Page 126 of City of Sin (Men of Manhattan 1)

I felt cheap. And stupid. Of course Mason didn't actually like me. He was just using me. I put my notebook back into my purse. He was Mason Caldwell. And I was just me. He used women for a living. All he knew was paying women for sex.

When Mason turned the corner and walked into the kitchen I just stared at him. He came over to me and leaned down for a kiss.

My knees felt weak. I wanted to grab the back of his neck and pull him down to me. I wanted to kiss him. Because this asshole had tricked me into falling in love with him. So instead of punching his beautiful face, which he deserved, I wanted to rip all his clothes off. This felt worse that Patrick. Worse because I hadn't even guessed what was going on. Mason was right. I was naive.

I put my hand on his chest so that his lips didn't meet mine.

He smiled down at me. "In the mood for more than kissing? I think I have time for that."

"You're disgusting." My voice sounded small. Why did I always sound so pathetic whenever I needed to be strong?

"You didn't think what we did was disgusting last night." He gave me his panty dropping smile.

"I need to go." I nodded, as if encouraging myself that I was making the right decision.

"Wait, what?"

"I made a mistake. This was a mistake. I'm sorry." And why did I always apologize? What on earth was I apologizing for? I turned away from him. I needed to find my coat and my shoes. I needed to get out of his apartment. I slipped on my boots that were next to the door.

"Bee?" He put his hand on my shoulder. "Are you okay?"

I pushed his hand off of me. "Am I okay? Of course I'm not okay." I could feel the tears falling down my cheeks. I was such an idiot. I kept falling for the wrong guys. The worst possible guys.

"What's wrong? Baby..."

I put my hand up so he wouldn't touch me. "You know what's wrong."

"No, I don't. I asked you to move in with me. I asked you to be my girlfriend. I would have guessed we were in a good place."

"Exactly, Mason. You made me fall in love with you."

A smile spread across his face. "You're in love with me?"

"No. I mean yes. I don't know! You tricked me."

"I didn't trick you." He took another step toward me.

"If all you wanted was sex and information, fine. But I asked you not to break my heart. You didn't have to do this. You didn't have to take it this far. You made me fall in love with you."

His eyebrows lowered slightly. "Bee..."

"Don't you dare throw some lame excuse at me. I heard you on the phone."

I watched his Adam's apple rise and fall. "You don't understand."

"Were you or were you not talking to John Landry?"

"I was, but..."

"That was my idea, Mason. You stole my idea. You read my notebook."

"I didn't mean to steal your idea. It just slipped out when I was on the phone with him. It was the first thing that came to my head because it's a really, really good idea. I accidentally saw it in your notebook the other morning. I wasn't snooping, I was just trying to get..."

"Do you think I'm a complete idiot?"

"Of course I don't. You know how I feel about you."

That you really like me? He was so full of shit. "And how did you get John Landry's phone number? Is that why you came to the office that night when I was working late? To steal my contacts?"

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