ROMANCE: Mason (Bad Boy Alpha Male Stepbrother Romance Boxset) (New Adult Contemporary Stepbrother Romance Collection) (219 page)

He made his way down the mountain. He tripped once or twice, scraped his palms, but he kept going until he reached his cabin. He didn’t have the day off, but if he could just sleep for a short while…

But he wanted to see Jenna. He wanted to speak to her. He just wanted to be reminded that life wasn’t as bad as it felt right now and make sure that she was okay. If Jenna was alright, and his friendship with her was still intact, everything was going to be alright. That was what all this was for, wasn’t it? She was what it was all for. He wasn’t going to deny it.

He got in the shower and washed off the dried blood from his skin. It ran down the drain in a wash of brown water and the metallic smell filled the bathroom. The animal inside of him smelled his blood, his own blood, and it wasn’t happy.

He wasn’t happy, either. No matter what happened, he wasn’t going to lose to Tara again. He just had to bide his time, make it work for him. This wasn’t going to be over soon, but it would end one day.

When he was done showering he got into a fresh pair of jeans and pulled a t-shirt over his damp hair. He looked at himself in the mirror. His eyes had dark circles underneath and he looked haunted, but there was no sign of his injuries on his neck.

The skin on his shoulder was still pink and paper thin, raw, but it was hidden under the shirt. As long as Jenna didn’t hug him she wouldn’t know. And he wouldn’t let that happen. He wasn’t going to risk having her that close, because then he would want to keep her there and not let go.

He opened the door of his cabin and stepped into the morning light. There was no sign of the night. The darkness had dissipated and everything that had happened up in the mountains was like a distant dream.

It still stung, but it felt unreal.

Bruce took a deep breath and blew it out slowly. He had almost all his strength back. The healing would go fast now. By the time he got to the lumber yard he would be fine to work. Tired but not hurt.

He walked the road that wound through the cabins. Many of the villagers were up and about, doing house chores, tending to fields and animals or heading to work, and he waved at them as he passed. It was good to know people.

He didn’t want to leave. Tara couldn’t run him out of town. He would fight for these people. For Jenna.

With a pang he realized he would die for them, too, if it came down to it.

He rounded the bend and saw Jenna’s cabin. He upped his pace, jammed his fists in his pockets, but as soon as he saw the front door he stopped in his tracks.

Drew stood in front of the door, and it was open. Jenna leaned against the door post with her shoulder, and she was smiling. Smiling! Bruce hopped to the side and hid behind a tree like a teenager. He’d grown up in the woods. He could make himself invisible between the trees. From where he stood he watched her. She was nodding and smiling while Drew was talking, and it looked very friendly. Too friendly.

Wasn’t it just the other day Jenna had told him she didn’t want to be with Drew but he wouldn’t leave her alone?

Bruce narrowed his eyes and he felt the bear inside him get up and shake itself. He wanted suddenly to take a claw and scrape it through Drew’s face, mess up whatever Jenna was smiling about.

Bruce yanked the thought back with a jolt. It was a terrible thing to think, and the severity of it knocked him. He took a deep breath, blew it out, and took another. In. Out. In. Out. Until he felt better about it. Jenna was just talking. That wasn’t wrong, right?

Jealousy reared its ugly head and he felt it alone the inside of his skin, scraping at his sanity, making him want to lose it all over again. Making his wild side bristle.

It wasn’t just a casual conversation. She had her head tipped like she usually did with Bruce. And that dimple in her cheek that only showed when she was shy. Or when she was about to blush. A moment later Drew stepped into the house and the door shut behind him. Bruce felt like he was going to burst into flame. His bear was clawing at his insides, fighting the lack of blood and trying to get out. But Bruce held it at bay.

He squeezed his eyes shut, and instead of charging Drew and telling him to get the hell away from Jenna, he turned back to the road and kept walking.

