Stepbrother, Mine #2 by Opal Carew

 
     
    From Part 1
    Dana put down her fork again. “Is there something wrong with me?”
    “Wrong with you? Of course not. Why would you think that?”
    She pursed her lips. “Well, you won’t actually … you know … make love to me.”
    “Dana, just give it more time. I don’t want to rush this.”
    He’d have to talk to her about this sooner or later, but not right this minute.
    “I just … I always wondered if there was something about me.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “Why?”
    “Well, you left when I was eighteen. Without even a word of good-bye. Without ever contacting me again.”
    She frowned and the sadness in her eyes filled him with pain.
    “Why did you leave, Mason?” she asked.He stared at her, his heart clenching. How could he possibly answer that question?
     
    Mason reached out and stroked her cheek, his chest tight. “Dana, believe me, there is nothing wrong with you. You are perfect.”
    That caused her lips to turn up a little.
    He wanted to tell her that his leaving had nothing to do with her, but that would be a lie. He couldn’t even say it wasn’t because of something she’d done.
    He knew she suspected that he’d left because of her obvious attraction to him, but that wasn’t true. If he told her the real reason, though, she would blame herself, and he didn’t want that.
    She pursed her lips. “You aren’t going to tell me, are you?”
    “No.” He took her delicate hand in his. “I’m sorry I abandoned you. I wish it could have been otherwise, but it is the way it is, so can we put it behind us?”
    “I thought you hated me,” she said, clearly fighting back tears. “I thought I’d done something wrong and you needed to get away from me.” Her voice caught. “Or you just didn’t care.”
    He squeezed her hand, his heart breaking at the emotional scars he’d caused her. “Oh, Dana, no. I have always cared about you. You believe me, don’t you?”
    She gazed at him, her eyes shimmering and his breath held.
    Finally, she nodded. “I do now. The way you’ve been with me here. The fact that you cared enough to…” She sucked in a breath. “You looked out for me by buying my contract. And then agreed to … fulfill it.”
    Despite himself, he laughed. “Fulfill it? Why, Dana, you’re so romantic.”
    She dashed away an errant tear, then began to laugh. “Yes, well … I suppose there hasn’t really been much romance in my life.” She leaned her chin on her hand. “I mean, think about it. I didn’t even lose my virginity at my prom like most of my friends did.”
    He tipped his head. “Yeah, what about that? You were out all night.”
    She pursed her lips. “Let’s just say you have secrets about the past, and so do I.”
    But he saw a flash of pain in her eyes and his hands balled into fists under the table. He didn’t know what that jerk had done to hurt her, but if Mason ever got his hands on him, he’d pummel the truth out of him.
    He drew in a deep breath and brought his attention back to Dana. “You know, I can’t do anything about the past, but I could do something about that lack of romance.”
    “Like what?”
    “Like take you out on the town. We could get all dressed up and go out to dinner and dancing. What do you say?”
    “Tonight?”
    “Sure, why not? There’s a dinner-and-dance cruise along the river. You can put on a glamorous dress and I’ll wear my best suit.”
    She smiled. “I like that idea. Maybe even a tux?” She ran her hand along the lapel of his robe. “You’d look very handsome in a tuxedo.”
    He raised an eyebrow. “And I wouldn’t in a tailored, designer suit?”
    She laughed. “You look devastatingly gorgeous in old blue jeans, so stop fishing for compliments.”
    Once they finished breakfast, she helped him clear the dishes off the table.
    “I need to get some reading done for classes,” she said. “I don’t want to fall too far behind.”
    He had set their two weeks together over her reading week at