Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (123 page)

So they wanted him to invest. And they wanted his land.

He’d loved that farm and Milton Johnson, the man he’d worked for every day for nearly six years during junior and high school, but he had few positive emotions for the town where the farm was located. He hesitated to call it his hometown. He didn’t know that he’d ever really felt at home there. But it remained that he’d spent his formative years in the tiny Nebraska town. And now they needed him.

It was interesting. To say the least.

He’d been an outcast growing up. He’d skipped two grades, making him two years younger than the peers he went to class with. That made him weird. He’d been far more interested in the crops and animals he worked with on Milt’s farm than the dates and parties the other kids spent their time on. That made him weird. He’d been awkward around girls, hadn’t been able to discuss pop culture and didn’t care about Friday’s ballgame. That made him weird.

That was years ago, of course. But he hadn’t been back to Sapphire Falls since he’d finished his doctorate degrees, made his money, discovered the genius of custom tailored suits or realized that there was a fine science to women and seduction—and science was something he was plain made for.

Mason poured wine into both glasses and then took a long drink of his. He watched Lauren stab a green bean and chew, clearly thinking of a new argument.

“Why do you care if I go?” he asked.

“I just want you to.” She didn’t make eye contact as she pushed her chicken around her plate.

“How is this about you, exactly?”

“It’s about
you
. I think you need to go back there and blow them away.”

“You think my two PhDs will impress them?”

“Maybe. But they’ve always known you were smart. What they don’t know is that you now know how to dress, how to talk to women, how to order wine, how to—”

“Got it. And let’s not forget to mention that without you, I would be sitting in the corner, alone, dressed in ten-year-old sweat pants, lamenting the utter lack of anything positive in my life.”

Her gaze traveled over him, and Mason grinned, knowing what was coming.

“I really did do a hell of a job.”

Lauren wasn’t technically as smart as Mason, but she was smarter than ninety-six-point-four percent of the population, which meant she was hard to argue with. Making things even more difficult was the fact she could be impressively charming or incredibly manipulative, depending on what the situation required. Both of those things had helped them expand from a research lab funded by grants to an actual business that made a profit consulting with and developing projects for everyone from overseas governments to local farmers.

Innovative Agricultural Solutions was the perfect combination of all the things he and Lauren were good at and loved. This was where he was appreciated, needed, successful.

Why would he want to go back to Sapphire Falls even for a weekend? He had every intention of flat out ignoring the letter.

“They said in the letter that it’s the alumni weekend. They’ve invited you to all the festivities, to see what the town is really like and hear about their plans for the land. Aren’t you the least bit curious?”

Mason took a drink of wine and shook his head. “No.”

“You have to be,” Lauren insisted. “You haven’t been back in over a decade. You have to wonder, at least a little, what’s going on. Isn’t there anyone you would want to see again?”

No.

It didn’t matter that Hailey Conner still lived there.

Nor did it matter that the letter to the potential investors had come from her. The mayor of Sapphire Falls.

Oh, yeah, the land would mean a lot to her.

But it didn’t matter.

He had a sophisticated lifestyle, the respect of the state and nationwide agriculture community and the attention of women that would make jaws drop in Sapphire Falls. He’d gained confidence and the ability to participate in social situations without embarrassing himself. He could out dress the models in GQ. He never had to look at price tags before buying anything and his taste in wine, entertainment, women and nearly every other facet of life was perfect.

He didn’t need to impress Sapphire Falls, or Hailey Conner, to feel good about himself.

Lauren continued to chew, her eyes on the wine bottle. Finally, she swallowed, set her fork down and regarded him with a serious look. “Honey, you have to go because…I need the time off.”

“
You
need the time off? You’re coming with me?” He knew that wasn’t the case. Lauren didn’t spend the night in towns that didn’t have a Starbucks
and
a Macy’s. Sapphire Falls had coffee at the diner, Dottie’s, and at the Stop, the gas station/convenience store/pizza place/ice cream shop on Main and First—though not good coffee. The closest shoe store was twenty-two miles away.

