Second Chance Lane (Brockenridge #2) - Nicola Marsh Page 0,89
few seconds to come back down to earth.
‘Hey, are you awake?’
‘Mmm,’ she mumbled, blinking several times and stretching. ‘That was … something else.’
They locked gazes and she could’ve sworn the air sizzled between them.
‘Jane, I—’
‘You give the best foot rubs on the planet but you have to go,’ she said, her resistance wavering the longer he stared at her with desire in his eyes.
‘Why?’
She could’ve lied or come up with some flimsy excuse but what was the point? If she wanted to do things differently with Mason, it was time to come clean.
‘Because I like you too and I’m sick of mistaking lust for something more.’
His eyes widened at her bluntness, but before he could say anything she continued, ‘That doesn’t mean I sleep around, but a lot of my behaviour in the past has been fuelled by poor judgement and I don’t want to be that person anymore. And don’t worry, I’m not saying I see us having a full-blown relationship and living happily ever after, but whatever this is, I don’t want to rush into anything.’
She blew out a breath and flopped back on the couch, suddenly weary. She’d never been so honest with a guy before and, going by Mason’s edginess, maybe she should’ve kept all that to herself.
When he cleared his throat, she braced for his response.
‘I’m okay with taking it slow,’ he said, throwing off the rug, slipping his shoes on and standing. ‘I’ve waited long enough.’
With that cryptic comment, he dropped a quick kiss on her lips and let himself out, leaving her wondering if he’d had a crush on her since high school or if he meant something else entirely.
CHAPTER
32
By the time Tash made it to Kody’s the next morning, bleary-eyed and needing the loo yet again after drinking litres of water first thing, he’d already got Isla onto the school bus and had her things packed and waiting at the back door.
‘Fancy a coffee?’
‘You’re talking too loud,’ she muttered, taking careful steps into his kitchen. Any sudden movement could be her downfall considering Rock Hard Place and every other band in the world had taken up residence in her head and were having one giant jam session.
‘Coffee it is,’ he said, his smug grin making her want to grab Isla’s bag and run.
‘I’ll be back in a minute.’ She made it to the toilet and splashed water on her face after she washed her hands. She felt a little more human as she returned to the kitchen, where Kody had coffee waiting.
‘Do you fancy a hangover breakfast? A big fry-up with bacon, eggs, the works?’
Her stomach churned and she pressed a hand to it.
‘I’m guessing that’s a no.’ He chuckled and took her coffee over to the dining table. ‘Come and sit, get this into you.’
‘Thanks,’ she said, taking a sip of the powerful espresso and savouring the caffeine hit. ‘You were right. The water trick didn’t work.’
He laughed and she winced. ‘Still too loud.’
‘You are such a two-pot screamer,’ he said, sipping his coffee and eyeing her with amusement over the rim of his mug. ‘But as long as you had a good time.’
‘Yeah, we did. Thanks for looking after Isla.’
‘My pleasure. She’s a fast learner on the guitar.’
‘Takes after her dad.’ She managed a tentative smile and in that shared moment of mutual affection, she wished it could be like this all the time. That they’d never need to have a difficult conversation, that they’d never have to resolve custody issues guaranteed to tear them apart all over again.
‘On that note, I wanted to ask you if it’s okay I buy her a guitar? I’d like to surprise her with it.’
‘That’s a great idea. She’ll love it.’
Isla had been babbling about how cool it was to learn guitar from someone as famous as her dad so she’d be over the moon. Tash was genuinely pleased for their daughter, but a small part of her couldn’t deny a sliver of fear that this would be the first of many amazing gifts Kody could afford to give Isla that Tash could never match.
‘There’s a great place online that stocks the best in Melbourne, so I’ll put in an order and get it delivered.’
‘Okay.’ Tash had no intention of bringing up the topic of him playing at the blues night, but Ruby had bugged her about it again this morning and Kody mentioning the guitar gave her the perfect in. ‘Speaking of guitars, have you given any more thought to Ruby’s request?’