Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)

by Violet Duke

  “It was…” Her cell phone beeped, signaling a text message and she hoped it was Mason, then she hoped it wasn’t. This was complicated.

  But it didn’t matter, because it was Hailey. “S.O.S. He said no to Drew too.”

  “Frick,” she muttered.

  “What’s up?”

  “Hailey. Mason was invited to coffee with the guys this morning. He insisted he was fine to go alone, that it was social. Obviously, Hailey talked Drew into asking Mason for the money too. He turned him down.”

  Phoebe snorted. “She’s pretty dense, isn’t she?”

  “I suppose she has to try every angle.”

  “Oh, I love it,” Phoebe assured her. “The harder Hailey tries, the more fun it has to be for Mason to say no.”

  “You think he’s saying no for fun?” That didn’t feel right.

  “Hey, if he doesn’t want some revenge, he’s a better person than I am.”

  Adrianne frowned. “Revenge? Mason doesn’t really strike me as the vengeful type, Phoebe.”

  “But you don’t know what Hailey did to him. I think even the Pope would be less than forgiving.”

  “What did she do?” Adrianne didn’t think she really wanted to know.

  Before she could think of an appropriate answer to text to Hailey, her phone rang. It was Hailey. “We have to do something, Adrianne. I have to do the presentation to all the other investors in an hour. What should we do with Mason?”

  Adrianne had several ideas. None of which included a we.

  “I was thinking maybe he could hang out with me. I’m going to be making all the candy for the reception. Maybe it would be good for him to hang out with me and see some behind the scenes of one of the potential businesses.” She was making this up as she went along, but that sounded pretty good.

  Phoebe’s grin and thumbs up said she agreed.

  “Oh, that’s perfect,” Hailey said. “He’ll see up close and personal what a great idea it is.”

  Well, if her boss was going to insist she spend time with Mason, she was going to have to, wasn’t she? “Sure. Sounds great.”

  “Okay.” Hailey didn’t say anything else, but she also didn’t disconnect.

  “Hailey?” Adrianne prompted.

  “I’m sorry about the Ferris wheel and insisting on dinner with Mason,” Hailey finally said in a rush. “I didn’t know you had a real thing for Mason. I know no guy has spent the night with you since you’ve lived here, so I know he must really mean something to you. I’m sorry I didn’t…notice. I thought we were friends but…maybe I’m not a very good friend.”

  Adrianne sat in shock. Hailey Conner had just apologized to her. Was there a full moon or something?

  “Adrianne?”

  She shook herself. “Yeah?”

  “So, I, um…still have to try to get him to invest but I will back off on the…”

  “Cleavage?” Adrianne supplied.

  Hailey actually gave a soft laugh. “Yes. The cleavage. And everything.”

  “That would be great.”

  “I could help you with your cleavage a little though,” Hailey offered.

  Adrianne’s call waiting beeped and she glanced quickly at the incoming number. It was Mason.

  “I’m good, thanks. Bye.” Adrianne quickly hung up on Hailey and picked up Mason’s call. “Want to hang out today?”

  “With you, yes. With anyone else, no.”

  She grinned. “Good answer.”

  “Want to go to the farm with me? I want to check a few things out about the house.”

  “I need to make candy today. A ton of it.”

  “Do it at the farm. The kitchen is great. Huge.”

  A huge kitchen was a sure way to tempt her. As if she needed more temptation than just being with Mason. Her kitchen was great for making a meal or two a day, even a batch of candy here and there, but big batches got complicated. “The stove and stuff works?”

  “Never shut anything off,” Mason admitted. “Kept thinking I might sell it and seemed best to keep the heat and everything working.”

  “Sounds perfect. I’ll meet you there.” She disconnected, making a grocery list in her head as she grabbed her purse and started to stand. She paused when she noticed Phoebe watching her with an amused expression.

  “What?”

  “I think making candy is a great euphemism for sex,” Phoebe said.

  “We’re not going to…” Adrianne trailed off as she realized that was probably a lie. “I’m going to make candy. Too.”

  Phoebe’s laughter accompanied her out of the kitchen.

  ADRIANNE WAS PROPERLY impressed by the farm’s kitchen. It was perfect. Perfect for candy making, perfect for cooking huge family dinners, perfect for hosting barbecues with friends. Perfect.

  She sighed and knew it sounded wistful.

  She wanted a kitchen like this. She also wanted to make candy, cook huge family dinners and host barbecues for friends.

  Mason flipped on a light switch and crossed to open the fridge. “It all seems to be working. What do you think?”

  “It’s perfect,” she said, with more feeling than was really needed for the old farmhouse’s kitchen.

  “Great. I’m going to head upstairs and check on some things.”

  She got busy unpacking her groceries and pots and pans. She was making truffles for the investor reception tomorrow night along with her grandmother’s candy strawberries, on request from Matt, and her own chocolate coffee toffee. She needed to get going.

