Dinner of Defenses

LAUREN

“Where have you been?” a deep, calm voice asked as I stepped into the house.

I jerked my head up in surprise, letting out a sigh of relief.

Mason was standing at the bottom of the stairs, his confident and powerful stance making me feel a bit small.

But not enough to scare me off.

“I didn’t ask you where you were this morning,” I retorted, shutting the door behind me and punching in the security code.

I headed for the kitchen, with him trailing behind me, his footsteps barely audible in the quiet house.

“You could’ve let me know, Lauren. I tried calling you several times.”

I opened a cabinet and grabbed a glass, filling it with water from the sink.

“Yeah, I’m sorry. My phone died.” I turned to give him an apologetic smile, then straightened up and added with a hint of amusement, “Don’t tell me you were worried about me.”

I took a sip from the glass, struggling to hide a smile.

He shoved his hands in his pockets and looked at me with a mix of annoyance and frustration. “I was more worried about you tarnishing my reputation.”

I laughed, shaking my head in amusement.

“Next time, just call or text. It’s not that hard, Lauren. I don’t want anything happening to you while you’re my wife.

“You can do whatever you want once our marriage is over.”

“Anything else?”

“Dinner’s ready.”

I nearly fainted from shock.

Grinning, I cocked my head to the side.

“You cooked for me?” I asked, genuinely surprised. “I already ate, but I don’t want your effort to go to waste. I’ll have a few bites.”

I moved away from the sink and headed out of the kitchen towards the dining area.

His deep voice echoed, stopping me in my tracks. I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, then turned to face him.

He looked annoyed, but said, “You’re not going to impress me by doing this. If you’ve already eaten, I won’t be offended if you don’t eat. I made plenty without you in mind, but I don’t want it to go to waste.”

“That’s just it.”

My stomach tightened as he closed the few feet between us and I backed away, feeling like a mouse cornered by a cat.

I tried to relax and stopped moving, standing tall.

“Tell me, Lauren,” he said, reaching me with a curious look.

“What are you up to? This morning, you watched me sleep like a creep, made me breakfast, and now you want to have dinner with me after you’ve already eaten?”

My eyebrows shot up and I gave him a dirty look.

“I didn’t watch you sleep like a creep. I was just—” I cut myself off, realizing the next words out of my mouth would make me sound exactly like the creep he was accusing me of being.

Besides, I couldn’t just blurt out that I was intrigued by him, that he was a completely different person when he wasn’t glaring or being rude to me.

“You were saying?” he teased, cupping my chin in his hand and lifting my face to examine it from different angles. “You’re blushing. It must be something.”

I slapped his hand away. “There’s nothing,” I snapped. “I just don’t like you invading my personal space.”

He thought about it before moving even closer, his feet touching mine and his chest brushing against mine.

“How about now?” His warm breath hit my face, and I fought the urge to close my eyes. “Is this okay?”

“Stop it.”

“Are you sure?”

I glared at him and tried to calm my racing heart. “Yes,” I said through gritted teeth. “Stay away from me.”

Mason stepped back, looking serious and intimidating again. “You still haven’t told me where you went today, who you met, and what you talked about.”

“Are you serious?” I studied his gray eyes.

I was suddenly reminded of what Athena had said about him and his distrust of women.

“I had lunch with Beth and Athena, and we talked about finding me a job. If you don’t believe me, you can call your aunt and confirm,” I snapped, turning to put as much distance between us as possible.

“Wait.”

I stopped and turned to face him. I knew he wanted to clarify.

I could see him wrestling with himself over it, but I could also tell that he didn’t want to because that would mean admitting he cared about what I thought of him, and he didn’t want to care about me.

We stared at each other for a tense moment that seemed to stretch on forever, as if we were peering into each other’s souls and hearing every thought and emotion.

“Weren’t you going to eat with me?” he asked.

“You still want me to?”

“Is there a reason not to?”

Several reasons. But I didn’t say that.

“Of course not,” I replied, my heart pounding against my rib cage. “Let me just go change and take off my makeup. And could you get me a glass of juice, please?”

~Wow, Lauren. You’re pushing it.~

His eyes narrowed, then he took a step closer. “Are you ordering me?”

I thought carefully about how to respond, but then decided I didn’t want to get into another argument with him.

“Never mind. I’ll get it myself.” I turned and headed for the stairs.

I was aware that he stayed where he was, watching me go upstairs, and it didn’t put my mind at ease, only leaving me with more questions than answers.

It was the quietest dinner I’d ever had. I sat across from him, playing with my food, and sighing every now and then. The only sound was the clinking of our utensils.

Every time I wanted to say something, I found myself at a loss for words.

Until I said fuck it.

“I was abandoned by my mom when I was just a kid,” I blurted out, surprising even myself. “She just up and left, leaving me and my dad to fend for ourselves.”

Mason paused, his fork halfway to his mouth, but he didn’t respond.

Ignoring the pang of hurt, I continued, “It makes me mad. I can’t wrap my head around how a mom could just walk away from her kid, from her family.

“I grew up despising her, and I still do. My dad’s been my rock, and I can’t imagine life without him.”

His eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “Why are you telling me all this?”

