Mikala's Passion (Pulse Series Book 2) (13 page)

“No!” Mikala chirped, before Mason had a chance to say something totally stupid.

Chase looked to Mason for his answer. Mason put his hands in his pockets and shrugged. “Nope, just sex.”

“I
cannot
fucking believe you just said that,” Mikala growled, shoving her hand against his chest as he beamed.

“You two,” Chase growled, looking around noting they had company as several workers pulled up chairs at nearby tables, he pointed to Mason and then Mikala, “office, now!”

Chase held the door, waiting patiently until they were all inside before slamming it with the kind of gusto that drew real attention.  The resonating crash of the door caused them both to jump from their skin, he would have laughed at the look on their faces had he not been close to ringing their necks. He stared them down but neither of them offered to start what was going to be a very awkward explanation.

“I’m going to say this once and only once, my friends.” He walked behind the desk and rested on his knuckles while he annunciated each word so his point was made clear. “I strongly suggest that you two get your shit together, because
we
have a business to get back up and running. I will not have this partnership being affected by you two having some kind of fucked up affair. Sleep together, screw each other’s brains out. I. Don’t. Care! But don’t bring it past those front doors.” he pointed.

Mason etched a cross over his chest and chuckled. “At the door got it!”

“My lips are sealed.” Mikala put her fingers to her lips pretending to lock them and throw away the key.

“I hope you know what you’re doing.” Chase said, waving them to the door. “And Mik,” she stopped looking at Chase over her shoulder. “When Eden finds out and you know she will, she’s going to go ape shit so be prepared. I’d tell her before someone else does.”

“We wouldn’t have to worry about Eden knowing in the first place, if it wasn’t for mister kiss and tell here.” She thumped his shoulder as they left the office.

“Jesus, Mason, what were you like in high school?”

***

Luckily, Mikala had managed to get through her meal without one single question from Eden regarding Mason and how she felt about the entire situation. She loved Eden to death, but there were things she just couldn’t possibly understand when it came to Mason and her. Theirs was a complicated mess and this new deal only added to the growing shit pile.

In Eden’s eyes it would be so easy to simply forgive and forget and start new, but Mikala needed to hold on to the past, she hadn’t figured out exactly why, but letting go was a terrifying concept she wasn’t ready to face. Perhaps that was why she had made the deal with Mason, too frightened to let go. Now she sat here in a crowded restaurant across the table from her best friend about to reveal that she was having a sick affair with the man that had crushed her heart eight months ago.

“And then I was thinking maybe a nice cornflower blue for the bedroom, what do you think?” Eden handed her a swatch of fabric. She rubbed along the frayed edge, drew her lip between her teeth and sighed.

“What? I thought you liked blue?” Eden asked.

“I love blue.”

“Then what’s with the face?”

“I slept with Mason.”

Eden’s jaw dropped open, her brows rose and a smile curled across her face. “Oh, honey, I’m so happy for you. I knew. I just knew you guys could work things out. You love each other and love always wins in the end.”

“Jesus girl, what fucking romance novel did you fall out of? I said I slept with him, we are
not
back together. I was horny, we made a deal and he screwed me. I’m happy, he’s happy.”

“A deal,” Eden said, looking at her astonished, horror written all over her face. “Who in their right mind makes a sex deal?”

“Are you kidding me?” Mikala asked, remembering the contract that brought Eden and Chase together. “No one said anything about being of sound mind, my mind was horny. It’s been forever since a man slipped it to me. Night after night I’m surrounded by sexy hot horny couples and singles looking for a good time and it’s disturbing to be alone with no prospects. Pulse can’t run with an owner that’s dipping into the pond, if you know what I mean. Mason came back; he was ready and willing so I took it.”

“Crazy,” Eden snorted.

“Crazy? You and Chase had a contract.”

“We had no past Mik, there were no emotions involved when we made our agreement.”

The scowl on Eden’s face said it all.

“How sad does that sound?” Was all Eden said, surprising Mikala who remained on guard knowing there had to be more.

“Look, I just wanted to tell you before Chase did. It’s so not a biggy.”

The waiter appeared with the check clearing away their plates just as Eden was about to speak, giving her enough time to take a deep breath and regain some much needed composure.

Once his back was turned though, Eden leaned forward and asked, “Chase knows?”

“He kind of walked in on something at the club. Can we drop this now?” Mikala asked, pulling her credit card from her wallet. “Really, it’s only sex. Two mature adults engaging in harmless sexual release from time to time. Who’s it hurting?”

“Did you actually say that? Mik, this isn’t harmless sex. Someone’s going to get hurt and I’m afraid it’s going to be you. There’s too much history between you to be playing a reckless game like this. Either commit or get away from each other, this is a recipe for disaster.”

“I got this.” Mikala assured her friend with a pat on the hand to appease her.

The sky was overcast, threatening to open up and pour at any moment, the streets were busy and people hurried past in all directions as Mikala and Eden headed to the parking lot. Mikala fumbled around in the bottom of her purse for her keys, cursing herself for not getting them out when she was sitting in the restaurant. Eden’s hand clamped onto her forearm causing the keys to drop at her feet. Mikala followed Eden’s eyes when she saw the expression on her face and stood gaping at the two slashed tires on her car.

“What the fuck?” Mikala questioned, as she rounded the car only to discover the remaining tires had also been destroyed. Turning to Eden for answers, she found her frantically conveying their findings to the recipient at the other end of her cell.

“Chase and Mason are on their way. Who would have done this and in broad daylight? Surely someone would have seen something and called the police. We need to find witnesses.”

Mikala held up her hand to stifle Eden’s rant. “It was him,” she declared, without hesitation.

“Who,”

“That sick bastard that’s been terrorizing me. Jesus, Eden, now he’s taking it beyond the club. The fucker’s following me,” she said, looking around wild eyed at the harried street.

