When Its Least Expected (27 page)

need to look at it to remember. He was ten, and Maisy was six or seven. They had just
moved into their house in Santa Cruz and were standing outside on the deck. Their
grandma Josephine snapped the shot, and in the back ground you could see the sun just
about setting over the ocean.

It was serene, and Mason kept that picture with him everywhere he went.

“Don’t you have a copy?” he questioned as Mazie sat up. He brushed his straggling
hair

from his eyes.

“No, you have the only one...”

“Take it then.” Her head snapped up, and her eyes met his. A look so hopeful, loving,
and

young, passed through her eyes. “The memory is all I need,” he smiled and shrugged,
tapping his head with his finger.

Tears escaped her eyes, and she smiled. “Thanks. I miss him too, Mase.” He nodded,

wrapping an arm around her shoulder. She leaned in and sniffled. “Can’t you and Mom
just get along, at least until you decide to leave to go back to Santa Cruz?” He dropped
his arm and rubbed a hand over the suddenly tight feeling in his chest. Leaving. He
was leaving sooner rather than later. “Yeah, mouse. I’ll try harder … for you.” Her
face brightened, and she smiled,

clutching the frame tight to her chest.

After a few more minute of silence, she stood and walked to the door. With one hand
on

the door frame, she looked back over her shoulder at him. “I know things here are
not like they were back home, but I’m okay here. I think you are too. Am I wrong?”
Mason had to think

before answering. The first thought that popped into his head was Harley’s freckled
face and beautiful smile. Yeah, he was okay, better than okay actually.

“You’re right. Nebraska isn’t so bad,” he grinned at her goofy smile, but it wavered
as he

finished. “But I can’t help but think about everything I left behind back home. The
surfing, my friends, Dad…” Maisy nodded, and tucked her chin into her chest before
turning to leave.

One lingering statement filled the air as she headed to the hall, “If you do decide
to leave, Mason, then please make sure that’s it’s for the right reasons, not just
because you feel like it’s a duty for Dad, okay?”

Mason marveled at the strength of his little sister. A proud, strangling feeling throbbed
in his chest. He pressed his palm directly over his heart. She was wiser than most
grown-ups and stronger too. What he lacked, Maisy provided.

Jumping out of bed with a new found plan, Mason threw on his favorite jeans and t-shirt.

He grabbed his favorite Dodgers cap and threw it on to cover his greasy hair. He zippered
up his coat, and was out the door in the span of two minutes.

He needed to see Harley. She was the only person who could possibly make things clear

for him right now.

Sunday dinners were a tradition at the Anderson house. A table full of fried chicken,

mashed potatoes, corn, and cranberry sauce covered the paisley cloth on the table.
It was the perfect end to the weirdest weekend of her life. She was surrounded by
the people she loved and had a boyfriend for the first time since Aiden had died.

Life was strangely … good.

The familiar sound of the doorbell halted their random conversation about some PBS

show her parents were completely obsessed with. Her father dropped his napkin onto
his table while his ever adoring wife placed her hand on his shoulder to stop him
from getting up. She leaned in, kissed his cheek, and he smiled up at her in response.
Harley rolled her eyes at their tenderness, but at the same time, she secretly prayed
that she would have a relationship like theirs someday.

Two minutes later when her mom reappeared in the doorway, eyes wide and questioning,

Harley about lost her dinner at the sight now standing at the entrance to their dining
room. Her brother, on the other hand, growled menacingly under his breath.

“Look who’s going to be joining us for dinner today, Harley!”

“Mason! Um, what are you doing here?” Her question came out short and ruder than

she’d meant for it to sound. Seriously, what
was
he doing there?

“Stop being rude, Harley Ann. I’m glad to have Mason over for dinner.” Harley’s mom

wrapped an arm around his shoulder and led him into the room. All the while long,
Harley stayed glued to the chair.” Come dear ... sit next to Harley.” Her mother pulled
a chair out for him, and Harley had to roll her eyes at the picture. God, the woman
would most likely be planning their honeymoon soon. “I’ll grab you a plate and some
silverware.”