  For the next two hours, she enjoyed listening to Mason banging around upstairs and stomping over the back and front porches as he searched through bedrooms, the attic, closets, basement and out buildings. She’d catch sight of him through the window or passing by the doorway from time to time, but he didn’t stop to chat or even steal a kiss.

  Still, it was nice working knowing that he was around.

  It was something she could get used to.

  Which was crazy. She’d known him only a couple of days. Sure, she liked him. Yes, he made her hot and tingly with just a smile. But there was no way she could already know that she wanted him around for good.

  In this house.

  The thought hit her hard.

  As if someone had said it out loud to her.

  She was completely comfortable and could imagine herself in this house, with Mason, forever. Adrianne swallowed hard and tried to focus on the pot in front of her. She was making…it took her ten seconds to remember. She was making toffee. She added butter and sugar to the pot, stirred them together and then turned for the salt.

  Through the large window by the table, she caught sight of Mason coming up from the barn. He stopped and bent to toss something into a bucket by the tree, straightened and wiped his hands on his jeans. Large streaks of dirt coated the denim and stupidly, Adrianne’s heart kicked.

  He looked so sexy all dirty and sweaty and…then he grinned, tipped his cap back and wiped his arm over his forehead.

  She stared.

  He wasn’t smiling at her. She knew he couldn’t even see her from there. He was simply smiling. The contentment and happiness were so obvious that she had a hard time swallowing.

  A quiet hissing sound behind her reminded her she was in the middle of…something. Whirling toward the stove, she grabbed for the spoon. Oh, yeah, toffee. Dammit.

  She stirred the melted butter and determined she’d caught it in time. Cussing the fact Mason could distract her so easily, she checked the temperature, stubbornly focusing.

  When she had her own shop this wouldn’t be a problem. There wo
uld be no sexy farmer in faded blue jeans sweating and dirty right outside the window.

  The butter and sugar came to the right temperature and she moved to prepare the baking sheet for pouring it out.

  Maybe she wouldn’t put windows in the shop kitchen anyway. If Mason even came in for coffee or something—she frowned. Would Mason be coming in? Really? He said he wanted to stay, but there was no way he’d give Chicago up entirely. Or even at all. She went to the table and rummaged in the grocery bags for the chocolate and coffee beans she’d ground earlier for the top of the toffee.

  He’d seemed really determined about it last night though. Mason Riley didn’t strike her as the type to say something like he was staying without having put some thought into it. Okay, it was crazy. Definitely. But not impossible.

  If he stayed, moved here, whatever, they could see each other all the time. They could date. Get to know each other. Then the ridiculous I-want-to-be-with-you-forever feelings would be okay and make sense. To everyone. Including her.

  And she could make candy in this kitchen until the shop was done. Even after that. She could make candy at Christmas for their families and…

  She froze.

  This kitchen…at Christmas…her shop…

  This kitchen was sitting on top of where they wanted to build Sapphire Hills.

  If Mason stayed in Sapphire Falls, he’d be living here. In the house they were going to tear down. On the land they were going to pave over. On top of the hill—the only real hill in Sapphire Falls.

  She ran a hand through her hair while rubbing the spot over her heart with the other.

  Frick. Damn. Crap. What were they going to do?

  This was all her fault.

  The plan had been to keep Mason away from Hailey so she wouldn’t screw up their chances of building Sapphire Hills.

  Yeah, this was going great.

  “How’s it going?”

  Adrianne swung to find Mason coming in through the back door.

  He had dirt streaking his T-shirt and right cheek now too and he was grinning like a little boy.

  Her heart thumped. God, she wanted him.

  Not just physically. She wanted all of it. She wanted him to move here, to live in this house, to farm this ground.

  Oh, crap.

  “Is that right?” he asked, pointing at the stove.

  The smoking pot barely registered. She removed it from the burner and turned to him.

  “You should take your clothes off,” she told him.

  He quirked an eyebrow. “Yeah?” He started to unbutton. “I’m all dirty.”

  “You haven’t even begun to get dirty.”

  He grinned and moved toward the sink. “Well, there’s dirty and then there’s dirty.”

  She stopped him with a hand on his arm as he reached for the faucet.

  “No. Dirty.”

  He held up his hands. “Ad, I intend to put these all over you. Let me wash.”

  “You love this dirt,” she said, taking his hands and putting them to her face. “Get me dirty like this, Mason.”

  HE KEPT HIS HANDS in place when she dropped hers to his hips and brought him closer. He moved his right hand, sliding it from her cheek to jaw and down the side of her neck. Fascinated by the streaks left behind, he repeated the motion. It was strange, but seeing her covered in dirt and mud was hot. He had to be with someone who wasn’t afraid to get dirty—in the original sense of the word.

  “You wouldn’t rather use your work as foreplay?” he asked, eyeing the butter behind her on the counter.

  She grinned up at him. “That’s for everyone else. This is for you.”

  He loved that grin. She’d been looking far too serious when he’d come in, and when she’d turned to look at him she’d seemed…stunned. At least that’s how it had looked. But that didn’t make sense.

  She pulled her T-shirt over her head, dropped it at their feet, unhooked her bra and tossed it away.

