True Colors (The Masks #1)(49)

Sitting back, he pulled me around so I was facing him, tucking my legs on either side of him.

“I don’t want our first time to be this lust-filled moment... a distraction from all the crap.” Placing his lips against the edge of my jaw, he kissed me lightly and whispered. “I want it to be a conscious decision. A choice. I never want you to regret letting me touch you or make love to you.”

My insides were melting like butter in a frying pan. I tried to rein them in and force my breathing to slow down.

Eric picked up one of my curls and rubbed it between his fingers. “Sex complicates everything, Caity, and we’ve only just started. I’m not ready to jeopardise what we’ve got going here.”

A smile danced across my lips as I buried my head into his shoulder. My zinging hormones were very disappointed, but I was pretty sure my heart just fell in love.

“Will it be your first time?” I hated asking, but I had to know.

He cleared his throat as he ran his finger up my arm. “It takes a lot for me to trust people... so yeah. I haven’t gone all the way yet.”

“Me too.” I had always thought that I’d want my first time to be with someone experienced. I didn’t know what I was doing and I wanted them to take the lead and show me, but sitting here with Eric, hearing his sweet words, I suddenly loved the idea of figuring it out together. If this morning was anything to go by, it wouldn’t be that challenging. I blushed at the thought. “I think you’ll be worth the wait, Mr. Shore.”

“As will you, Miss Davis.” He nibbled my earlobe and trailed kisses down my neck, finishing with a raspberry just below my chin. I jumped with giggles and tried to pull away from him, but he held me tight and lavished more kisses upon my throat until his mouth ended back on mine. He pulled me against him and ran his hands up my back, deepening the kiss, promising things to come.

My senses started to catch fire and I knew it would soon be time to pull away, but I didn’t have to make that choice. Eric’s phone rang and our kiss-fest was brought to an abrupt end.





Chapter 22




The phone call was a reality check I wanted to ignore, but Eric was right. Kissing our way through the weekend wouldn’t solve my problems. Spoil sport.

So instead, we were sitting in a cafe opposite Dale Finnigan and Nicole Tepper. I didn’t particularly want to meet either of them, but Dale had called to check whether I was okay and Eric had launched into the story of what happened to me. Fifteen minutes later, he was asking if I’d be cool to go and meet his friend, Dale. I was too confused to do anything but nod.

Sometimes I hated how my first instinct was often compliance. I was way too easy-going for my own good. Always trying to make others happy.

Nicole sat across from me, her tiny arms folded across her chest. Her dark hair was perfectly brushed and her sharp eyes ran down my body as she shook my hand in greeting. She looked about as enthusiastic as I felt. I pulled her mask away. Oh yeah, there was no way she’d driven all the way down here to spend the morning with strangers. She wanted Dale all to herself and from the look in her eye, she wanted him somewhere private.

I pressed my lips together, squashing my grin.

“So.” Dale leaned his elbows on the table. “Eric told me you got into some trouble last night over Liam Donovan?”

I nodded, still nervous that Eric had let some stranger know all about what I was doing.

“Look, I know it’s probably really uncomfortable for you talk to me about this.” His gentle eyes were filled with compassion. “But I asked to meet you because...well, I used to know Liam.”

Regret was evident. I tried to pull his mask away, to see more, but there wasn’t one. What I saw was exactly that.

I swallowed. “How’d you know him?”

Dale sighed and ran a hand over his scar. “I didn’t know him that well; I used to hang out with his brother.”

“Mason.”

“Yeah, he uh...” Dale glanced at Nicole. “He taught me how to drive.”

“He taught you more than that.” Nicole winked, making Dale blush. A sad smile washed over his face, his regret blatantly obvious.

He grimaced, his nose wrinkling, and eventually confessed, “I used to steal cars...with Mason. He taught me how.”

My lips parted and I sat forward. “When was this?”

“A few years back now.”

“Did you go to Burbank High?”

“No, I was at Glendale. But I did use to party a lot with Mason’s crowd.”

My eyebrows rose without meaning to. He definitely didn’t look like a hell raiser. This sweet guy in front of me? There was no way.

“I can see you’re skeptical, but...” He licked his bottom lip, struggling for words.

Nicole nudged his elbow with her own. “He’s learned his lesson the hard way.” There was some secret joke going between them. They obviously had nothing to hide from each other. He ran his hand up her back, squeezing the nape of her neck affectionately. She grinned at him.

I didn’t want to kill their uber-cute love tones, but I felt I had to ask. I looked at Eric, who still seemed pretty tense, and he nodded at me.

“I read an article in the Burbank paper about a murder that happened a couple of years ago. The case has gone cold now, but it was suggested that the victim was killed by someone trying to steal his car. You don’t think it would be Mason, do you?”