by Dani Wade
Kane hadn’t been able to leave at all, making it all the more imperative that Mason serve as the lone rep for their debut tonight in Kentucky racing circles. Liza’s family was both prominent and well-connected in the local racing scene. Mason needed to get his name—and even better, his face—circulating.
But first, he wanted to see EvaMarie. She hadn’t sounded right when he talked to her on the phone yesterday, and something told him she was upset. Hopefully not with him, but she hadn’t wanted to talk about it. He could tell by the hesitation in her responses and how distracted she’d sounded.
EvaMarie wasn’t the type to spill her guts, even after all they’d shared. If Mason wanted to know, he’d have to coax it out—something he hadn’t wanted to do over the phone. He was much better at it in person.
He looked around the downstairs, noting the sleek elegance of the new tiled floors and the finished dining room. No sounds came from the basement, so Mason assumed they were done for the day, though Jeremy’s car was still in the drive.
Mason took the stairs two at a time, hoping to find EvaMarie in her room, but all was quiet. As he searched, the ticktock of time passing niggled in his brain.
No EvaMarie. Maybe she was in the barn. Would she be able to shower quickly and throw on a dress? Did she even own a formal dress? Surely she did, but he wasn’t sure how long it had been since she’d worn one.
He’d spent years dreaming of her living the high life on her parents’ money. But in actuality, her life had been very different.
In clear detail, Mason now saw the drawbacks to his decision not to mention the party to EvaMarie. He might have been worried he wouldn’t make it home, but if she was here somewhere, he hadn’t left her a lot of time to get ready.
Of course, he’d also felt some confusion over whether he should ask her at all. Despite the incredible intimacy they shared, they weren’t technically dating. They’d agreed on that. Mason didn’t want her to feel like she had to go with him if she wasn’t comfortable making a public appearance on his arm.
But by God, he wanted her with him tonight.
He reached into his pocket for his phone to call her, all while stomping across her rug to the dressing room he knew was on the other side of her bathroom. As he entered the room, he saw a rack of clothes to one side, which seemed odd. No formal dresses there, though. He reached for the door to the closet. Maybe she kept things she didn’t wear much in here.
But what he found inside had nothing to do with clothes. What the hell?
“Girl, why are you back already? Did you forget something?” Jeremy called from the bedroom. “Or did the thought of facing an evening with dull Laurence make you change your mind?”
Ducking back out of the closet, Mason came face-to-face with the other man.
“Oh, snap,” Jeremy said. He swallowed hard. “I don’t think you’re supposed to be in there.”
“It’s my house,” Mason said, stalking closer. His exhaustion faded in the face of his growing anger. “I can be wherever I want.”
Jeremy inclined his head, holding his hands up in surrender. “Also true.”
“What’s this?” Mason asked, jerking his head back toward the closet.
The walls had been covered in insulation, and the shelves were empty of clothes. A table and a filing cabinet had replaced the closet’s usual function. If he had to guess, what looked like sound equipment was the key to the mystery.
Jeremy worried his lip as his averted gaze told Mason he didn’t want to answer.
“You obviously know,” Mason said. “Spill it. Does princess have a ham radio obsession I’m not aware of?”
Jeremy laughed, then slapped a hand over his mouth. When he finally removed it, he was sober under Mason’s glare. “Well, she has an incredible voice, right?”
Mason couldn’t argue that. “What does that have to do with—”
“She needs a way to support herself,” Jeremy rushed to say. “A mutual friend of ours is an author, and she put EvaMarie in touch with some people in the audiobook industry. She’s been working very hard to build a foundation...”
Jeremy’s voice trailed off as he noticed Mason staring. Mason couldn’t help it. His brain had short-circuited the minute he’d realized EvaMarie was building a career. Not a job, not a hobby. A career. One she hadn’t bothered to mention to him—at all.
“Where is she?” he demanded, not caring that his voice had roughened.
He could tell from Jeremy’s face he wasn’t going to like this answer either.
“She left about forty-five minutes ago for Liza’s party.”
Liza’s party. Without him. Yet another thing she hadn’t mentioned. “With dull Laurence?”
Jeremy shook his head but paused under Mason’s look. “Well, she drove herself, but she was meeting him there. As friends.”
Mason gave a sound of frustration and anger all mingled together.
For once, Jeremy didn’t pause. “Well, what did you expect, man? You certainly didn’t invite her.”
No. No, he hadn’t. He’d thought to keep everything separated into neat little compartments. But that didn’t mean he wanted to hear about it from someone else. “I don’t think I need you to tell me how to handle this—” He’d almost said relationship, but that wasn’t what he had with EvaMarie, was it? Not really.
“Well, you certainly need someone to tell you,” Jeremy said, gaining bravado and not backing down beneath Mason’s glare. “She’s not just your housekeeper, now, is she? She’s your woman...or is she just convenient?”
Shock jolted through Mason. “Is that what she thinks?”
“Should she?”
“Should I?” Mason demanded, gesturing back toward the modified closet.
