“Drew’s doing real good now.” It was all he would say on the matter.
“So everyone in Boone Springs is telling me.”
Mason didn’t understand her. He was just barely coming out of his own grief, and related to how Drew MacDonald had been in the same situation, losing his wife the way he had, so unexpectedly. Mason hadn’t taken to drinking the way Drew had, but everyone coped with heartache differently. He wasn’t excusing Drew’s bad behavior, but he knew what the man had been feeling.
Mason shook his head. “Aren’t you glad he’s getting better?”
“Of course I am. If it’s the real thing this time.” Her voice lowered to a whisper. “I’ve been disappointed before.”
Mason ran his hand down his face. “I know it wasn’t easy on you, Drea.”
She shook her head, and he took in how her long hair flowed in natural waves down her back. “You know nothing about me, Mason.”
He met her sad green eyes and something shifted in his heart. She tried to talk tough, but she wore her pain on her sleeve and her vulnerability grabbed him. “I know more than you think.”
“That’s a Boone for you, claiming to know every—”
He pressed two fingers to her lips, quieting her tirade. “Shh, Drea.”
Her eyes snapped to his.
He couldn’t believe he’d done it, touched her this way. But grazing her soft lips, looking into those defiant eyes was like a live wire sparking and jolting inside the dead parts of him. He felt alive for the first time in years. It was heady and he wanted more. He wanted to hold on to that spark that told him he was a living, breathing man.
Sliding his fingers off her mouth, he cradled her face, his thumb circling her cheek, strands of her hair caressing the back of his hand.
“Mason, are you crazy?” she whispered, yet the look in her eyes told him she was thinking something different.
“Maybe.”
“You’re not going to—”
“Yes, I think I am.”
He put his mouth to hers and tasted her sweetness, the plump ripe lips that were meant to be kissed. Sensation flooded him. He remembered her. As a teen. A girl who’d needed affection, and he’d given it to her without question, until the night that she’d bared her soul to him and offered her body.
He’d had to turn her away.
Any decent man would have.
But she wasn’t a kid anymore. And it was good, so damn good that instant guilt flooded him. His heart belonged to another and always would. That jolt of life he felt worried him and scared him silly. It was as if he was losing his wife all over again. He hadn’t done anything this impulsive in years, much less with Drea, the very last woman on earth he should be kissing.
Drea’s mouth trembled as Mason brushed his lips over hers. She couldn’t believe this was happening. She didn’t want this. She didn’t want him, even though his lips were firm and delicious, scented by coffee and the fresh night air.
He grabbed her upper arms, demanding more of the kiss. Her heartbeats raced, her body warmed and a sudden realization dawned. Whatever she and Mason had between them hadn’t completely disappeared. It was real and hot and almost too out of control, but no, she couldn’t do this. In the past, he’d caused her to do crazy, impulsive things. Her infatuation with him had almost ruined her life and she couldn’t forget that. Ever. She squeezed her eyes tight, laid her hand flat on his chest and pushed as hard as she could.
He reared back, startled. “Damn, Drea.”
“Mason, I don’t know what you think you were doing—”
“The same thing you were. Kissing.”
“I didn’t want to kiss you.” She’d wanted to slap his face, but...she wasn’t a drama queen. The push sent the same message.
“I didn’t want to kiss you, either. Okay, I did, but only in the moment.”
“I thought you were a grieving widower.” Her hand flew to her mouth, but the damage was done. She couldn’t take it back.
He stared at her, his eyes losing their brightness. “I am,” he said quietly.
Then why kiss her? “I’m...confused, trying to make sense of this. It was...unexpected.”
“I know. For me, too.”
She folded her arms over her chest, her lips slightly bruised from his kiss. “You had no right.”
“I know that, too.”
“Why did you?” She searched his eyes, saw raw emotion there.
“I, uh... You want honesty?”
“Always.”
He ran his hand down his face again, stroked his chin. “I felt something. Something that wasn’t dead inside me. Something that came to life the second I touched you, and I wanted to continue feeling it, even for a few more seconds.”
“Oh, wow.” She understood. Sort of. He’d been happily married with a baby on the way. And suddenly, it had all been taken away. She’d known that kind of loss, too, impetuously running into the arms of the first man she’d met after Mason rejected her, and getting pregnant. She’d lost that child in a miscarriage and walked away from Brad Williamson, the man who’d loved her. That year had been the hardest in her life.
And now what shocked her the most about all this was that she’d been the one to make Mason feel something. How was that possible? “Why...me?”
He smiled crookedly and shook his head. “I have no idea.”
“Well, that’s honest.”
“Why did you kiss me back?”
She wasn’t going there. She wouldn’t tell him how much he’d once meant to her. How painful it had been when she was seventeen. And how much she resented him now because he’d made her feel something, too. “You’re a good kisser.”
“That’s it?”
“Of course that’s it. I haven’t dated in a while and...”
“Okay, I get it.” He blew out a breath and jammed his fingers into his hair. He seemed frustrated and a little bit angry. “Listen, let’s forget this ever happened.”
“Amen to that. So what now?”
“Now we do what we came out here to do. Talk about the fund-raiser.”
“Okay, I guess we have no choice.”
Mason frowned and she felt a little triumphant. At least he wouldn’t try to kiss her again. That would be a big mistake on his part, and an even a bigger mistake for her. As long as he kept his hands off her, she’d be fine. She took a big breath, willing her racing heart to calm down.
“So, where do we begin?” he asked.
“With me telling you my ideas and you thinking they’re all incredible.”
* * *
Half an hour later, Mason said good-night to Drea in the kitchen and waited until she headed off to her room, before grabbing another cup of coffee.
“You