Minutes later Mason’s truck pulled up behind the car, the boys jumped from the cab and as Chase wandered the cars exterior examining the damage, Mason wrapped his arms around Mikala from behind and held his chin on top of her head.

“You think it was
him
?” Mikala asked, grasping his forearms allowing his hold to tighten. “I do.”

“Without a doubt,”

“He’s stalking me now isn’t he?”

Mason spun her to face him lowering his head so their eyes met. “Nothing’s going to happen to you, sugar, I protect what’s mine.”

She felt a flutter in her belly when she heard his declaration. As sugar sweet and alpha-male as it sounded, sending all kinds of butterflies and sexy to her lady parts, it also scared the ever loving bejesus out of her, she felt herself reluctantly drawing back.

Could Eden be right, she asked herself, was this a disaster waiting to happen? Was it a matter of time before one or both got hurt? Her heart couldn’t take another loss. She pulled from his arms and walked over to Chase, Mason allowed her to gain distance.

Mason’s arms dropped to his sides, his fists clench tight and his brows bound together as he caught sight of Eden staring at him. He could read that look, that look that said what-the-fuck-are-you-doing? He knew it well, had seen it in her eyes since the day she and Chase had picked him up at the airport and she spent the entire ride lecturing him on running away from life and failing to face it like a man. This was not going to be pretty, he thought as she took the first step toward him.

“Sweetheart?” he said, waiting like the calm before the storm.

“You know, I know,” she said, wrapping her arms around his large bicep. “Do you need me to tell you
not
to screw this up?”

His eyes trailed from hers over to where Mikala stood with Chase.

“And…” he prodded.

“And you know I love you, both of you.” Eden assured him.

“Yep,” He pulled his arm free and slung it lazily across her shoulders. “Don’t worry, I don’t plan on hurting her, sweetheart. I have much bigger plans for Mikala. I’m gonna win her back…Can you keep a secret?”

Her nod wasn’t exactly the guarantee he wanted, nevertheless it would do. He couldn’t believe he was going to tell her this. He wasn’t one for sharing emotions or revealing heart felt feelings. Only twice in his lifetime had he opened up to a woman and let her know what was in his heart and Mikala was the only one he intended to ever do that with again. However, he wanted to set Eden’s mind at rest.

“I never stopped loving that woman, not for a nanosecond.”

“I know.” Eden leaned into him with a smile.

“Unfortunately this is the last cheque until the Reno is finished,” Mikala said, handing out envelopes to each staff member gathered in the bar for the meeting she called. “I was told this morning that the dance club should be ready to reopen in a week or two, so sit tight.”

“The club upstairs, when’s that going to happen?” Carl, Mikala’s lead bartender, asked.

Mikala turned to Chase for the answer, he took a step forward. “Bar any setbacks we’re looking at a few weeks yet,” he said.

“Another reason I wanted a meeting today is to introduce you all to my new business partner, Chase Dean. Get used to seeing lots of him around here in the future.”

Chase raised a hand and chuckled. “Nice to meet all of you but let me clarify. Once we’re back up and running, you can consider me more of a silent partner. I’ll be in from time to time but this is Mik’s business not mine.”

“That’s too bad!” A voice called from the back of the group causing laughter and applause. “We were looking forward to being hauled into the office!” More laughter ensued.

“Down ladies, he’s married, very married,” Mikala declared. “Any more questions,”

“Did they ever find out how the fire started?” Ricci, one of the line cooks asked.

Mason stepped through the group slapping his hand on Ricci’s shoulder before Mikala had a chance to answer. “Still under investigation I’m afraid. It’s time to call an end to this meeting so we can get back to putting this place together. The sooner the workmen can do their jobs, the sooner you can come back to work.”

After everyone had vacated the dance area Mikala roared forward. “That was plain rude, next time I’ll handle things myself thank you. Where do you get off,” Mason put his hand over her mouth moving close to her face to shut her up.

“There’s someone here to see you, sugar. He’s in your office and he doesn’t have all day to wait while you socialize.”

“Who’s so fucking important?” she asked.

“Do you remember Detective Blackstock?”

“From Eden’s nightmare?” she asked, remembering briefly the strange Detective that handled Eden’s case when her deranged ex tried to kill her and Chase. “I think so.”

“He’s your man and he’s waiting to talk with you,” Mason said.

Mikala headed in the direction of her office, pausing only to spin on her heals, placing her hands on her hips and asking, “Well, are you coming?”

“Sure thing, sugar, let’s go,” Mason said, with a smile.

His tough as nails woman needed him. She wasn’t going to come out and say it in those words, but he gladly accepted every bone she threw his way.

Opening the office door, she stared at the Detective as he stood rifling through papers on her desk. She did indeed recognize him the minute he turned and she caught sight of his dowdy appearance. His suit looked like he had slept in it for three days straight, and his unshaven face and cigar end hanging from the corner of his mouth made him look like a drifter from a back ally. Mikala so badly wanted to offer him a shower and bowl of soup, before sending him off with ten bucks tucked into his pocket. She got nothing, not a smile, not a nod, absolutely nothing from the man until he took a notepad and pencil from his breast pocket and licked the lead end to his tongue. Mikala gagged and Mason rubbed his hand up and down her arm for support.

“Miss Santino, Mr. Reed,” he said, as he read over something from the notebook. “No doubt about it, it was arson. Seems your admirer has skills. Have a seat.”

He motioned to the two chairs in front of Mikala’s desk and settled into her pink leather executive chair. The thought to buy a can of Lysol came to mind as she watched him take over
her
office as she and Mason sat down.

“I’m afraid I don’t follow,” Mikala said, watching him carefully, ready to jump over the desk if he attempted to open any of her drawers.