Whatever It Takes (9 page)

He reached for her arm but she dodged him and shoved him
back hard enough to make him stumble.

“Told you,” Joe said, taking a swig of his beer. “Stuck-up
bitch.”

Mustache looked angry. He was still holding his dick, which
was now hard, with one hand. He made a fist with his other hand and raised it
as if he were going to punch her in the face.

“Bitch, you’re going to get on your knees and suck me off or
I’m going to knock your fuckin’ teeth out.”

He came closer and she tensed for a fight. The guy was big—not
as big as Mason but a lot bigger than she was. She wasn’t sure she could fight
him off but maybe she could make it more trouble than it was worth. Possibly
hold him off long enough for Mason to show up. She knew he would help her. One
thing was for sure, if his dick came anywhere near her mouth, she was going to
bite it the fuck off. He came even closer and she raised her arms defensively.

“Oh shit…” Joe coughed, nearly choking on the large swig of
beer he’d just taken. His eyes were wide with fright as he stared at the large
metal entry door that had just swung open with enough force to crack the wall.

Mustache didn’t have a chance to react before Mason was on
him. He grabbed the man by the collar, nearly pulling him off his feet. He
punched him in the face then the stomach. Mustache tried to fight back and even
landed a blow but he was no match for Mason’s rage.

Laurie watched with morbid fascination from her front row
seat as Mason pummeled the other man. The sight of his tense muscles flexing
and working as he threw angry punches set a vibration in her bones that she
couldn’t explain.

“Mace, you’ve got to stop; you’re going to kill the guy,”
Joe pleaded as he rose from the couch.

Mason paused for a moment and glared at Joe, still holding
the guy’s collar to keep him vertical.

“What the fuck, Joe? He had his dick out. His goddamn dick.
What was he going to do, fuckin’ rape her? Going to fuckin’ rape my girl?” He
punched the guy again. “And what the fuck were you doing just sitting there?”
Another punch.

Laurie felt a jolt at the words
my girl
and leaned to
one side to get a better view of the damage Mason was doing to the man. Joe
held up his hands in surrender.

“Mace, I’m sorry. I thought he was joking.” His gaze shot
toward Laurie. “I thought she was into it.”

Mason punched the guy again and then glared at Joe.

“That’s bullshit, Joe. You know damn well she wasn’t into
it.”

Another punch and the man’s eyes rolled back. Laura grew
afraid, not for him but for Mason. What would happen to him if he killed the
guy, even if the asshole deserved it?

“Mason, maybe you should let him go,” she suggested, annoyed
that her voice shook.

Mason’s fist halted halfway to the guy’s face. A tremor raced
up his arm but he didn’t land another blow. Instead, he virtually threw the guy
at Joe.

“Get this motherfucker out of here. If I ever see him again,
I’ll fucking kill him; you better make sure he knows that.”

Joe hefted the barely conscious man through the door and
into the hallway.

Mason slammed the door hard behind them. When he turned back
to face Laurie his eyes were so full of rage they nearly glowed. She took a
shaky breath as a shiver ran down her spine. That ache, which was becoming all
too familiar, hit her between her legs and her panties became wet. She wondered
what was wrong with her. How could seeing that kind of violence have turned her
on?

She wondered if maybe what she was feeling was the fear that
should
be there and she was just misinterpreting her body’s response.
Her nipples hardened and pushed out almost painfully against her bra. Nope, she
couldn’t deny it. She definitely felt the urge to pounce on him.

He took several stalking steps toward her. Laurie held her
breath, not sure if his intent was violent or sexual but aware that either way,
there wasn’t much she could do to stop him. Her body tensed in anticipation and
she braced her hands on the bar behind her, but he stopped just short of her
and closed his eyes, clenching his fists and taking slow, deep breaths. Laurie
watched him fighting for control of himself and an odd emotion stirred in her.
She couldn’t name it but it made her want to take care of him.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

Mason opened his eyes and met hers and a look of surprise
crossed his face. She reached for his hand, lifted it up to examine his bloody
knuckles then took his chin in her shaky hand and turned his head to look at
the small cut next to his eyebrow.

