Page 87 of Off Plan
“In which case, knowing you, you’d have to figure out who owned the tree…”
I dug my fingers into Mason’s ribs.
“Hey!” He grabbed my hands and held them. “Being serious, though! You could save up the money. Get a loan. Hell, Rafe is handing out money like it’s trick-or-treat and he forgot to buy a bag of Raisinets. Why not ask him—”
“Ask my uncle?” I snorted. “Fuck no. Under no circumstances. It would have to be a matter of life and death. I came here five years ago with nothing, and he helped me out, but he’s made it pretty clear I’m not really a part of his family. I’m his wife’s nephew, the son of a deadbeat brother-in-law he never had much use for. Doesn’t matter how much I work or…” I took a deep breath and stopped my fucking mouth from running. “Besides which, haven’t you noticed that making plans only leads to misery? I had a really niceplanfor my life in Texas and got it paid back to mewith interest. Planning is like asking for disappointment. If there’s some sentient being out there, some Universe like Beale says—” I waved a hand toward the roof of the cockpit and the sky beyond. “—it loves nothing more than fucking with people’s plans. Otherwise—” I grinned evilly. “—you’d be sipping mai tais at an actual five-star resort with some hot blonde named Tiffani-with-an-i, and not here with me.”
“Huh.” Mason’s expression grew thoughtful.
“What about you, then? Just how many loafers would you buy?”
“Oh. Hmm.” Mason stacked his hands on my chest and rested his chin there. “None. I’d pay off my med school loans. I’d move someplace beautiful where the taxes were low and property values were stable, and I’d find a job with lots of growth potential. Then… I don’t know. Invest the rest of the money, maybe? Something high yield and low risk?”
I laughed out loud. “Of course you would, Loafers.”
“What? What’s wrong with that?”
“I thought we were daydreaming here? I thought we were supposed to be unrealistic and happy?”
“Thatwouldmake me happy.” He licked his lips. “And I’d bring my Mercedes to you for you to fix, but I wouldn’t let youdriveit. Ever.” He raised one eyebrow. “So you’d know how this lack of trust between us feels and finally let me drive the Charger.”
“Oooh. I take it back, you do know how to be unrealistic,” I laughed, and then I kissed the outraged look off Mason’s face. When I finally pulled back, the look in his eyes gave me the courage to ask something I’d been wanting to ask for a while now.
“Can I ask you a question?” I held him firmly, just in case he said no and decided to swim for shore.
“Yeah. Anything.”
“How are you so okay with this? With us? That night on the beach, you wanted answers and data. You talked about your dreams and not settling. But everything changed for you all at once, and that’s gotta be a big deal for someone who wants all his ducks in a row.”
“I just… I feel like things are different on Whispering Key,” he said finally. He frowned a little and ran his fingers along the front of my T-shirt collar, thinking. “LikeI’mdifferent. Out there, in the real world, I know it’s important to be successful so I never have to worry about money. I know I need to look before I leap and make responsible choices. I know I can’t afford to make mistakes the way I did when I was a kid, and that it’d be selfish to make my family worry. I think, and I think, and I think again. But while I’m here…” He traced the edge of my lips with his finger. “I’m so far removed from all of that. I can do my job and take care of people, and make myself happy, and makeyouhappy… and that’s enough. For right now, that’s enough.”
For right now. That shouldnothave made my gut clench the way it did.It should not have made me want to steer this boat out into the open water and just keep drifting forever.
I tugged at the back of his hair. “What I hear you saying is that you want to make me happy, Loafers.”
Mason snorted. “Thatwouldbe what you took from all that.”
“What I hear is, I can have whatever I want.” I bit his bottom lip firmly.
“You heard that?” His breathing grew erratic. “How long have you suffered from these delusions?”
“What I hear is… I’m the captain of this boat, and you do what I say.”
Mason laughed out loud. “Oh. My. God. And what is it you want me to do, my captain?”
I bit that laughing mouth, then pushed him off my lap and onto his knees.
“Incentivizeme.”
Chapter Fourteen
Mason
“Hello,Taffy! How are you this fine morning?” I strode down the hall of the rec center, coffee in one hand, a pair of white paper bakery bags in the other. “How was your weekend? How’s Max?”
Taffy, who was already sitting at her desk looking way too cool and collected, lifted her head and smiled. “Well. Don’t you look happy for a Monday, Doc!”
“Do I?” I unlocked the door to my office and deposited my coffee and bakery bag on my desk, then turned to hand the other bag to Taffy. “Must be because Bean Me Up is open every morning now.”