Chapter 2

The days after her mother’s death were dark. It wasn’t as hard on Jenna anymore now that she didn’t have to take care of her, but she would have done it every day for the rest of her life if it meant having her mother back. She felt terribly alone.

Sure, she had Bruce, but things just weren’t the same now. She’d felt like they were really close, like he could replace the family she’d once had if they would go that far. Now that he had Tara, and Tara quite obviously didn’t like Jenna, it wasn’t going to be that easy.

Jenna wasn’t only mourning her mother. She was also mourning Bruce.

She woke up earlier than usual. The night air was alive with something that crawled over her skin. She could feel it crackle in the air, despite the pending dawn that sat on the horizon, threatening to chase away the night with sunlight. But it was still there, stronger than it usually was.

Jenna knew she was probably being silly, but she couldn’t go back to bed. So she started on her chores and by the time the sun came up she was done. The only thing left now was to sort out her mother’s home so that someone else could move into it. The cabins here in Williamsburg were almost public. They were there for the next person to move into when he or she was old enough and independent enough. Holding onto her mother’s place wouldn’t only stop her from letting go of the past, but it would stop the future from happening for her and for someone else.

She walked across the road and pushed the door open. The first light of dawn bled from the horizon into the sky, turning it into a dim gray. The cabin was dark, and the same eerie feeling that had ridden the night hung between the walls.

Jenna knew this was just her imagination, but it felt real. Too real. She took a deep breath and pushed into the house, ignoring what she was feeling.

She started with the kitchen and worked her way through every room that wasn’t as personal as the bedroom. She dreaded sorting out the bedroom, the room where the memories of her father were just as strong as her mother had been until now. She would do that later.

By the time she was done Jenna had worked up a sweat, the sun poured into the windows chasing the shadows away, and it was time to get ready for work.

She went home, glancing in Bruce’s direction as she passed. She couldn’t see his cabin from here, but she imagined it being dead and quiet as it often was in the morning when he was out.

When she got to her own cabin, Drew sat on the step that led up to the small porch in front of the door. Jenna took a deep breath and forced a smile. She hadn’t been prepared for him today, but she wasn’t going to be able to get him away now. Not unless she spoke to him.

“Morning,” she said and stopped in front of him. He glanced up at her, starting at her feet and rolling her eyes over her body. She fought the urge to blush at the intensity of his gaze.

“Hey,” he finally answered.

“You’re here early.”

He nodded. “I wanted to check on you, see if you were okay,” he said. “I know its rough losing someone.”

Jenna nodded and she was suddenly overwhelmed with the urge to cry. It was sweet of Drew, thoughtful. The death was so fresh she felt so raw.

“I’m okay,” she answered but her voice was thick, and she knew it was a lie. She was pretending to be okay, but she wasn’t. Not really.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” he asked.

You can leave me alone, she thought, but she didn’t say it. He was being nice for asking, and if she really thought about it, she needed someone. Anyone. She just wanted a shoulder to cry on. A guy she could rely on that wasn’t in love with someone else. Something that didn’t hurt.

“I have to get cleaned up for work,” Jenna said. “I spent the morning cleaning. But you can come in and have some coffee while I get ready, then you can walk me in?”

Drew nodded and stood up. He was smiling and he looked down to try and hide it from her. She opened the door and turned in the doorway, leaning against the doorpost.

“This doesn’t mean that I like you,” Jenna said, but she couldn’t help smiling as she did it. Drew didn’t take it as an insult. Jenna realized she was flirting with him. With Drew of all people. And it wasn’t bad. It felt good not to have to hold back, even if it meant it wasn’t Bruce that she ended up with.

“Hey, a while ago I wasn’t even allowed inside,” he answered. “Progress.”

She smiled, tipped her head to the side and felt a blush creeping up even though she didn’t think Drew was that kind of attractive. Even though she’d never seen him that way. But the way he was looking at her made her feel beautiful and special, even though she was grimy from the hard work and her hair was still in the braid she slept with. He looked at her like she was wearing her Sunday clothes and she’d gotten prettied up just for him.

