by Dani Wade
Many people, Mason included, saw her from the outside and expected days filled with directing staff and having her nails done. When the actuality of running a household, caring for a sick parent, and bolstering up another weak parent were like two full time jobs in only one twenty-four-hour period. “What about you?” she asked, curious about Mason’s life after he’d moved away.
“I majored in business management. Dad insisted, even though I didn’t see the point in a full four-year degree. We always knew we wanted to run our own stables, and had plenty of hands-on knowledge, so I thought shorter, more specific studies would be more appropriate.”
He smiled at the hostess as she seated them. To EvaMarie’s surprise, he took the chair right next to her instead of the one across from her, bringing them closer, creating a more intimate atmosphere that matched their conversation. She forced herself not to acknowledge the tingles low in her core at his nearness, his attention.
Seemingly unaware, Mason went on. “Now I know why he did so many things I didn’t understand. Kane and I both needed the knowledge, ways of thinking and maturity that came from college to not only maintain our own businesses, but build the reputation that will help sustain us in such a public arena.”
“And then you cut your teeth on the stables back home.”
Mason nodded, then smiled at the waitress as she delivered their drinks and an appetizer of fried green tomatoes with corn-bread muffins. He waited until she’d taken their lunch orders to answer. “We started those stables with our dad. There’s also some cattle ranching, but it’s not a huge herd because the property isn’t big enough to sustain it. Our big focus there is horse breeding. As we developed those lines, we were on the lookout for stock that would be our start into racing. I’m proud to say our dad helped us pick out our first mare and stud.”
The smile they shared felt like more—more personal, even intimate in the midst of a crowd. What they were discussing might have seemed mundane, but EvaMarie knew how much it meant to Mason. She remembered him talking about running his own stables when he was a teenager, and had watched him soak in everything the other stable hands and manager had been willing to teach him.
As much as it saddened her to leave her home, she could actually see that it would be in good hands with the Harrington boys. “You’re gonna do great,” she murmured.
Surprise lit up his eyes. “Your dad would call that kind of talk sacrilege.”
“Of course he would. That doesn’t make it any less true.”
His gaze held hers. “Thank you. That means a lot to me.”
The very air between them seemed to grow heavy, leaving EvaMarie breathless and a little confused. Mason blinked, then focused on the plate in front of them. He snagged one of the tomatoes and lifted it toward her lips. “Taste this. I had some the other day, and they’re great.”
She wasn’t about to tell him the treat was nothing new to her. Instead, she clamped down on her surge of need as he fed her the crispy tart bite, then took one of his own. Definitely not the kind of response she should be having in public.
“Well, this doesn’t look much like business. Now does it?”
Liza’s cutting, accusatory tone belied the saccharine smile plastered on her face as she stood beside their table. How long she’d been there, EvaMarie couldn’t have said. She’d been too caught up in the magic of Mason’s attention.
Silence reigned for a moment. After last night, Mason was probably afraid to touch the remark with a ten-foot pole, so EvaMarie adopted a closed expression and answered just loud enough for the group of women watching from a few feet away to hear her. “We just finished buying the decor for the new game room at the shop next door. Antiques will give the room real depth, I believe. Don’t you agree?”
Liza’s eyes widened, as if she didn’t know how to take this polite response to her tasteless interruption.
“I agree,” Mason finally chimed in. “Mr. Petty has some unique pieces in his store. I’ll probably go back for other things for the house, but what we ordered today is perfect for that room.” The grin he offered Liza sparked some nasty jealousy, but EvaMarie ignored it. Because Mason wasn’t hers to be jealous over.
“Still a man cave,” he went on, “but with class.”
The attention helped Liza recover. She offered him a smile seemingly loaded with double meaning. “As if you could be anything but classy.” Stepping a little closer, she rested her hand on Mason’s shoulder. Her red nails seemed to dig just a touch. EvaMarie might have been imagining that from this angle. But she wasn’t imagining the husky quality that colored Liza’s voice. “I had such a good time last night.”
I’m amazed she remembered it...
Meeting Mason’s gaze with her own, EvaMarie could have sworn she saw the same thought reflected there. He gave a slight nod and her heart pounded. Being on the same wavelength with him was certainly a heady experience. Then he turned back to look up at Liza.
“How’s John Roberts?” he asked.
Liza frowned. “How should I know? He dropped me off after a lecture on—” Stopping abruptly, she flicked her gaze between Mason and EvaMarie, then shook her head. “Anyway, I haven’t seen him today. The girls and I are just out for some shoppin’ and strollin’.”
“Well, I see the waitress headed this way with our lunch,” Mason said, “so if you don’t mind...”
Sigh. What woman couldn’t see that Mason wasn’t interested? Of course, just the thought made EvaMarie worried that she was also the type of woman who read more into what was happening between her and Mason than what was really there. Things she really shouldn’t want but couldn’t quite turn away from.
