Trusting You (Second Chances #2)(45)

Mason sighed. “All right, well, I get off duty at five o’clock so I’ll see you at your house around then.”

We hung up and I headed back to the house to get my things packed. It was a rainy, Sunday morning so after I loaded all of my things in my suitcase for the trip I decided to watch reruns of The Vampire Diaries and get a little reading in. It was two o’clock in the afternoon when Daniel decided to call. It was time to put my acting skills to use.

“Hey Daniel,” I answered casually.

“Well, hello there. What are you doing?”

I turned off the television and settled into the couch. “Reading and watching a little bit of TV. How are you?”

He groaned. “Just a little hung over, but I’ll recover. Were you serious about going to dinner with me tonight? I heard about your break up with Brett so I figured it would be a good time to cheer you up, and to apologize for all the shit I’ve put you through the last few weeks.”

“Wow, bad news travels fast I see,” I chided. In a more playful tone I said, “But you are more than welcome to try to cheer me up and apologize. I love it when a man grovels.”

Daniel chuckled. “Trust me, I owe you a bunch of groveling. How does seven o’clock at Marion’s sound? Or we could go somewhere different. It’s your choice.”

Wow, he was laying it on thick with me. Where was the considerate gentleman when I was married to him? Clearing my throat, I sounded surprised when I remarked, “You must really be trying to suck up to me tonight. If you were like this all the time I might consider getting back together with you.”

Yeah, right.

“I told you I was going to try hard to get you back. I’m working on it. So Marion’s?”

“Yes, that’s fine. I’ll see you there at seven,” I replied.

“Why don’t I come pick you up?” he suggested. “I go right by your house on the way.”

I froze in silence. I had no clue what to say or if I should agree to ride with him. To make the date seem believable to Daniel I knew there was only one thing I could do. I had to accept. For one night I had to play along, but I knew it was going to land me in some hot water with Brett.

“Baby, are you there?” Daniel asked.

Quickly, I responded, “Yeah, I’m here. You’re more than welcome to come pick me up.”

“Sounds good, Mel. I’ll see you around six-thirty.” He hung up and all I wanted to do was crawl into a hole and disappear. Why did I think pretending with him would be such a good idea?

By the time I took a shower and got dressed, I was all ready to go when Mason showed up at my door. As he clipped on the recording wire to my bra he glared seriously at me. “Whatever you do, be nice and calm about everything. If he wants to apologize to you, accept it and smile. We don’t want him thinking that you’re going to fight against him at every turn. This is your chance to get you in the clear for the time being until we get back from California and find Claire.”

I nodded. “I can do it, Mason. I didn’t join the drama club in school for nothing. I’m sure I can throw in some believable smiles and blow smoke up his ass. I did it earlier when I was on the phone with him.”

Mason shook his head and smiled. “Yeah, I remember you in drama club, Lady Capulet. You were also a sword fighter, too, weren’t you?”

I laughed. “Yeah, because we needed more people. I had to change my costumes like twenty times.”

“Oh wait,” Mason blurted out, snapping his fingers. “I forgot something.” In his pocket, he pulled out a beautiful crystal encrusted watch with a pearl facing. It was beautiful.

“What is that?” I asked, taking the watch and gazing at it.

“It’s for you. It was one of Mom’s, and I know she would’ve wanted you to have it.”

Squealing, I jumped up into Mason’s arms and hugged him tight around his neck. “Oh, Mason, it’s lovely. Thank you so much.”

He rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly and grinned. “You’re welcome, but it also serves another purpose as well.”

I furrowed my brows, confused. What other purpose does a watch give you other than telling time? “Okay?” I drawled out. “What other purpose is there?”

Mason sighed while clasping the watch around my wrist. “Don’t get mad at me, but I had a tracking device put in the watch. I know you say Daniel wouldn’t hurt you, but I’ve seen how criminals go off the deep end when they’re caught. A lot of them kill other people or even themselves when they have no other out. I just want to make sure I can find you if something goes wrong. You are the only family I have, Melissa.”

My vision went blurry. “Thank you,” I whispered, embracing him one more time.

Glancing at my new watch, I had twenty minutes before Daniel was supposed to pick me up. Mason had decided to stay the night at my house so he could be the perfect decoy to ward off Daniel if he wanted to try something after dinner.

“Even though you brought me a present it doesn’t mean you can mess up my house while I’m gone,” I warned, being perfectly serious. “I know how messy you can be and I refuse to have to clean up after you.”

Mason groaned and flopped down on my couch. “Yeah, yeah, you need to worry about yourself right now. Go meet dickhead and then get back so I don’t have to worry about you anymore. And your house will be fine. I won’t mess it up … much.”