Mind Slide (17 page)

“You won't make any moves,” she finished for him.

He nodded and laughed, then went back to his bedroom. Kelly carried her suitcase into the bathroom and shut the door. He heard her brushing her teeth.

Mason pulled his shirt off and tossed it in the hamper next to the bed, then slipped on a pair of sweatpants to sleep in. He quickly went back to the front door to lock it, and stopped to change Lucy's water. He tried to hurry, to get back to the bedroom before Kelly was done in the bathroom, but didn't quite pull it off.

She was a fast teeth brusher.

He turned around from Lucy's cage to see Kelly standing there. She gave him a smile as she folded her work clothes and neatly set them on the arm of the couch.

His breath caught in his chest.

He wasn't sure if it was her lovely red hair behind her shoulders, or that magical smile. Maybe it was her shorts that stopped mid thigh. It could have been the thin spaghetti strap tank top she wore.

He was captivated.

He forced his eyes to the carpet. His face grew hot, and he was powerless to stop it. Lucy ran across his field of vision to the kitchen, almost like she was teasing him.

“If Lucy makes too much racket, I'll cage her. Everything's locked up. So, goodnight.”

Kelly wasn't confident about many things in her life. But standing there, watching Mason squirm, she never felt better about herself.

She'd been called many things. Pale was something she heard a lot. Bitchy, quiet, frigid. A boyfriend when she was nineteen called her broken. That was one of her favorites.

She knew what Mason was calling her, and he didn't need to say a word.

As he tried to squeeze by, she put a hand on his broad chest. He nearly jumped back against the wall.

“Thank you, Mason,” she said. “You really came through for me tonight.”

He smiled and put a tentative hand on her shoulder. “You're welcome.”

He pulled away from her and walked down the hall. He could feel her eyes on him, and silently cursed his memory. He would never be able to
un
see all that beauty, standing in his living room.

Mason crawled into bed. The living room light went out, and he heard Kelly shift around on the couch. Within five minutes, he was trying hard not to laugh.

She was a snorer.

He tried to relax as he steadied his breathing.

He closed his eyes, and focused on her address.

*****

Mason appeared in front of Kelly's house. He stood still for a moment and took a deep breath, taking in the night air and the scent of grass. He turned around to see Kelly's front porch. The house still had almost every light on.

He walked through the front door into the living room. Something felt off to him as he stared at the books scattered on the floor. He was a private investigator, but didn't have much experience with break-ins. The television was still in place, as was the DVD player. Wouldn't burglars go for items they knew they could sell?

He sighed as he rubbed his hands together. Good thing he had time to spare.

He walked through every room in the house, and took mental snapshots of everything he could see. The bedroom dressers were open, most of the clothes on the floor. The bathroom was untouched.

He stepped through the basement door and went down the stairs. Luckily, Brian left the light on in the basement.

The layout had changed since Mason helped her move in. It was obvious she was living out of the basement, perhaps still uncomfortable surrounded by her father's things. All her entertainment, her music, her computer, her television and DVDs, were against one wall. Her bed sat longways against the basement stairs, the covers unmade.

He flipped through his memory like files in a computer. He called up images of moving day, of every item he got a glimpse of. Every box, every item of furniture, every article of clothing he saw her toying with. He compared them with what he saw now, scattered around the house. He knew he didn't see
every
item, but nothing stood out as missing.

Then an image finally popped in his head.

On moving day, there was a book in a box that Dani carried that was unaccounted for.

The memorial service guest book. It contained the name of everyone that attended Doc's viewing and funeral, Mason's own name being the last.

He narrowed his eyes and took one last tour of the house. His head was starting to hurt from all the image comparisons he ran in his brain.

But he was right. He even found the box it was moved in.

The guest book was gone.

He stood in the living room with his hands on his hips. Why would anyone break into a home and steal a memorial service guest book?

He didn't get the chance to think about it.

There was a loud rumbling noise over the house. He thought it was an airplane at first.

Then he saw the flash of lightning through the window.

His eyes were saucers.

“Oh no. No, no, no.”

The rain fell at a steady clip outside.

He slid back to his body. The familiar bed under him offered no comfort.

He kept his eyes clenched shut. The rain smacked against the window, trying to warn him.

“It's just a storm,” he whispered to himself. “It can't hurt you.”

The sky lit up, even through his eyelids. It was followed by a crack of thunder.

He rolled off the bed and fell to the floor with a thud.

The nausea from the mind slide and anxiety from the storm hit him all at once. He managed to crawl to the trashcan in his room and throw up a single time.

The sky flashed once again.

He crawled away from the window as fast as he could. The window was a clear shot. The lightning could come in and kill him instantly if it wanted to.

He wiped sweat from his forehead as he crawled into the hallway, keeping as much of his body on the floor as he could. Lucy ran by, turned around, then tried to lick his nose.

“Not now, Lucy. Please.”

Another bolt of lightning struck, followed only a second later by a roll of thunder. That meant the lightning was getting closer.

The rain continued to beat against the windows. It was a reminder that the storm was going to stick around a while, keep him company.

He made his way behind the couch. He curled into a ball and grabbed the rubber piece on the end of the doorstop. His entire body shook as he struggled to keep his breathing even.

He scrunched his face up as the lightning struck again.

Despite everything, he was fairly quiet. Kelly still snored soundly on the couch. The storm would end, then he would go back to his room.

