Chapter 2

Lisa Woods was stunned. There was something about the man that just made her stupid. She couldn’t talk, couldn’t think, couldn't form a single coherent thought. Oh no her fantasies, her imagination…they had nothing on the real thing. Her legs wobbled and shook, and she prayed she wouldn’t go down, a victim of the heels she’d worn. Nothing in the world could have prepared her for what just happened. Mason had kissed her. Not just kissed her, but he’d dragged her away from the crowd and ravaged her. 

Her lips still tingled from his sensual assault. She was wrecked. Totally wrecked. 

Was she dreaming? -- She knew she hadn’t drunk that much so she was sure it wasn't the alcohol. It was Mason. The man lethal to her senses. Her fixation. 

Oh God she felt sorry for Ross, any little feelings she had for him had just been flushed down the drain. In totally honesty she was never really in love with him. Their families were the cause of their union and he had been trying to win her over for years. He was a great guy, a good guy who despite his wealth treated her nicely. What had she just been pulled into? 

"Would she ever be able to move on from this?" she thought. 

 She stood there staring at him in bewilderment, wondering where the real Mason Remington was hiding. The man she'd known all life who seemed to have always avoided her had just kissed her.

“You'd better stop looking at me like that or it'll get you into some serious trouble,” he growled.

“And just how am I looking at you?” she asked huskily.

“Like you want me to peel that pitiful excuse for a dress from your body and fuck you right here, right now.”

She swallowed. Hard. It was probably better not to say anything at all. She was still recovering from what had just happened here. Her senses were dismay, and she couldn’t quite come to terms with the fact that Mason had just kissed her and then talked about fucking her on the terrace of his hotel.

The man who she had tried for years to forget about and move on. She had basically spent her whole life with the ridiculous notion that he was going to one day notice her and decide he had to have her. He moved in close again, until his heat swallowed and consumed her. Her pulse beat increasing erratically and her breathing was ragged and tight.

His scent taunted her. A touch of spice without being too overpowering. The cologne he wore was a good match. It complemented his natural scent while giving that tantalizing hint of male, rugged, outdoors and…sophistication all at the same time. She could smell him, and damn he smelled so good.

 “It’s a good damn thing Chris isn’t here,” Gabe said. She cocked her head and stared up at him in question. “Why do you say that?”

“Because he’d definitely have a heart attack if he saw you in this dress. Not that there’s enough of it to call it a dress.”

Smiling, she showed beautiful dimple already formed in her cheek. “Well since Chris isn’t here, he can’t very well say anything, now, can he?”

“No, but I damn sure can,” he said bluntly.

Her smile into a frown. “Listen Mason, I don’t need two big brothers, Chris. I assure you one’s enough.” His gaze narrowed and his lips thinned. “Lisa, I definitely have no desire to be your goddamn big brother.”

She was hurt. So why did he just kiss her, if spending any time with her was such a chore, then why had he approached her?  Why hadn’t he done what he’d been doing all this time and just ignore her?

She stepped further from back, the warm buzz of being so close to him, of having his arms around her, his hands on her body, slowly dissipating.

She shouldn’t have come. It had been stupid and lame. All she had to do was call Chris. Let him know her plans and he could have told her he wouldn’t be here. Although she did not come for Chris but at no one has had to know that. 

She would have stayed at home baking or watching N*****x, she had a lot of shows she had to catch up with, instead of standing outside of the terrace embarrassed by Mason's rejection. His eyes narrowed as he took in her reaction and then he sighed, the chilly night air with lights of the city twinkled and dazzled the sky, the distant sounds of traffic disrupted the quiet.

For a while he simply stared at her, and she wondered what it was she’d done that offended him so much. Then he noticed she wore a delicate chain with a diamond around her neck, and diamond studs adorned both on her ears. He had given it to her for Christmas as a gift a year earlier. It gave him satisfaction to see her wearing the things he’d bought for her tonight. For him, it was one more step in the inevitable direction of her being his. Although she didn’t know it yet, but he’d waited long enough.  

“Come see me tomorrow, Lisa. At my office. Eleven Am sharp.”

“W-why?” she stammered out.

His expression was hard, and his eyes were serious, shining with a light she couldn’t interpret.

“Because I just said so.”

Her eyes widened, and then he reached out to take her hand, pulling her back toward the entrance to the event room. He pulled her through the crowd and kept walking until they reached the lobby. She struggled to keep up with his stride as her heels tapped across the marble floor.

“Mason, where are we going?”

He walked till they were outside and motioned to his doorman, who rushed over. A few seconds later, a classic, black car pulled to the front, A Tesla model X, she thought but she never knows the difference with these stuffs, Mason then ushered her inside and shut the car door.  He stood, then bent over so that he could talk to her through the window. 

“You’re going home and getting out of that fucking dress,” he said. “Then tomorrow you’re going to come to my office at Eleven.” He stood up straight turned and started to walk away before halting in his steps once more to say this. 

“And Lisa? You better be there.”