"I need to get your clothes off. You could be suffering from hypothermia."
"It"s fine." Mason shrugged and winced in pain as he did it.
"It"s not fine. You could die if you don"t warm up."
"It"s fine."
"Mason, just get out of the d.a.m.n clothes and in the shower. I will not have a dead man in my home!" Zoe yelled to get through to him. She saw one side of his lips kick up in a half smile and a small chuckle slipped out of his lips.
"Whatever you say, doll." Mason knocked the jacket off his shoulders with his good hand and stood up. The white shirt was wet and was nearly see-through. Zoe saw a small cut below his ribs and noticed the way he was holding his left hand.
She suspected that something might be broken when he winced as she moved his hand out of the way so she could get his shirt off.
"I"m going to have to cut it off. It"s the only way to do it without causing you pain." When Mason didn"t reply she took the scissors from the cabinet on the wall and sliced down both sides of his shirt before tugging it away as gently as she could.
"Do you think you could get your jeans off? I think I have something you could wear."
"I can do it from here."
Zoe waited a few minutes before leaving the room to make sure that he didn"t fall over or pa.s.s out. When she was convinced that that he would be fine she headed to the spare room and pulled a pair of her ex-husband John"s old boxers and jogging bottoms out, a bit small but should fit okay.
It had been three years and she knew she should really move his stuff out but she hadn"t had the heart to do it. It was the only thing that her daughters had of their father. She shook away the nostalgia and returned to Mason in the bathroom.
"These should fit you okay. I"ll be in the living room when you"re finished." She placed the items on the counter next to the shower and left Mason to finish. She took his clothes and planned on putting them in the washing machine. As she picked the leather jacket up a small phone fell from the pocket and flashed alive.
A text was on the screen and it read: Mason, there is no point running. We"ll find you. We always find traitors.
Zoe emptied the pockets to his jacket and placed the items on the counter next to the clothes. She picked the ruins of his shirt up and tossed them away when she ventured to the kitchen. She flung the clothes, along with Angelia and Rebecca"s nightshirts in the wash and put the kettle on. He"d want a hot drink once out of the shower.
Usually she wasn"t the type of person to care for another unless she truly loved them. With Mason she felt a pull unlike anything she had felt before. When Mason didn"t appear from the shower, she started to get worried; what if he had fallen over or pa.s.sed out?
She left the coffee on the table as she opened the bathroom door. Mason was sitting on the toilet, his arm across his ribs and a towel wrapped around his waist. He was breathing heavily and Zoe could see the pain etched into his features.
"Are you all right?" she knew it was a stupid question and wasn"t sure why she even asked it but she felt the need to express her concern.
"Fine." Mason grunted and Zoe saw his fist ball up. She stood in front of him and forced his head up so she could look at his face for injuries. While one eye was swollen shut she could see from the other that he had pale green eyes. She found herself staring at him but couldn"t look away until she felt something drip onto her hand.
She removed her hand from the back of his head and grimaced when she saw blood on her hand. She gently urged Mason"s head back down and moved his damp hair out of the way, searching for the spot where the blood had come from. She felt him wince when her fingers brushed over the back of his skull and her fingers came back b.l.o.o.d.y.
"I don"t think it"s going to need st.i.tches." Zoe held a tissue to the back of Mason"s head and applied as much pressure as she dared to without hurting him.
"I"m thirsty." Mason grunted and Zoe nodded her head even though he couldn"t see her.
"If you can make it back to the living room there is coffee there for you."
Mason sighed and leant his head back, his eyes closed. Zoe saw the pain on his face and it wasn"t all from physical pain. She could see Mason fighting something inside him and she was willing to help him fight his demons. She felt protective of Mason and she wasn"t sure why but she knew that she would do anything she could to help him.
Mason watched as Zoe left and groaned again but not from pain this time. Zoe was stunning. Her black hair swished around her body as she walked and her blue eyes seemed to take in everything he said or done.
He took a breath before standing up. His whole body ached and he was pretty sure that at least two of his ribs were broken if not more. His mind was fuzzy with what happened the previous night but there were bits and pieces. He certainly remembered the word "traitor" being thrown around a few times.
Mason shook away the thoughts and focused everything on getting into the living room without pa.s.sing out. He could really use some painkillers but he didn"t want to seem rude. He"d already used Zoe"s shower and apparently her washing machine by the sounds of it.
He managed to get into the living room and onto the sofa with a great deal of pain and almost losing the towel wrapped around his waist. He picked the coffee up and took a deep breath, the scent hitting him and making his stomach growl. He hadn"t eaten since the night before.
"Now that you"re clean can I take a look at you?"
"Take a look at me?" Mason returned the cup to its spot and shuffled on the sofa. The pain in his ribs was becoming almost unbearable but he didn"t want to show weakness in front of someone he didn"t know. That never ended well.
