I kissed him, filled with gratitude. I wasn’t sure what I’d ever done to deserve him, but I thanked my lucky stars he was mine.

He pulled back and studied my face. “Now you tell me, Rose. How do you feel?”

“I’ve wanted kids for as long as I can remember. And I still do…”

His thumb rubbed my cheek bone. “But?”

“But not yet. And no one is more surprised I feel that way than I am. I want more time alone with you too. I don’t want the beginning of our relationship to be focused on me barfing and sleeping all the time and picking out nursery bedding.” I paused. “Does that make me a bad person?”

He smiled. “It makes you perfectly normal. And since we’re being entirely honest, I’m profoundly ashamed to admit that I’m happy to hear you want me to yourself too.”

I shook my head, grinning. “But what if I am?”

“Then I will love you and our baby and all the other babies to come after him until my dying breath.”

“Him?” I teased.

“Or her.” He shrugged, then leaned down and kissed me until I was senseless. “You looked gorgeous in that sexy red dress tonight. Do you have any idea how hard it was for me to not kiss you like this at dinner? I’m sure I deserve sainthood for that.”

I snuggled into him. “Saint Mason.” I laughed. “I prefer Wicked Mason.”

He chuckled and kissed the top of my head. “Now tell me about your fight with Violet.”

“You remember that?” I asked in surprise.

“Of course I do.”

I filled him in on our phone conversation but left out the part about her missing the loan payments.

“That helps put what she did tonight in context. Joe probably brought her along to spy on you, but she wanted to sink her claws into him to prove to you that she could.” He grimaced. “I thought Neely Kate was going to rip her throat out. She’s definitely a good friend.”

“Yeah, I’m lucky to have her.”

“So Violet went out with him to piss you off and he went out with her to spy on you and perhaps make you jealous?” He paused. “Sounds like a match made in heaven.”

But I couldn’t ignore the fact that it had made me jealous to see the two of them together. That was a conversation I needed to have with Jonah. And soon.

“Would you mind if I asked Jonah to join us for Thanksgiving?” I blurted out.

His eyebrows rose. “Um… That seems out of nowhere, but yes. Of course.”

I lifted my head to kiss him. “Thank you.”

“This is your house. You can invite whomever you want.”

“But it’s your Thanksgiving too,” I said, suddenly worried.

“Hey. I didn’t mean that how it sounded. Your friends are my friends. The more the merrier, truly, Rose.”

I closed my eyes, suddenly overwhelmed with sleepiness. Mason pulled me close and tugged the covers over us.

“Do you really have tomorrow off?” Mason murmured before I drifted off to sleep.

“Yep. We can stay in bed all day long.”

“You have no idea how much I like the sound of that.”

I smiled to myself as sleep overtook me. Actually, I did. After all the storms that had been blustering around me and inside me, I needed a moment of calm.

Chapter Twelve

I woke up to the sound of Mason groaning, and was instantly alert in the pitch-black room.

“Mason?”

“No!” he shouted, still lying next to me.

I breathed a sigh of relief. He was dreaming. “Mason.” I touched his arm and he jolted, his hand grabbing my arm roughly as he pushed me down on the bed.

“Mason!” I shouted, terrified.

He dropped his hand and bolted upright. “Oh, my God. Rose.”

I tried to catch my breath as he turned on the light, his eyes filled with terror.

“Did I hurt you?” His hands roamed my arms, looking for nonexistent bruises.

I put my hand over his. “I’m fine. Don’t worry.”

He lay back down next to me and scooped me into his arms. “I’m so sorry.”

“Did you have a bad dream?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what it was about?”

He hesitated. “Yes.”

When he didn’t say anything else, I rolled over so our chests were touching. “What was it about?”

“Him. Savannah’s killer.”

I gasped. “Oh.”

He scrunched his eyes closed. “I used to get nightmares right after it happened. More like night terrors. But they went away. I haven’t had one for months.”

Until he hit Joe.

“What made them go away before?”

“I don’t know.” He sounded short. “Everything in my life changed when I moved here. The dreams just went away.”

I reached my hand up to his scalp and played with a strand of his wavy dark blond hair. “Mason, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, Rose. I see the proof of it on your arm.”

I glanced down at the red marks on my bicep from his fingers. “I’m fine. It’s nothing.”

“This time. What if it happens again? What if I hurt you worse?”

“That’s a lot of what-ifs.”

He started to get up, but I pulled him back down. “Where do you think you’re going?”

“I’m going to sleep in the other room.”