I rested my cheek on his chest, glad to be with him, and doubly glad he hadn’t called me stupid for allowing Jeremy to manhandle me for so long. I fell asleep wrapped in his arms.
Dawn woke us when she came home, gasping loudly the moment she saw the babysitter in bed with her son.
Both Mason and I jerked upright as we sprang awake.
“Mom,” he said, slapping a hand over his heart, only to fall backward into his pillows and close his eyes. “Jesus, you gave me a heart attack.”
“I’m so sorry,” she bit out, throwing laser beams my way. “I wasn’t expecting to check on you and find you in bed…with Reese.”
Mason’s brow burrowed with disbelief. “You still check on me at night?”
“Yes! I’m your mother, aren’t I? Now, are you going to explain what you’re doing in bed with the babysitter or not?”
“Oh.” He sat up again and glanced at me. “Jeez, Mom, nothing happened. Look. We still have our clothes on.”
Dawn lifted one eyebrow, obviously not impressed. I edged a little closer to Mason. He found my hand under the blanket and clutched it hard.
“Sarah…she had a seizure,” he explained, “and Reese flipped out. She tried calling you first, but I don’t know, maybe she dialed the wrong number. Anyway, she couldn’t reach you, so she called me next. After we put the munchkin to sleep, Reese sort of lost it and started crying. I wasn’t sure what to do to help her. So I made her lie down and talk things through. Then we both fell asleep, and you came home, and that’s where we are now.”
His mother stared at him for a moment before she glanced at me. “Sarah had a seizure? Is she okay?”
“She’s fine,” Mason assured. “She seemed lucid and alert after it was over. We read some Harry Potter together before she went to bed.”
Dawn nodded and rubbed her forehead. “Good. Thanks for being here, Reese.” She glanced at me and frowned in concern. “Poor dear, you still look shaken. Your eyes are red and swollen.”
I glanced down, not sure how to lie as well as Mason had. He wrapped an arm around my shoulder and tugged me against his side. “I’m going to drive her home. Her friend called and needed to borrow her car, so she needs a ride.”
Startled by his quick thinking, I lifted my face. My brain still felt fried and overcooked. But he was so convincing, I almost found myself believing him. He even talked his mom into leaving his room before he crawled out of bed so she wouldn’t know he’d only been wearing boxer briefs under the covers.
“I can’t believe you just totally lied to her,” I hissed as soon as she was gone.
He sent me a scowl, telling me to keep my voice down. “I didn’t lie. Sarah really did have an attack and I calmed you down afterward. Just not tonight.”
I snorted and rolled my eyes but ended up grinning. He grinned back and took my hand, kissing my knuckles.
For that brief moment, everything felt almost normal.
Dawn was removing a pitcher of iced tea from the refrigerator when we passed through the kitchen to the back door. Struck by her everyday behavior as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened tonight, I wanted to hate her for making Mason feel as if he had to sacrifice himself for the past two years. But I stopped myself. If I looked for flaws in everyone I encountered, I’d find them one hundred percent of the time, and I’d always be disappointed. I didn’t want to be disappointed in this woman. She had raised two of my favorite people on earth. She was their mother.
Instead of glaring, I stepped toward her and pulled her into an impulsive hug. “I just want you to know you have some amazing children.”
She seemed startled at first, but then she relaxed and hugged me back. “I do, don’t I? And I know they’re both very fond of you too.”
When we pulled away from each other, Mason was there to take my hand. “I’ll be back in the morning,” he told Dawn before dragging my tripping, surprised self out the back door.
“Mason! Oh, my God. I can’t believe you just told her that.”
“What?” When he looked at me, he appeared confused. “I thought you didn’t want me to lie to her.”
So, I guess he planned on staying all night with me then. My heart jerked with relief because I didn’t want to be apart from him either.
“But now she’s going to think we’ll be having sex all night.”
He merely shrugged. “Well…a guy can dream, can’t he?”
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
Once we reached my apartment, Mason held my hand as he walked me up to my door.
After stroking my hair in the most loving caress, he had me stand just inside the entrance as he checked the entire loft, making sure no psycho stalker ex-boyfriends were lingering about. I treasured the sweetness of his actions.