"Your injuries. I would like to see if anything is broken and I can give you some painkillers once finished."
"Oh, go for it." Mason waved his good hand before adjusting the towel. He didn"t want to flash Zoe, after all she had been a wonderful host. He felt flashing his privates wouldn"t get him in her good graces.
Zoe sat on the sofa to his left and reached out to poke at his ribs. He hissed and jerked away when she prodded a particularly sensitive area. She muttered an apology but kept her examination going until she had finished and was at the back of his head again.
"What"s the verdict, doc?" Mason took another sip of the coffee, his stomach growling at him angrily again.
"I think you might have at least two broken ribs, you could have a concussion and you"ve sprained your wrist pretty bad. I"m not a doctor though, so don"t take my word for it." Zoe stood up and disappeared back into the kitchen. Mason couldn"t help but at stare at the way her backside moved in the tight jeans she was wearing.
"Down boy." He grumbled when his body tried to react to Zoe"s body.
"Would you like to get dressed? It"s a little nippy today." Zoe returned with a gla.s.s in one hand and a small cardboard box in the other. Mason eyed the box and could have jumped for joy at the sight of the painkillers she held.
"Once the painkillers work, I will." He swallowed two pills before resting his head back on the sofa. Zoe sat beside him but didn"t say anything. He could practically hear the cogs whirring in her pretty head.
"How did you end up in my garden?"
"I don"t know. I can"t remember. All I can remember is my club members want me dead." Mason closed his eyes and the throbbing behind his eyes reduced. The light wasn"t helping the headache that he felt forming.
"Well, where were you before you were in my garden?"
"At a club." It wasn"t a complete lie. He was at his old club and he was a little hazy on the details but he did remember the beating he"d gotten before he managed to get away. The rest was a blur from there. The last thing he remembered was running from the club and then waking up in Zoe"s garden under the jungle gym.
Zoe was a little bit too old to have a jungle gym so that must mean that she either had children or she looked after children on a regular basis. He was too tired to think of it at the moment. He tried to answer Zoe"s next question but his body was forcing him to sleep. So he did.
Zoe watched as Mason stopped talking and drifted to sleep. Obviously the man had had a hard time and needed to sleep. She stood and pulled the blanket from the back of the sofa and tossed it over him. If he wasn"t going to put clothes on then the least she could was cover him up.
She wasn"t complaining that he hadn"t put any clothes on yet. It allowed her to see his amazing body and the tattoo that spanned his entire right side. From under his armpit to the top of the hip that she could see, a green and red dragon stared back at her.
Zoe was almost disappointed to cover up the beautiful masterpiece but knew if Mason didn"t cover up soon his body temperature would drop and he could become seriously ill.
Zoe wasn"t sure how long Mason would be asleep but she knew that he had to be hungry. It was nearly one in the afternoon and he hadn"t eaten.
Before returning to the kitchen though she called her mother. She couldn"t have her mother and daughters coming home and seeing a half naked man on the sofa.
"Zoe, how are you?" her mother answered the phone and Zoe smiled. Her mother had that voice that calmed anyone no matter the situation.
"I"m fine, mother. I was just wondering if you could keep the girls for a few days. "
"Of course, but can I ask why?"
"I just need some "me" time. I hope you don"t mind." She hated lying to her mother but if she found out that she was caring for a man then she would be around immediately trying to play matchmaker.
"It"s about time you took a break. You"ve been looking after these girls for five years. You deserve a rest. Don"t worry about them. They"ll be fine with me and your father."
"Thank you."
"Any time."
Zoe hung the phone up and opened the refrigerator. It was time to feed her guest. She didn"t want to give him too much in case it upset his stomach but she didn"t want him starving under her care. What type of women would she be if she let the young man starve?
She missed being in the university and training. Zoe was training to become a professional chef but everything had changed when she met John in her first year at university. John was in his second year and was studying to be a doctor in Afghanistan. They"d fallen in love and had gotten married less than a year later. Zoe had just applied for her third year when she fell pregnant with the twins.
She"d only been twenty four at the time and it had come as a shock to both her and John. They managed to pull through together though and Zoe had to leave her studies to take care of Rebecca and Angelia while John continued his. They"d had a happy three years together before John had an accident in Afghanistan. Apparently he was in the back of the tank when it drove over a landmine. There were no survivors.
That was three years ago. She"d not managed to get back out into the dating world since John died and instead focused everything she had on her daughters. It was the best thing she could do at the moment. She might return to her studies when the twins were grown, but not at the moment.
"What do you mean that the deal has gone wrong?" someone, Mason couldn"t quite remember who, shouted across the road to him.
"As in the cops are coming!" Mason ran his hands through his blonde hair and groaned. The deal f.u.c.ked up because of him. He told someone else where the deal was being completed and it was his luck that said person had called the police on them.
