Exquisite (27 page)

Lena was slumped forward with her
head resting in the crook of Mason’s shoulder, as they recovered on the couch.
She could feel him taking slow deep breaths, in then out. Smiling to herself
she reached up and placed a hand over his heart feeling it pulse against her
and for the first time in nine years she felt utterly content.

“The picture in your room, that’s
your sister Carly, isn’t it?”

Lena circled a finger around his
chest and nodded, “Yes. It was taken the night of the accident. Mom had wanted
to update her photos.”

She felt his warm hand pull her in
closer to him. She pressed herself up against his side as he moved to lay them
down. She looked up at him as he smiled slowly down at her.

“I have never felt anything as
amazing as I just felt inside you.”

She scooted up a little and kissed
him on the chin. “And you felt amazing in there.” she paused then she
whispered. “Thank you.”

“For what?” he asked softly
stroking a big hand down her back.

“For making me so happy. For coming
over and yelling at me tonight.” she said grinning at him.

“Hey I was being assertive, not
yelling.”

“You were yelling Langley. You were
mad
.”

He swatted her on the ass then
chuckled, “I was mad.” He paused then flipped her so her back was flat on the
couch and he was propped up over her. “When you hung up on me I even threw my
phone.”

Lena bit her bottom lip and winced
a little. “Did it break?”

He shook his head and leaned down
pressing a kiss to her nose. “No but my temper finally broke. I don’t know what
happened to me. All I knew was that I needed to get over here and make you see
how wrong you were.”

She brought her hand up and cupped
his cheek leaning up to press a kiss to his mouth. “You did.”

“So you’ll stop running and talk to
me when there’s a problem?”

Nodding Lena lay her head back down
then raised her eyes to him as she rubbed up against him. “There’s one
immediate problem I feel that needs rectifying.”

Grinning he pushed his hard
erection up against her and raised a brow.“Is there?”

She reached down between their
bodies and took him in her hands squeezing him gently.

“Oh yeah.” she moaned and smiled as
he proceeded to rectify the problem.

“A
picnic?”

Lena asked as she stood in her
kitchen the next morning in Mason’s black work shirt. He, on the other hand,
was sitting at her kitchen table in his boxers,
only
his boxers.

“Yeah you know, the activity where
you take some food and a blanket, find a nice grass spot in a park, sit down
and stuff your face.”

She lifted her mug of coffee and
took a sip. “I know what a picnic is Langley.”

“Well you’re the one who asked as
though it were a question.”

“No. I was actually trying to
ascertain whether you were serious or not.”

He arched a brow then crossed his
arms over his chest. Lena couldn’t help it, her eyes dropped to his biceps as
he answered.

“Oh course I’m serious. Why
wouldn’t I be? A picnic is one of the most relaxing things you can do.” he
paused then sat up, leaning the arms she was currently drooling over, on the
table. “You
have
gone on a picnic before, haven’t you?”

Placing the coffee on the counter
she reached behind herself and hitched up and onto it. She crossed her legs and
took immense satisfaction in watching his eyes travel down them. Reaching over
to grab the coffee, she picked it back up and took another sip.

“Yes I’ve been on a picnic.”

He grinned, “Oh yeah? When?”

“Ahh.” she said pretending to think
about it, “When I was about four.”

“What? Wow Lena, that’s a crying
shame.”

Sighing she shook her head. “No you
know what’s a crying shame?”

“What’s that?”

Running her eyes over him she said
over the rim of her coffee mug. “That you’re all the way over there.”

Chuckling he leaned back slowly
splaying his thighs apart and giving her an awesome view of all that was naked
and divine.

“Are you trying to get me to come
closer Lena?”

“If you need me to spell it out,
then y-e-s.”

He stood and walked over to her
placing his hands on either side of her hips, then leaned in and kissed the tip
of her nose. “You look really good in my work shirt.”

Putting the mug down she wrapped
her arms around his neck then moved in to whisper against his mouth, “Maybe I
should get a job there?”

“Yeah? I’ll put in a good word with
the boss.”

