Chapter 46: Chapter 11: A Little Too Late

Jamie

I walked out of the Ritz and into the lashing rain with a feeling of dread for what was about to come. Mason Knight was never one to make my life easy. Today was no different.

He turned on the sidewalk and looked at me. I was surprised that he didn’t wait under shelter like any normal human being.

No, he stood with the rain pouring down on him, drenched with a pissed-off expression on his face. “You took your time.”

Ten minutes tops, but I was sure it felt like forever for him. I knew how impatient he could be. He didn’t like waiting around on anyone. That’s what the expression was for.

That and the guy he saw me kissing.

“Sorry,” I apologized. I don’t know why. Mason didn’t deserve an apology, not that I was even sorry anyway. “So, you said that you wanted to talk?”

~Make it quick,~ I thought.

“Yeah!” He released a sigh as he looked away. “I was coming to apologize for what happened at the hotel.”

“Oh, that! You made it seem like it was some kind of emergency. You could’ve just texted me.”

~Not that I would’ve replied, but still.~

“Yeah, well, I wanted to do it in person. I didn’t want to leave things like that.”

Mason moved his wet hair back from his face with his hand.

“You know it wasn’t what it looked like—at the hotel, I mean. It was just business.”

I shrugged my shoulders lightly. “It’s nice of you to apologize. But maybe next time, don’t bring my daughter with you on business adventures.”

“Our daughter. She’s our daughter, Jamie.”

“Right!”

He liked to remind me that she was his daughter too, yet he’d missed out on the first nine months of her life.

“I should go. My mom is watching Penelope.” I walked past him with no more left to say.

“Jamie,” he called after me, and I turned around to face him.

The rain was coming down more heavily now. He was soaked to the skin, and I was too. Wet was always a good look on him. That I couldn’t deny.

“What’s going on with you and that guy?”

“Nothing, it was just a kiss,” I replied, even though it clearly was something. Jack and I had only just met, but I liked him enough to let him kiss me.

“Just a kiss. Don’t give me that bullshit. Jamie Harris doesn’t just kiss anyone. I guess you’re seeing other people then?”

“I don’t see why it matters. I kissed a guy. Maybe I’ll go out with him. I don’t know. I’m sure you’re seeing people too.” That is what he does best, after all.

“I came back here for you!” he shouted.

“You’re a little too late.” I turned my back on him and walked away. My car wasn’t far, thankfully, seeing as I was soaking wet and freezing.

My bad day didn’t end at that. I turned the key in the ignition, and my car wouldn’t start. I felt like screaming because I had had enough.

I wanted so badly to rest my head on my pillow and for my bad day to be at an end.

Soon enough, hopefully.

I started walking toward home in five-inch stiletto heels. I couldn’t catch a taxi, of course, because I was having a bad day and all.

Suddenly a car door opened beside me on the road, and I looked over.

~Fuck!~

“Get in!” he shouted from the driver’s side of his expensive car.

“No, that’s okay. I’ll walk.” I didn’t want to walk, but I didn’t want to sit with him either.

“Come on, you must be freezing. Just get in the car, Jamie.”

I turned on the sidewalk and looked at him, all soaking suit and wet hair. ~No!~ I so badly wanted to say, but I was cold, and my feet were killing me. I slipped into his car, and we took off for my place.

“What happened to your car?” Mason said when we stopped at a traffic light.

“Dead battery.” I removed my coat and chucked it onto the back seat.

My white blouse was glued to my skin and very see-through. My black bra was clearly visible, and I caught him noticing it too. I gave him a look to let him know he had been caught.

Mason cleared his throat. “Well, I wouldn’t expect anything less from you.”

“Can we just not talk, please? Thank you.” I turned my head and looked out the passenger’s side window, praying for home already.

“Whatever you want.” He sighed and continued driving.

The rest of the journey was silent and a little bit awkward. Thankfully, it wasn’t long before we pulled up outside my house. My mom must have heard the car pull up because she came straight out.

