Double Coverage (14 page)

“Oh please, we don’t look at each other like that. If there are any sparks, they’re angry sparks. The man is infuriating and pretty much the biggest ass I have ever met. Jax, on the other hand,” she sighed, “He’s magnificent.”

Hannah smiled at Piper. “Well, I’m just warning you. I don’t think Mason is done with you.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Wendy told me yesterday that he’s been here every night since you’ve been gone, asking for you.”

Mason looking for her? That was new information. Why would he be looking for her? Maybe to give her more tips on how to pluck her eyebrows? Throw more jabs at her, as if she was his personal punching bag?

“The man is deranged. He’s been hit too many times on the field.”

Hannah shrugged and went to go tend to the couple of patrons that just walked in. Piper didn’t question her friend any further and went to work. She filled bowls with nuts, restocked the glasses and prepared for the busy Friday night she was expecting, trying not to think about Jax and his love making.

As Piper was placing some napkins on the bar, a strong hand pressed against her lower back.

“Good evening gorgeous, do you mind if we find our own seats?” A deep baritone voice spoke close to her ear, sending shivers of delight through her body.

She looked up and came face to face with chocolate-brown eyes and a scruffy face.

Mason.

Piper gulped, pushing down the thought of why the hell this man was affecting her like this when she had another man pining for her, she nodded yes to Mason.

He winked at her and walked toward the booth he’d sat in last time he and Ryker were at the bar. What the hell was that all about? Why did he just call her gorgeous and why did she still feel the imprint of his hand on her back?

Shaking off the weird and bothersome feeling Mason left her with, she tended to the bar. When she saw that Hannah was knee-deep in hysterics with the old men playing poker, she realized she would have to take Ryker and Mason’s orders.

She could do this. She was letting Hannah get to her head with all her Mason talk. Mason wanted nothing to do with Piper. He was most likely trying to get her back for what she did to him on the beach. That was it. He was trying to butter her up so he could return the favor.

Mason looked up at her and pure joy spread across his face when they made eye contact. Shit. That wasn’t the face of a man who wanted revenge.

“What can I get you?” she said in a calm voice, trying not to show how Mason’s smoldering eyes affected her.

“I’ll take a shot of Hannah if you’re handing them out.” Thank God for Ryker, he eased the tension that was escalating at an alarming rate between her and Mason.

“Sorry, we’re all out.”

Ryker slapped the table and shouted. “Damn it all to hell. When are you ever going to restock? I’ve been craving some Hannah ever since I left here last.”

Piper looked over at sweet Hannah who was patting one of the older men on the head. “Sorry, I don’t believe she’ll ever come back on the market.”

“That’s crap. She doesn’t know the kind of investor I am.”

Dropping the act, Piper said, “Ryker, she’s not the girl for you. Give it up.”

“Never,” he said, while keeping his eyes on Hannah.

Piper turned to Mason and felt her breath hitch in her throat. Damn the man, but he was gorgeous. It was kind of illegal how good looking he was. She loved how Jax was so clean cut and a southern gentleman, but Mason was the bad boy with the sleeve tattoos, unshaven face and eyes that could cut through a girl’s soul.

“We’ll just take two beers on tap.” He squeezed her hand while rubbing her knuckles with his thumbs and then dropped her hand, just as quickly as he’d picked it up. “Thank you, Piper.”

Piper felt like her legs were trapped in cement; she needed to move, but the commands coming from her brain were not reaching her legs. She just stood there and stared at Mason. Why did his touch render her completely immobile and why was he doing this to her?

They both kept eye contact and didn’t move. Ryker finally took his eyes off of Hannah to see what Piper and Mason were up to.

“Uh, this is fucking weird. Should I go get the beers myself?”

Piper shook her head and stepped away. “Sorry.” She cleared her throat. “I’ll go get them right now.”

As Piper walked away, she saw Mason punch Ryker in the arm from across the table and yell at him. “Dude!”

Piper smirked while she got their beers. This was not good, not good at all. Mason was supposed to be acting like an ass, not breaking down her walls and ripping open her soul with just his eyes.

With her heart beating at a rapid pace and her mind going a mile a minute, she dropped the beers off at the boys’ table without making eye contact and spent the reminder of the night avoiding their table. She felt bad that she made Hannah deal with Ryker’s persistent flirting, but she couldn’t go over there. Not with the way Mason cut through her and the contradicting thoughts that were floating through her head.

Piper watched the patrons slowly trickle out of the bar, but the boys stayed put. Their presence was starting to infuriate her more now than anything. Why did they have to pick her bar to come to and why the hell were the fans not bothering them? Did the guys pay them off or something? The whole situation made her want to throw a mug at someone’s head.

“Hey, I think we’re about wrapped up for the night. Did everyone close their tabs?” Hannah asked.

“Everyone but Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum,” Piper said, nodding toward Mason and Ryker.

“They’re really not that bad, quite entertaining actually.”

“I bet.”

“Well, I’ll go close them out. Do you mind if I take off early? I’ll owe you, big time.”

“Sure, I got you covered.” Hannah squealed and gave Piper a quick hug before grabbing the guys’ money and tossing it her way. Piper watched the guys get up and Ryker followed Hannah out the door, but Mason took a seat at the bar. Just great.

“We’re closed,” Piper tried to say in an even tone, trying not to show how irritated she was, but the man in front of her had an annoying effect on her body, so her irritation increased.

“Do you mind if I stay a little longer? I’ll help.”

Piper was just about to tell him that she did mind, but then again, she looked around and the place was a mess; she could, unfortunately, use the help.

“Fine, start stacking the chairs on the tables for me.”

