Beneath This Mask (Beneath, #1)(41)

I studied him in the glow of the streetlights. One hand casually on the wheel, the other holding mine, eyes directed out the windshield as he changed lanes. Of course I wanted to go home with him. But I couldn’t.

“I want to, but I can’t.”

He glanced at me. “Why not?”

“Huck. Harriet helped me out last night and tonight, not to mention letting him out every day while I’m at work. I don’t want to take advantage of her. And I also don’t want Huck to get lonely. He’s already pretty depressed being in his crate most of the time. Although, starting tomorrow, he’s allowed to be out for a little bit longer on a short leash.” I smiled at the thought of Huck’s marked improvement over the last few days.

“Then your place it is.”

I raised an eyebrow at his words. “Did I invite you?”

“You were getting around to it.”



It was strange waking up next to Simon for the second morning in a row. And it scared the hell out of me how much I liked it. In my full-size bed, we had no choice but to cuddle. And I was not a cuddler by nature, or at least I hadn’t been before Simon. I tried not to wonder what that said about me and the other guys I’d been with before. Regardless, I didn’t have time to enjoy the heat of his body surrounding me, because in exchange for my Saturday off from the Dirty Dog, I’d agreed to go in and do inventory at nine o’clock today.

I tried to extract myself from Simon’s hold, but his arm tightened around my stomach.

“Sleeping, babe. Try it.” His voice was grumbly and rough.

I wiggled to get free, but stilled when I felt his morning wood press against the crack of my ass. “I have to go to work. And after that I have to go to my other work.”

Simon growled. “You work too much.”

“Says the guy who left me naked in bed yesterday to go to work on a Saturday.”

He sighed and released me. “Fine. When do you have to be there?”

I rolled off the bed. “In twenty minutes.”

His eyes popped open, and he looked at the clock. “Shit. You want me to go let Huck out while you get ready?”

My heart warmed at his question. I was leaving him hard up in my bed, and he was offering to help take care of my dog. “That would be awesome.” I thought for a moment about warning him that Harriet didn’t always wear a robe in the mornings, but figured since we’d heard the sounds of Madame Butterfly coming from her studio until shortly after two o’clock, she’d probably sleep until noon.

Simon pulled on his slacks and shirt from the night before and left my apartment as I rushed to get ready for work. I threw on my uniform of choice: black skinny jeans, a hot pink bra, and a white wife beater. My hair went up into a messy bun, and I put on some eyeliner, mascara, and lip-gloss, and called it good. I slipped into my Chucks and was heading down the spiral staircase when Simon was leading Huck back into the house. A few words and a snuggle with my pup to get him settled, and I was about to leave Harriet’s guestroom when Simon grabbed something off the bed.

He held up Breaking the Code with Cryptography, and I froze. “Harriet breaking codes lately?”

Oh. Shit.

I thought I’d grabbed all of my library books yesterday, but apparently not.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

I snatched it out of his hand before he could flip it open and see the library bar code.

I forced a laugh. “Who knows with Harriet? I’ll stick it back in the bookshelf. Otherwise, she’ll probably never find it.”

My heart pounded and my hands went clammy as I left the room and shoved the book between a Georgia O’Keefe biography and the Kama Sutra.

I jumped when Simon laughed from behind me. “She’s got quite the eclectic mix.”


Trying to pull my shit together, I rubbed my sweaty palms on my jeans, forced a casual shrug, and turned for the door. “I’ve really gotta get going.”

He followed me out, and I had the feeling I’d just failed some sort of cosmic test. It was an eerily perfect opening to confess all, but every fiber of my being screamed not yet.

I regained my composure as we walked toward the Dirty Dog. Simon insisted on accompanying me even though his car was parked in the opposite direction. He even directed me into a little café for coffee and quiche because he didn’t like the idea of me skipping meals.

Accepting my coffee from the barista, I finally felt like I was back on even keel. I looked down at my curves and replied, “I could skip a few and be just fine.”

His response: “Not without endangering some of my favorite parts.”

We walked the rest of the way in companionable silence, his fingers laced through mine. It was like we were a regular couple, living a regular life. Except we weren’t. And the close call this morning highlighted once more that we probably never would be.

Simon waved to Yve as I ducked inside the store.

“I don’t know what you did to that man, but honey, he is smitten,” Yve said as she waved back.

“Yeah, well … I didn’t exactly plan this.”

“But it’s good, right?”

I settled on the stool behind the register and pulled my quiche from the bag. Might as well eat while it was still hot.

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t know what the hell I’m doing, and there’s no way it could possibly work out, but for now, it’s really good.”