Amy sighed. “I hope so.”
Heather couldn’t help herself. Ever since she’d seen Mason, she couldn’t stop thinking about him. “How did Mason look?”
“Good. It’s Mason. He always looks great. He doesn’t have two wild kids and an upset spouse to deal with.”
“Do you think he wants a wife and kids?” Hope filled her heart and made it beat faster. She’d really love a real, grown-up relationship. Mason had always seemed the strong, steady, reliable type. She needed some of that in her life.
Amy found a halfhearted smile. “He sure looked like it earlier.”
Heather had heard he’d been spending time with Sierra’s boys lately, teaching them to ride and watching them when Sierra worked late. He and Sierra had always had an easy kind of friendship.
Mason might have always been the guy next door, but now Heather saw him in a whole new light. She wanted more than a friend in the successful lawyer. She wanted love. Uncomplicated and real and out there for everyone to see.
Maybe then her family would see that she’d grown up and found a real partner, a legitimately good man.
Wouldn’t it be amazing to live on his sprawling ranch, have more kids with him, and have the security being married to a man like him would give her?
She’d thought a lot about Mason since their chat at the mailbox. Maybe she needed to spend more time at her mom’s place and “accidentally” run into him again.
Maybe she’d ask him out on a date.
Heather tried to persuade Amy out of her glib outlook. “Rex doesn’t want a divorce. You guys will work this out. He’s your forever.”
And maybe Mason could be mine.
With that thought in mind, she left her sister to her massage, went back to work, and started thinking up ways to put herself in Mason’s path. If she wanted a different kind of life, one with a sexy, rich husband, then she’d have to go after it.
It would be so different from her last relationship.
Of course, she got Hallee out of that wild time, where rational thought and consequences meant nothing compared to what she wanted and how she felt in the arms of the man of her dreams.
God, how she missed him. And hated him. And wished for him, even knowing how bad they were for each other.
She couldn’t help loving him.
She’d always love him.
But she needed to move on. And this time she’d play it smart and get what she wanted for Hallee and herself.
A second chance at love.
And no one would keep her from having it.
Not this time.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Mason slid the papers his investigator gave him yesterday into his briefcase and wondered how he was supposed to break the news that they contained to Sierra. He wished she hadn’t asked him to look into that damn loan, but he couldn’t bring himself to refer her to someone else. Everything had been so great between them. He didn’t want anything to mess it up. He didn’t want to be the messenger who turned her suspicions into reality and ripped open a wound that might never heal.
David was gone, but the ripple of his mistakes continued to lap at Sierra’s life, causing more grief and trouble than she deserved.
David’s betrayal would tear a hole in Sierra’s heart, make her rethink everything she thought about the man she married. She’d second-guess every detail of their marriage.
Was it real?
How long had David been lying to her?
What did she do now with the information?
What happened when her family found out?
He wished he could keep the revelations to himself and save her the heartache and mess this would create in her life.
Selfish?
Yeah.
It took him this long to finally get the woman of his dreams. They had a real shot at a life together. He wanted it. Bad.
He wanted to marry her. He wanted to be a father to her boys. He wanted to create a life and family with her by his side.
They could be so good together.
They would be, because he wasn’t going to let David tear them apart from the grave.
“Hey. The boys are waiting to go down to the stables to ride.” Sierra walked into his home office, her gaze going directly to the folders in his briefcase.
He closed the lid and turned all his attention to her and held his hand out. She took it without hesitation, smiled sweetly, then went up on tiptoe when she got close and kissed him. He poured everything he was feeling into the kiss. He wanted her to know how much he loved having her here. He wanted her to know how deeply he cared about her.
He loved her.
He loved her boys.
He suspected she loved him, too.
The night they made love for the first time, he’d felt it in the way she gave herself over to him, the way she held him, the way she made him feel.
He wrapped her in his arms and held her close, needing to feel her warmth and the way she snuggled into him whenever they were alone like this.
She looked up at him, her gorgeous brown eyes inquisitive. “Did you have a lot of work to catch up on this morning?”
“Not more than usual.”
“Are you working on a particularly upsetting case?” She studied him, probably seeing the worry about what he knew about David but hadn’t told her written all over his face.
“All my cases are difficult, which is why I’m so happy to have you and the boys here to make my day better.”
“I’m happy here with you, too. More than I thought possible.” Her candor surprised him.
“You mean that.”
She rubbed her hands up his chest. “Can’t you tell? We spend practically all our free time here.”
He loved that they’d made themselves at home. Last night, they’d showed up with shopping bags. The kids did their homework at the table while he and Sierra made dinner. He wished they could do that every day.
“I wish I could spend more nights with you, but . . .”
She needed to be home with the boys. They stole a couple of hours alone this week when Dede took over bedtime with the boys while he and Sierra had a “date.” They’d been in each other’s arms burning up the sheets. Until she had to go home to her kids.
He took a chance and asked a bold question, knowing he might be pushing things too far too fast. “You feel at home here, right?”
She narrowed her gaze and stared at him. “Yes. Of course. Why? Are the boys making too many messes?”
He shook his head. This wasn’t going the direction he wanted. “They’re fine. They’re kids. Messes come with the territory and they’re really good about cleaning up the best they can.” He held her hips and tried to get her to understand. “Do you ever think about staying here?”
Her smile dimmed. “I wasn’t planning on going anywhere.”
Mason shook his head. “No. I mean, do you see yourself living here. In this house. With me.”
Sierra’s hands clamped onto his arms. “We haven’t been together that long.”
“We’ve known each other since we were teens.”
“I know. But . . .”
“But what? We’re great together. The boys love it here. You love it here.”
Her head tilted back and she stared up at the ceiling. “I’m still dealing with the house up in Napa and figuring out what we’ll do next.”