Rumor Has It (Limelight) (15 page)

That damn forehead kiss again. What the hell did I find so endearing about it? I was pretty much putty in his hands when he did that.

“I remembered that you’d ordered red wine when we were at the restaurant that night so I picked some up for you.”

“Thanks. That was sweet.”

“Care for a glass?”

“Absolutely.”

He poured me a glass and went to the corner cupboard and reappeared with arms full of every confection known to man. “I thought we could watch a movie tonight. I didn’t know what type of munchies you liked so I got a little of everything.”

“Boy, I’ll say. You look like you robbed a convenience store.” I laughed.

He started spreading our options out on the granite counter. “Let’s see, we’ve got popcorn, chocolate, pretzels, chips, cheesies… I even picked up some assorted nuts.”

It was likely childish that I had to try so hard not to blurt out the naughty joke that was ran through my head at that moment. “Chocolate, always chocolate.”

“Done. I’m going with the chips.”

We grabbed our treats and our alcohol and made our way into the great room to get settled on the couch. Cuddled up to Mason all night? Yeah, I could definitely handle that. Besides, everyone knew that movie was basically code for making out, and that sounded good.

We settled into the couch and Mason grabbed the remote off the coffee table. “Any requests?”

“Don’t worry I won’t force you to watch some chick flick.”

“Chick flicks can be okay depending on who’s in them,” he said.

Realization dawned that it wasn’t improbable he could have dated one of the actresses in whatever movie we picked. I wasn’t sure I could handle watching him watch a movie with a woman he’d dated, or more likely slept with before. I’d be distracted the entire time, thinking of him watching her on screen reliving some memory they’d made together.

“I only have one request,” I said. It was petty and juvenile but I didn’t care.

“Shoot.”

“I don’t want to watch any movie starring an actress you’ve dated.”

“Ellie, that’s not how I meant it.”

“It’s not a big deal. I just don’t want to be distracted the whole time thinking of you and her…you know…instead of watching the movie.”

Mason pressed his lips together and seemed about to argue with me. He must have thought better of it because he just nodded and turned his attention to the TV. He began scrolling through the list of available choices when he passed a comedy I’d been wanting to see for a while.

“Oh, what about that one. Have you seen it?”

“No, but…um…”

“Never mind.” I knew what that meant. Rather than dwell on it and let it ruin my night I tried not to think about it.

A couple of minutes later he whizzed by a blockbuster action flick that looked interesting.

“Oh, that one’s supposed to be good.”

He turned his head and without saying anything I could tell he’d been involved with the actress in it. Seriously? She was a huge star. We’re not talking B list movie actress here. I was pretty sure I’d read somewhere she made twenty million a picture. I rolled my eyes at him and let him continue scrolling through the list.

Eventually we settled on a romantic comedy and a few minutes in I’d forgotten all about my earlier insecurities. Instead I decided not to let anything ruin our night together. We were on borrowed time and this was our first real date where everything was out on the table. No more secrets, or omissions of truth. He knew my story, I knew his.

I wrapped my arm around his hard waist, settled my head into the nook of his outstretched arm and heaved a contented sigh.

“Everything okay?” he asked as those sexy eyes of his looked down on me.

I returned his gaze full on. “Perfect.”

The movie ended and we headed into the kitchen to refill our drinks. I poured myself another glass of wine while Mason grabbed himself a beer from the fridge. I took a seat at the centre island and sipped my wine.

“What do you want to do now?” I asked him when he leaned against the breakfast bar beside me.

“Hmmm…” He brushed my hair behind my shoulder and leaned in to nuzzle my neck. “I can think of a few things we could do.”

The whiskers on his face tickled me and I giggled and brought my shoulder up to my chin. Mason moved away to face me.

“Not the reaction I was hoping for,” he said wryly. “Do you wanna watch another movie?”

“Nah. Let’s do something more fun,” I suggested.

“More fun, eh? Hmmm…we could go skinny dipping in the pool.”