“Mason?”

He risked a look over his shoulder to see Kelly's head poking up over the couch.

Mason felt like he was back in the lab, being studied, raw and exposed. Not even his family knew of his fear of storms. It was a secret he managed to keep all his life.

Now Kelly was watching him.

“Hi,” he said. He was thankful she couldn't see the terror on his face. “Sleep well?”

“What in the
hell
are you doing down there?”

He shut his eyes at another roll of thunder.

“Two hundred people were struck by lightning last year. Only twenty died. I've already been hit once, so the odds of being hit again are astronomical. The funny part is I simply can't get off this floor.”

“You're scared of storms?”

He jumped when Mother Nature announced her presence once again.

“I guess you could say that.”

She was quiet for a moment, looking at Mason with sympathetic eyes.

“This is embarrassing,” he whispered. “I'm really sorry you have to see this.”

Kelly tossed the blanket away and stood up. She grabbed the pillow and blanket and circled around the couch. He let out a surprised gasp as she laid down and spooned him. She slipped the pillow under both their heads and kept the blanket near their feet. She pushed herself against him and wrapped an arm around him, keeping him close with a hand on his chest.

Her nose was nestled against his neck. She loved his scent. Mason's body shook against hers, but she enjoyed the closeness.

“Uh, Kell? What are you doing?”

“I was afraid earlier. Being close to you helped. Is it helping you?”

“It definitely isn't hurting.”

She smiled and squeezed him. “I won't make any moves.”

“That's my line.”

Mason thought his heart was going to beat right out of his chest. It wasn't the storm driving him crazy, it was Kelly pressed up against him. He could feel her breasts against his back, her breath on his neck. He risked removing his hand from the doorstop, an act he knew was ridiculous, and held Kelly's hand over his chest. She let out a contented sigh and actually wiggled closer.

“Is this okay?” she asked. “I can scoot away if you want.”

“What did you say? I'm a little distracted. Got a beautiful woman right behind me.”

She laughed. “That's the idea. I'm glad it's working.”

He looked down to see her bare legs pressed against his. He mentally smacked himself for wearing sweatpants.

The storm suddenly seemed further away.

Kelly still felt his body shaking slightly. She wanted to protect him, like he protected her earlier in the night. It was the first time she was protective of anyone.

She felt close to Mason.

She closed her eyes and made a decision.

“I was kidnapped when I was sixteen years old.”

Mason's body stopped shaking.

“I was on my way home from a track meet. My father forgot to come pick me up. Didn't even see the guy coming. He knocked me out and dragged me to some far out place in the woods.”

She waited to see if Mason had anything to say. She had his complete attention.

“He chained me up in his basement. That's how my foot got all scarred up, when I squeezed the chain off. Hurt like hell. The guy was crazy. He was going to boil me or something, for God. That's actually how I met Brian. He was one of the cops who found and rescued me.”

“How did you get over all of that?”

She smiled. “I haven't, really. I still wake up screaming sometimes. I always carry pepper spray. I always try to move with a crowd at night. So whatever you're going through right now, don't be embarrassed about it.”

Mason sat up and gently grabbed her foot, another bold move from him. She gasped quietly and rolled onto her back, leaning up on her elbows. For a moment, she thought he was breaking his own little personal
no moves
rule.

She kept her foot still as he slowly traced his fingers along her scars. She never thought of her feet as a turn-on zone. No man had ever dared gone near them.

She was finding out the hard way that she liked her feet touched. Goosebumps shot up her calf and she leaned her head back.

As quickly as it started, he laid back down, facing her this time. He could barely make out the contours of her face. He wasn't trying to seduce her. He only wanted to show that her foot was nothing to be ashamed of.

Kelly held her breath. Did he know how aroused she was? She scooted back a few inches. She kept her hands clasped together, not exactly wanting to touch him.

She was a little angry at herself. She didn't foresee a lunch invitation turning into full-blown feelings. It would be easy to blame her tingling body on hormones, which hadn't seen any action in nearly two years. It was more than that, and she knew it. She genuinely liked Mason.

It had been a while since she even liked anyone.

He looked into her eyes. He could finally say something he held inside for a long time.

“You should be proud of those scars. You shouldn't try to hide them. You should wear sandals, show them off to everyone.”

She smiled. “Why is that?”

“It proves how strong and awesome you are. Your life was in danger, and you survived. Hell, look at me. I can't even get off the floor during a storm.”

“I'll just sleep down here with you. When the storm's over, you can go back to bed.”

He nodded and buried his head more into the pillow. The thunder and lightning rolled through the sky again, making him jump slightly.

She had shared her biggest secret.

Mason didn't run, didn't freak out. He didn't think any less of her.

He thought she was strong. Even awesome.

She reached out to caress his cheek, then decided against it. She felt silly at first. They'd moved up to long embraces, foot rubbing, and sleeping next to each other. Would a cheek caress really be pushing it?

Life was changing fast. Kelly was an orphan with a new house and a lot of money. Was she ready for romance?

She was starting to think she didn't have a choice.

Mason had his Bluetooth headset looped around his ear as he bounced around the kitchen. He had already showered and shaved. He looked behind the couch every now and then to see Kelly still sound asleep. He tried to keep his voice low as he talked to Brian. There were details he left out, but he gave Brian the end result of the previous night's mind slide.