Chapter 63: Chapter 28: The Surprise

Mason

I dialed Jamie’s number for the third time, but just like the last two, there was no answer. I’d grown impatient waiting for her for the past thirty minutes.

I wished she would just pick up her phone for once. It’s not as if she’s never on it.

~Where is she?~

“Jamie, where are you? I’ve been here waiting for you for a while now. Just call me back—or, better yet, come back to the room.” I hung up the phone and sat on the bed with a sigh.

~I lit fifty fucking candles for nothing!~

It was ten minutes later before the door to the hotel room opened, and I heard her heels on the floorboards. I got up from the bed and walked out of the room. “Jamie…”

She walked into the living room and threw her bag down on the couch.

“I’m sorry I’m late.” Jamie looked past me into the bedroom that was filled with candles, and the rose petals sprinkled all over the bed. “What’s all this?” she asked with a smile.

“Well, it’s your surprise,” I replied.

She walked into the room and looked around. I stood by the open double doors and watched her. “I wanted it to be special.”

She turned her head and grinned. “This is really sweet of you, Mason.”

“I’m not a romantic guy. You and I both know that. But I wanted to try. For you.”

She wanted our first time together to be special. I couldn’t blame her for that. The last time, we didn’t exactly do things right.

“For a guy that’s not romantic, you really pulled this off. I’m impressed.” She walked across the room toward me and put her arms around me, burying her head in my chest. “Thank you for being you.”

“What’s going on?” I asked because I’d noticed she was a little off when she got back. I could feel some tears soak into my shirt.

“I just…I love you. I don’t ever want to lose you.”

Love! The mention of that single word had my heart beating in a faster rhythm. It’s not a feeling I’d ever expressed to any woman for the simple reason that I’d never felt it.

Penelope—that was a different kind of love. The love you have for your child is unconditional. The love that you have for a girlfriend or a wife is still love, but a different love.

At least that’s what people say.

I lifted her head up and looked into her eyes. “You’re not going to lose me. I’m here to stay.”

I inched my face forward and pressed my lips against hers. They tasted salty from the silent tears that she didn’t manage to hold back.

The kiss quickly turned more intimate, and we quickly became more turned on. My body was pressed against her, and she was pressed against the wall.

I looked at her and smirked. “Are you ready for this?”

~Please tell me that you’re ready for this,~ I begged inside. I couldn’t fucking wait any longer. I’d given her what she wanted. Now I just wanted her.

She started to undo the buttons of my shirt. “Yes, I’m ready.”

Thank God! The fifty candles I lit didn’t go to waste.

I kissed her again before letting the straps of her little black dress fall off her shoulders. I’ve been looking forward to getting her out of this dress all night.

I peeled it off her body and let it fall at her feet.

“Do you like it?” she asked. “It’s a new set.”

Jamie was referring to the new lingerie set that she was wearing so well. The lace bra and panties were lilac in color, but anything against her toned and tanned skin was pleasing to the eye.

“What do you think?” I pressed against her so she could feel how much that little bit of lace turned me on. I kissed the skin above her breasts while cupping them both over her bra.

She was driving me crazy like only she could.

What position first? We’d tried them all before. Jamie had always favored me slamming her from behind, rough, hard, and fast.

~Is that romantic, though?~ I didn’t want to fuck this up. She might want it slow and intimate since it’s our first time after so long.

I wasn’t going to ask her. She was a woman; she could easily turn on me and question whether I even knew her at all.

“Mmm!” she moaned. Jamie reached her hands behind her and undid the clasp of her bra. She removed it slowly and seductively just to tease me even more.

“You’re being a naughty girl.” I groaned, grabbing her hips and kissing her.

“Just like you wanted,” she whispered in reply.

It pleased her to undress me, to have that little bit of control. Having her remove every item of clothing I was wearing intensified the moment we were in.

She was on the bed, and I was between her legs, giving her the first orgasm of many she was going to have tonight. I wanted her dripping wet and ready for me just like I was ready for her.

I wanted her so badly, but at the same time, I wanted to take my time with her. I wanted to make sure that she was pleasured enough.

I was not a selfish man when it came to sex—well, not with her. She had to enjoy herself as much as I did.

I stood from the bed and walked to the bedside table. I grabbed a condom from the drawer and walked back to her. Jamie watched me as I put it on.

I wasn’t sure if she was on the pill or any other form of birth control, and I didn’t want to ask right this second.

I leaned over her again, kissing her neck, when her legs wrapped around me and pulled me closer. I took that as a sign that she was ready for me.

I pushed inside of her and started to thrust. I had a feeling of accomplishment, finally getting to this moment with her after so long.

“Mmm, finally!” She looked at me and smiled.

I finally had her in my arms. She was finally mine.

***

Jamie

I slipped out of bed, bringing the white hotel sheet with me. It trailed along the floor behind me as I walked toward the living room in search of my bag. I found it on the couch between two cushions.

I checked my messages, expecting to find a couple from Carmen. Brent had said he was going to tell her everything. I was sure she’d need a shoulder to cry on. I’d always been that shoulder for her.

There were no messages! I found that a little strange. It had been a while since I left him at the bar. He’d had plenty of time to tell her. Maybe they’re still talking about it.

All of a sudden, Mason picked me up from the floor from behind.

“What are you doing?” I asked with a giggle.

He carried me to the bed and threw me down on the mattress. He pulled the sheet from my body and hovered over me, kissing me and driving me crazy.

