Page 30 of The Naughty Or Nice Clause

“Lou! Are you going? I’m hopping in the bath. Make sure to take the food in the fridge. I added some apple crumble, since Sara doesn’t like rhubarb,” Mrs Klaus called down, and Lyla smiled. Even with everything going on, Mrs Klaus still thought of others and their needs.

“She’ll love it! I’ll see you in the morning!” Lou shouted with a chuckle before turning back to Lyla.

“I wish I could tell you all my brother’s secrets to help you figure him out. But to be honest, I haven’t got a clue. This decision he has to make is going to bring up his past, and he needs someone to support him.”

“He has you and an entire village,” Lyla said.

“True, but I get the feeling he wouldn’t have brought you here if it wasn’t to have you in his corner,” Lou said as Lyla opened the door for her.

She had a point.Maybe he wanted me here because I didn’t know him back then? I can’t judge him for the past.

Once Lou was gone, Lyla found peace in the comfort of her room. The thought of Mason being anything like a president made her laugh. He certainly had the stoic nature down pat. Still, she couldn’t imagine him leaving all he had built for himself in the outside world to come back here.

With the door closed behind her, she threw herself down on the bed, and caught sight of the drawer Mason had taken the ring from. Suddenly the memory of the kiss flooded back, and she buried her face in the duvet and let out a small scream. Remembering the feel of his lips, how she had misunderstood and kissed him back, only furthered her humiliation, her cheeks flaring hot. She wished Lou had told her more about why Mason had left in the first place –why he was the way he was. One minute she saw a glimpse of his heart, and the next a mask descended. She needed to clear her mind and put some distance between them – because she could still feel the lingering sensation of his lips on hers.

It meant nothing; it was a kiss,she assured herself, getting ready for bed.He just didn’t want to be caught in the middle of an argument.Sleeping in his oversized sweatshirt did nothing to ease her mind, but the one thing they had forgotten to buy was pyjamas. She usually slept in T-shirts, but she didn’t want to do that here in case someone, especially Mason, came in unexpectantly.

But what if that wasn’t the only reason? What he said in the hall about loving me… did he mean it? He couldn’t. But the way he talked about the staff, and my love for the company… Could he really invent it so easily?

Before Lyla had a chance to get her thoughts in order, she heard the soft click of the door opening and closing. Jones, who had been curled up beside her, leapt off the bed. Startled, she sat up and turned on the light beside her to find Mason lingering by the door.

“You scared the shit out of me. If you’re here to talk, I’m not in the mood,” she said, yanking the covers up to hide her chest.

He had a glint in his eye. “My bad. I was thinking we could carry on where we left off in the town square.”

She tossed the blanket at the end of the bed at him pathetically. It was that or the lamp, and since it looked like an antique, she didn’t want to upset Mrs Klaus by destroying it.

He caught it easily. “Only trying to lighten the mood. I thought you would be asleep by now.” The traitorous Jones was at his feet, purring happily until he was picked up and returned to the bed.

“And you thought it would be okay to creep into my room – half-naked, I might add?” She tried not to stare at his bare chest, though something so magnificent deserved to be seen. She silenced that thought as Jones distracted her by rubbing his head against her.

“My brother caught me coming back from the bathroom before I went into one of the spare rooms. I told him you were using the en suite, and I couldn’t exactly return to the spare room without him asking a thousand questions,” he explained.

She nodded, but before she could offer him the long seat at the end of the bed, he was already lying down beside her.

“You can take the floor!” she hissed, moving further away.

“It’s only for one night,” he said, leaning on his elbows. “Or can you not resist me?”

She smacked him with a pillow. “The floor should suit you fine.”

“It’s freezing on the floor. Even the damn cat isn’t sleeping on it. If you don’t want to sleep with me, thenyoucan take the floor.”

Lyla glared at the carpet. “I’m not sleeping on the floor. This is my room!” she argued, though that wasn’t technically true.

“Then stop being precious and go to sleep,” he said, turning his back to her.

She noticed the sparse freckles on his shoulders. Learning intimate details like this about him was stirring something in her she didn’t want to address.

“I’m not being precious,” she muttered, and tried to pull more of the duvet to her side, hoping he would suffer in the cold.

“Yes you are.” He gave one sharp pull; taken by surprise, Lyla rolled onto the floor. Her hip hit the ground first, and she groaned in pain.

“MASON!” she shouted, not caring if she woke the house.

A devilishly handsome smile attached to a smug face popped over the side of the bed.

“Wouldn’t have happened if you had shared like a normal person. Maybe you really are concerned that you can’t keep your hands to yourself, and that’s why you insist on hogging the covers.” Mason offered her a hand, but she slapped it away and got to her feet.

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