Jeremy frowned. “I’m sure she has her reasons for keeping certain things private, but I think EvaMarie isn’t the only one who needs to be honest around here.”
Mason wanted to rail some more, work out his aggression here and now. As if he knew that, Jeremy didn’t even give him the chance. He simply left.
Mason glanced back into the darkened room with its pile of sophisticated equipment. He’d kept business and pleasure and emotions completely apart from one another. Like a picky child who thought the piles of food on his plate would contaminate each other if they touched. Obviously Mason had been too good at keeping things separate. And while he could forgive EvaMarie for going to the party without him, he refused to take responsibility for her keeping this a secret. That was all on her.
And Mason wanted an explanation.
* * *
EvaMarie slowly relaxed into the rhythm of the evening. Laurence had been just attentive enough when she had arrived to soothe her secret ego, but seemed to lose interest quickly. Which wasn’t unusual for him. Her parents had been welcoming, without finding any little faults to disapprove of... All in all, she was having a much better time than she’d expected.
Except for the urge to look toward the entryway every ten minutes to see if Mason was going to show up.
She’d already checked her phone once to see if he’d texted or tried to call, but had put it away again when her mother frowned in her direction. Her parents weren’t fans of the current trend to have cellular phones constantly in hand. To them, parties were for socializing with the people actually at the party.
Normally, EvaMarie didn’t have a problem with that. Tonight was a whole other matter, in more ways than one.
Suddenly her father announced, “I need to sit down.”
Her mother assisted him with a concerned look that encouraged EvaMarie to stay close. If her father started having difficulty or limb pain while in the midst of all these watching eyes, her mother wouldn’t cope well.
“I’m fine, Bev,” he barked as her mother hovered over his left shoulder. “Just tired, a
ll of a sudden. EvaMarie, get me some champagne.”
Laurence half rose from his chair. “Would you like me to—”
“Nonsense,” her father said in a gruff voice. “She’s perfectly capable of fetching me a drink.”
Concerned, EvaMarie hesitated, but her mother gave a quick nod in the direction of the bar. It wasn’t until she was in line that the first inklings of unease appeared. Several feet away, Liza stood, holding the attention of a court of young ladies. EvaMarie knew them all. They’d grown up together.
What bothered her were the frequent glances in her direction, accompanied by giggles and whispering.
Despite the ache in the bottom of her stomach, EvaMarie took a deep breath and turned slightly away to ignore them. Whatever was happening, she refused to feed the fire by granting it her attention. That was often the thing Liza was looking for—a way to be the center of attention in any given situation. She didn’t need EvaMarie to accomplish that.
But the longer she stood there, the louder the giggling grew. EvaMarie didn’t think the women were getting louder...they were simply getting closer. She ordered her father’s drink and turned to go back to the table with relief.
But Liza had no intention of letting her escape. She’d barely taken half a dozen steps before the woman moved into her path. “EvaMarie, it’s so nice to see you here,” she cooed, the sugar-sweet tone grating on EvaMarie’s nerves. Liza leaned forward as if to impart a secret, only she didn’t really lower her voice. “Although I don’t remember seeing your name on the guest list, if I recall correctly.”
The women behind her giggled, reminding EvaMarie of a gaggle of geese playing follow the leader.
She wasn’t going to give Liza the satisfaction of justifying her presence. It was a pointless exercise when Liza knew that EvaMarie could have arrived with any number of people here.
“I was just telling the girls about your new job,” she said, her overly mascaraed eyelashes wide enough to show the whites of her eyes. Not the most flattering look, in EvaMarie’s opinion.
“Yes?” she said. She was a working woman now. No point in hiding it, which she didn’t want to do.
Earning her own living, learning exactly what she was capable of, left EvaMarie feeling pride—not shame. And looking at the women before her, the very epitome of unoccupied children without purpose in their lives, made her glad. This was what her parents had wanted for her when she was young. But it wasn’t what she wanted. Her work at the library had given her a taste of creating meaning in her life by helping others. And as hard as the work with Mason had been, EvaMarie ended her days satisfied instead of empty.
“So you’re living up there all alone?” one of the women asked over Liza’s shoulder.
EvaMarie squinted. “I’m not sure what you mean.”
“You know,” the woman elaborated, “just the two of you in that big ol’ house.”
EvaMarie almost expected a wink, wink to be added. Was this really what they’d spent their time discussing? “There are a lot of workmen up there. I’m simply directing the renovations for the Harringtons.”
“The Harringtons, huh?” Liza giggled. “But you and Mason are up there alone at night, right? At least, from what I saw.” She glanced over her shoulder at the lemmings behind her. “Gives a whole new meaning to live-in help, if you know what I mean.”
“No, I—”
Laurence appeared at her elbow. “Your father wants to know what’s taking so long.” He lifted the champagne flute from her hand.
“What do you think, Laurence?” Liza interjected. “I’d bet the odds that EvaMarie is securing her job with the Harringtons in more ways than one.”
EvaMarie felt her cheeks flush as Laurence didn’t jump in to immediately defend her. Instead, he cast an inquiring look in her direction.