“Can you make coffee?” she asked, teasing.

He nodded. “I can’t do much, but I can do that. I’m not really fit for a kitchen.”

“The woman’s job, hey?” Jenna asked. She laughed, but Drew just nodded. Her laughter slid away again, draining away. She couldn’t joke with Drew the way she did with Bruce. He would have commented that the woman’s job was to another person, and the man’s job was to accept her as an equal.

She would have laughed at him and said that he wouldn’t fit into the world if that was how he saw it, and he would shrug like he knew what fitting in meant and no one really did. She sighed and let go of the thoughts and the memories, returned to the now with Drew in front of her.

Jenna stepped to the side and let Drew into her house. It felt cramped with two people in the tiny cabin. It had never felt like this before, but Jenna ignored it and pointed to the kitchen.

“There’s the kettle. The coffee is in the cabinet above. It’s instant so you’ll be fine. I’ll be out in a bit.”

She walked to her bedroom and closed the door, leaning against it with her back. There was a man in her house, a man that was very interested in her. He was making coffee in her kitchen, waiting for her to come out so that he could dote one her. And she was fighting the urge to hide out in her room.

She straightened herself out and forced herself to be rational. She’d invited him in after all, and the only way she was going to be able to get over her silly little crush on a man that wasn’t available, was to find someone else.

Drew wasn’t a bad guy. She just couldn’t help think that he wasn’t exactly the right guy, either. But that didn’t matter. Maybe, with time, he would be.

After she showered and they had coffee, Jenna got up and Drew walked her to the door. He opened the door for her and held it, following after and closing again. A gentleman. They walked side by side to the salon where Jenna worked before Drew turned to her.

“I know you don’t want this to go anywhere, but do you want to go out for dinner this Friday?”

He looked at Jenna and he was hopeful. She’d shot him down so many times she was surprised he was still trying. She nodded.

“Yeah, okay,” she said. Drew looked at her for a second before his face changed, surprise and then happiness. He’d expected her to say no again.

And to be honest, she almost did. But why not? What was she running away from? A question she’d rather not have answered.

“There aren’t a lot of places around here, we could go to Rhodestown if you really want to. We can make a night of it,” he said. An hour’s drive to another place to have dinner? It sounded a bit much.

“Right here’s just fine,” Jenna said, smiling. “It’s the company that counts, after all.”

Drew grinned at her and nodded.

“You’re right.  Okay, the café it is. We’ll arrange a time closer to Friday night, then?”

She nodded. “I don’t doubt that I’ll see you before that,” she said. He gave her a sheepish grin and turned to carry on down the road. Jenna watched him go. He wasn’t a bad looking guy. His hair was average, a dull brown and an average cut. He had broad shoulders from working so hard, muscled, and an upright walk. He was neat and precise. He wasn’t rough around the edges at all. But not every guy had to be like that.

Jenna sighed and unlocked the salon. Ten minutes later the other girls arrived, and took their places. It was early in the morning, and already the heat was pressing down on Jenna. It was going to be a long day.

“Was that Drew in here just now?” Carla asked Jenna. She sat behind her reception desk sucking on a strand of her own hair, looking like she’d slipped out of an eighties magazine with her high-waisted pants, puffy jacket and curls.. Jenna glanced up at the others before she looked at Carla and nodded.

“I thought you didn’t like him.”

Jenna shrugged. “I didn’t say I didn’t like him. I just wasn’t sure I wanted it to go any further than friendship.”

“Wasn’t?” Carla asked.

“Well, it’s different now. He didn’t give up. That’s a good thing in a guy, right? He’ll be committed forever.” At the idea of forever Jenna’s stomach tightened and turned.

“Right,” Carla said. “I think it’s a good thing. It’s about time you settle down.”