Page 20 of Protected by the Sheriff (Magnolia Falls #2)
Olivia
W hat the hell just happened? After we showered because Mason was determined to wash off any trace of Knox, he forced me to suck his cock like my life depended on it, and then he fucked me into oblivion. Again, his demeanor has completely changed.
He’s still not the Mason I know, but he’s drying me gently with a large, fluffy, white towel. Once I’m dry, he hands me one of his shirts.
“I can just grab something of my own to put on.”
“You’ll wear mine or nothing at all.”
Scoffing at his audacity, I take his shirt and pull it on.
“Can I get my panties, please?”
“You won’t be needing them. Go get into bed.”
“Mason, I need to go home,” I argue.
“You are home and this is your bed,” he states.
“But I have my own bed.” God, I sound whiny even to myself.
“If you aren’t in this bed every night from this point on, I will hunt you down and handcuff you to it.”
Mason picks me up and tosses me on the bed, where I bounce. He goes to the other side, folding down the covers and climbing in before pulling me to him. His chest is against my back. He then does something that blows my mind.
From behind, I sense his hard cock pushing inside me.
“Mason, I’m sore. I don’t think I can go again.”
“I’m not fucking you, but I refuse to sleep without you again. I want to crawl inside of you but that’s impossible, so this is the next best thing.”
“Mason Walker, you are nuts. You can’t sleep inside of me.”
“Watch me. You keep trying to run from me and avoid me. It just makes me grasp onto you that much tighter. Run, little girl. Watch me catch you and fuck you until you can’t walk.”
I know he’s telling the truth, and the intensity of his declaration scares the fuck out of me. Mainly because it doesn’t sound bad. In fact, my pussy—the traitorous bitch— gushes with wetness at the thought.
You would think his hard cock being inside of me would stop me from sleeping, but with his enormous body wrapped around me, I’m so warm and comfortable I fall asleep almost immediately.
The next morning when we wake up, Mason is extra attentive, making sure I have everything I need since apparently, it’s all in boxes in his living room.
He helps me find everything and I am still unsure how he got it all moved over here so fast or how I am going to get it all back to my own house.
Because obviously, once he’s recovered from whatever mental breakdown I caused him last night, I’ll be moving back home. Staying here would be insane.
He goes into the kitchen and prepares me bacon, eggs, and toast, as if I’m some kind of guest he has to serve. The man makes my coffee exactly how I like it, and I wonder how he even knows what I take in it.
“I can read your face. Stop overthinking things and allow me to take care of you,” he says as he places his plate on the table beside mine.
Mason sits down and pulls my chair as close to his as he can get it.
“Why are you doing this?”
“I told you. I’m not allowing you to play any more nonsense games with me, Liv. We are together and you are it for me.”
“Give it a month and you will be back out fucking everything in town,” I mutter, unable to hide the jealousy in my voice.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” he asks, confused.
“I’ve heard the rumors. Women talk about how big you are and how good you are in bed.”
“Does that make you jealous?”
My cheeks burn. “Fuck no. I’m just saying you are going to tire of me, and I don’t share, Mason.”
“I don’t share either, Olivia, and I can’t erase my past. Unfortunately, I have slept with a lot of women, but I promise you that you are it for me. I’m as much yours as you are mine. There is no one else I want.”
“I mean it, Mason. I won’t tolerate cheating.” The words hang heavy in the air. The sincerity in my voice, the tremor in my hands, shows him just how serious I am.
Smirking at me with his panty-dropping smile, the man has the nerve to say, “Good. I’m glad we are on the same page, finally.”
Mason doesn’t want me to leave for work, but I demand to be allowed to fill my appointments. I have people who booked with me months ago, and I refuse to cancel on them.
When I arrive at work, I’m late, and Piper and Hadley are already hard at work. What I dread is seeing Knox, but I notice he’s not anywhere to be found. His truck is missing from the parking lot and when I go in, the girls let me know he’s canceled all his appointments today.
I can’t say I’m not relieved, because I am.
At some point, we have to have an honest conversation where I make my boundaries very clear.
He called me a whore, which was totally uncalled for, but I can overlook that if he’s sorry.
Then there is Mason, literally threatening to kill Knox if he gets within touching distance of me again.
I know he’s not happy that Knox and I work together, but I won’t fire the man just because he reacted badly to unrequited feelings.
That is mostly my fault, and I owe him an apology. I used him to point score with Mason.
After I set up my station, I have a few minutes before the first customer comes in. Piper and Hadley both make their way over to my station.
“So… you wanna tell us what the fuck is going on between you and Knox?” Hadley asks with her hand on her hip.
“There’s nothing going on between Knox and me.” I try to hide my burning cheeks by letting my hair fall over my face.
Piper, never one to let something obvious go, says, “Girl, you had two men fighting over you in a fucking bar, and one of them was the town sheriff. Don’t tell us there’s nothing going on.”
“Knox got the wrong idea. I want to be friends, but I might have gone about it the wrong way. That’s on me, and I’m going to apologize to him once he comes back to work,” I admit.
“Is he coming back to work?” Hadley asks.
“If I had my ass handed to me by the hot sheriff and my girl stolen from me in front of the entire town, I sure wouldn’t,” says Piper.
“He didn’t get his ass handed to him. It was just a little tussle. Nothing to gossip about. This whole misunderstanding is my fault.”
“It’s not. I’ve seen you push Knox away when he’s been too close many times, Liv.
He came on too strong, and after the day everyone was here cleaning up the shop when it was vandalized, there was no question in anyone’s mind that you had a thing with Sheriff Walker.
Knox should have stayed in his lane,” Hadley declares.
“Hadley, it’s not his fault.”
Hadley objects, stating, “Him calling you a whore in front of everyone was unwarranted.”
Piper insists she agrees with Hadley’s assessment. “You are allowing Knox too much leeway. He knew what he was doing, and he was trying to steal you from Mason before the two of you became too tight. Everyone knew you and Mason were together except you, Olivia.”
Giving them both a nod because I agree; Knox did overreact. He saw Mason and me together several times. It was always clear there was something going on between us, no matter how much I denied it.
“Well, he didn’t show up today, so I’m sure he’s pissed at me.
Mason has declared he will come in and remove Knox from the building if he gives me a hard time, and I’m walking on eggshells, trying to keep the two apart after they threw punches last night.
” I sigh. “It’s all so stressful. Why didn’t I just give in to Mason? Then none of this would have happened.”
Then another thought occurs to me and I’m even more embarrassed to ask despite knowing the answer. “Ladies, did either of you go by the diner for breakfast this morning?”
Piper smiles. “Oh, yeah.”
“So, spit it out. Were they talking about me?”
Hadley smirks. “The Gossip Squad was in full force this morning. I thought Mrs. Harrison was going to pass out from excitement when she told me all about how Sheriff Walker and Knox were fighting over you at The Lucky Horseshoe last night.”
Piper sighs. “I should tell you I heard you being called a jezebel by more than one of the old ladies this morning.”
Sighing because I’m so damned tired already, and the day is just starting, I turn and go back to what I was doing.
“Yeah, any woman in town would have given in to him long before now, stubborn woman,” Piper cackles. Then Hadley joins in, laughing before they walk away to their respective stations to get to work.