“Of course,” Liza said, never taking her eyes from him. “But I do hope you’ll remember that preseason party we’re having. It’s gonna be the biggest thing around here. Anyone who is anyone will be there. Please tell me you’ll come.”
“You said you hadn’t even sent out the invites yet.”
The other woman’s sweet smile made EvaMarie slightly sick.
“Mason, dear, you don’t need an official invite. You’re welcome anytime.”
After her parting salvo, Liza turned without a goodbye and headed for the table her shopping companions had claimed...right within line of sight. Mason ignored the final part of the conversation and dug into his food with the gusto of a hardworking man.
But EvaMarie was left with the knowledge of the role reversal between them. For the first time, he was invited to the party she wouldn’t be considered good enough to attend.
Thirteen
“Girl, aren’t you about done with all this work for the day?”
EvaMarie gasped, her heart automatically jumping at the sound of a man’s voice despite knowing Mason was out of town. “Don’t scare me like that!” she scolded Jeremy.
He leaned against the threshold to what used to be the walk-in closet off her dressing room—now her sound studio. “You know you’re too protective of this,” he said. “If you’d just tell Mason, he’d fix it so you could continue to work here.”
She looked around the surprisingly roomy space. At least, it was roomy for what she needed. When she’d started creating the studio, she’d given away and stored tons of clothes that she’d held on to since she was a little girl. Her current wardrobe resided on a portable rack in her dressing room.
In here, she’d stripped the walls down to the Sheetrock and installed a layer of insulation. She’d planned to refinish the walls, but then Mason had bought the estate. The space left provided enough room for a small desk that held her recording equipment, scripts, a small lamp and office supplies.
Just what she needed to build her career narrating audiobooks.
She’d never brought Mason in here, and he’d never asked.
What she was trying to do here, and the hope it repre
sented for a new life, a new independence, felt fragile to her. Mason had always gone after whatever he wanted and damn the consequences. He’d probably see her efforts as weak, shadows of his own mighty conquests. Hopefully she could finish out her time in her childhood home without having to expose this part of herself.
It was the very first thing that was all her own. Her parents didn’t know. Neither Laurence nor any of her friends knew. Jeremy had only divined the truth after wiggling his way in. To her surprise, he’d become her fiercest cheerleader. She simply hadn’t been able to share it with Mason yet. It was too personal, too risky. If she failed, she wasn’t gonna do it in front of an audience. “I know things aren’t going to end well with him,” she argued. “They can’t. This, I mean, I haven’t even told my parents about this. How could I—”
“You gotta have positive thoughts, girlie.”
“No.” She turned his way, giving him a hard glare. “No positive thoughts. Not in this. My father almost ruined Mason’s family. No matter how much of a good time we’re having...” She stumbled over the words.
Jeremy gave her a knowing grin. “And a very good time it is, indeed.”
“Shush. It won’t last.” She glanced around the small room. “This—I need in my life. I need to accomplish this, to support myself, okay?”
“So if this thing with Mason isn’t gonna last, why do you have this out?”
From the rack beside the door, Jeremy lifted up a formal dress in a garment bag. EvaMarie’s heart thudded. Jeremy knew what the dress was—they’d discussed it when the movers were cleaning out a storage room downstairs. She should have sent it to the storage unit, but she hadn’t been able to. She shouldn’t have tried it on, but she hadn’t been able to resist. She shouldn’t have had it cleaned this week, but she hadn’t been able to quiet the hopeful voice inside that said Mason would ask her to go to Liza’s family’s ball the day after he returned.
She knew he had a new suit. She’d taken delivery on it when it had arrived.
“I don’t even know why I have it out. He hasn’t mentioned taking me.” She slumped into her chair, disgust rolling through her to wash all the starch from her posture. “Why am I torturing myself like this?”
Because this had been the best few weeks of her life. No parents to judge or criticize her. Purpose and meaning in her work. And a man who made her feel sexy and wanted.
Even if he didn’t really want her for the long term.
“So just go yourself and show him what he’s missing,” Jeremy said.
Her grin was rueful. “Can’t. I didn’t get an invitation. Except—”
“Except what?”
“Laurence has asked me to go with him, as a friend.”
Jeremy was already shaking his head. “Don’t do it.”
“I’m not.” But she wasn’t sure that she wouldn’t. The thought of Mason being there without her, not even realizing he could have invited her, stung. She might just be selfish enough to give in to Laurence.
Jeremy lifted the bag once more. “This would fit you perfectly. And there’s nothing wrong with hoping, EvaMarie.”
“Except feeling shattered when your dreams don’t come true,” she replied, but her tone held little heat. Deep inside, a small part of her was already resigned to never finding someone who would accept all of her, including her family obligations and who she truly was and wanted to be as a person. Those guys seemed few and far between.
But it was the dream dress—her mother’s from her “debut” on the local scene. It fit EvaMarie perfectly... Who was she kidding? She wasn’t going to any stupid dance, so she should stop mooning around about it like a teenage girl from an after-school special.