Mason cracked a shy smile at Harley. Her insides melted at the vision of his dimples.
She

gripped the edge of her seat to stay upright. He grabbed her leg under the table and
squeezed. Oh sweet Jesus, he was cruel and sexy. She wanted to kiss him badly.

“Okay, here we go, son. Hope you like fried chicken. Oh! And we have cranberry sauce

and fresh rolls to go along with it as well. The best part is desert, Craig’s favorite,
fresh cherry cobbler.” Martha Freaking Stewart was in the house today winking at Harley’s
boyfriend!

Just wonderful.

Mason seemed to be enjoying the doting attention though, so Harley kept her remarks

locked away. Dinner was going well, and after David eased up a bit, Harley felt a
little more comfortable with the banter at the table.

“So, Mason, what are your plans for after graduation? You going to college, to work?

Any of those things sound appealing?” Mason smiled politely, chewing his food like
a good little boy before he answered. Maybe that was just his way of stalling.

“Well, Mr. Anderson, I mean Craig, I, um, am planning on heading back to Santa Cruz
to

enroll in an ASP local surfing tournament that features guys from all over the world.
After that, I plan on giving lessons and possibly taking some classes in business
to open my own surf shop one day. I’d get paid doing what I love to do, so that’d
be a definite plus.”

“That sounds very ambitious, son. I’m glad
somebody
around here has a plan.” Her dad glanced at both Harley and David before he went
back to eating.

The rest of their dinner was comfortable and easy except for the fact that Mason wouldn’t

stop with the whole playing footsy and leg grabbing thing under the table. Each time
his shoeless foot grazed her calf, or his warm hand grazed up her thigh, she jumped,
and it was getting harder to keep her body from responding.

By the time desert was cleaned up, Harley was so aware of his body sitting next to
hers,

that she was amazed she hadn’t mauled him right then and there. The moment they entered
her room, she was on him, borderline attacking him with her mouth and hands.

She pushed him against the wall near her door, her hands feeling brazen as she rubbed

them over his chest, his arms, and the flat planes of his ribbed abdomen. He groaned
into her ear with his breath hot against her face. She smiled mischievously, pressing
her face into his neck.

Yum-my.

“Harley, we need to talk, okay?” Mason was just as breathless as she was, but somehow,

unlike her, he was able to pull away. Harley though, was having a harder time steadying
her pulse.

His cryptic sounding message should have been like a bucket of ice water on her body,

but for some reason, it made her want to jump into his arms even more. The
needing to talk
line probably was not a good way to end a make out session.

“What could you possibly want to say at a time like this, Mason?” Harley attempted
the

seductive-like routine, pressing her body against his in an attempt to make him forget
what he wanted to say, but of course she failed miserably. She was
not
seductive. She was kind of a dork.

“You little vixen, I can’t think straight when you … do that,” he licked his lips
and

fought against a smile as she rubbed her hands up and down his chest. Okay, so maybe
she

wasn’t a dork after all.

“You don’t like it? I can stop!”

“God no, d–don’t stop. I’m just going to have to try harder to focus on my words now.”

Harley smiled. She was succeeding. Her devilish routine might not have been so bad
after

all, but maybe she’d better stop. She didn’t want to screw up what they had going
on by her suddenly needy hormones.

She led him to the bed to sit, and he followed silently. “Okay, surfer boy, spill
it,” she

demanded tucking her knees up under her chin as she chewed her lip. His face turned
shy.

He swallowed, and his Adam’s apple bobbed like up and down at a nervous pace as he

cleared his throat. “Well first off, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I was worried
about you.”

Mason leaned over and kissed her head sweetly, tucking a lose strand of her pony tail
behind her ear. He dropped his hand upon his lap and looked away. “Secondly though,
I need to know why you didn’t tell me about what happened with Toby at school on Monday.”

Shoot, he’d found out about that?

