Immy swallowed again and moved toward the door. She grabbed the handle, then paused and looked over her shoulder. “I didn’t take her for you, Mason. I took her for Maya.”
My heart jolted. “Why?”
“Because I’m not in the business of breaking a three-year-old’s heart.” She ran her gaze over my shoulders and along the bottom of my face before she met my eyes. “And she’s exactly why it doesn’t matter if either of us have feelings, Mason. You shouldn’t bring someone into her life unless you know one hundred percent those feelings are based on something right now, not something that happened six years ago.”
“You think I don’t know that? Here’s what you’re missing in that bit of logic: you are in her life.”
“We’re neighbors, Mason!” She put the bottle of wine on the side table and faced me, throwing her arms out. “That’s it. Just neighbors. Nothing more, okay?”
“All right, fine.” I held up my hands in defeat. “Just neighbors. If you really believe that, you’ll be able to walk out the door right now, content in the knowledge that you feel absolutely nothing for me beyond that.”
She lifted her chin the tiniest amount.
“Just neighbors. Just friends. Nothing more. If you can do that, then I’m glad one of us can.”
Then, she did it.
She turned around, ducking her head, and pulled the door open. She didn’t even stop to look at me or grab her wine bottle again.
She walked right out, tugging the door shut with a thud behind her.
She was gone.
She’d actually gone.
She’d walked out my fucking door, leaving me standing here like the idiot I felt I was.
I turned and leaned against the wall, pressing my elbows against the cold, hard surface and burying my hands in my hair.
Well, I’d royally fucked that up, hadn’t I?
Fuck, fuck, fuck.
What was I supposed to do now? Maybe we’d wake up tomorrow, and it would be like I hadn’t told her I had feelings for her. Maybe we’d catch each other’s eye across the driveway, nod, and get along with our days like normal neighbors did.
But she’d never be a fucking normal neighbor, would she?
She’d always be Imogen. The girl I once knew. The girl I once loved. The woman I could love now if everything would align.
If she’d stop being so damn stubborn and admit she felt something, too. I didn’t care what she said. I knew she felt something because I’d seen it in her eyes.
Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck.
I banged my fists against the wall and pushed off it. I never let my emotions run away with me like this, but I couldn’t put these into a box right now.
I needed a hot shower or an entire bottle of whiskey in one shot. Either one would have the same effect, but the whiskey would probably do a better job of knocking me the hell out.
Blowing out a long breath, I rubbed a hand down my face and headed for the stairs.
Unfortunately, while I had a bottle of Jack Daniels under the sink, I had an eight a.m. meeting so it wasn’t advisable to drink it all right now.
A shower it was.
Three knocks sounded at my door.
I stopped and looked back at it like it’d banged on itself.
Was that—no.
There was no way.
Immy was not at my door.
Three more knocks.
“Goddamn it, Mason!”
Fuck me dead, that was her.
I walked to the door and pulled it open.
It was.
It was Immy.
She was standing on the doorstep, eyes wide and shining, lips slightly parted. “Um. I… I went home,” she finished lamely. “But I couldn’t… go through the door.”
I said nothing.
I just stared at her.
“I, um. I don’t really know.” She cupped her throat with her hand and looked away again, focusing on something out of the way.
“Imogen, are you coming in or what?”
“What?” She jerked her gaze back to me like it hadn’t even crossed her mind.
“It’s up to you. You can come in, or your grandma can watch me kiss the shit out of you on the doorstep.”
Her eyes widened like a deer in headlights.
Grandma it was.
I stepped outside and cupped the back of her head with my hand. Lowering my head, I pressed my lips to hers and kissed her firmly, reveling in the softness of her lips against mine. She staggered back a little, but she recovered with a swift grab of my shirt, one that only served to bring her body even closer to mine.
I circled her body with my free arm. I flicked my tongue against her lips, and she tilted her head back, opening her mouth so I could kiss her properly.
God, it felt so fucking good to kiss her again. A rush of emotion and excitement that jolted right through my body, setting all my nerve endings alight.
And my cock. Fuck. The blood rushed right to my dick, making it throb. A tiny rush of air escaped Imogen’s lips as it hardened as pressed against her.
“Woohoo!”
We broke apart like we’d been set on fire and both jerked our heads in the direction of her house.
Jen was leaning out of the window, waving her handkerchief. “Woohoo! Get it!”
“Oh, my God. Grandma!” Immy started toward her.
I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her. “She won’t be home tonight!” I yelled, dragging Immy into the house.
“Mason!” Immy shrieked,
Jen cackled and whooped, throwing her fist into the air like our own little cheerleader.
It was fucking weird.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN – IMMY
Kiss For A Cause
“Mason!” I gasped. “You can’t say to my Grandma!”
The asshole laughed. “Yeah, I can. Did you hear her laughing? She’s cheering us on!”
“Yeah, that’s what I want to hear. My grandma is happy I could potentially get laid,” I said dryly.
“There’s no potentially about it; you’re getting laid.”
“So fucking romantic,” I muttered. “I didn’t even like you ten minutes ago.”
“Yeah, well, buckle up, because I’m gonna be your favorite person in an hour.”
“An hour? You’re generous.”
“All right, twenty minutes. It’s been a while.”
I smirked. “If you make it twenty minutes, I’ll be impressed.”
“Challenge accepted.”
He yanked me back toward him, sinking his fingers into my hair. The familiarity of his kiss was like a warm blanket as it wrapped around me, and my body sank against his. I responded to his hungry kiss with vigor of my own, one that had my fingers twining in the collar of his shirt.
Everything inside me was telling me that I was crazy, that I’d lost my damn mind, but there wasn’t a part of me that wanted to pull away.
Which was stupid, because I’d spent the last several days rejecting him in every way, shape, and form.
Like I had five minutes ago.
Look, I never claimed to think everything through.
Mason pulled back and grabbed my hand, dragging me behind him. I almost tripped halfway up the stairs, but I righted myself before I landed on my ass.
He swept me against him the second we stepped into his room. There was no fight in me as he kissed me deeply, running his hands over my upper body. Everything became a blur as we moved toward the bed and lowered ourselves onto it.