“I need the time off from you.”

He selected a green bean as well and chewed as he watched her. “I have no idea what you mean by that.”

She tipped her head to one side. “The hell if you don’t.”

Mason took a sip of wine and shook his head. “No. I really don’t.” He did. But he did not want to go to Sapphire Falls.

“I can’t take time off if you don’t take time off,” she said. “And you know it.”

“You don’t need time off. We have a lot to do.”

“Look, Mason,” Lauren said. “Alex is a little intimidated by you.”

“Alex needs to man up.” Alexia was a tall, beautiful, willowy blond who was absolutely, no question, all woman.

“Ha, ha. What Alex needs is a weekend alone with me without you interrupting us.”

Mason knew exactly what she was talking about but he wasn’t about to admit it. “I don’t interrupt. I call you about work. If you’re in the middle of…things…when I call, that isn’t my fault.”

“The last eight out of ten times that we’ve been making love, you’ve called.”

“Not on purpose. Though if you had a webcam, I would very likely email.”

“Again, you’re hilarious.” Lauren drank the rest of her wine, set the glass down on the table and leaned in. “You owe me. I made you rich, hot and un-weird. Now I want you to leave town. Is that so much to ask?”

“It’s also not my fault that you take my calls and return my texts,” he pointed out, not wanting to admit or deny that he owed her. He did. Big. And he knew that no matter how wonderful Lauren was, she was going to cash in sometime. Maybe this was a good way to get it over with.

Lauren looked down. “You’re right.”

“I am?” He hadn’t expected that.

“I shouldn’t answer when you call. But I never know for sure. I mean, what if you need me? Or what if something huge happened at the lab? Yes, I’d want to know.” She looked up with the most desperate expression he’d ever seen on her face. “I can’t help it. I love Alex, but I also love what you and I do together, Mason. So I can’t ignore the calls. Which is why you have to leave town. Far away. For several days. Because when you’re here, you work. When you work, amazing things happen. When amazing things happen, I want to know. So you have to leave.”

He knew they were co-dependent. Pathetically so. Everyone knew that. They practically shared a brain. A big, amazing, no-one-else-could-do-what-they-do brain. They’d met in college and had been inseparable ever since. They worked together. Neither really socialized, so they didn’t need to do that together. But they ate at least a meal a day together—at work—saw each other at least a day a weekend—while working—and went out of town together—to work-related conferences and meetings.

And everything had been fine until Lauren had met Alex. Alexia had seen Lauren at the grocery store and had hit on her. Lauren had fallen hook, line and sinker, leaving Mason without a chef or someone who would put up with his eccentricities—of which there were many—or a partner who was at work constantly.

It was all quite inconvenient frankly.

“I don’t want to go.” He’d never pouted, even as a child, but he really didn’t want to go.

“Why not? Mason, God, you should want to go. Show them all how wonderful you are, how great you turned out, how
hot
you are now.”

“Yeah, you know I appreciate the compliment, but it’s a little empty from you. You don’t know hot unless it has long blond hair and wears red lingerie.”

Lauren laughed. “I don’t mind black either.”

“Hair or lingerie?”

She grinned. “Either.”

“Exactly.”

“And I
do
, quite obviously, know hot. I created you.”

Lauren had known Mason for exactly three days before she’d taken him to the barber and the mall.

The results had been…transforming.

“I don’t appreciate the I-owe-you bit, babe.”

“I know.” She grinned. “And I don’t really feel that way, you know. But I do expect a thank-you note from all of those women in Sapphire Falls.”

He sighed and cut into his chicken. There was no reason to answer and no point in arguing. He’d do anything for Lauren, and if all she wanted was a few days with Alex—a very sweet woman who made his best friend incredibly happy—then he could get lost for a long weekend.