“Nothing I couldn’t handle, Mase. Honest.” She scooted closer to grab his hand and

cringing at the look on his face. It was a look of disappointment. He became quiet.
It was

unnerving, and Harley squeezed their hands together as she spoke. “Say something,
Mase. Please don’t shut down. It doesn’t matter what happened.”

“It does matter, and I’m pissed, Harley.” Well, nothing like a little blunt honesty
to bring something right out into the open.

“Why, Mason? It’s my life. You can’t always be around to protect me.” Her teasing

didn’t help, and he frowned harder at her. She shrugged. It was the truth.

“Tell me what exactly happened that day.” She sighed and shook her head. She didn’t

want to talk about it, but she knew he wouldn’t let it drop either. Every detail slipped
out except for when her mom took her to the pharmacy afterwards. That was her business,
not his.

“Next time, Harley, please tell me stuff like that. I can’t have that dude hurting
you, do

you understand?” His heated eyes were sexy even as the sheer look of anger and determination
passed over them. All Harley wanted to do was forget the nasty memory and ravish him
right

there on her bed.

Harley moved forward slowly like a tigress only to kiss his cheek instead. It was
also an

effort to soften his hardened mood. It seemed to work for a second. “I will, Mason,
but you’ve got to stop with this whole
protect me like I’m a weakling attitude
, okay?”

A guilty expression passed over his face, and he nodded, albeit slowly and unsurely.
Still, it was a nod nonetheless. “Fine, okay. Now then …where were we?”

His grin was back and sexier than ever. He encircled her waist with his hands. Harley

responded back eagerly, pressing her own fingers against the back of his neck. She
grabbed a fistful of his hair, letting the softness slip through her fingers with
ease. The pace they were taking was torturously slow.

Mason growled into Harley’s ear and threw them back onto the bed. It was a playful

movement that had Harley squealing banshee style. “What am I going to do with you,
little

beast?” he sighed into her ear, before nibbling on it with his teeth.

“Whatever you want to do with me…”

Where’d that come from?

“Umm…” Mason pulled back looking down at her inquisitively, his eyes widened with

bewilderment. Yes! She’d rendered him speechless. She had to play it cool. She was
crossing a dangerous line. It was one that she wasn’t sure their relationship could
handle yet.

“Relax, Mason. I was only kidding,” she murmured, only half way lying. She patted
his

cheek. He closed his eyes and captured her hand and a small stream of air left his
mouth with a whoosh.

“Harley, I care about you. You know that right?” She nodded, and he pulled her down
to

lie next to him, not under him. “Good because I don’t want to mess things up between
us by

taking things too fast. I know that in the past I’ve, um…” He tightened his hold on
her waist.

“I’ve always moved too quickly, but with you, I want to savor every second. I want
to make

sure…”

“That we won’t screw up?” Harley grinned at her personal promise, tilting her head
back

to look up at him. His eyes were so beautiful, and to have them focused on hers was
all she could ask for to solidify those words. Unspoken promises were better than
spoken words. That meant they were being spoken from the heart.

“Well, that’s one way to put it,” he smiled softly at her, brushing lock after lock
of her

hair off her forehead as he winked.

“You are evil, Mason Daniel. You do know that, right?”

“You wouldn’t want me any other way, would you?”

She shook her head, gnawing almost violently on her lower lip as the answer easily

slipped from her mouth.

“No, I wouldn’t.”

The next two weeks flew by quickly. Mason and Harley had fallen into a picture-perfect

routine as a couple. They drove to and from school together, hung out almost every
night of the week, and grew closer every moment of every hour. Mason had never wanted
to be tied down to a girl before. The thought used to be terrifying, but now? Hell,
he couldn’t imagine
not
having what they had together, and he knew why too. It was because he’d been unknowingly
waiting for
Harley
all that time.

It was a Thursday, the only night of the week that they hadn’t been able to hang out.

Harley had to take David to therapy and had a midterm to study for. Taking his sister’s
advice in stride, Mason had decided it was a good night to hang out as a fam. Roonza’s
was a restaurant his sister had been dying to try since they’d moved to town, so there
was no better night to do just that.