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dumped. She had no business drooling over
Mason.
    After a cleansing breath, she cut into
the French toast. As soon as it hit her tongue, she knew it was the
best she’d ever had. An unbidden moan came from her, and Mason’s
head whipped up. His brown eyes darkened to almost black as he
stared at her. That look had her twisted and tangled all over
again.
    “ Good?”
    Cassie swallowed and nodded. “Better
than good.”
    A little smile hitched on one side of
his lips. “I’m glad you think so.”
    The air was heavy between them. She
struggled to breathe, or to understand what was going on. “Do you
make breakfast for all the women you sleep with?” The question
sprang from her lips without a filter. “I mean, sleepover with?”
She added, trying to quickly dig herself out of the
hole.
    Mason looked down at his plate and cut
another piece of toast. When he looked back at her, she saw the
same wounded look she’d seen almost two years ago in that soup
kitchen. “I know what you think of me. Yeah, I like having fun.
What’s so wrong about that?”
    “ I don’t understand your
constant need to have a new flavor of the month. But then, what
right do I have to even ask? It’s your life and I shouldn’t judge.
You’ve been a good friend to me and I’ve seen the man hiding
inside, so I know you’ve got a good heart in there.”
    Mason leaned back in his chair. “I was
a fat kid.”
    Cassie looked up at him and gawked.
“What?”
    “ From grade school through
part of high school, I was the fat kid who got bullied all the
time. Sometime in the middle of tenth grade, I got my growth spurt
and grew to a little over six feet. All a sudden, I wasn’t fat, and
the bullies left me alone. Then the girls took notice. Girls who
had laughed at me and taunted me suddenly wanted to go out with
me.”
    Hearing his story made everything make
a little more sense. “So you went out with them as, what,
retribution?”
    Mason’s hand froze midair as he lifted
another piece to his mouth. He lowered it as a frown crossed his
brow. “I hadn’t thought of it that way, but I suppose you’re right.
I dated them and quickly broke things off, moving on to the next
girl. I guess it started a habit I never broke.”
    “ I’d think by now you’ve
exacted enough revenge.”
    Mason stared at her a moment, his face
devoid of emotion. “Maybe I have. Maybe it’s time to settle down
into something a little more long-term, like you suggest. Find a
girl who I can talk to, who isn’t boring. Someone who will love me
as much as I love them.”
    Cassie both loved and hated that idea.
She loved it because she’d want to be that girl. She hated it
because she more than likely wouldn’t be. And then she’d turn into
a jealous harpy the moment she laid eyes on the poor wretch who
landed her man. “I think it would be good for you. If you found the
right girl.”
    Mason smiled wickedly and then started
eating.
    Cassie joined him, enjoying the
breakfast he’d made. She watched him as she ate, wishing her Sunday
mornings could always be spent sitting across the table from him,
eating breakfast after a wild night of pleasure.
    For months, she’d thought
that sensual side of him was bad, but now she knew both halves
would make him a friend and a lover. The good soul she saw inside wasn’t
enough. After so many weeks of seeking out the hidden Mason, she
realized she wanted all of him, Casanova included.
    Do I want him? Or am I
just overly needy because I’ve just been dumped?
    The thought gave her pause.
    She needed to get her head out of the
clouds, see him for the friend he was trying to be, and leave the
desire behind. No matter how difficult it was.

Chapter Three
     
    Three months
later…
     
    “ I can’t believe Mason is
really leaving for a year! Why in the heck did he volunteer to
go?”
    Cassie half-listened to her co-worker,
Ashley, ask the question, but she was struggling to take her gaze
off Mason enough to answer. Standing at the