Mason:Inked Reapers MC(58)

Chapter 21



The sharp screech of a phone ringing pulled Kait out of her fog of  sleep. Wincing, she sat up and gazed around, feeling in a daze. A quick  glance at her clock told her it was half past nine in the morning. She  had successfully slept through her alarm and was now late for work.



"Dammit," she sprang from the bed, suddenly alert, and wide awake. She  reached for her phone and saw with a feeling of dread that the incoming  call was from her boss. No doubt she was going to be in a lot of trouble  for not being in work on time.



Taking a deep breath, she answered and began grovelling. She coughed and  pretended to have been suddenly struck down by the flu virus which had  been sweeping through the office doing its annual rounds.                       
       
           



       



"I just woke up and," coughs, "felt wretched. I was so doped up on cough  syrup I must have managed to sleep through my alarm. I'm so," cough,  "sorry."



There was a brief pause on the other end of the line.



"Well, there has been a lot of sickness going around," her boss said  firmly. "Take the rest of the week to recover. We need you in top shape  for the handling of the Denver accounts next week."



"Yes, yes," cough, "of course."



With a satisfied smile, Kait hung up. She had successfully wormed her  way out of being berated at work and managed to get herself the rest of  the week off. That meant more free time with Jasper. More time curled up  beside him listening to the steady beat of his heart.



Jasper.



Kait had been so panicked when she was rudely awoken by her phone that  she'd briefly forgotten he was there. She glanced back at her bed,  smiling widely. She'd offer to make him breakfast, and then they could  snuggle up on the sofa and watch television shows all day. It would be  perfect.



But Jasper wasn't there. Her bed was empty. The sheets still smelt of  his cologne, but he was gone. Kait's smile fell away, and her face  blanked. He couldn't have crept out on her again. Surely not. Once she  could live with, but twice? How hard was it to wake her up and kiss her  goodbye? The way he kept creeping out made her feel like a one night  stand instead of a girlfriend. And she was his girlfriend, wasn't she?



Dread seeped up Kait's spine as she realized that Jasper had yet to  label her as is girlfriend. He'd yet to label her as anything. When they  met up, hormones took over, and they just ended up in bed together.



"Dammit," Kait bunched her hands in to frustrated fists. She stormed out  of the bedroom and checked the rest of the apartment. She threw open  the door to the small bathroom and glanced around the living room, but  Jasper was gone.



On the verge of tears, Kait dropped on to the sofa clutching her phone  and checked his Twitter account. He'd already been tweeting since early  that morning which caused a solitary tear to fall down her cheek.



Up and at it ready for #fightnightFriday @J_Duboix



Many of his followers had commented back voicing their excitement for  Friday night. It must be the huge fight Jasper had briefly mentioned to  her over dinner. Wiping away her tears, Kait turned on the television  and put down her phone. She was tired of being made to feel worthless  each time Jasper crept out when it was still dark outside. She couldn't  keep running back to him each time he did something nice.



But he had sent her flowers. She glanced at the floral display gathered  in the vase from the corner of her eye. That had to mean something,  didn't it? And they'd gone out for dinner. Dinner is a date; Kait knew  that much. Maybe he hadn't woken her up because she was sleeping so  soundly. Perhaps she was taking offence when really he'd just been being  considerate.



Nibbling at her fingernails, Kait prayed she wasn't turning in to a  woman who failed to see a man's flaws. She wanted to believe that Jasper  genuinely cared about her. The flowers and the dinner date told her as  much, but the disappearing act before dawn contradicted those actions.



Kait tried to focus on the television. The more she thought about  Jasper, the more confused she became. Maybe she just needed to confront  him over where they stood. If she was officially his girlfriend, it  would be easier to deal with his seemingly flaky behaviour.



Reaching again for her phone, Kait looked up the address of the gym  where Jasper trained. Anna was right; it wasn't far from her work  offices. But Kait couldn't be seen near work when she was supposed to be  off sick. Unless she said she'd just popped out for some cold medicine  which she could pick up prior to seeing Jasper.



She expected him to be at the gym every day that week in preparation for  his big fight on the Friday. All she had to do was go there and  confront him. Ask him what they were to one another, and he'd have to  give her an answer. If it wasn't the one she wanted, she'd just have to  let go and accept that they weren't meant to be.





Chapter 22



The air smelt of sweat and determination as Kait entered the gym. She  was wearing tight fitting sweat pants and a crop top which showed off  her slim figure. Her hair was held up in a ponytail and bobbed as she  walked. As she left the sanctuary of the ladies' dressing room, she  instantly felt like a fish out of water. This was Jasper's territory,  not hers. She couldn't even remember the last time she'd been to a gym.  She'd had to pay a day rate just to get in. Luckily her office was  partnered with the gym and offered staff a discount.                       
       
           



       



As Kait signed up for her day rate, the muscular receptionist did his  best to make her a more permanent member. He seemed utterly baffled by  her decision to visit the gym just the once.



The gym was a wide open space with white painted walls where mirrors  weren't already hanging. Televisions were suspended from the television  which people gazed at as they ran on treadmills or worked the cross  trainers.



Glancing around, Kait took a deep breath and tried to appear like she  belonged. She clutched the bottle of water she was holding a little too  tightly, wishing that she'd asked Anna to come along with her. But if  Anna had come, there would have been someone to witness her humiliation  if Jasper rebuffed her. She certainly didn't want anyone present to see  that.



Oddly, everyone at the gym was either slender or covered in strong,  bulging muscles. No one looked like they actually needed to be there,  and no one looked like they only came in for the one visit.



As people sprinted on the treadmills and lifted dumbbells the equivalent  of Kait's entire weight, they didn't even break a sweat. This was a gym  for professionals. Everyone there clearly took their physical fitness  extremely seriously.



Kait started to wish she could just fade in to the background. She  feared that she stood out like a sore thumb thanks to her lack of muscle  definition and general look of unease. She was considering turning  around and leaving when she spotted him.



It was as if there was a magnet within him which Kait couldn't help but  be drawn to. Like a moth to a flame, she gazed helplessly at Jasper as  she perched on the edge of a metal bench and lifted a small, singular  dumbbell with one hand. Each time he raised the weight, his impressive  muscles contracted. Kait shivered as she remembered how it felt to be  wrapped in his powerful embrace. Shaking away the thoughts, she lifted  her chin defiantly and pushed back her shoulders. It was time to face  Jasper Duboix and silence any doubts she had between them once and for  all.



"Jasper, hey," she announced herself nervously, aware that at this point  she must look like a stalker. Jasper ceased raising the dumbbell and  looked up at her. His eyes widened in surprise as his jaw clenched. Was  he annoyed to see her?



"I'm not even going to pretend this is a coincidence," Kait admitted  boldly. "I came here deliberately to see you since you scamper from my  place before we've had a chance to talk."



Glancing around, she was relieved to see that the particular part of the  gym they were occupying was blissfully quiet, meaning they could talk  candidly.



Jasper ran his free hand down his face and set his weight on the ground.  He straightened and focused his chocolate gaze upon Kait.



"What do you want to talk about?" He asked in his deep, gravelly voice.



"Well," Kait could feel herself becoming flustered. "Really, I want to talk about us."



"Us?" One of Jasper's eyebrows shot up as he echoed the word. Was he intrigued by the topic of discussion or just annoyed?



"Yes, us," Kait confirmed with a brisk nod of her head. "I feel like  we've seen each other a number of times now," she was interlocking her  fingers together and then releasing them as she spoke. "There have been  flowers and a dinner and more than one night spent together."