“Did you need me?” she finally asked, doing her best to forget the complications and focus on reality.
“Do you have time to show me where the furniture needs to be placed in the study?”
“Yeah. I’ve got about an hour’s worth of recording left, but I need to give my voice a break first.”
Her current project was a blessing in many ways. It had come in the same day Mason had left to go out of town—it was also her longest project to date, by an author she’d never worked with before, so she hadn’t been entirely certain how many hours would be involved. But the author was a bestseller with lots of connections. If she liked EvaMarie’s work, this could lead to some good things for her budding career.
But she’d delayed jumping into the project because she’d been nervous about doing a good job. A few false starts, though, and she’d been ready to go.
Jeremy glanced over the equipment she’d painstakingly paid for, piece by piece, and treated like the most delicate of babies. “I think this is so cool,” he said. “With your voice and attention to detail, you’re gonna be a star.”
“I’ll settle for financially stable, but thank you.”
She was gonna miss the little studio when she was forced to move. Despite the half-finished walls and need for secrecy, the alternative would likely be a tiny closet or bathroom in an apartment complex, with all the noise complications that came with it, so—
“You should still tell him,” Jeremy said, nagging her. “I thought you were moving into a whole I’m-going-after-what-I-want stage of life?”
The reminder had her standing up straighter, but she knew the minute she looked into Mason’s eyes, her words would die unspoken. She enjoyed having sex with him—hell, that was an understatement. And not just the physical part, but the exploration and intimacy of being with Mason. She even enjoyed living with him—his smart, funny approach to life kept her guessing and on her toes.
But she refused to use the L word. Because if she couldn’t trust Mason with the most important things in her life, like the career she was struggling to build book by book, then he wasn’t truly the man she wanted for forever.
Was he?
* * *
EvaMarie took a deep breath and braced herself before she even stepped out of her car. The doors of the assisted living center where her parents now resided weren’t quite far enough away for her liking. She hadn’t seen her parents since the blowup at the restaurant. Heck, she’d barely even talked to her mom, and not at all with her dad.
Maybe she should put this off for another day?
But her mother had needed a few things from storage and given her a few niggling reminders that EvaMarie hadn’t been to see the place since they’d gotten settled and—boom! Here she was...
I’m such a sucker.
Trying for a positive attitude, she pushed through the door with purpose and smiled at the girl behind the reception desk who directed her to the Florida room. According to her mother, their new afternoon routine included cool drinks with friends before dressing for dinner. Her parents were happy. Settling in. Her job was done.
Except walking through the spacious rooms with their lush, real plants and unique pieces of artwork only heightened the sense of pressure to perform. Her parents couldn’t truly afford to live here without digging deep into the savings that needed to stay untouched in case of a rapid decline in her father’s health. So EvaMarie was supplementing his disability checks.
Something she’d need to continue doing, which meant achieving her goal of becoming a successful voice artist was of the utmost importance. And after her time with Mason was done, she’d probably have to take another part-time job, as well. Some days she thought she would never know what it was like to live without the performance pressure.
“EvaMarie, there you are,” her mother said as soon as she reached the door. Her mother met her halfway with a kiss. “Darling,” she murmured, “you couldn’t have dressed up a bit more?”
Since when was she required to “dress” to visit her parents? She’d thought her jeans and nice shirt were perfectly presentable.
They approached a table
where several other residents were seated. As soon as her mother started to introduce everyone, EvaMarie changed her mind. Maybe dressing up would have bolstered her confidence in the face of so many people. Her father rose to stand beside her, an arm around her shoulders. It was a pose they’d adopted many times through the years. The picture of the perfect family.
To EvaMarie, it only reminded her just how far from perfect they were.
“If you all will excuse us a moment,” her mother said, “I wanted to introduce EvaMarie to Mrs. Robinson.”
EvaMarie moved along with a smile, then said, “Mother, I really need to bring in your clothes and stuff—”
“Nonsense. There’s plenty of time for that.”
They came to a table closer to the floor-to-ceiling windows occupied by an elderly woman. She appeared awfully frail, but her expression was alight with intelligence when she turned to them. At her direction, they were seated and her father flagged down a waiter for a round of iced sweet tea.
“You were absolutely right, Bev,” Mrs. Robinson said. “Your daughter is beautiful.”
EvaMarie murmured her thanks, while her mother beamed. Though it made EvaMarie feel like she was three, the compliment pleased her mother. After chatting for a few minutes, her father stood. “Bev, let’s go arrange to move your things to our apartment.”
But when EvaMarie started to rise, he waved her back. “We can take care of it. You stay and chat.”
“Um...” Her parents seemed all too happy to make a hasty retreat. But the silence wasn’t awkward for long.
Mrs. Robinson chuckled. “They aren’t subtle, those two, that’s for sure.”
“I’m so sorry.”
“Don’t be, child. I did actually want to meet you, and now that I have, I’m very glad.” Her smile softened the angular edges age had added to her face. “In this instance, I think your mother was dead right.”