“We should clean this up.” She slid off the stool and led
him by the hand to the kitchen.

He silently watched her as she rinsed his hand in the sink
and then studied his knuckles again.

“His teeth really tore you up,” she murmured, using a paper
towel to dry his knuckles then another to clean up his eyebrow. “Do you have
bandages?”

“In the bathroom.”

He motioned toward his bedroom, which Laurie would have to
cross through to get to the bathroom. She followed his gaze then looked back at
him. Their eyes locked in a hard stare and she had a sudden flash of the two of
them tangled up in his bedsheets. Face heating up, she quickly looked away and
left him at the sink.

She stepped into his bedroom, trying hard not to look at the
rumpled sheets on the bed, which she’d just imagined getting pounded on. From
the medicine cabinet she collected antiseptic gel and bandages and returned to
find Mason sitting on one of the barstools. She took the seat beside him and
made quick work of bandaging the cuts on his knuckles and the one on his
handsome face.

When she was finished she went to the fridge and grabbed two
beers. She placed the beers and a bottle opener on the bar in front of him and
climbed onto the empty stool. He opened both bottles and pushed one toward her.

“Why aren’t you afraid of me?” he demanded.

He sounded gruff but she didn’t feel threatened. She took a
good swig of her beer and shrugged.

“You didn’t beat
me
up. Besides, that asshole
deserved what he got.”

A surprised chuckle escaped Mason and he raised his
eyebrows, pausing before taking a drink of his beer.

“Bloodthirsty, are we?”

“No. Well, maybe a little. I mean, I’ve seen fights, even
been in a few but I’ve never seen anything quite like that. It was…uh…interesting.”
That wasn’t the right word but she thought it would do since she was too
embarrassed to name the feeling watching him thrash a full-grown man gave her. “If
I was strong enough, I would have beaten him the same way. That guy threatened
to knock my teeth out if I didn’t suck his dick.”

Mason’s muscles twitched as she repeated the threat. She
shook her head.

“My teeth, Mason. How shitty is that? I can’t afford a
dentist right now.”

Mason nearly choked and then laughed loudly. She shot him an
impish grin as he gazed at her, shaking his head.

“So you’re not afraid I’m going to hurt you like I did that
guy?”

“Would you hurt me?” she asked with a serious look.

“No,” he stated. “Angel, I would never hurt you.”

She looked at him closely for a moment and believed he was
being completely honest. She smiled and then nodded.

“Then no, I’m not afraid.” She reached out and smoothed the
bandages on the back of his hand. “Besides, the only times I’ve seen you get
violent have been when you were protecting me. So if anything, I feel safe with
you. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t like being all damsel-in-distress-y but I
guess if I’m going to be in that spot, it’s nice to have someone protecting me who
can beat the hell out of everyone else.”

“So if you’re a damsel in distress, does that make me a
knight in shining armor?”

Laurie grinned and was about to respond when there was a
knock on the door. Mason frowned, obviously not expecting anyone else. He shot
Laurie a look that was clearly an order for her to stay where she was and then
he moved to the door and pulled it open.

“Chloe.” He sounded surprised as he motioned for the small,
middle-aged woman to come inside. He stepped back and she entered the apartment,
looking apologetically at Laurie before turning her attention to him.

“Mace, I’m sorry to bother you but my dad is in bad shape
today. I was wondering if you could help.”

“No problem, Chloe.”

“The thing is, I can’t pay you today,” Chloe said with a
grimace.

Mason nodded and motioned for her to sit beside Laurie.

“Don’t worry about it,” he said as he headed for his
bedroom. He shut the door behind him, leaving Laurie and Chloe alone together.

“Sorry to interrupt y’all,” Chloe said to Laurie. “I’m Chloe
Baptiste.”

Laurie shook her hand and introduced herself. Chloe was a
lovely woman of about forty-five with graying black hair, smooth, cocoa-colored
skin and light-brown eyes.

“Mace is such a great guy,” Chloe went on. “He’s helped my
daddy a lot. He’s got terminal cancer and the doctor says he’s got maybe weeks
left.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Laurie offered sympathetically,
noting that Chloe looked tired and stressed out.