I raised my eyebrows at him.

“Don’t like that one. Okay, I could check your body for any strange-looking moles. You can’t be too careful about skin cancer living in all this Virginia sunshine, you know.”

I grinned at him this time.

“Damn, you’re a high-maintenance girl. What about beer pong? We could play a few rounds.”

“What, are we fraternity brothers now?” I laughed.

“No, but we could always make it interesting. Make up our own rules.”

That piqued my interest. “Such as?”

“Such as if you miss you either have to drink, answer a question truthfully, or remove an article of clothing.”

I laughed. “Are you serious?”

“I know you’re concerned about losing to me, Ellie. But don’t worry, I’ll go easy on you.” He winked and gave me a lop-sided grin that accentuated his dimple. God, he was handsome.

“Is that right? Well, we’ll see about that. When I’m finished with you you’ll be begging me for mercy.”

“I certainly hope so,” he said with a sly grin.

It took a few minutes to set everything up but once we were finished we stood at opposite ends of the island with six cups each in front of us. Mine held a small amount of wine in each, and his held a larger amount of beer. I’d reasoned that wine was stronger than beer and to be fair he’d have to consume more than me in each cup. He’d bought my argument and agreed. Since we didn’t have a ping pong ball lying around we improvised and used a piece of tin foil we’d scrunched up into a ball.

Mason motioned to me with his hand. “Ladies first.” He had a smug look and I couldn’t wait to wipe it off his face.

I closed one eye, held the tinfoil ball in my hand and eyed up my targets on the other end of the island. I released the tinfoil and watched it sail toward Mason, where it landed in the cup closest to me.

“Woohoo!” I cheered, jumping up and down.

“Beginners luck.”

“I don’t think so. Now, I get to choose and I say you have to remove an article of clothing.” I crossed my arms over my chest and cocked my hip out to one side, feeling confident in my ability to kick his ass.

“All right then.” Mason grabbed his t-shirt behind his neck with one hand and pulled it over his head and let it slide down his arms and fall to the floor in front of him. He kicked it to the side with his foot.

I should’ve given more thought to my tactic. Having to see Mason’s rippled six-pack every time I took a shot was going to be distracting as hell. He leaned forward to grab the tinfoil out of the cup and the muscles in his chest and abs flexed and tightened with the small effort. Yep, I definitely should’ve made him drink. Damn.

“I hope you’re ready for me to return the favour.” He lined up his shot, released it, and it almost went in one of my glasses but bounced off the rim. “Damn it.”

“Now, now, don’t be a spoiled sport,” I said while shaking a finger at him. It was my turn again and I landed another shot. This time he could take a shot. Getting him tipsy might affect his throwing abilities and help me win. “Take a drink.”

“I see, trying to get your opponent drunk are you?” He lifted the glass to his lips and swallowed the beer.

“There’s nothing wrong with employing a strategy to ensure my victory.”

“Strategize this.” He let the tinfoil loose and it landed right in one of my cups. “Take it off,” he said and cocked an eyebrow at me.

I blew out a breath and then lifted my tank top over my head and threw it on one of the stools. I was wearing a white lacy bra. I told myself it was no different than the two times he’d already seen me in a bikini but someone forgot to tell my nerves because my tummy got the swirly feeling in it again. I clamped down my self-consciousness and didn’t wrap my arms around my chest the way I wanted to.

From the other side of the island Mason gazed at me through half-lidded eyes. All right, he wants to do this? Let’s do it. I grabbed the piece of tinfoil out of the cup, threw it and it landed in another one of his. “Drink.”

He said nothing, locked eyes with me while raising the cup to his lips and drank down the contents of the cup. He pulled the tinfoil ball from the bottom of the cup. “Game on.”

