“Wine?” Mason asked.
“Sure.” I nodded.
He smoothly ordered us a bottle of red, and the waiter scurried off, eager to get the football star his order.
“You were saying?” Mason asked, his eyes warm.
“We were talking about why you don’t have a girlfriend,” I reminded him.
“Ah yes, that,” he teased before growing more serious. “I had a few girlfriends in high school and college, but once I started in the NFL, not as much.”
I looked at him skeptically. “Really? I’d think you have more action than you know what to do with.”
He choked on his water, nearly spitting it out as he fought to swallow.
“Okay?” I asked with a raised brow.
“Yeah,” he coughed. “You just have a habit of taking me off guard. And to answer your question, yeah, sure, women throw themselves at me, but it doesn’t interest me.” He shrugged. “It’s been hard to meet a woman that I connect with. They all just want the fame, the money.” He grimaced. “That’s why when you stumbled into my room on Friday night…”
“You thought I was one of those women,” I surmised.
“For a very brief moment,” he admitted. “The minute you turned those angry green eyes on me, I knew I was dealing with something else entirely.” He grinned before his expression grew serious. “I am truly sorry I wasn’t wholly honest with you, Ellie. There’s no excuse other than I got completely caught up in you, the way you challenged me and looked at me as though I was just a man, not some ridiculous construct people have of me. But it was selfish of me to want to keep that experience for myself at your expense. It won’t happen again.”
“I’m sure that’s difficult,” I said softly.
“I mean, I don’t want to sound like I’m complaining. Poor rich football star,” he snorted. “But it does make meeting anyone new difficult. I always wonder if they like me for me.” He shrugged again.
“Lily thought as much,” I interjected.
“Oh?” he asked with a raised brow.
I nodded. “She thought I was too hard on you.”
“Well, I think I like Lily,” he teased just as the waiter placed the wine on the table, pouring some out for Mason to taste.
I hadn’t even looked at the menu and forced my eye to the page. I was too nervous to think about it much and picked the first thing that sounded good, the risotto.
“Excellent choice,” the waiter complimented.
We talked easily over dinner. I told him more about my friendship with Lily and the live music we planned to see later that week.
He told me about his draft into the NFL and his friends he was close with, Ryan being one of them.
“If we’re invited to tag along on Wednesday, I’ll see if Ryan wants to come to the show too,” he suggested. “It shouldn’t be hard,” he added. “I think he’s pretty into your girl.”
I grinned, thrilled for Lily and the prospect of seeing him again. “Sure, that sounds good.” I smiled, taking a bite of the amazing dessert we were sharing. “Is it hard for you, going out in public?” I wondered.
He shrugged. “The locals are actually usually pretty cool. I try not to bring attention to myself, but aside from requests for autographs and photos sometimes, they typically let me be.”
“That’s good,” I replied as his eyes dropped to my mouth where I was licking the last bit of chocolate off my fork. He swallowed hard and looked away.
I marveled at the effect I seemed to have on him.
We headed out into the crisp evening air after he’d paid for what I was sure was an incredibly expensive meal. “Is your car at work?” he wanted to know as he opened the door for me.
I shook my head. “I didn’t drive today; I took the metro. Do you mind dropping me at home?”
He just rolled his eyes as though the question was preposterous and shut the door.
I directed him to my place, disappointed that the night was over. Eventually he pulled up to the curb outside of my building and cut the engine.
“So do you think I’ve redeemed myself enough to have your phone number now?” he asked with a crooked grin.
“I suppose,” I agreed, stifling a smile.
I’d smiled more since I’d met him than in as long as I could remember.
“And Wednesday?” he asked after he’d put my number in his phone.
I shrugged with a nonchalance I didn’t feel. “If you guys want to come, that’d be fun.”
“Okay.” He nodded before he wrinkled his brow slightly. “Ellie, I know I said the locals are typically cool, but you know in those situations, sometimes I get attention, sometimes too much…” He trailed off.
“It’s okay,” I interrupted to assure him. “If you can’t stay, then you can’t stay.”
“Can I walk you up?” he asked, looking beyond me to my building.
“I’m okay.” I shook my head. I couldn’t deal with the intimacy of him at my door, not yet. “Thanks for dinner. I’m glad I got to see you again,” I murmured.
“Me too. You have no idea how much,” he replied.
I gave him a shy smile before opening my door and heading into my building. I didn’t hear his motor roar to life until I was safely inside.
A gentleman indeed.
Chapter 3
ELLIE
Walking into the office the next day was immediately a strange experience, as every eye turned to watch my progress toward my desk. For a moment I couldn’t figure it out—then realization hit.
Of course, Mason.
I resolved to hold my head high and ignore it. After all, I’d dealt with scrutiny before, of a very different and more sinister sort; this should be a walk in the park.
My closest friends at work, Jane and Heather, were devasted they’d missed the Mason sighting and demanded details at my desk.
“Are you dating Mason Jackson?” Heather squealed, her brown curls bouncing along with her exuberance.
I shrugged. “I don’t know what we’re doing. We’re hanging out,” I replied.
“He’s a god,” she sighed.
“Just be careful.” Jane spoke quietly, in her typical reserved and astute manner. Jane was the type of woman who didn’t speak unless she had something to say, and in my experience, it was always something worth listening to. “I’m not saying don’t have fun. I’m just saying, I know you, and you don’t like the spotlight. Hanging out with Mason will thrust you into it. You need to be ready for that. And the women will probably be vicious.”
“Vicious?” I gulped.
“Vicious.” She nodded sagely.
“Great, well, I’m sure I won’t be distracted at all today,” I muttered.
They both smiled sympathetically and left me to open my email, though I had little hope of being very productive.
As the sun was dipping low in the sky, I’d managed to get some solid work done, grateful for the distraction. But as soon as I left the building, my thoughts once again became consumed with Mason. I took Kodi for a run after work to sweat out some of my stress from the day.