"Let"s get out of here." Mason and the other guy ran to the closest alleyway and hid behind the dustbin. They waited until they saw the blue lights flash by before evacuating the disgusting hiding spot.
Mason had just turned around to talk to the man when a punch landed in his cheek. He fell to the ground from the shock of the blow and looked up. Mason cringed as he saw more of his club file into the alleyway. This wasn"t going to end well.
"You ratted us out, Mason." Oliver, one of the club members, crouched down to speak in his face. Mason cringed away from the vodka scented breath and regretted it when a foot landed in his back, pushing him to the ground.
"I didn"t rat you out." Mason gasped as a boot slammed into his ribs. He fell to the ground and couldn"t move as the a.s.sault continued. He knew there was no point trying to tell them the truth. He somehow managed to stand up when the kicking stopped and stumbled his way from the alleyway.
He wasn"t quite sure how he managed to hop a fence and land in a garden but he was glad that he had when he heard the bikes roar past the house he"d taken refuge in. He pulled his jacket off and covered his face with it before he pa.s.sed out.
"Mason. Wake up."
Mason jerked awake and moaned as pain splintered through his ribs. He frowned as he lifted his neck, pain travelling along his spine. He"d obviously slept in the wrong position for too long.
Zoe was standing in front of him with a smile on her face and a bowl in her hands.
"I know you need to sleep but I thought you might like something to eat." Zoe placed the bowl on the table and Mason struggled to sit up without causing himself too much pain.
"Thank you."
"It"s not a problem. I left the clothes beside you if you can manage to get dressed." Zoe sat on the other side of the sofa and crossed her overly long legs, turning to stare at him. Mason avoided looking at her and instead took the bowl. It was a creamy tomato soup with a hint of basil.
"This is lovely, thank you."
Zoe smiled but didn"t say anything. Her presence didn"t make him uncomfortable, he was aware of her staring but it didn"t make him uncomfortable. He finished his soup and replaced the bowl from where he picked it up and turned his body to face Zoe.
"When did you get your tattoo?"
"I was eighteen."
"How old are you?" Zoe tilted her head to the side slightly and frowned. Mason couldn"t help but notice that small lines that formed between her eyebrows when she frowned. It made him want to reach up and kiss them away, along with other parts of her delightful body.
"I"m twenty four."
"Who beat you up?"
"I can"t remember." He could remember almost everything that had happened the previous night but he didn"t want to tell Zoe for fear that the club would find her and hurt her. He couldn"t have that over his head. He couldn"t allow this beautiful woman to have danger thrust upon her because of him.
"I think you"re lying to me. I"m good at spotting liars." As Zoe said the words Mason noted her lips kick up in a smile. Obviously the liars she had to spot couldn"t be that dangerous or harmful. Mason looked around the home with curiosity. It was pretty big for just her to be living here by herself.
"Where is your husband?"
"I don"t have one." A flicker of sadness appeared on her face before she schooled it and replaced it with a heart-warming smile.
"Why do you have such a large home?"
"Well, my daughters and I couldn"t fit in a one bedroom flat." Zoe shrugged and Mason felt his eyes widen. She had children. That would explain the jungle gym out the back but he was secretly hoping that she ran a day-care centre or something from her home.
"Daughters?"
"Yes, I"ve got two. Rebecca and Angelia both aged five."
"Where are they?" Mason felt panic rise in him. It was an unusual emotion for him but the thought of Zoe and her daughters in danger because of him cause an unwelcome emotion in him. He"d only know her for a few hours but he knew that he couldn"t let anyone hurt this caring woman and her daughters.
"They"re with their grandmother. Are you okay? You seem scared."
"I just don"t want anything bad to happen to you because of me. I should get going."
"Listen here. You"re not leaving my home until I am one hundred percent sure that you"re going to be fine. You understand me?" Zoe placed her hand on his shoulder and glared at him. Mason couldn"t help the smile that spread over his face at the sound of her "mother" voice.
"I"ll be fine. This isn"t the first time I"ve been beaten up."
Zoe"s heart broke at the pain in Mason"s voice. It was obvious when she found him in her garden that he wasn"t even going to attempt to move and that he would probably have let himself die if she hadn"t forced him in her home.
She wasn"t quite sure why she was so protective of the younger man but she knew that she didn"t want him to get hurt anymore. It may be her mothering instinct but everything in her body called out to this man and it wasn"t because she wanted to bake cookies for him.
Cookies were the last thing on her mind when she looked at Mason. It may have been that she hadn"t been with a man in the three years since John had pa.s.sed away, but she couldn"t stop imagining what this young man would be like between the sheets.
Zoe was only four years older than Mason but it seemed like a very large age gap to her. Maybe her mind would get out of the gutter if she was able to get him to put some clothes on. She"d managed to clean him up and feed him; next step was to get him dressed.