“Really? Do you think it’ll help?”

Leaning back with her arms still
wrapped around him she smiled. “I heard he’s a bit of a ladies man. Think I
could try my hand at you know?”

Arching a brow he shook his head
with a frown, “Whatever do you mean Miss O’Donnell? Are you implying that you
could maybe, sleep your way to the top?”

Before she even realized she did
it, Lena giggled. Even Mason seemed shocked because his mouth curved up into
the most delighted smile she’d ever seen. His dimples came out and winked at
her and she couldn’t help but lean in and kiss them, flicking each one with her
tongue quickly, then sitting back.

“You make me happy.” she whispered
unexpectedly.

Expecting him to come back with
some oversized ego promoting comment she was humbled to hear him admit. “I’m
glad.”

Two hours later Mason was walking
across the street with Lena and had her hand firmly clasped in his. There was a
beautiful park across from her home and it ran around a lake, which made it the
perfect spot for a picnic. He’d quickly run home to change into some black
running shorts and a Cubs hoodie then he’d made a quick run to the grocery
store picking up some deli sandwiches and a cheap bottle of white wine. When he
arrived and knocked on her door she’d greeted him with a kiss and a smile and
now they were walking down a grassy path and around a small playground. Today
she’d tied her hair up in a loose ponytail and had thrown on some grey sweats
and a purple hoodie. All in all, she looked the most relaxed he’d ever seen
her. Well other than last night. She turned to smile up at him and he felt his
heart clench and tried to remind himself to slow the hell down. He was
barreling along in this relationship, pushing not only his limits but hers as
well and he had a feeling if he didn’t slow down and watch for signals he would
push just a little too far and she’d disappear. However, right now in this
moment, he was going to soak in her pleasure and try very hard to give her the
best damn day of her life.

“How about here?” he suggested
stopping under a huge oak tree.

“Looks good to me.”

“Good. Now help me spread the
blanket.”

Taking one edge from him she
smiled. “Bossy one aren’t you Langley?”

“Well of course. How else do you
think I’d be able to run my place like a well oiled machine?”

She crouched down pulling the edge
taught then crawling onto the blanket to sit on one corner. He put down the
plastic bag that held the food then walked around the blanket, kicked his shoes
off and crouched down beside her.

“Geez Langley, the blankets huge.
Do you need to be on top of me?”

His eyes twinkled with mischief as
he grinned and kissed her quickly, “Well I
would
get on top of you but
there’s kids around. Behave yourself Lena.”

He sat back reaching for the bag.
She playfully slugged him in the arm. “Ha, ha.”

Looking back over at her he winked,
“Plus the whole point of a picnic date is to sit or lie down with the person
you bring and make out a little.”

Laughing she smiled, “Is that
right? Here I was thinking it was all about eating out in the fresh air and
enjoying the weather.”

“Well yeah there’s that too, but
why not enjoy the food and the weather
and
the making out?”

“Let’s start with the eating. I’m
starving.”

“That’s because you had a hard
workout last night.”

Watching her he noticed a slight
flush creep over her cheeks. “Or just something hard?” she whispered.

“Oh look at you flirting with me!
And dirty flirting. I like you Lena O’Donnell.”

She took the sandwich he passed her
then started unwrapping it. “Well thank God for that, all things considered.”

He looked closely at her when he
asked, “So have you
liked
everyone you’ve been with?”

Her eyes came up to meet his and
she raised a quick brow. “Have you?”

Taking a bite of his sandwich he
nodded, “Yeah pretty much. I’m not a guy to dislike quickly. As you know I’m
pretty much easy going.”

“Except with me?”

Nodding he chewed, “Yes, except
with you.”

He watched her take a bite and chew
quietly then she looked at the bag. “Any drinks in there?”

He pulled out the wine and she
started laughing.

“What?”

Giggling she looked up at him, “I
just can’t believe, Mason Langley, Executive Chef and owner of the hottest
dining experience of Chicago, is about to serve me a $4.00 bottle of wine.”

