Page 105 of Fallen Hearts

This was ridiculous. “You’ll find answers? Like me more?” I tried to pull my hand away. Mason held firm.

“It’s not possible for me to like you more,” he said. “If you think so, you haven’t been listening. I get that this is unconventional. And selfish, on my part. I should let you go. I’ve never been this indecisive in my life and wouldn’t blame you a bit if you told me to go screw myself. But this is also the most honest I’ve ever been, and the simple fact is… I don’t know if I’m ready to retire as a cop. I don’t know if I’d cut it as an innkeeper full-time. And I don’t know if I can get past being scared as hell of enduring the kind of heartbreak my father did for most of his life. The only things I know for sure are that I’m confused as hell, and that I absolutely love everything about you, even though that scares me.”

The pain in his eyes, the way his voice cracked as he spoke… This was an entirely different Mason. And also a truthful one. I never in a million years would have thought Mason would ever admit to being scared.

“My God, what a mess.”

“I hate to say I told you so but…”

I swatted him with my free hand. “You’re not helping.”

He grabbed my wrist. Grabbed both of them actually. And in two seconds flat, he had me pinned to the bed. We stayed like that for what felt like hours, staring at each other. I told him, without words, that I’d fallen in love with him too. Mason told me, by the way he looked into my eyes, that he was as confused and sincere as he’d proclaimed.

It was messy.

Likely, would be disastrous.

Casually dating someone you loved, who was also your boss, might have been the worst idea in history. The only thing I could imagine even worse than that? Never making love to this man again.

So instead of giving him an answer with words, I lifted my head off the bed. Our lips met.

We were done talking, for now.

37

MASON

“How was your first week back?”

I still couldn’t believe I let Cole talk me into coming to this yuppy bar. Positing myself with a view of at least most of the customers, I told him so. “Fine,” I said. “But I really wish we could have met at Paddy’s.”

“Not enough shields here for you?”

“Too many uppity professor pricks, actually.”

“Me being one of them,” he said dryly.

“You’re not a prick,” I said, taking a swig of beer. “Most of the time anyway.”

“Gee, thank you.”

“No problem,” I said, purposefully ignoring the obvious sarcasm. “It was fine,” I added, answering his initial question. “Talked to a U.C. today with more time on the job than I’ll ever see. Reminded me how little juice I have, despite my relationship with the captain.”

I could see Cole’s raised eyebrows even under his glasses.

“English, please?”

I thought back to what I’d said. “Undercover old-timer. Juice?—”

“I know juice is unofficial power. U.C. was a new one. You people have more acronyms than actual words.”

“My blue-collar people don’t have your people’s elevated vocabulary. We don’t have time to be dicking around, looking things up in dictionaries.”

“Good one.”

“I thought so too.”

We drank in silence, Cole raising his glass to the women at the other end of the bar who’d bought us drinks. I couldn’t tell if the blonde and her friends were into him, me, or both. But it didn’t matter, unless Cole was interested. Although Pia and I agreed we could see other people, I had no intention of doing that. Something the guys has teased me mercilessly about when I explained our “status” to them.

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