If they were going to rehash the past, he was going all in. “David knew you and I were friends when he started dating you. Let’s just say David and I had a friendly rivalry, always trying to best the other. He got the girl I wanted.”
She wrapped her arms around her middle. “Are you saying he was playing some one-up game with you?” Anger and resentment flashed in her eyes.
He wanted to dispel that immediately. “I think he saw what I saw in you and in no time he fell in love with you. You’re kind and generous and caring. He was drawn to you just like I was. I was caught up in building my career and I let my personal life slip. I let you get away. I didn’t go after what I really wanted and David did.”
She raked her fingers through the side of her hair. “I’m having a hard time resolving the past and right now. I wished I’d known how you really felt.”
He gave her the God’s honest truth. “I want you. That’s how I feel right now. That’s what I should have said to you back then. Not that it would have made a difference. You didn’t feel the same.”
Her gaze dropped to the floor and she slid the tip of her shoe along the hardwood. “Actually, I did feel something for you back then.”
Blown away, he didn’t know what to say. “Seriously?”
She finally met his gaze again. “I just wasn’t sure what I thought I saw in you wasn’t just wishful thinking.”
Mason didn’t think, he simply went with his gut, cupped her face, and kissed her, letting all his pent-up feelings and need loose. Her hands gripped his sides and her lips opened to him. He slid his tongue along hers and tasted the same need he had for her.
“Touchdown!” Danny yelled.
Mason certainly felt like a winner having Sierra in his arms.
Sierra broke the kiss and held him away.
He caught the desire in her eyes a second before he turned and caught Danny doing his own version of an end zone victory dance, pretending to spike the ball. Oliver barely glanced up from the tablet.
He turned back to Sierra. “I should have done that that night in the bar.”
She chuckled under her breath, a pretty pink blush brightening her cheeks. “And started a fight with David.”
“I wanted to start something with you.”
She pulled him in a step and laid her forehead against his chest. “I don’t know what to do with that now after everything that’s happened. I married David. We had a good marriage for the most part.”
He wanted to dive into that for the most part, but left it alone because he didn’t want to talk about her and David. He wanted to talk about them and the here and now.
He cupped her face again and made her look at him. “The past is the past. Let’s focus on right now. Do you want to be with me? Do you want to see where this thing between us goes?”
A shyness he’d never seen in her filled her eyes as her gaze fell away, then came back to meet his. “Yes.” The whispered word rang loud and clear in his brain.
He brushed his thumbs across her pink cheeks and smiled down at her, his heart light, excitement thrumming through him. “Now we’re getting somewhere.” He leaned down and kissed her softly. “I’m so glad you came back.”
She snuggled into his chest and he held her close. “Me, too.”
The oven buzzer went off and she pulled away, but he took her hand to keep the connection between them. “Pick a day that you can get a babysitter for the kids. Let’s go out to dinner.”
A smile bloomed on her soft lips. “A date?”
He squeezed her hand. “It’s long overdue.”
The smile went megawatt. “I’d like that.”
He wanted to make her that happy all the time. “I want to spend a lot more time with you.” He squeezed her hand to let her know he meant it and mentally kicked his ass for not being this open and honest with her back in the day.
She reached over and turned the incessant buzzer off, then opened the oven door, letting loose a blast of heat and the aroma of barbecue pulled pork.
He couldn’t help himself. “That smells so good.”
“I can’t take credit. I picked it up at the Barbecue Pit. I’m just reheating it.”