Did he really just say that? I must’ve been hearing things.
An embarrassed expression came over his face as if he’d let something slip that he desperately didn’t want me to know. “I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that . . .”
I reached out to grab his hand. I wanted to hear more. “No please—”
He jerked his hand away from me like he’d just been stung by a bee, and stood up from his chair. “Mind cleaning all this up?” Mason asked, though it was more like an order. He took off my pink apron, the poor thing looking like it was practically tearing at the seams. “And then write that article. I gotta go make some calls before we leave.”
Turning his back on me, he walked away, leaving me feeling dazed and confused.
Mason
Fuck, I thought as I paced back and forth on the porch of the small cabin. Get a hold of yourself, Mason.
I’d only been around Carly for a few hours, not counting when I was asleep, and those old emotions were already creeping back up. I thought that I’d conquered those feelings already, but I’d drudged them back up at the sight of her.
It was torture, holding back my desire — something so alien to me. I’m used to either using my charm to get what I want, or easier, having women practically throw themselves at me. It was only day two. Day two. How the fuck was I going to make it? I’d probably die from blue balls soon.
Maybe I should just give in, give her a good fuck, and both of us could get it out of our system and focus. She clearly wants me as bad as I want her. That would totally work, I thought to myself sarcastically.
The image of her walking around in those tiny little shorts back when I lived at home sashayed through my mind, filling me with primal urges.
Pushing Carly from my thoughts, I dug into my pocket and brought out one of my phones. A push of a button and several rings later, someone picked up.
“Yo,” greeted a high-pitched voice.
I grunted. “Shadow.”
“Hello, Razor.”
“What’s the situation?” I asked.
“So far? Some detectives interviewed your father.”
“Any idea on what he told them? I don’t think he knows anything.”
“No clue. No one seems to know where you’re at, but you can bet your ass it won’t be long before they do.”
“Anything else I should know?”
There was a long pause before he answered. “Maddy is on to you.”
Ugh.
“I need your help keeping her off my back for a while.” It stung my pride to ask for help, but Carly was involved now. I needed to take every precaution.
Maybe I made a mistake in coming here.
I could’ve done it on my own, but under panic, the only person I could think of trusting was Carly. Being able to jumpstart her career was just icing on the cake and something I didn’t even think of initially.
“I’ll do my best,” Shadow replied. “But be warned, you have so many people looking for you.” Shadow paused. “Seriously Razor, you need to watch out. Maddy’s got it out for you pretty bad. That bitch is crazy so I don’t even know what she’d do if she did find you.”
“I will.” I placed my finger over the hang-up button. “I’ll contact you later—”
“Wait!” Shadow said sharply.
“Yes?”
“Where’s the video? Word from Anonymous is that you’ve been dodging them.”
I glanced up, seeing Carly cleaning up and she couldn’t have looked sexier doing it. “I’ve got it on me.”
“You’re going to bring it in aren’t you? You should’ve done that already.”
I held my breath, thinking. I’d pretty much made up my mind that I wasn’t giving up the video when I decided to involve Carly, yet once I crossed that line, there was no going back.
“No,” I said finally.
“Huh?” He sounded genuinely shocked.
“I’ve decided to release it myself,” I explained. “If I need help, you’ll hear from me. We’ll talk later.”
“Stop!” Shadow exclaimed before I could hang up. “You can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
“Don’t play stupid — you know very well why. Anonymous wants to use that video for something else before they release it.”
“You mean blackmail,” I said sardonically.
“Exactly. But you should’ve already known this. It may not have been said before you were put on this task, but you should know better . . .”
“The only thing that should matter is the video being released and exposing the coverup,” I growled. “Not making terrorist-like demands.”
“In a perfect world, I’d agree with you. But the world is far from perfect and things are never so cut and dry.”
“In this case, it is. Bradley murdered an innocent woman. I have the video and I’m going to see to it that everyone knows what he did.”
I glanced back at Carly — she was almost done cleaning up, wiping down dishes in the sink. I felt torn in my decision. On one hand, I wanted to help her. On the other, I’d given my word I would surrender the video once I got it.