“I’ll have you know that out of all
the fine wines to choose from in the grocery store this one happened to be the
finest.”

Nodding she grinned, “I’m sure
it’ll be amazing.”

Uncorking it he poured her cup and
passed it over. She took it looking at the  paper cup.

“Not a word.” he said softly.

She tipped the wine up to her lips
taking a sip, he watched her swallow, then around a second later she pulled a
face that had him laughing so hard he almost fell backwards.

“That bad?”

“Awful Langley, truly awful. Do not
drink that it will horrify your mouth.”

Chuckling he replied, “Of course.
Why do you think I gave you the first cup?”

Lena felt herself grinning like a
fool. After she’d swallowed the wine, and almost spat it out, she’d watched him
cork it up and throw it off to the edge of the blanket. He scooted back until
he was leaning against the tree, then patted his lap.

“Come here. Lay your head down
Lena, relax with me.”

Crawling across the blanket she
followed his steady gaze. When she reached him she leaned in and pressed a kiss
against his mouth. He slowly parted his lips but instead of deepening the kiss
she nipped his mouth gently then pulled back to lay down flipping onto her back
and resting her head against his thigh. Looking up at the green leaves above
her she felt the sun warming her face then smiled closing her eyes.

“This was a good idea.”

She felt his hand come up and tug
gently on her hair tie. Lifting a little she pulled it free and felt him spread
her hair out so he could run his hands over it. “It was. You need to relax.”

“What about you, don’t you need it
too? Your life is pretty stressful.”

“Yeah I guess it is, but I’m good
at letting it go.”

“Oh and I’m not?”

He looked down at her. “You’re
tense right now.” he stressed to her. Frowning at him as he reached out to
trace the line between her eyes.

“Stop frowning Lena, you’ll get
wrinkles. Lean on me and relax.”

“Okay then. So Langley, can I ask
you something without you getting mad at me?”

She felt him laugh, “You’re the
only person who’d ever say that to me.”

“Really?”

“Yep, guess you’re the only woman
I’ve got mad at.”

Thinking about that she stated, “I
don’t think that’s exactly a good thing in my favor.”

He ran a hand over her hair.
“Actually it is. My dad once told me, the day I meet someone who drives me so
crazy I want to strangle her and yet never would because I can’t bare her to be
gone, that’s when I know I’ve met a woman worth keeping.”

Feeling her heart kick up a little
at his words she tilted her face and saw him looking down at her with those
blue eyes.

“What was your question?” he asked
her softly.

“Oh um, well I wanted to ask if you
really had, you know? Dated thirty something women this year?”

Chuckling her grinned at her with a
bright white smile. “Ahh, the famous number that Google supplied you with.”

Blushing she found she couldn’t
hold his gaze and looked away. He didn’t let her get away with that though
because he cupped her chin then tilted her head back. “To answer your question,
no Lena.” pausing he traced her jaw with a finger, “I’m not going to lie.
There’ve been a lot of women, but not that many. Damn, I’d be really tired if
that were the case. Not even I have that much stamina.”

Lena found herself grinning, “Oh I
don’t know about that.”

He shook his head, “No, trust me I
don’t. However, that doesn’t mean that I slept with all those women either. There’ve
only been a handful I’ve gone home with.”

“Or taken home?”

“No. I don’t take women home.”

“You took me.”

He leaned down and kissed her cheek
gently. “When are you going to realize how special you are to me?”

Not wanting to tackle
that
comment right now she asked. “Is Trisha one of those women?”

She felt his hand stop and watched
his mouth tighten a little. “Yes she is and just so we aren’t confused and you
aren’t too scared to ask. She
was
one of the ones I went home with.”

Frowning and pouting a little Lena
grumbled, “Or slipped into the back with.”

She felt his legs tighten beneath
her and she sat up figuring his legs must be getting sore.

“Are you jealous?”

Her eyes went to his and she
snapped out, “No. Of course not!”

She watched him as he shifted and
moved so he was kneeling in front of her. He reached out with both hands and
tangled them in her hair gently pulling her up close to him.