Claimed by the Alien Bodyguard - Tiffany Roberts Page 0,43
dipped to the foot of the bed, where he’d sat her down, removed her socks, and massaged warmth into her feet with those big, confident, clever hands of his.
Despite her weariness and the fact that Mason had changed the bedding before he and Ana went to sleep, she swore she’d smelled hints of him beneath the scent of detergent when she had lain down.
You’re in here for a reason, Gabriela, and it’s not to get all hot and bothered.
Steeling herself, she set about her task, trying to think of this as she would a client’s bedroom. She dusted, cleaned the headboard, picked up the few articles of clothing on the floor and tossed them into the hamper, and made the bed. Yet she couldn’t help herself; she had to look at his things.
Not that there was much. Just like the rest of Mason’s home, there was little in the bedroom that seemed to represent the man himself. There was a small piece of paper atop his dresser with a pencil that had been worn down to a two-inch-long stub. A list had been written on that paper in compact, slightly uneven letters, all caps. BOOKS TO LOOK FOR. Each title was written on its own line, accompanied by what must’ve been the last names of the authors.
But the bottom of the paper was separated by a firm pencil line, beneath which was printed one word—TERMINATOR. She leaned closer to the paper, narrowing her eyes slightly. There were still tiny flecks of graphite on the paper around the letters; they were recently written.
She smirked. Ana must’ve mentioned that movie to Mason this morning. God, she’d felt like such a terrible mother when she’d let Ana watch it a year ago and had found out the girl had told all her friends at school the next day. What had the other mothers thought of Gabby?
Fortunately, she’d quickly realized she didn’t give a damn what the other mothers thought. If her daughter loved The Terminator, good for her. Sarah Connor was probably a better role model than some of the princesses in the movies they watched.
Gabriela cleared away the graphite dust and continued cleaning—though by now far more of her attention was turned toward studying Mason’s room.
When she spotted the little bears on the nightstand, she probably shouldn’t have thought much of them. They were the kinds of knickknacks that were popular in the region, especially in vacation homes and rentals, the kinds of things that tourists bought at the giftshops in town. And she knew she was probably reading into them too much, but…
There were three carved bears, black with brown snouts. A big bear, a little bear, and a medium bear. The two smaller figures were close to one another, but the big one was several inches away from the others—and it was turned very slightly toward them.
Frowning, Gabriela stared at those bears. She stared at them for much too long, but something about them—that bit of extra space, the way the big bear seemed to be looking at the others—nagged at her. What had Mason said earlier?
I have watched over you and Ana since I moved into my house.
Loneliness. Just as she’d realized in hindsight that Mason had always looked at her with desire, she realized now that he’d always carried a faint air of loneliness. He wasn’t the mopey sort who made a show of it, didn’t seem the kind of man who complained about it or grew angry because of it, but she knew he’d harbored it all along.
Gabby’s heart ached for him. She could’ve easily taken his confession as a red flag, but she didn’t see it that way. She recognized his loneliness for what it was—because she felt it too. And it wasn’t like she hadn’t been checking him out from afar at every opportunity.
Mason’s words, combined with his actions, proved that he’d only been looking out for Gabriela and her daughter.
If it weren’t for Mason, I would have lost Ana.
Her chest constricted further, making it a little harder to breath, and her eyes stung with the threat of tears. She placed her hand over her heart, willing it to ease as she took in several deep, calming breaths.
Ana is here. She is fine.
Gabriela slowly exhaled. Once she’d pulled herself together, she looked back down at those bears. Placing her hand behind the big bear, she slid it toward the smaller two, making their little family unit whole. She smiled.