“What do you think you’re doing? I told you to stay in bed.”

I chuckled. “Well, I thought you were sleeping. I didn’t want to wake you.”

“I have no plans to sleep tonight.” He smirked mischievously. Mason rained kisses down my neck and continued them down my body. “Once isn’t enough for me, Jamie. I have to have you again.”

“Hmm, again. But I’m so tired,” I teased. I wasn’t too tired. I was never too tired for him.

Being together after so long was amazing. Mason had always satisfied me more than anyone else I’d been with. The list isn’t long, but still.

The wait was worth it.

“Don’t play games with me.” He pinned my arms down on the bed so I couldn’t move them. “You’ll pay for that,” he whispered and set his lips on mine again.

~Mmm, so gorgeous! I wish I never had to leave this bed.~

“I have to go.”

“Go where?” he asked between kisses.

“I need to check in with Carmen.” I sat up, holding the sheet against my body.

“She was worried about Brent earlier, so I went looking for him. I found him by reception with his tongue down another woman’s throat.”

Mason sat up beside me with a sigh. “What did you do?”

“Well, I told him to tell her or else I will. I can’t believe he did this to her—and the night before their wedding too! She’s going to be heartbroken.”

“Come on, Jamie. You know it’s not the first time he’s cheated on her. That guy can’t keep it in his pants. I’m sure Carmen knows this too.”

“Well, maybe it’s not the first time. I’ve always noticed his wandering eye, but I’ve never actually witnessed him cheating until now.”

I looked at him, and I could instantly tell that something was up. “Have you seen him cheating?”

The fact that he didn’t even reply to my question told me everything. I stood from the bed wrapped in the sheet, fuming with anger.

“I can’t believe this. You knew that he cheated, and you didn’t do anything.”

“I didn’t think that it was any of my business.” He released a sigh and stood from the bed. “I have no control over what he does when he’s not with her. He’s a grown man. He knows right from wrong.”

I felt like I wanted to scream at him, and not in a good way. He didn’t understand me. He didn’t understand why this upset me. “How many times?”

“Jesus, I don’t know, Jamie! I wasn’t keeping count.” Mason picked up his boxers from the floor and put them on. It’s a little weird being in an argument with someone when you’re both naked.

He wasn’t keeping count. I’m going to take that as it was more than once. “She’s my best friend. You saw this, and you didn’t say anything. How could you keep this from me too?”

“Jamie—” he started, and I walked away.

I picked up some clothes from my suitcase and walked into the bathroom. I didn’t know what to think. I just couldn’t look at him right now.

“Jamie, please. Open the door.”

I got dressed and stayed in the bathroom for a couple of minutes so I didn’t have to talk to him.

Everything was quiet on the other side of the door. I wondered if he was even still there. Or maybe he just got fed up and went to bed.

I opened the door finally, and he was standing by the frame in just his boxers and a T-shirt. I walked straight past him out of the bedroom and toward the front door of the suite.

“Where are you going, Jamie?” he asked as he followed behind me. “We should talk about this.”

“I just want to be alone, Mason.” I needed to talk to Carmen. Like I’d told Brent, if he didn’t tell her, then I would. I’d hate to be the one to break her heart, but I couldn’t let her marry that guy.

I took the elevator down a couple of floors to Carmen’s room. I wondered what the situation would be like behind her door.

Would she be crying or screaming bloody murder at him? Would he even care enough to try to fix things?

I knocked on the door and waited. “Carmen, It’s me. Open up!” The door opened, but it wasn’t Carmen I saw. It was him instead. “Brent, where is she?”

“She’s in the bathroom. You should probably come in, Jamie.”

Brent opened the door wider and stepped aside. I walked in, and he closed it after us.

“I figured you would come by. Let me guess, you want to know if I’ve told her?”

“Pretty much, I wanted to make sure that she was okay.” I folded my arms across my chest. “Is she okay?”

“No, of course she’s not.” He sighed. “She called the wedding off. You should probably give her a couple of days to figure things out.

“She doesn’t want to see anyone right now, and that includes you too.”

“You’re lying. Carmen would never keep me away like that.”

That wasn’t like her. I knew she would want me around at a time like this. Especially if she was calling off the wedding like he said.

“News flash, Jamie: not everything is about you. You want to know what she said to me?

“She told me that, in a way, she blames you too because she would rather not have found out that I had a stupid slip just one time.

“One time is all it was, and you just couldn’t keep your nose out of it.”

I was speechless! And honestly, now I didn’t know what to believe. I couldn’t imagine Carmen saying something so horrible when I was trying to be a good friend and protect her.

But on the other hand, I knew how much she wanted this relationship to work. Maybe one little slip (or so she thought) wasn’t that much of a big deal to her.

“I, um, I was just trying to protect her.”

“Yeah, well, you did a good job, didn’t you?” Brent replied sarcastically.

“I’m the one that cheated, but you’re the one that made me break it to her. Thanks a lot. You should leave. Carmen will reach out when she’s ready.”

“Right, fine.” I walked past him, but instead of walking toward the front door, I walked toward the bathroom instead. I had no plans to leave. Not until I’d seen her with my own eyes.

“What are you doing?” he shouted aggressively.

I quickly opened the door to the bathroom before he could stop me. I looked inside before turning my head to look at him again.

Brent looked enraged, like he wanted to snap me in two, and it made me wonder what he was capable of.