Chapter 16

Mason

Sometimes I come on a little too strong and my ideas get big and crazy. This wasn’t one of those times. But the fact that I’m already checking out what it takes to rent a fully crewed yacht to sail us through the Caribbean says I’m not far from going overboard.

Hmmm, wonder if she’d prefer Greece instead?

Step back, Mason. You’re doing it again .

Anytime I like someone, I go crazy with it. Grace says I’m self-sabotaging. I don’t want women to want me for my money, yet I flash it all over the place and get extravagant. She’s wrong though. I like luxury and sharing my wealth with others. I’ve never let someone take anything from me I didn’t want to give. I’ve never been played. And I steer clear of gold diggers.

Impatience has me at the tarmac an hour before Leah’s jet touches down. I don’t usually take a private plane when on business, but Leah’s not business, and I wanted her to have a nice, comfy, low stress flight. A private jet was the best way to ensure that since I couldn’t be on the trip with her.

I expected my nerves to settle once the aircraft lands, but my entire body turns into a live wire. I haven’t been this excited in a long time.

The stairs drop and a few minutes later, Leah’s head pops out of the plane. My heart explodes into fireworks. This much joy in seeing someone should be bottled and distributed across the globe.

“I can’t believe I just took a private jet.” She’s wild with excitement, and I’m drunk off her already.

“I trust it was comfortable.”

“I drank champagne and hot chocolate.”

She’s adorable. She’s also trembling. Concern has me tensing. “Are you okay?”

“That was so scary, Mason!” Leah tosses her hands in the air. “I just kept thinking, what if a gust of wind blows us into a mountain? Or a storm takes us out. Or a goose ! Have you seen La Bamba? Heard of Patsy Cline? These little planes are death traps.”

“Did you experience turbulence?”

“No!” She looks over her shoulder at the attendant bringing out her bag. “Oh my god, I would have peed my pants if that plane started shaking. I’m not a good flyer. It’s too high up. I have zero control. Oh my god, I could have died .” She hooks her arms around me and buries her face in my chest.

I fold her into an embrace and kiss the top of her head. “You should have told me you have a fear of flying, Leah.”

“Yeah, well, it’s not like BanditFX has perfected teleportation yet.” She looks up at me, her brow crinkling. “Or have you?”

“Nope. I’m not that kind of tech company.”

“Didn’t think so.” She hugs me tighter and sighs. “I’ll get used to it, maybe. Hopefully.”

My heart swells because that must mean she’s willing to fly around with me, or to me, again. At least I hope that’s what she means. I won’t let her fly alone again if I can help it. I’ll be there to hold her hand and keep her safe.

Standing on the tarmac with my arms wrapped around this woman has me floating like a balloon. This is crazy, spontaneous, and I can’t believe she came.

Leah pushes away from me and digs her cell out of her jeans. “I have to text Mak and let her know I made it.”

While her thumbs start flying across her phone screen, I take a moment to appreciate Leah’s outfit. She’s in jeans, dark green Converse, and a black faded t-shirt that says, “Never better” with a skeleton on it. The contrast of her outfit, and me in my business suit, turns me the fuck on. I’ve never been with a woman who would board a private jet in anything less than Chanel.

Once she stuffs her cell into her back pocket, Leah looks up and smiles at me. “Ready to get this party started?”

“You have no idea.” Cupping her face, I smash my mouth to hers and it’s like getting a burst of air in my lungs after drowning for days. “I’m really glad you came.”

“Me too. This is going to be fun!”

Escorting Leah to my rental car, I open the door and help her inside, then make quick work of shoving her carryon in the trunk. Once I’m in the driver’s seat, I squeeze her thigh. “Welcome to Silicon Valley, Leah.”

She smiles and buckles up. “I can’t believe we’re doing this.”

Neither can I, but the instant I saw her step out of the plane, I felt drunk with elation. What is it about this woman that makes me feel like a kid on Christmas morning?

“I’ve never been to the West Coast before.”

Suddenly, my gut drops and twists. I have back-to-back meetings all day tomorrow, followed by dinner, and the next day is a tour of my newest construction site. Jesus Christ, I’ve dragged this woman, who I barely know, to a place she’s never been, and I can’t even be with her for most of it.

My mouth runs dry as we fly down the road.

It sucks to think I might have made a mistake, but there’s no way on this green earth having Leah with me would ever be a mistake. I just need to figure out how to give her attention while keeping my schedule tight and timely.

“Where are we heading?”

“Our hotel. I got us a suite at the Five Points Resort and Spa.” I’d been staying at a different hotel but upgraded when Leah agreed to join me. This one’s brand new and eager to gain members like me.

“Oh fancy.”

Why does the word fancy always sound like an insult to me? “If you hate it, we can go someplace else.”

