Page 78 of Shamed
Pulling back, I wipe at my cheeks, then clear my throat while trying to avoid eye contact. “Is your mom okay now?”
“Yeah.” With a backward step, he widens the space between us, rubbing the back of his neck. “I mean, she has a rare neurological disease, so she lives in an assisted living facility here in the city, but um, yeah, most days she’s okay.”
“Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.”
His shoulders lift like they’re still weighed down. “It’s pretty shitty, but overall, I think she’s happy.”
Finding a loose thread on the cuff of my sweater, I start twisting it between my fingers. “I can imagine you’ve been a big help to her.”
His caregiving nature is evident in everything he’s done for me. It’s obvious he would be ten times as caring toward her.
A curve of his lips. “I don’t know what gave you that impression.”
I can’t help the smallest of smiles touching my lips as I look away, suddenly feeling shy. What is wrong with me?
I tug on the thread some more, causing the cuff to rub over the tender flesh on my wrist, and the sting of it is enough to bring me back to reality. The smile falls from my face, the warm feeling in my chest cooling. “I should let you get back to work.”
Mase checks his watch. “There might be a few ladies here for tonight’s class already. Why don’t you come with me and join in?”
I open my mouth to tell himno, but he sees the refusal before I’ve said anything, and his face smooths into something softer, something I’m finding harder to resist.
“Come on, I’m sure you don’t have anywhere else to be tonight. And after class, we can discuss when you need to be out of your place.”
I cross my arms, trying to build myself up again. “That’s a little presumptuous. What if I had a date or something?”
His expression remains the same, but a single brow rises.
Okay, so he’s observed my life enough to know that a date isn’t happening.
“I need to leave my apartment by tomorrow.”
“Okay.” Running his hand through his dark locks, he nods. “We’ll figure out the time after the class is done.”
Iwantto say no . . . about the class, and about staying with him, but instead, I find myself being pulled further into his orbit.
I agree, then follow him out of the office to greet the other women.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Jennifer
With one backpack slung over my shoulder, and another tucked under my arm, I descend the steps from my apartment, eyeing the truck idling on the coldstreet.
Mase jumps out of the driver’s seat when I approach and runs around his pickup to take the bags from me. “Is this everything?”
I’m expecting to be gone three or four days, max, and my work outfits don’t exactly take up much room, so everything I figured I’d need fits into these two bags, my sweaters taking up the most space.
I didn’t need to pack my winter jacket since I’m wearing it, my boots are on my feet, and all the stilettos I wear for work are already at the club.
“This is it.”
He opens the passenger door for me to climb in, then places one of my bags at my feet, the other on top of my lap, while giving me a small smile that makes my heart skip a beat.
Ever since that hug last night, I’ve been having thoughts about him that I have no business thinking.
Something shifted in me, and I’m not sure what it means or what to do with it exactly.
Joining in his class last night was a different experience from the first time. I was watching him with different lenses, a blush dusting my cheeks when I caught my eyes lingering on his body a little too long after a demonstration.