“I’ve been working during the day and taking care of him at
night, and the money is just running out. Now I have to move him to my sister’s
tiny house this weekend because the bank is foreclosing on his place. He never
missed a payment in the last fifteen years…not one. Now he’s four months in
arears and he just got an order to vacate. I called them and explained the
situation. We’re not trying to keep the house—we just wanted his final days to
be peaceful instead of having to uproot him from the place he calls home. I
told the bank we could have it cleared out in no more than a few weeks but they
don’t want to wait. I think the stress of all the packing and moving his things
around is doing a number on him. His pain is so bad his medication won’t even
touch it.”

Laurie frowned and asked for more information about the
eviction.

After hearing Chloe’s story, she shook her head and frowned.

“I’m a law student but I’m not allowed to give out legal
advice yet,” she explained. “Although I can advise you to talk to an attorney.
In fact, I have a professor who takes on cases like this, pro bono.” She
searched the immediate area for something to write on and found a small
notebook. After looking up the number on her cell phone, she scribbled the name
and number of her favorite professor. “His name is John Atwood. You can tell
him you got the number from me. I know he’ll help.”

Chloe accepted the phone number from Laurie and looked at
her with reluctant hope in her eyes.

“Do you really think he can do something?” she asked.

Laurie nodded and Chloe threw her arms around Laurie,
surprising her.

“Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

Laurie was a bit uncomfortable but she hugged Chloe back and
wished her luck.

“Did I miss something?” Mason asked with a chuckle.

The women hadn’t heard him reenter the room. Chloe released
Laurie and he handed a small envelope to her.

“Laurie may have just saved my ass.” Chloe grinned. She
accepted the envelope and headed for the door. “I hate to rush off but Daddy’s
waiting for this. Thank you so much, Mace.”

“Not a problem.” He smiled at the older woman as he opened
the door for her.

“You better hang on to this one, Mace,” she said as she
hugged him and then she stepped into the hallway.

Rather than correct her, Mason thanked her and waved as she
descended the stairs. He shut the door and turned back to Laurie.

“So what was that all about?” he asked.

“She’s having problems with her dad’s bank trying to
foreclose so I gave her the number of an attorney who’ll work for free. Sounds as
if her situation is bad enough without the asshole bank trying to screw her
over.”

“It’s nice of you to help. You definitely won Chloe over.
She really liked you and she doesn’t like anyone. I think it’s safe to say that
you are pretty damn special.”

Feeling shy, Laurie smiled and tucked a stray lock of hair
behind her ear, keeping her eyes averted. She glanced down at her phone out of
nervous habit and gasped.

“Oh shit. Is it that late already? I have to get going.”

She chugged the rest of her beer as Mason picked up her
phone and inspected it. It was small and cheap with the battery door held on by
a piece of tape.

“I’ve never seen a shittier phone.” He laughed. “What the
hell happened to it?”

Laurie snatched it away, feigning being affronted.

“Don’t make fun of my phone. It’s been good to me. I paid
fifteen dollars for it five years ago. It’s not fancy but it’s tough.”

She took a deep breath and turned to him with her arms open
so he could look under her shirt before they made the exchange. Mason gazed at
her for a moment and then he smiled and shook his head.

“Don’t worry about it. If you’re going to trust me, then I’ll
trust you.” Laurie put her arms down and gave a surprised smile. “Besides, I’ve
had enough excitement for today. I don’t think I can handle looking at any part
of you naked right now. You’d never get out of here.”

The look he gave her sent flames up her spine and she nearly
dropped her phone. He took the pink backpack he had given her and left the room
for a moment. When he came back, he plopped it on the bar in front of her.

“So are you and College Boy off to party for Halloween?” he
asked.

Laurie’s smile faltered at the mention of Trey but she
recovered quickly and shook her head.

“No. My roommate Olivia and I drew the short straw this
time. We get to wait by the phone all night and pick up any of our dorm mates who
are too drunk to drive. Designated dormers.”

“I hope you’re not too bored,” he said, taking the
opportunity to scan her up and down as she slipped the pack on her back.