Price of a Kiss (Forbidden Men, #1)(47)

Dr. Janison blew him a kiss, then turned and strolled off.

As soon as she was gone, Mason sliced a guilty glance in my direction.

The breath caught in my throat. Oh, God. I couldn’t breathe. He did know I was here, which meant I just might be the girl.

He’d come up here to be close to me. He’d told one of his clients he was done taking appointments. There was a girl involved. In my head, one and one and one made holy shit, he’s no longer a gigolo.

Giddy warmth stole through me, but then I mentally slapped myself across the face.

What the hell was wrong with me? I’d just watched another woman solicit him for sex—which she planned to pay any price for—and I was woozy about thinking he might want to start a relationship with me?

I must’ve lost my damn mind.

I don’t think he saw me watching him. I was still kneeling on the floor by the bottom shelf, but I moved my face out of my peephole just to be sure.

When I had to—yes, I had to—look again, he was picking Dr. Janison’s business card out of my book with the very tips of his thumb and index finger. Handling it carefully as if it were contaminated, he flicked it into a nearby trashcan.

A huge grin spread my lips wide.

Who cared what sick plague had infected me for wanting to be with a gigolo—or possibly an ex-gigolo. He’d just turned down a client.

For me!

Well, maybe for me. But the maybe part made all the difference. I was thrilled. Euphoric.

Getting back to work in a much better mood, I sorted through the misshelved books and organized them with much more buoyancy. I couldn’t stop smiling. I might’ve even begun to hum a cheerful tune under my breath.

I felt jovial until I heard another female voice saying Mason’s name. Jesus Herbert Christ, they were like cockroaches coming out of the woodwork to swarm him.

But this voice was way too familiar.

“Well, look who’s hanging out in a library, actually reading. Or is that just a front to meet some horny skank?”

I jerked my face up and peeked through a gap in the books in time to see Eva knock my book out of Mason’s hands—gasp, I know; the sacrilege of knocking Harry Potter to the floor was simply obscene. Then, my dear sweet cousin went and took its place, plopping onto his lap. Looping her arms around his neck, she added, “I just saw Dr. Janison up here. Isn’t she one of your regulars?”

My mouth dropped open wide. What the hell was she doing?

“Eva, get off me.” Grabbing her wrists that she’d seemingly super-glued around him, he struggled to untangle her arms.

Still perched on his lap, she merely smirked. “So, did you two actually do it up here, or were you only setting up your next…appointment? Personally, I think it’d be hot to do it in some place public. Like a library. Except we’d have to be too quiet.”

Giving up on trying to unlace her arms from around his throat—because he was having no luck whatsoever—Mason lifted his hands in surrender. “Seriously, you need to get off me. Now.”

“Seriously,” she repeated, her smile teasing as she unfastened one arm from around him only to run her newly freed finger down the center of his chest. “You need to loosen up.”

I went cold all over, and for the first time in my life, I wanted to do my cousin intense, bodily harm, like break that finger she kept using to touch him.

“So, I’m not drunk now,” she said with a smile. “You don’t have to be a gentleman any longer. Still want to turn me down?”

“Yes.” He snorted. “I’m not going to sleep with you, Mercer. Ever.”

Her playful expression turned dark. Eyes flashing with outrage, she hissed, “Why? Because I’m not one of your professors? I can’t give you an automatic A for every orgasm well received?”

Oh, yeah, she totally said that.

“Actually, there are several reasons. And none of them have to do with that. First of which, you have a boyfriend, and he’s one of my good friends. Not to mention, I don’t want to have sex with you, plus your cousin is—”

Eva broke him off before I could hear what he was going to say about me. “Don’t you dare mention Reese. She’s been through enough and doesn’t need another loser * hurting her. So just stay away. Got it?”

Mason blinked, looking startled. Then his face clouded with fury. “Who hurt her? Hurt her how?”

Eva didn’t answer. Instead, she smiled. “She’s not to be played with. If you want to play, you’ll have to settle for me.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ll pass.”

“Oh, I’m sure I could change your mind.”

She reached between his legs, and he reacted instantly, surging to his feet and dumping her off his lap to the floor in an angry heave. “Don’t ever touch me again.”

I wasn’t sure if I wanted to defend Mason or save my cousin—since he looked pissed enough to hurt her. But I flew from my hiding spot.

“Eva!” I shout-whispered. “What the hell are you doing? That’s sexual assault.”

Instead of apologizing with utter embarrassment, Eva turned indignant. Picking herself up off the floor in a huff, she scowled at me. “Whatever. He’s a prostitute, ReeRee. He’s nothing.”

Mason’s chest swelled as he sucked in a sharp breath. His eyes glazed with emotion, but I think there was more hurt than anger in their depths.