“Hey, baby. I’m heading home in the morning. I spent the day with Kiro. We had a breakthrough this afternoon once he finally got out of bed, but he’s so volatile. I decided to stay and make sure he was good. I miss you.”

“I miss you, too. I’m glad things are better with him. Was it hard?” I wished more than once today that I could be there with him.

“It wasn’t easy, but I think I understand him better now. He’ll never be my dad. I have one of those. But I felt something today I’ve never felt for the man before. Compassion.”

Mase was a compassionate man. I couldn’t imagine how awful his father had to have been to not get any compassion from his own son. I knew he hadn’t spent much time around him growing up, but still. “Then the trip helped you, too,” I said.

“Yeah, I think it did,” he agreed. “But I want to be home with you.”

“I want that, too.”

“Are things OK there? The job still good?”

“Yes. The job is great, and I’ve been fine here. I ate dinner with your parents tonight.”

“Good. I love you, and before you say you love me more, that’s not possible.”

Smiling, I tucked the covers under my chin. “I don’t think so.”

He chuckled. “I’ll be on a plane first thing in the morning. Expect a lunch guest.”

A sick knot settled in my stomach, reminding me of my other lunch guest who always popped up. I would have to tell Mase about all that when he got home. I wanted to keep my job, but I also didn’t want Mase in the dark about anything.

“I’ll look forward to it,” I told him. “Love you.”

Once we hung up, I lay in bed staring at the ceiling, wondering if Mase would react badly to Captain showing up at my office regularly with lunch. He hadn’t done anything wrong, really, but would I be OK with a woman bringing Mase lunch and eating with him? No. The answer was no way. I’d be jealous.

I had to tell Mase. There was no question.

By ten in the morning, I was getting anxious. I was ready to see Mase. It had only been a few days, but every time the office door opened, my heart sped up. Then Piper would be there, and I’d smile and pretend I wasn’t completely disappointed. He had said he’d be back by lunch.

Two more hours until lunch.

Just as I picked up the phone to return some calls, the door opened. Before I could get excited, Captain’s face appeared, and my face fell. Not who I was hoping to see.

“Don’t look so heartbroken. I’m not that ugly,” he said with a smirk.

I didn’t respond to that. Instead, I used my most professional tone. “What can I help you with?”

Captain cocked an eyebrow as he sat in the leather chair across from me. Not where I wanted him to sit. I wanted him to tell me what he needed and leave. Fast.

“Do you get to leave for lunch today?” he asked, leaning back and crossing his right ankle over his left knee like he was getting comfortable.

“No,” was my clipped response.

He looked amused. “I thought we called a truce. We were going to be friends. You aren’t acting very friendly.”

I had never said I was going to be his friend. “I agreed to work with you. I didn’t say I’d go out to eat with you.”

“You liked the picnic yesterday,” he reminded me.

“I liked Henry,” I corrected him.

He nodded as if he already knew that. “I knew you would. He’s a great kid.”

I also got why he had brought Henry to meet me. It had been a nice thing to do. I appreciated it, but I still felt wrong about having anything other than a working relationship with him. Something about the way he looked at me made me feel he wanted more. I didn’t care what he said.

“Why don’t you drive?” he asked, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Because I haven’t been able to read and write until recently. Couldn’t take the driver’s test.”

He reached into his back pocket, pulled out two thin books, and leaned over to place them on the table. One was a driver’s handbook for the state of Texas. The other was a permit handbook. “You can read now. Read these.”

I reached for them. I had meant to get these. The idea scared me, but now that they were here on my desk, it wasn’t that terrifying. Captain had gotten them for me before I had even told him why I didn’t drive. Why did he have to do such nice things for me?

“I don’t expect a thank you. Just read them. You can pass the test, Reese. I know you can.”

He didn’t expect a thank you. I stared down at the books in front of me. I wasn’t sure what to say. He was going out of his way to help me. He didn’t need to be thinking about me. He didn’t need to help me. But he was, and I wasn’t sure how to stop that.

“Thank you,” I said, because he did deserve that. “I’ve been meaning to pick these up.”

He nodded. “Good. I’m glad you’re ready to take another step in that direction.”

I’d started to say something when the door opened, and I looked up to see Mase’s face. My heart leaped at the sight of him, but as his gaze swung to Captain, I went from giddy to sick to my stomach.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” he asked as he stepped into the room, filling it up with his presence.

Captain dropped his propped-up foot to the floor and stood up. He was at eye level with Mase. “Came to drop something off for Reese,” Captain said, as if he wasn’t bothered at all.

“Doesn’t look like that,” Mase snarled. He swung his gaze to me. “He bothering you?”

This was a trick question. If I said no, then Mase would think something that wasn’t true. But as I glanced down at the handbooks on my desk, I knew I couldn’t very well throw Captain under the bus.

“Mase, it’s OK. He was dropping off some handbooks he thought I might need. Nothing more,” I explained.

I shot Captain a quick glance, and he looked surprised that I hadn’t said he was bothering me. Mase was frowning—at me or my response, I wasn’t sure.

“Does he visit you often to bring you things he thinks you need?” Mase asked, his voice holding a warning. He wasn’t happy, and this was not the way I wanted to explain my relationship with Captain to him.

“I just bring her lunch a couple of times a week,” Captain said.

The fire that lit in Mase’s eyes didn’t bode well. Why had he said that? “You do what?” he asked slowly as he turned his glare to Captain.

“I have to bring her paperwork to file, and I sometimes bring her food, too. Better than those damn turkey sandwiches she eats.”

Mase stood so still I was afraid of what he would do next. “I think it’s time you leave,” he said in a hard, clipped tone.

Captain glanced at me. “Guess it is,” he replied, and winked at me. He freaking winked at me before walking past Mase with a smirk on his face. I wanted to kill him.

Mase turned to me. He just stared at me silently for several moments, and I started to open my mouth to explain several times, but nothing came out.

“You didn’t think that telling me another man brought you lunch was important? Or that he visits you so often?”

I had been planning to tell him. Tonight. I had planned it all out. “I wasn’t . . . I was . . . I didn’t . . .”

He held up his hand to stop me. “Never mind. I’m not listening to this. I just went through some emotional shit, and I don’t need this right now. I need a fucking break,” he said, then turned and stormed out of my office.

I stood there, watching the door slam behind him as tears spilled free and ran down my face. What had I done?

Mase

My heart was pounding in my ears as I stalked from my truck down to the stables. What the fuck had I just walked in on? Was I overreacting? I’d given Reese a chance to explain herself, and she’d stammered. She hadn’t been able to explain. She had almost seemed to be defending that asshole.