I stepped out of the car. My mom started to wave at Mason. He stepped out too, seeing as she was holding Penelope in her arms.

“I thought that was your car pulling up. What happened?”

“My battery died. It’s a little late, Mom. What is she doing up?” I asked.

“Oh, you know what she’s like when she wakes up and sees Grandma’s face. She didn’t want to go back to sleep.”

My mom gave Penelope a tickle before looking in Mason’s direction. “So you found her.”

“In the end.” He glanced at me.

“It’s cold, Mom. We should probably get her into bed.”

“Mason could do it,” my mother said. “I’m sure you’re tired, sweetheart.”

“No. I don’t mind putting her down.”

With my eyes, I was begging her not to say any more. I was begging her to stay out of my business. But of course, my mother being my mother, things were never that simple.

“He’s never had the opportunity to put her to bed. I’m sure Penelope would be delighted.” She smiled at Penelope. “Wouldn’t you, darling? Do you want your dad to put you to bed?”

Thirty minutes later, I was standing in my living room while Mason put Penelope down. It was taking a while. I wondered if he was finding it hard to get her to sleep.

“He came around here earlier looking for you. It seemed like it was urgent.” My mom grabbed her jacket and bag to leave.

“He just wanted to apologize for what happened at the hotel.”

“That’s good of him. Do you believe him when he says that there was nothing going on with that woman?” my mother asked.

“I guess I do.” I sighed. “I don’t really care what he’s doing, as long as he’s not doing it around Penelope. She’s all that matters here.”

“You don’t mean that, do you? He’s back, Jamie. You could have the family you always wanted with him. He’s a good guy. I think that time away changed him. People can change, you know!”

My mother’s idea of a good guy was a wealthy one, one that would take care of me for life. I could take care of myself.

“Yeah, well, I don’t want that. At least not with him. I don’t trust him, Mom. You know why that is.”

I walked to the stairs and looked up. “I can’t make that mistake again. It wouldn’t be fair to Penelope.”

She walked toward me, and I turned around to face her. My mother held my hands in hers. “I think you’re lying to yourself, sweetheart. You should give him a chance.”

The lights shone through the glass of my front door, and we both knew it was my father.

I didn’t want her to leave. It meant that I was alone with Mason yet again. The fact that it was in my home this time just made it worse.

I thought about asking him to leave, but I knew that’d be a little rude. He was putting his daughter to bed, then he was leaving.

I walked up the stairs, ready to change out of my wet clothes. I peeled them off me by the foot of my bed, eager to get into something warm and dry.

Suddenly I heard something by my bedroom door and quickly turned around, covering the parts of me that were exposed. The door was open just a crack, and I heard his footsteps on the stairs.

Had he been watching me?

I quickly changed into a matching shorts-and-T-shirt pajama set and rushed downstairs to confront him. He stood by the window, looking out.

Mason turned around to face me when he heard me come in. He looked me up and down with a devilish smirk on his face, one that I had grown to know. “Nice pajamas.”

“Were you watching me just now?” I replied, totally ignoring his comment altogether. “In my room. Were you watching me change?”

“It’s a little hard not to notice you when you leave your door open. Did you want me to see you? I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t have left it open if you didn’t.”

“I didn’t mean to. I was changing. I didn’t know it was open.”

I must’ve left it open out of habit. Usually, the doors in my house stayed open in case Penelope should wake up. I certainly hadn’t left it open as an invitation for him to have an eyeful.

“I—” Just as he started, his phone rang in the pocket of his suit pants, and he pulled it out and looked at the screen. “I should get going.”

“Someone important?” I asked, not that I cared to know anyway.

“My father, so no. But I should go anyway.” He placed his phone back in his pocket as he walked toward my front door.

Mason turned around and looked at me. “By the way, I didn’t see anything. I wouldn’t want to see you like that unless you wanted me to.”

He turned around and left my house, and I was alone again.

His words stayed in my head until I saw him again the next day. He came to pick up Penelope, and it was only then that I realized that he was never going to leave her side.

~Mason Knight is going to be in my life forever!~