“Because I want you to understand me, to trust me, even if that’s a tough ask for you.”

He looked like he was about to scoff at the idea of trusting a woman.

“I can’t trust women.”

I leaned back in my chair, crossing my arms over my chest. “You do realize that not all women are the same, right? You can’t blame us all for what one person did to you.”

His gaze hardened, his face becoming a mask of calm. “I never said anyone did anything to me.”

My heart pounded in my chest, but I forced myself to stay calm.

He was good at reading people. “I just got that feeling from you,” I quickly replied, hoping he wouldn’t see through my lie.

I’d almost let slip that I knew why he had such a deep-seated hatred for women, why he always looked so haunted, why his face was always set in a harsh expression.

“Whatever. At the end of the day, you’re all the same. I trusted someone once, and I’m not about to make that mistake again.

“I appreciate your attempt to get me to know you, but I don’t want to know you,” he said forcefully. “I don’t want you to know me. This marriage isn’t real. You don’t owe me anything.

“The best thing we can do is to keep our noses out of each other’s business, and when the year is up, we can go our separate ways.

“Everyone will be happy,” he finished, his voice devoid of any emotion.

I stared at him, his words barely registering. “Right,” I replied, my voice sounding distant.

“Unless that’s not what you want?” he asked.

“It’s what I want. I don’t want anything more from you.”

“Good, because you’d only end up getting hurt.”

I looked down at my plate, a bitter laugh escaping my lips.

“Something funny?”

I looked up at Mason, expecting to see his usual cold, suspicious expression. Instead, his eyes were filled with curiosity.

A few responses came to mind, but I decided to keep things civil. “What do you like?”

“Why? So you can try to seduce me?”

“Is that what you think?” I chuckled, shaking my head so my curls bounced around my face. “You’re nuts, Mr. Campbell. You should’ve been a detective. You come up with the wildest theories.”

He actually snorted this time. “I’m above that.”

“No, but it would make it easier for you to cover up your crimes. But I guess you don’t need to be a detective for that. Do you have a friend on the inside at the police station?”

“My crimes.”

I waved my hand in the air for emphasis. “Yeah, you know…blackmail, threats, making people disappear. Just your everyday activities that you love to casually throw around.

“In the short time I’ve known you, you’ve threatened me more times than I can count.”

He pointed his fork at my plate.

“Eat your damn food, Ms. Hart,” he said, his voice stern.

I grinned. “You mean Mrs. Campbell.”

“You haven’t earned my last name.”

I fluttered my eyelashes at him. “You think I will?” I teased, my eyes sparkling with amusement at his obsession with me not being worthy of his name.

His mocking gaze met mine.

“Not in a million years. You simply can’t live up to the Campbell name, Lauren,” he said softly. “You just don’t have it in you.”

“And I don’t want to. You Campbells are a bunch of uptight jerks who drive people insane.”

He looked annoyed, so much so that he didn’t seem to realize what he was saying next.

“Aren’t you a Campbell?”

I stifled a laugh, biting back the retort that immediately came to mind. “I thought you said I wasn’t?”

I smirked as I watched him open and close his mouth, struggling for a response. “Hah! Got you speechless.”

The beep of my phone interrupted our banter. I squealed when I saw the text.

“What is it?” he demanded.

“It’s Athena. She set up an interview for me with a company,” I explained, quickly sending her a thank you text.

“And why would she do that?”

I figured his surprise was due to his lack of understanding about what friends do for each other.

“That’s what friends do.” I shrugged.

“What company is it?” he asked, curiosity creeping into his voice.

“Like I’m going to tell you,” I replied, tilting my head to the side as I studied his expression. “I don’t want you to ruin it for me.”

“How do you think I’d ruin it?”

“I don’t know, Mason. You’d probably buy the company just to keep me from working.”

“What would I gain from doing that?”

His voice was husky, his eyes intense, and I found myself swallowing hard. “Whatever you’ve been gaining, I guess. Stop asking me things I don’t know.”

“You did say I would gain something, Lauren.” There was a hint of a smile in his voice, but I could’ve been imagining it.

I shifted uncomfortably in my seat and pinched the bridge of my nose. “Yes, I did.”

A slow smile crept onto his face, and he shook his head gently.

“I’m not trying to pry, you know. I did say I’d let you focus on your work, didn’t I? I was just curious.”

“Well, I can’t spill the beans unless I land the job.”

“If you do get it, make sure you’re a good worker. Your last boss wasn’t too happy.”

“My last boss was a jerk. Did he forget to mention that?” I shot back, my eyes narrowing.

He just stared at me for a moment, his wine glass halfway to his lips, then shook his head as if to clear it.

“He was just doing what he thought was best. But he did say hiring you was a mistake, given your lack of qualifications.”

I stared back at him, my face blank. “Oh, really? Did he also mention that I’m now doing him a huge favor? Did he?” I asked, my eyebrows raised in challenge.

His gray eyes met mine, steady and calm, a hint of curiosity playing on his lips. “Hmm. Sounds like there’s more to the story. Are you sure you’re not leaving anything out?”

I shoved a forkful of food into my mouth to avoid answering.

He just smirked a bit and raised his eyebrows, choosing to stay silent.