And even though EvaMarie knew her time with Mason wasn’t like that, she couldn’t stop the red hot glow from spreading down her throat and chest. “That’s not what’s happening at all,” she choked out, even though her brain told her this wasn’t junior high and she didn’t need to justify herself to anyone.
“If it was me,” Liza said, though her tone made it clear she’d never have to stoop that low, “well, let’s just say I wouldn’t blame you for milking that relationship for all it’s worth. You get to hold on to your home and garner the attentions of one sexy man...although I notice he wasn’t the one who brought you tonight. Now was he?”
Just like that, EvaMarie felt her innermost fears laid bare for this uncaring group to dissect and make fun of at her expense. Even Laurence, who’d always stood by her despite her decidedly outcast role in recent years, continued to eye her as if he could see all her secrets behind her fancy retro gown. Finally he asked, “Well, he certainly does have himself a sweet deal, doesn’t he?”
“Laurence.” Anger started to replace the nerves she felt in the pit of her stomach. “That’s completely uncalled for.” Regardless of whether or not it might be true. “I keep my job the same way any employee does. I work hard, and go above and beyond for the Harringtons.”
“Do you now?”
Mason’s voice from right behind her should have been a relief. But the hard tone didn’t reassure her at all. Before she could turn, he stepped in close to her back and spoke to the others. “If you all would excuse us, please?”
Then his hand encircled her wrist, a perfect pivot for him to turn her to face him. She had a brief glimpse of Laurence’s angry expression before Mason whisked her out onto the dance floor.
His sure touch guided her into a loosely modified version of a modern waltz that allowed them to slowly traverse the lightly populated space. Most people were still enjoying the hors d’oeuvres and drinks and hadn’t taken advantage of the live music yet.
The glitter in Mason’s blue eyes as he stared down at her didn’t calm her unsettled nerves. She’d wondered how he would react to seeing her here. She was about to find out.
“So, was Laurence right? Seems to me you’ve gotten quite a few perks out of this deal. Though it hadn’t occurred to me that you might be milking every opportunity to get exactly what you wanted...until tonight.”
“I don’t understand...”
“I went into your closet tonight.”
Her stumble could have been disastrous, but Mason’s smooth save kept them upright and floating across the floor. The whirl of the crowd on the periphery of her vision made EvaMarie a little nauseous.
As if he could read her understanding in her expression, Mason gave a nod, then went on. “So you do understand? How many other secrets have you been keeping from me?”
“What? None.” This new assault from a completely unexpected direction left EvaMarie grasping for a response. “Look, I wasn’t ready to talk about what I was trying to do...”
“Right.” His expression turned into a glare. “It would be a shame for me to encourage you.”
“Would you have?”
Mason didn’t answer, just continued with his unrelenting glare. EvaMarie wasn’t sure exactly what was happening here. She’d made a mistake not telling Mason about her narration job, but they really hadn’t had a lot of time to build that kind of trust. Especially in a situation that had an end date in sight...
When he still didn’t speak, EvaMarie gave in to her own internal pressure to explain. “I’m just trying to build some sort of career.”
“A career based in my house.”
His resentment was becoming clearer. “Actually, I can do it anywhere. You know as well as I do that I needed a place to stay—”
“—and work.”
“And it helped to be able to continue to work, but that’s not why—”
“Why you slept with me?”
The emotions that stopped EvaMarie in her tracks were too complicated to untangle. She found h
erself searching Mason’s face, desperate for any sign of the lover and, yes, friend she’d spent the last few weeks with. The man who had let go of the need for revenge that he’d shown up with on her doorstep. “Is that really how you see me? As a woman who would sleep with you for the chance to stay in my childhood home and—” nausea tightened her throat “—get paid for it?”
In the back of her mind, she realized people were starting to watch them, listen to their conversation. And all of Liza’s suspicions were being confirmed. But what mattered right now was Mason and the realization that he hadn’t changed as much from that vengeful man as she’d thought.
“Well, you haven’t really let me get to know you, the real you, have you? So I can’t really say.”
“Are you kidding me?” she asked, incredulous. “I keep one thing a secret and now I’m hiding from you? Is that how you really view me? Or is this just an excuse to push me away now that other people are starting to talk?”
“I’m not the one who’s always cared what other people think. Am I?”
No, he wasn’t. But that didn’t really answer her question.
EvaMarie was immediately struck by the sudden awareness of how quiet the other conversations in the large room had gotten. And as much as she’d like to say she didn’t care, that didn’t mean she longed to air her dirty laundry in front of all of these people.
Without answering, she turned on her heel, stalking back to her parents’ table. “EvaMarie,” her mother said fretfully as she approached.
She ignored her, ignored her father’s hard stare, ignored Laurence’s arrival right after her. Instead, she reached for her clutch and shawl. She’d had enough partying for one night.
But Mason wasn’t done. “So let’s just get one thing straight,” he said, the sound of his angry voice scraping across her nerves. “Did you or did you not work with me, sleep with me, so you could stay close to your very nice, very free studio in order to build your new career?”