“Uhhh, I can’t imagine hating any place with Resort and Spa in the title.” She leans back and smiles. “So how much time will we really have with each other during the next couple of days?”

A couple of days. That’s all she can give me. I’d have loved three weeks out here to really spoil her rotten, but our schedules won’t allow it.

Clenching the steering wheel, I confess, “Tomorrow is jammed with several meetings and a late dinner.” Taking a right, I flick my gaze to her. Is she mad? Disappointed? Already regretting making the trip here?

“That’s a bummer for you.”

For me? What about her? “I swear I’ll have more time the following day. We can go wherever you want. Do anything.”

“Don’t worry about me.” She leans back in her seat. “I’ll entertain myself while you’re busy doing Big Tech Daddy things.”

“Big. Tech Daddy. Things?”

Her laugh fills my chest with butterflies. “I still don’t have a clue what BanditFX even does, Mason.”

Soon, it won’t matter. If all goes well, I’m going to sell BanditFX and make a lot of money. “It’s boring work. All cybersecurity and mechanical robot shit.”

“Cyborgs? You make cyborgs, don’t you? Ohhhh Sex Cyborgs.”

“Wow.” I shake my head, laughing. “Sex Cyborgs is a leap. Did you read that in a book?”

“Finished the audiobook on the way here. It’s how I kept my mind off the fact that I might die in a ball of melting metal.”

My throat tightens with guilt for not knowing that she was so afraid of planes. “And what did these sexy cyborgs do, Princess?”

“Welllll.” Leah reaches over and runs her nails up and down my thigh. “They had fancy equipment.”

“Mmm. How fancy?”

“They have all these different settings and if you hit this one pink button on their stomach, they can do DP.”

This is fascinating. “What’s DP?”

“Double penetration, baby! Woop! Woop!” Leah raises both hands in the air. “A second dick literally extends, and she gets double the fun!”

“Sounds delightful.”

“Hell yeah, it does. And they have other buttons too.”

“Go on.” I love how excited she is about her books.

“This one dude had a purple one for his voice range. A black one for his stamina setting. And there was a blue one too. Guess what that one was for.”

“I’m terrified to guess.”

“Try.”

“Speed?”

“Ohhh! That’s a good guess, but nope. It’s FLAVOR!”

“Flavored what? He can’t possibly come.”

“He totally could. Loads. I’m talking like the mega cream pie, dripping out for days level of cum. It was fucking hot.”

She’s so damn animated about this Cyborg Sex Machine Man that it has me considering building her one.

“What ever happened at the end of the book we listened to last week?”

“Oh, revenge was served, everyone makes up, there’s lots of sex, and they lived happily ever after .”

We spend the rest of the drive to the hotel talking about other books she’s listened to this week. Leah’s still cracking up at my shock over three dicks in one hole in a paranormal romance with vampires from outer space as we both get out of the car. I’m glad I can amuse her. Grabbing both our bags from the trunk, I refuse to let her carry her own things. “I’ve got it, Princess. You just let me follow that sweet ass of yours inside so we can check in.”

I swear she sashays her hips on purpose to keep my mouth watering. When we get into the elevator, Leah’s gaze eats me up. “Thanks for bringing me here, Mason.”

All I can do is smile because all my words have jammed in my throat. She looks so beautiful, so carefree. This woman embraces life and I’m the privileged one who gets to watch her enjoy it.

The elevator finally stops, and the doors open. I lead the way to our suite and watch her expression as she enters the room. “Holy shit, this is incredible.” Leah kicks off her shoes and bypasses the living room to head straight into the bedroom. Her ass looks delicious as she crawls on top of the plush, king-sized bed. “Oh my god, this feels like a cloud.”

I finally get to pull my suit jacket and tie off. Sitting in a swivel chair across the room, I kick off my shoes and sit back. This has been a long day. Successful, but exhausting. I just keep reminding myself that I’m at the finish line. Having Leah here is the boost of energy I need to reach it.

“Before you get too comfortable, Princess, go check out the bathroom. I think there’s something in there you’ll appreciate.”

Leah scrambles off the bed, and a few seconds later, she screams with glee. This woman is louder than life, and I love it.

I make my way to her and lean against the doorjamb with my arms crossed. Leah’s hands cover her mouth, her eyes wide with joy as she looks at what I’ve done.

The huge soaking tub is lined with pillar candles. Rose petals float amidst bubble clouds in the milky hot water, fragranced with lavender. Steam rolls up, making the air thick and sultry. The heater in the tub does a nice job keeping the temp high, which is great since I had to set all this up before going to the airport to get her.

She grabs the remote from the sink and hits a button. Soft music plays through the surrounding speakers.

“Holy crap. This is heaven.”

Glad she approves. “Get in, Princess. I’ll pour us both champagne.”

Then I’m going to fuck her until she screams my name across the Valley.