Mr. Masters (Mr. Series, #1)

by T.L. Swan

The water is running over his face, and he looks so damn beautiful and tortured… He looks like he’s mine.

His words ring through my head. This isn’t a relationship. No shit, Sherlock. This isn’t a relationship, this is a train wreck.

“Because I can’t stand the thought of someone else touching you.” “Why?” “Because you belong to fucking me,” I admit, losing control.

Bree kisses my chest and looks up at me. “So… you’re going to be my boyfriend now?” I frown down at her. “What?” “Don’t.” She kisses my lips. “Don’t take it back.”

“I’m not any good at boyfriend stuff.” I sigh sadly. She kisses my chest again. “I know this must be hard for you after losing your wife. I know why you don’t let anyone close. You’re such a good husband to grieve so deeply for her.” What?

“My wife died on the day I asked her for a divorce.” Bree’s face falls and her eyes search mine. “How? How did she die?” “She killed herself.”

was twenty-two when I met Alina.” What? “She was at the same university as me and I’d seen her around. She was pretty.”

“We hooked up one night after going to a nightclub.” God, he would have been a good-looking twenty-two-year-old. He’s insanely hot now at thirty-nine.

“We slept together again a few weeks later after another night out. I didn’t see her again until she turned up at my dorm room three months later. She was pregnant.” My heart drops. He licks his bottom lip as he stares into space. “What happened?” I ask.

“I did the right thing.” My stomach twists. “You married her?” He nods softly with his bottom lip caught in his front teeth, and I wait for him to keep going but he...

He shrugs. “I tried. I tried every damn day to fall in love with her.” My...

“It wasn’t so bad at first. We both put a front on for the sake of the other. Until she fell in love with me, but I didn’t fall in love with her…” His voice trails off.

“I couldn’t even force myself to make love to her.” Oh, this is a horrible story. “Jules,” I whisper, and he wraps his arm around me and pulls me closer. “Samuel was conceived when I came home drunk one night. That’s the only time it would happen.”

“Then… she started drinking.” God. “It got so bad that I had to have a full-time nanny to care for the children even while she was home.” He stares into space. “Some days, she never got out of bed.”

“I couldn’t take it anymore. I told her before I left for work one morning that I was filing divorce papers that day.” I scrunch my eyes shut as I wait for the next part of the story. “She said goodbye to the children.”

“And she drove drunk down a dead-end street at around 130 miles an hour, straight into a tree.” The lump in my throat hurts as I try to hold my tears back. He stares straight ahead, almost frozen. “Do the children know?” I whisper.

“No. How could you ever tell your child that their mother killed herself because their father didn’t love her.” I sniff as the tears roll down my face. “I’m so sorry.” He kisses my temple. “Me, too”.

Sorry, kids, I just couldn’t love your mother after I knocked her up, so it’s my fault she became an alcoholic and killed herself.

I’m not going to let him blame himself for one more day. I know why he’s scared of relationships and of having someone love him. Of course he’d never want to be responsible for anyone else’s happiness ever again. I wouldn’t either, if I were him.

“When I told you I have never been in love before…. I lied.” He swallows the lump in his throat.

I stare into his big brown eyes. “Because I’m in love with you,” he whispers.

"But... I thought you didn't know how to love?' “I don’t. ” He kisses me softly. “But apparently my heart does, with or without my permission.” I smile as tears well in my eyes. ...

She’s the hottest fuck I’ve ever had, and it blows me away that she’s also the one I love.

“I know.” I hug her tight. “And you will, I know you will.” “I love you, Brell,” she whispers against my shoulder. “You’re the first person who has ever been on my side.” “I love you too, baby.” I kiss the top of her head and she holds me tight.

“What are you smiling at, Miss Brielle?” “I like that you’re off the market, Mr. Masters.” He chuckles and raises his brow. “Surprisingly, so do I.”

Twelve weeks today since I told you I love you. The happiest twelve weeks of my life. I still love you. Julian xx

Look at you getting sentimental. I loved you long before that. Thank you for my flowers. Hurry home xoxox

I don’t want more children. I don’t want marriage. But I love her so much. This is an impossible situation. One of us has to live a lie for the other to be happy.

“Wait. What do I do if a girl cracks onto me?” I whisper. She smirks. “Tell them you’re in love with my dad.” My mouth falls open. She laughs softly. “I’m not stupid, Brell.” I raise my eyebrows. “At least one of us isn’t.” I sigh. I have no idea what else to say, so I get out of the car, cross the road, and I walk up to the doorway.

“I want you to be happy.” He puts his arms around me. “You make me happy.” “I don’t. I make you feel obligated. Confused. Guilty. That’s not happy.”

“What am I going to do without you?” he whispers as he dusts the backs of his fingers down my face. My eyes hold his. “Keep living with Alina’s ghost and go back to your prostitutes. You’re safe there.”

I chuckle. Spencer hates Seb’s ex-wife with a fiery passion. “But you…” he shakes his head as he talks, “are walking around broken-hearted like a lovesick puppy, pining for a woman who you love, who your children love, and most importantly, who loves you… all because you’re too fucking gutless to marry her.”

“I’m not gutless,” I snap. “I just don’t want to get married.” "Whatever," he grumbles. "Are you coming to the wedding or not?" “Not.” I sip my beer. “Stop pissing me off.”

“Because until you find someone who loves you as much as I do, they will never be good enough.”

“Dad?” I glance up. “Yes?” “Brell loves you as much as I do, you know.” I drop my head and exhale heavily. “She’s special, Dad. Don’t let her walk away.”

“That’s because you’re not my nanny anymore.” My eyes hold his. “Then what am I?” “You will be my wife, Mrs. Masters. You’ll be the mother of our children.” He kisses me softly. “The only woman I have ever loved.”

“I can’t live in the dark anymore, Alina,” I whisper. “She’s my light, my love, my soul mate. Her name is Brielle, and I knew from the moment I met her that she was the one. You’d like her, I know you would. She loves the children as if they were her own.”

She told me all along that the love of my life was waiting somewhere for me. And she was right. He was.