

Since I'm not the only person in this relationship, I do what I can to satisfy her. Sexy and seductive…I can do that. I lay her down and crawl on her with a hot grin. I kiss her deeply with a hint of seduction and I touch her strong and slow. Her response is a soft, gut-deep moan, because when she's with me like this, she gives herself over completely. Encouraged, I move against her faster. Her moans slowly get stronger. I force myself to keep the pace her body is asking for.

"That's right, baby," I breathe heatedly across her neck as the sounds from her voice confirm her rising pleasure. She begins to pant faster as she nears her climax. I watch and listen while I work toward my own release. I see her arch up into that final moment with me. She's beautiful when she comes.
 

I get a hint of that high watching her. "That's my girl," I breathe as I rest over her again.

The following week, Dig and I follow around nearly everyone on our board, chasing leads and waiting for each of them to fuck up, or at least point us along the path to their next shady deed. Surveillance is satisfying work, and using my skills, even in such a simple capacity, boosts my mood. The best part by far, however, is my shift-trade with Dig. Nearly every evening this week before I go to the bar to serve drinks, she joins me in the truck for dinner while we wait outside someone's house. We talk strategy and intel at first, but after three evenings, there's more. This partnership is turning into a true friendship. Tonight I meet Dig in Ledger's Jeep down the block from Simms' house. Trading cars aids in the anonymity we're going for.
 

"Hey," she says when she lets herself into the passenger seat.

"What did you bring me?" I say, taking a Tupperware container from her hand.

"Home cooking tonight. I figured you could use a break from takeout."

"Lasagna?" I say as I open the lid. She hands me a fork and opens her own container.
 

"Mia nonna DiGiacamo's recipe from the old country. I'll confess that my sauce has been in the freezer, but I did make it myself. The rest is fresh, including the pasta."

My eyes bug open. "You make your own pasta?"

"Family tradition."

The moment the first bite is in my mouth I'm ready to die happy. "This is the best lasagna I've ever tasted," I garble through the food in my mouth. "Seriously." I shake my head and shovel another bite into my mouth. She could bring the whole pan and I'd finish it off, I have no doubt.

She laughs. "Slow down, tiger. I can bring you more tonight. I'm going to come by after your shift at the bar. I need another look at the board."

"Yes. Bring more. Do that," I say after swallowing my third bite. I force myself to stop eating like a caveman for a moment. "This makes me glad I didn't show up empty handed. Here."

I reach into my pocket and pull out a key on an elaborate keychain. I pass it over to her and she holds up the keychain so it dangles in front of her.

"What's this?"

"Keychain."

"Jackass," she shakes her head and looks at me pointedly.

"That's a key to my house so you can get to the board anytime you like. I promise not to sit around naked in case you stop by." I flash her a boyish grin. "I wouldn't want to intimidate you with my god-like physique."

"Ha, I wouldn't worry about that too much," she smirks. "And thank you. I'll probably let myself in tomorrow night. But what's the keychain?"

"Phoenix," I nod at the detailed fob. "Legendary bird who rises from the ashes, reborn stronger after its own destruction."

"That's damn impressive detail," she says, looking at the keychain appraisingly. Then she studies me for a moment. Yeah, she already had me figured out. I knew that keychain would give me away if she hadn't, but the more I work with her, the less I want to hide. Everything inside me is coming alive, and she and I are cut from the same cloth, so to speak. I don't have to hide from her. I'm ok with her knowing I was once destroyed, even if she doesn't know how.

I finish my lasagna in about four more large bites. "Ok, I better get to the bar before I slip into a food coma," I say plainly. "Thanks again."

"Yep. See you later."

That evening I see Shelby at the bar and I smile at her sweet greeting. My good mood is expanding to the rest of my world now, too. I don't have to fake my way through my shift. My humor is natural tonight.
 

By eleven o'clock, my smile is wider because I see Dig walk in through the front door, done with her surveillance for the evening. Seeing her come in as a patron rather than an investigator brings more of my world together. Another good person in my circle of friends adds to my happiness. My world, which I thought was forever destroyed, is reassembling itself into something amazing, one tiny piece at a time.

"Hey," she smiles at everyone.

"Dig!" Cam reaches for a hug. Everyone else's smiles match mine. They appreciate her almost as much as I do. "I'm so glad you came out. I've been wanting to thank you."

Cam's world is coming together, too. As cheesy as it fucking sounds, my heart is full right now.
 

"No need to thank me," she says warmly. "Seeing you out and smiling does that for you."

I nod to myself and look at the floor, trying to hide how overwhelmed I am right now. Shelby picks up the conversation with Dig, and soon every person around me is enjoying the night even more. Dig fits in perfectly here.
 

My laughter is flowing freely, and pretty soon I'm getting everyone in on the chuckles with my overt, obnoxious humor.