fleece throw rug over her legs and cradled a bowl of strawberry swirl. However, she’d barely swallowed her first spoonful of ice-cream when her doorbell rang.
She ignored it. What was the point of hibernating if you answered the door? But it rang again, several times. Then she heard Mason’s booming voice.
‘I know you’re home, Jane, and I’m not going away until you open the door.’
Damn it. She could ignore him but she didn’t want their first meeting after the kiss to be at the bakery with contractors looking on.
Calling him unsavoury names under her breath, she stomped to the door and opened it a fraction. ‘I’m busy.’
‘It’s four o’clock and you’re in your pyjamas.’
‘I’m tired,’ she said, angling her body behind the door. The most important part of hibernating was lounging around in the oldest pair of PJs she owned, which happened to be covered in emojis.
‘Okay.’ He didn’t sound convinced, but worse—he didn’t budge. ‘Can I come in?’
‘No. I’m not dressed for company.’
‘I can see that.’ He grinned, as his gaze dropped to her visible pyjama sleeve. ‘Is that poop emoji reserved for me?’
Damn him for pulling out the big guns. She’d always been a sucker for a sense of humour.
‘What do you want?’
‘To clear up a misconception,’ he said, leaning closer. ‘And unless you want your neighbours hearing all the reasons why I’d never kiss you out of pity, you better let me in.’
She didn’t want to have this conversation. She wanted to wallow for an evening then front up at the bakery to get started on the interior design and pretend that kiss, and her over-the-top reaction, never happened. She’d expected him to do the same; what man wanted to rehash anything remotely connected to emotions? Though considering his occupation, maybe Mason was more in touch with his sensitive side than she wanted him to be.
‘Fine,’ she said, swinging the door open and letting him in. ‘But you’re interrupting my movie.’
‘What are you watching?’
‘Notting Hill.’
She expected him to scoff but to her surprise, his eyes lit up. ‘I love Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant in that.’
‘Now you’re just sucking up,’ she said, trudging into the lounge room ahead of him.
‘No, I’m being honest,’ he said, taking her arm and swinging her around to face him. ‘Just like I’m being honest when I say I kissed you out of many things, and pity wasn’t one of them.’
She shrugged. ‘Whatever.’
‘I mean it, Jane.’ He lifted his other hand so he held both her arms, not giving her much room to move let alone look anywhere but directly at him. ‘I like you. And I kissed you because I like you. That’s it.’ An embarrassed flush crept into his cheeks. ‘I probably shouldn’t have because we’re sort of working together and I don’t want to mess with that. But you’re nothing like I remembered in high school and I feel like an idiot for judging you without getting to know the real you. You’re sweet and sexy and I want to get to know you better.’
What could a girl in hibernation say to that, other than, ‘Do you want ice-cream while we watch the movie?’
‘Hell, yeah.’ He placed an all-too-brief kiss on her lips. ‘You sure it’s okay if I stay?’
‘Shut up and press play on the remote,’ she said, slipping out of his grasp before she did something foolish, like drag him into her bedroom instead.
She’d always been a sucker for sweet talk and while she didn’t think Mason was doing a number on her, she didn’t trust her judgement these days; she’d been burned too many times. In trying to upset her mother, she’d done herself a disservice. She wanted to be adored, to have a guy accept her, faults and all, and the more time she spent in Mason’s company the more she wondered if he could be that guy. But she couldn’t overthink it. He’d come here to set the record straight and to make sure she was all right. He liked her. That kiss hadn’t been about pity. For now, that would have to do.
‘I want a triple scoop,’ he called from the lounge room and when she glanced over her shoulder, he’d slipped off his shoes and was wrapped up in half of the throw rug.
After filling a bowl with ice-cream—and adding a fourth scoop because he’d wormed his way into her heart a little with his declaration—she padded back into the lounge room. Acutely aware of her attire, but not wanting to give