She stared up at him. “When we get married?”
“Yes. When.” He kissed her softly. “But you’ll have to wait a little bit for that. I have plans.”
She smiled, her heart light because he understood that she needed his open honesty. “Plans for me?”
His eyes filled with desire at her seductive tone. He’d been sweet last night, holding her while she let her mind sort through the anger, sadness, betrayal, and confusion over how this all happened. When the sadness set in and she let the tears fall, he’d buried his face in her hair and whispered soothing words and affirmations that everything would be okay.
And she believed him, because she believed he was the kind of guy who stuck it out. He wouldn’t quit on them.
She hadn’t stopped loving him all these years. It had lain dormant in her heart, but now that she was free to love him, she wouldn’t stop. Not ever. The way he made her feel . . . Well, she wanted to feel this way all the time. It’s what she’d been looking for, what she’d missed, what she craved.
And right now, she wanted to show Mason how much she appreciated him for being the man she needed.
“I have plans to keep you here. Plans to make you happy.” He slid his hands down her neck, over her shoulders, and along her spine until his big hands covered her ass and pulled her closer. “Plans . . .” He covered her mouth in a searing kiss that sparked every nerve in her body and lit a fire between her legs, especially when he squeezed her ass and lifted her right off her feet. Wrapped in all his strength and love, she held him close and kissed him like her life depended on it.
She wanted to lose herself in loving him. She wanted to feel something good and sexy and hot and let everything else get wiped away.
She was so tired of feeling stupid and taken advantage of and left in the dark.
Mason made her feel desirable and necessary. Especially when he talked about their future and seduced her right out of her sorrows and into his arms like this.
He turned with her in his arms, feet dangling at his shins, and stopped short of walking out of the spare bedroom door when a car pulled up out front.
His eyes opened and his lips left hers and she missed the intimacy and building need. “Someone’s here.”
“I don’t want to see anyone but you. Preferably naked. And horizontal.”
He smiled. “I like the way you think, but it could be Amy with the boys.”
“I’m not supposed to pick them up for another hour.” But something could have come up and Amy needed to bring them back early.
Mason kissed her one last time, slowly, putting all the promise of more to come in the sexy kiss.
He set her back on her feet and smiled down at her. “You’re bouncing back really well.”
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still angry and upset. It overwhelms me sometimes. But being with you helps a lot. You take my mind off it. You make me see the possibilities of what we can have together. Something that’s honest and built on mutual love and respect.”
“I respect the hell out of the way you’ve handled this.”
A car door slammed out front, drawing Sierra’s attention to the bedroom window that looked out over the front of the house. She spotted Heather’s car and all the anger she’d tucked away this morning came flooding back in a hot wave of rage.
“If you knew what I was thinking right now, you’d think a hell of a lot less of me.”
Mason swore under his breath. “What the hell is she doing here?”
“Making things worse.” Sierra didn’t want to hate her sister, but that’s exactly how she felt right now. “I’m not doing this with her.”
Mason tilted his head, his face and eyes filled with sympathy. “She’s your sister. You can’t leave things like this forever. You two should talk.”
“All I want to do right now is scream at her.” Her whole body vibrated with pent-up anger. “No. She doesn’t get to pick the time and place and just expect me to do what she wants. Not after what she’s done.”
“Absolutely not. I just want you to consider that eventually you two should talk and try to come to some sort of resolution.”
“I get that mediating for your clients is a big part of your job, but I’m not ready to come to the table and hear anything she has to say.”
“Fair enough. I’ll tell her now isn’t the time and send her away.”
She followed Mason down the hall. “We spent the morning talking about our future, my moving in here with the boys, and she had to show up and ruin it.”
Mason ignored the knock on the door and turned to her. “Nothing has changed about all we talked about this morning. That’s all going to happen. We will have our life together and no one is going to come between us or ruin it for us.”
She deflated. “I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize for feeling the way you do. I get it. If it were me, I’d be looking for a fight. You’ve at least maintained your composure.”
“You didn’t see my total meltdown on the beach yesterday.”
He brushed his hand over her hair and held her head. “I hope you know I wanted to be with you.”
She leaned into his hand. “I know. I just needed to be alone for a while.”
“You never have to be alone again if you don’t want to be.”
Heather knocked again, this time softer, more hesitant.
Sierra glared at the door. “I’d appreciate it if you took care of that. I’m going to head over to Amy’s and pick up the boys. I’m sure she’s got a million questions, and I could use some time with her.”
“Your sisters have always been important to you. You guys have always been really close. I’m sorry this is tearing you apart.”
“Heather did it all on her own. She crossed a line and I’m not sure I will ever be able to forgive her for it.”
“Maybe not now, but for the kids’ sake, I know you’ll try.” Mason had a lot of faith in her.
She grabbed her purse and pulled out her keys. She turned back to him and gave him a half frown. “You’re right, but right now, I don’t have it in me to even look at her.” She went up on tiptoe and kissed him softly. “Thank you for understanding and being so supportive.”
“Always.” He kissed her again, brushing his thumb across her cheek in a soft sweep as he stared into her eyes. “Bring the boys back here. Let’s just spend some time together before we’re back to work and life tomorrow.”
“Sounds amazing. But you’re cooking dinner.”
He smiled. “Deal.”
They shared another quick kiss, then she turned, opened the front door, barely spared Heather a look before she said, “No,” and walked right past her and to her car.
Heather called after her, “I just want to talk.”
Sierra climbed into her SUV, turned it on, and pulled out of the driveway without another thought for her bitch of a sister.
Instead she thought about what she and Mason talked about this morning. She focused on their future, not her messy past.
It may be too fast or too soon to move in with Mason, but she didn’t care. She wanted to start the life Mason painted for her this morning with his plans to make her and the boys part of his life permanently.