A little bit of Mase

Snippet : noun
1. a small piece snipped off; a small bit, scrap, or fragment:
Mase and Jo / Pursuing by Sarah Curtis
Unedited (so that means it's full of typos :))

Jo successfully pulled her hands from Mase's grasp and placed them in her lap, sitting straighter in her seat. Surely she hadn't heard him correctly. "You want me to stay with you in your home for five days?"
He tilted his head in acknowledgment and gave her a grin. "Yeah."
Jo opened and closed her mouth a few times, looking like a fish, she was sure, trying to get some words out. "But... but..." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, centering herself. She placed her palms flat on the table, leaned forward, then whisper-hissed, "Are you insane? We barely know each other. I can't stay with you."
"Why not?"
His question threw her for a moment. There were so many reasons why not it was almost hard to pull a specific one out and state it. "Well, for starters, like I said, we're practically strangers."
"I know you're a well educated, caring human being dedicated to her job of helping children. That doesn't sound like serial killer qualities. You're not a serial killer are you?"
"Of course not," Jo said with a huff.
"Well that's a relief. What else?"

"Just because I'm not a serial killer, doesn't mean I'm a nice person. And I know nothing about you."
Mase threw his arms wide. "I'm an open book. Anything you want to know. All my sins have been documented in all the tabloid magazines." He gave her an amused smile. "And I'll take my chances with you."
"Yeah, well, you haven't seen me in the morning," she mumbled, but Mase must have heard her if his chuckle was any indication.
"Do you got anything else? Because so far your objections aren't very sound."
"What if I have bad habits you can't stand." She gave him a horrified look. "Or what if you do. Oh my God, you don't drink straight from the milk carton, do you? I put milk in my coffee."
"It's only five days, babe, not a lifetime commitment. I'm sure we can handle each other's bad habits for that long, but if it makes you feel better, I'll buy a new container of milk."
"So you do drink from the carton."
"It's my fucking milk, and I live alone," he said, sounding exasperated.
Jo pointed a finger at him. "See, I'm already annoying you and it's only been," Jo looked at an imaginary watch on her wrist to sarcastically make her point, "about five minutes since we started this conversation."
Mase grabbed the pointer she still aimed at him and kissed the tip. "I'm only annoyed because you're beating around the bush with this nonsense instead of telling me the real reason why you don't want to stay with me."
That shut her up, but she wasn't sure if it was the finger kiss or his words. She stared at him while she quickly contemplated her next move. She couldn't tell him that staying with him would surely test the resolve of her "stay away from hottie jocks" plan, and he was right, the excuses she had come up with had been feeble at best. Welp, in order to avoid showing her hand, she only had one option. "Okay, you win. Where do I sign up?" She deflated back in her seat and gave him a smile that she hoped didn't look as forced as it felt.
He gave her his award winning smile and a wink in return. She felt her stomach drop and wondered if this was what it felt like to make a deal with the devil.