We went back and forth for a while, each of us getting in more shots in than we missed. He now stood only in his Calvin Klein boxers. I was pretending not to notice the very noticeable lump underneath. When Mason sunk our makeshift ball in my cup and told me to remove an article of clothing I didn’t find it as difficult as the first time. It’s a teensy bit possible that was a side effect of the wine I’d been consuming. I started to undo the top button on my shorts.

“Wait,” Mason said from the other side of the island. “Let me help you with those.”

He didn’t have to ask me twice. I’d been dying for him to kiss me for the last half hour but he’d been maddeningly well behaved. He came to stand behind me and wrapped his hands around my midsection until he reached the button of my shorts. His hard chest pressed into my back and it was all I could do not to rub my ass across him like an animal in heat.

He slowly undid the button and lowered the zipper down inch by agonizing inch. My breathing had grown heavier and his breath tickled my ear every time he exhaled. I stood waiting for him to dip his hand into my shorts, instead he grabbed the bottom of them and pulled them slowly down my legs. When his hands couldn’t pull them down any farther he crouched down until he was on his knees behind me. My shorts slid down to my ankles and I stepped out of them.

Thank God I’d ditched the idea of wearing the P.P.’s tonight. Instead, I’d worn the matching white thong to my bra. Mason ran each of his strong hands across my ass. My breathing hitched in anticipation of what was next. As he stroked my ass he planted a kiss on each side, then stood and walked back to his side of the island.

I was a little dumbstruck and a whole lot disappointed. Seriously? He was going to leave me hanging like that? He smirked at me from the other side of our battlefield. Hmmm…well, two could play that game.

I grabbed the tinfoil and leaned over the counter like I was gauging the distance to the cups, deciding which to aim for. The movement made my breasts almost spill out of my bra and it was clear that Mason had noticed. I mean the evidence was right there pointing in my direction if you catch my drift.

“Hmmm…which one should I aim for?” I shimmied a bit, causing my breasts to jiggle. Mason took a large gulp. Seemed my work here was done. I stood up straight, aimed for a cup and hit my target. “All right, you’re getting truth.”

Mason shook his head, his eyes still darting between my face and my chest.

I laughed a little to myself while trying to think of what I wanted to ask him. Our earlier questions had been tame to say the least: What’s your favourite color? When was your first kiss? Did you ever have a crush on one of your teachers? To which I found out that Mason did in fact have a crush on his third-grade teacher Mrs. Henderson.

I didn’t want to ask a tame question, though. I knew it was the slight buzz I had going, but I wanted to ask him something I probably wouldn’t ask otherwise. I knew what I wanted to know most. Had this man ever given his heart to anyone? He was rich, successful and led a life of fame that I couldn’t even begin to understand. I wanted to know if he had it in him to really love someone, or if everything was a good time to him. I’d never ask it in the context of what was going on between the two of us, but I could use this game to my advantage.

“Have you ever been in love?”

He blinked a few times and the expression on his face turned to one of hard plains. “Once.”

Okay, that was good I guess. Wait. Was it? Did I want him to fall in love with me? It was way too early to be thinking of anything like that. But now I wanted to know more about who he was in love with and when.

“When was this?”

“It was a few years back.”

“What happened?”

“The relationship crashed and burned.”

“Do you still love her?”

“No.”

A heavy silence fell between us. The mood had somehow gone from jovial to serious with my questions.

“Ellie, I really don’t want to talk right now.”

I swallowed past the lump in my throat. “What do you want to do?”

“Not what. Who.”

He walked around the island toward me, never once breaking eye contact. When he reached me he put his hands around my waist and lifted me up to sit on the countertop. The granite was cold underneath me. He placed a hand on my inner thigh and exerted some pressure for me to part my legs. I did and he stepped in between. I put my hands around his neck. One of his hands trailed down my arm and when it reached my shoulder he brought it to the back of my head and scrunched my hair up in his hand. His other hand rested at my waist. He stood there looking at me with lust in his eyes for what felt like hours. The sweet torture of having him so near, but not having his lips on me was more than I could bear. I pulled on his neck and brought his face to mine.