Free Hitman's Secret Baby: A Bad Boy Romance by McKenzie Lewis Page A

done it to me a couple of days ago and look how that had ended. The other night had been strange; we kept getting close and then pulling away, and Mason had definitely pulled away.
    Maybe he wouldn’t even want to see me. I felt kind of pathetic, yearning after him so badly.
    Despite myself, I quickly grabbed up my phone anyway. If he acted like an ass, then so be it.
    “Hey,” came Mason’s voice, warm on the line.
    “Hey.” I was pretty much stuck at that. “Um. How are you?”
    “I’m okay.”
    “Are you… busy?”
    He laughed. “Kinda. Are you busy?”
    He was making fun of me and it helped me realize I was being ridiculous; there was no reason to be afraid of what he’d think if I called him. We were so far past that.
    “I’m in a parking lot deciding what the hell to do with the rest of my day,” I told him dryly.
    “I was gonna spend the day drunk in a dive bar on First, so your parking lot thing doesn’t sound so bad.”
    That was more revealing than Mason probably intended it to be.
    “Daisy’s gone off with Justin to our parents’ place,” I said, and realized that was far more revealing than I’d intended it to be, too.
    “Sounds lonely.”
    “I suppose I could always walk around my house naked without having to worry about anyone knocking on my door.”
    Mason chuckled deeply. “Well, in that case, I might have to alter my plans.” He already had me grinning to myself like an idiot; how the hell did he do that? “That is, if you don’t mind the company.”
    “I could squeeze you in.”
    “I have to meet with someone this afternoon, but I can swing by your place later?”
    “Okay. That sounds good.”
    We hung up and I sighed, tipping my back against the headrest. I couldn’t believe how much better I felt, knowing I could see him later. It had taken so little time between me not wanting to be anywhere near him and actively seeking out his company that my head was constantly reeling with every tiny shift in our relationship.
    I grabbed some groceries at the local store, visited the diner to check on things, and then went home to put the stuff in the fridge.
    Later on, when I was sure Justin had gotten to our parents’ place safely, I video called my brother to catch up with them.
    My dad’s face swam into the picture as he snatched the phone from Justin.
    “Your mother wants to know how come you couldn’t get your ass out here with your brother?” he griped, and I chuckled as my mom nudged him.
    “Ignore your father,” she told me. “He misses you and doesn’t know how to say it.”
    “I know, Mom. Dad, I miss you too.”
    My father grumbled. I saw Daisy drawing in the background and Justin reading the paper. I felt sad that I couldn’t be there, but I had a hell of a consolation prize coming around later.
    “I have work things to do,” I explained to my father, hoping Justin would back me up if they started to grill him later.
    “Sometimes I wish we’d sold that damn diner so you two didn’t have to deal with it.”
    “I love the diner, Dad. Don’t say that.”
    If he only knew that Mason had been in there just nights ago. Recklessly, I thought about telling him, but I wouldn’t put it past my parents to drive all the way here themselves just to chew Mason out for what he’d done.
    We wrapped up our conversation in good spirits, though, and then I finished up some chores around the house until Mason knocked on my door.
    I wasn’t naked, but I could tell he was part-expecting it.
    “You changed your plans, too,” he said slyly, and I laughed.
    “For now.”
    I let him in, but barely one step through the door he seemed uncomfortable. I realized that the last time he’d been at my place, I’d walked into Daisy’s room to find him crying in there.
    It had shaken me to the core.
    I wondered if he was remembering it, now. As he eyed the photographs lining my hallway, his daughter and sister staring down at him from all the events and family vacations he’d