Page 57 of Mason

“You’ll like this one, I promise.”

Her lips tilted up in a half-smile, and he settled back, content to drive and let his anger flow out. Driving did that for him. Back in Virginia, he used to drive for hours with no destination in mind, just him and the open road and whatever was on the radio. He missed those days.

Adulting was too damn hard.

They rode in silence, and Jo perked up when they turned into the family neighborhood. She was probably thinking they were going to Viktor’s. He knew he was right when they passed the house and her expression grew confused. He chuckled, and she stuck her tongue out at him.

Damn, he loved her.

When he turned into Dimitri’s driveway, her eyes went a little wide. She’d never been here before, so he could understand her awe. Hell, he felt a little awed himself. Dimitri was wealthy—not as much as Nik, but he was damn close—and it showed in the house. The three-story Victorian structure was original to the area, and Becca had renovated it instead of tearing it down and building a new one like D had wanted. His sister-in-law could be fierce when she had to. She kept all the charm of the house while adding modern touches. It was gorgeous, and anyone who drove by would stop and stare at its glory. Including him.

“This is Dimitri’s place. He’s out of town and said I could use the house while he was gone.”

Jo turned to him, her mouth still drooling the tiniest bit. “Your brother lives here?”

“Yup. Come on, let’s get inside before we freeze to death. It’s supposed to snow again tonight.”

Jo groaned. “Not more snow.”

“Yes, California, more snow. You’ll get used to it.”

“No, I won’t.” She got out of the vehicle and hugged her arms around her. “I’ll freeze to death first.”

“I’ll keep you warm.” He winked, and she giggled. His favorite sound. Catching her around the waist, he pulled her into him. “Cold?”

“Yes.” She smiled, and he swooped down to capture her lips with his, and the sense of rightness hit him in the gut so fast, he almost pulled back. But Jo distracted him, her tongue darting in his mouth to dance with his. When he broke the kiss, they were both breathless.

“Come on, short stuff, let’s get inside.” He reached into the truck and grabbed the bags he’d gotten at the convenience store and held on to Jo as they made their way up onto the porch. The temperature had fallen below freezing, and he wasn’t taking any chances on ice patches. She’d already broken her wrist. Keith had taken her to the specialist, and she was now sporting a cast covered in signatures.

“I am not short.”

He snorted at her sass. The girl was barely five-two. She was short.

Inside, the house was ice cold. Mason turned the heat on as high as it would go to try to warm the place up faster. “Keep your coat on ’til it gets warmer, baby.”

“No argument there.”

Mason led her into the living room and bundled her up in the throws on the back of the couch. He told her to stay put while he put on a pot of coffee. Usually, she’d tell him not to drink coffee so late, but it had been one of those days, and he figured they both needed the boost of caffeine.

He found Jo where he left her a few minutes later, the heat already warming the house. Setting the thermostat on eighty seemed to be working. He was, however, going to bitch Dimitri out for bringing his girls into a freezing house. Sasha and Ava were barely big enough to withstand a cold, especially Ava. She’d been through countless surgeries already, and he wasn’t about to let the baby come in here and end up back in the hospital with pneumonia. What the hell was D thinking?

Collecting his bags from the convenience store, he handed Jo a steaming mug of coffee and slid under the blankets with her, cuddling her close.

“Hi.” She turned her head up to stare at him, warmth and the lazy heat of desire making her sky-blue eyes electric.

“Hi.” He dipped down and kissed her nose. “Warmer?”

“I am now.”

He picked up the bag and dug around in it until he found the Hostess cupcake and the pack of candles. He’d been shocked to find birthday candles in the store, but hey. Maybe he wasn’t the only one out searching for makeshift birthday cakes.

“What is that?” Jo laughed when he shoved a candle in the cupcake and lit it with the box of matches.

“Happy birthday, Josephine. Now, make a wish and blow out the candle.”

More laughter bubbled up out of Jo, and the sound scrubbed away the last vestiges of anger he had hoarded up inside.

Jo blew the candle out and hugged him. Here he’d gone and erased all the stress of the last few hours with a simple cupcake and a candle. “Thank you, Mason.”

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