Mason made a show of flexing his muscles, his very defined and corded muscles, while saying, “I can handle that.”

Piper rolled her eyes, but the image of his strong arms in mid-flex was burned in her brain. God, he was hot. Life wasn’t fair.

As she stacked the dirty glasses, she conjured up thoughts of Jax and the way he gently pushed her hair to the side to kiss her neck, or the way he called her darlin’ in his southern accent. Her heart beat faster at the thought of him, so she pulled out her phone to see if he’d sent her any messages. When she saw a message from him, her face lit up with excitement. He never let her down.

Jax: Hello, my sweet. I know you’re working, but I wanted you to know I was thinking about you tonight and can’t wait to hold you in my arms again. I miss you, terribly.

Piper felt a wave of ease roll over her body. That was what Jax did to her. He eased out all of the unwanted tension she accumulated with just of a couple of sentences. He always helped her find her inner peace, whereas Mason made her feel incredibly tense, confused, and uneasy.

But she craved him; she craved for him to look at her and to touch her. Why would she want someone who made her feel so uneasy near her? There was something seriously fucked-up about her. Maybe she should just blame her overbearing father, like she blamed him for everything else. That worked, she thought.

“So, how long have you lived in Denver?”

Mason nearly startled Piper to the ground with his question. She was so lost in a train of thought, she’d forgotten that the man who tied knots in her stomach was even in the room.

“Not very long.” She didn’t want to go into details. She didn’t want him knowing too much about her, even though she’d blabbed all about her tattoos to him when they were on the beach.

“How long is not very long?” She watched him stack the last chair on the last table in the room and couldn’t believe he’d worked so fast. He grabbed a broom and started sweeping, waiting for an answer.

She stared at him with a hand on her hip. “What’s all this about?” she asked, motioning her hand between the two of them. “What do you want from me?”

A flash of hurt showed through his eyes, but was replaced with sincerity. “I want to be friends.”

“Friends?” Piper laughed. “Mason, we hate each other. How could we possibly be friends?”

Mason came towards her and set the broom down, placing her hands in his. The warmth that radiated off him shot straight through her body all the way to her core. Her breath caught in her throat at the proximity of him and the way his eyes bore down on her made her want to cream her pants right then and there.

“I don’t hate you, Piper. Is that how you feel about me? You hate me?”

She did and she didn’t. She hated him for making her feel the way she was feeling at the moment, completely and utterly confused…as well as happy and warm. This wasn’t supposed to be happening. Mason was supposed to stay the ass that he was and she was supposed to be happy with only Jax touching her, but the way Mason’s thumbs caressed her knuckles made her shiver and the movements scrambled her brain.

“I don’t hate you.”

“Then, we can be friends?”

She tried to pull away, but he didn’t let her. “No, we can’t. Not when you obviously want more. I’m seeing someone Mason, someone I very much like.”

Mason blew out a frustrated breath, but kept her hands in his. “He’s a lucky guy, but I just want to be friends. I promise, this is all innocent. I will never cross the line.”

“Holding hands is innocent?” she asked, as she accidently rubbed his hand with her thumb as well. Was that an accident? No, because she kept doing it. Her thumbs apparently were calling mutiny on her brain.

“Completely innocent,” he responded in his deep baritone.

“Okay, but that’s it. Friends don’t kiss.”

“They don’t kiss on the lips, but cheeks are okay and so are hugs.”

“Mason…” she drawled out.

He feigned shock. “What?” He pulled her in for a hug and then tickled her side, making her screech. She smacked his side and went back behind the bar as he followed her. She was about to spin around and ask what he wanted when his hand slipped to the front of her waist and yanked her phone out of her pocket.

Piper lunged to grab her phone, but he held it above his head, completely out of reach for her.

“Give that to me.”

“Settle down, woman. I just want to put my number in here. Friends have friends’ phone numbers, you know.”

“Well, you could have said that.”

He smiled while he typed in her phone. A couple of seconds later, his phone chimed. “There, now I have your number too.”

“Grand,” Piper said sarcastically. “Now, if you could finish sweeping, that would be great. Thank you.”

They worked in silence until the bar was completely cleaned up and ready to be closed. They walked out together and Mason waited for her while she locked up. When she turned around, she found Mason studying her. Friends…just friends, she repeated in her head.

“Can I take you home?”

“NO!” She practically shouted, making him hold his hands up in defense. She quickly apologized. “I’m sorry. I can walk home myself, that’s all.”

“I don’t feel comfortable…”

Piper held up her hand to stop him. “Mason, you’re skating on thin ice here. Don’t push it.”

“Alright, fine. Walk home in the dark all by yourself. See if I care.” He crossed his big arms over his equally big chest, making Piper smile.

“You care,” she teased.

“You don’t have to rub it in.”

It was surprising to Piper how easily they could talk and barb with each other, especially since the very first moment they’d met each other, they’d been at each other’s throats. Mason was actually really easy going and fun to be around. Hannah was right, he was a good time.

“Well, thanks for your help.” Piper waved and started walking away.

“Wait. What are you doing Saturday?”

Piper turned around and searched his eyes, hope shone right through those molten chocolate eyes.

“I’m not sure. I’m not going on a date with you, if that’s what you’re asking.”

“Why the hell would I ask your scrawny ass on a date?” Mason said with a smile.

“Scrawny? Really?” Piper turned around, showing off her butt and lifted her shirt, exposing some of her skin so she could take a look at her stomach and then pulled her neckline away from her chest to look down her shirt. “I wouldn’t describe myself as scrawny.”

When she looked back up at Mason, she could see the heat shining through his eyes. She’d provoked him, but she didn’t care. It was all in good fun.