  This, on the other hand, made perfect sense.

  “Put your big muddy hands on me, Mason,” she said, flipping her hair back and offering her breasts.

  Want pulsed through him, and it was want for everything she was—not only her gorgeous body, but her heart, her dreams, her future.

  “If we’re going to do this right you need to lose even more clothes,” he said, resisting touching her. For now. “I want you dirty all over.”

  She didn’t take her eyes from him as she skimmed off her jeans and panties.

  “Much better,” he said with approval.

  She moved in and wrapped her arms around his neck, rubbing her body against his dirty clothes. She slipped her hands into his hair, against his hot scalp, and pulled him down for a kiss. “I love how you look, smell, feel, taste—” She licked her tongue along his lower lip and then pulled back. “This is the real you, isn’t it?”

  “Hard as a rock and ready to take you on the kitchen counter? Yeah.”

  Goosebumps erupted on her skin and Mason bent and licked the curve of her shoulder.

  “I meant dirty and sweaty and totally happy working out there.”

  He ran his hands down her back, pressing close. “Yeah, that’s me.”

  “I like it.” She rubbed against him again.

  He pushed her back slightly to look. Dirt streaked her chest, arms, belly and thighs.

  “I do too. More than I ever realized.”

  He grinned and lifted her up on the counter top behind her. She immediately spread her legs and he dragged in a deep breath of air.

  He ran his thumb over the streak of dirt on her face, down the side of her neck to her collar bone, down over her breast to the nipple. He drew a circle around the nipple, loving how she arched and moaned.

  The dirt was faint now and there was a lot of skin to play with. Marking her like this gave him a very primal surge of possessiveness. He swiped a hand over his back hip pocket where he knew there was mud and lifted it to her breast.

  The handprint he left looked incredibly erotic and he again thought some of her chocolate or the plain butter would be great.

  He could at least lick that off. Not so much with the mud.

  Adrianne looked down at her body and gave a little groan. “I like your handprints on me,” she said. “They’re the only hands I ever want on me again.”

  “Damned right,” he said firmly. He ran his hand over her stomach.

  There was all that sweet bare skin on her inner thigh and he had to mark that too.

  She parted her legs for him and he could see she was already wet for him—had any woman ever wanted him like this one did?—but he couldn’t put his dirty hands there.

  “You’ll have to use a part of your body that’s been covered,” she said, reading his mind and reaching for his fly at the same time.

  “This doesn’t have any mud on it,” he said, dipping his knees before she could reach him and putting a hand on each leg to keep her open. Then he leaned in and took a long lick of her.

  Her fingers gripped his hair and she moaned his name. He took his time licking and sucking, making her squirm before finally straightening and letting her free his erection.

  “Better than chocolate,” he told her.

  Without a word, she pulled him forward as she scooted closer to the edge of the counter.

  He didn’t argue, didn’t tease, paused only long enough to roll on a condom before he cupped her ass and brought her forward onto him.

  As he sank deep, they groaned together. For a moment, he paused, his forehead on hers, her arms around his neck, memorizing everything about the feel of her.

  The only woman he’d ever feel like this again. Seemingly every inch of her was against every inch of him. And
he still wanted her closer.

  Eventually though, his body drove him to move. He withdrew with excruciating slowness. She shuddered and lifted her mouth to his. She kissed him slow and deep too, her body clinging to his as he thrust forward.

  He tilted his hips so he could drag against her clit. She pulled away from his mouth to gasp and her arms and legs tightened, holding her closer to him. There wasn’t even a centimeter of space between them, as if she was afraid to let go. Buried deep and pressed completely together, he could barely move except to press, rub and give short thrusts. But it was enough. His erection pulsed in her. He wanted to fill her, stretch her, never leave her.

  That last thought seemed out of place, yet when she shifted against him and made that sound in the back of her throat, it really, really fit.

  “This is right where I want to be forever, Ad,” he managed with the little bit of air he could pull in with her holding so tightly. “Tell me I can have this forever.”

  “Yes,” she hissed, moving her hips to get even closer—an impossibility.

  He thrust again and felt her muscles beginning to contract.

  “Come for me, Ad,” he whispered.

  “You too,” she gasped.

  “I’m right with you, babe.”

  As her muscles gripped him, he felt release come racing from his gut through him and into her.

  A moment later, he felt her finally pull in a deep breath. But her hold on him didn’t relax. He kept her close, stroking his hands up and down her spine.

  “Ad?”

  “Yeah?” Her voice was muffled against his shoulder.

  “You okay?”

  “I think you should move in with me.”

  He pulled back and her grip loosened as she took a deep breath.

  “What?” he asked

  “You said you want to stay,” she said. “I want to sleep with you. A lot. Actually sleep, along with this. You should move in with me.”

  He looked down at her, the dirt streaks on her cheeks making him want to kiss her.

  Of course, her breathing made him want to kiss her.

  “I’d love to live with you, Ad. You can move in here.”

  “So you are moving here?”