But not in Sapphire Falls.

THREE THINGS INTRIGUED Adrianne Scott about Mason Riley.

Two of those things had caught her attention as she’d written up his profile for inclusion on their list of potential donors for the building project. One, he was a genius. Literally. He had an IQ of 136. Second, he’d grown up and graduated from Sapphire Falls High but hadn’t stepped foot in the town in eleven years.

Third, and
very
interesting—he hadn’t dated Hailey Conner. Her boss. The mayor of Sapphire Falls. That almost made him more unique than the IQ thing.

“Why are we only inviting men you’ve had sex with?” Adrianne asked.

The first four men on the list were past boyfriends of Hailey’s. One had been her first love, one had been a friend who’d turned into more, one had taken her to two proms, and another had stolen her from the guy who had taken her to two proms.

Adrianne had heard all the details.

But her favorite piece of information was Hailey saying, “I never dated Mason. He wanted to go out, but I wasn’t interested.”

It was ridiculous that Adrianne cared who Mason Riley had or had not dated in high school, but she did. The only reason she could really give for that was that she was fascinated by the guy.

“And I didn’t say I’d had sex with them all,” Hailey protested. She tossed the photo she’d been looking at on top of the five manila folders that lay on the table between them. “But I’ll give you three reasons these guys are all on our list. They like me. They’re from here. They all have money.”

That was all true. Hailey seemed to have great taste in men. All five of the men on their list of possible donors were successful, intelligent and good-looking.

“You’re sure Mason likes you?” Adrianne couldn’t help but ask. “You turned him down, right?”

Hailey shrugged. “Yeah. But he’s the most successful of any guy who’s ever even asked me out, so I thought we might as well ask.”

“Sure, why not just ask? It’s only a hundred thousand dollars,” Adrianne commented dryly.

“And a chance to come home for all the alumni activities and reconnect,” Hailey added.

“Yeah, don’t forget the free barbecue,” Adrianne muttered.

She loved the idea of Sapphire Hills. The shopping area they wanted to develop would be full of unique shops, offering everything from wine to purses to furniture. They’d come up with the name over margaritas and wine about six months ago. It would be on top of a hill. Kind of. The Sapphire part they were still trying to figure out. Of course, Sapphire Falls, founded in 1892, also didn’t have a blue waterfall—or a waterfall of any other color—within a hundred miles. But Sapphire Hills would boost the local economy, pull tourists in and give them a claim to fame.

Of course, they already had a kind -of claim to fame.

“Tyler Bennett is such an ass,” Hailey said with a groan, tossing one of the photos of Mason onto the table.

Right on cue. The subject of Tyler Bennett being an ass came up on a daily basis.

Hailey had never had trouble getting a guy to return her calls before, so she was completely out of her element having to talk to Ty about the project through
his people
. She was in touch with his lawyer, primarily, and the guy was either immune to Hailey’s charms…or he actually had Ty’s best interests at heart. They wanted to be sure everything was happening by the book, and happening successfully, before they committed any of Ty’s money or his name.

“Why does
he
have to be the most famous person from Sapphire Falls?” Hailey asked. “I swear, if I end up with wrinkles because of him, he’s paying for the Botox.”

The way she scowled whenever she talked about him, wrinkles were a real possibility in a normal person, but Adrianne wasn’t convinced Hailey’s skin could actually wrinkle. Like her hair seemed incapable of frizzing.

“I’m not sure he meant to end up famous,” Adrianne said.

Tyler Bennett was an Olympic silver medalist, born and raised in Sapphire Falls. That would have been enough to make him the most famous Sapphire Falls native, but he’d also landed himself in the media with some post-Olympic antics in Vegas and New York and a tumultuous romance with a big Hollywood star.

It was all a little ridiculous, but it was enough to make Ty a sort-of celebrity, which meant that he could attract some attention and traffic to Sapphire Hills. If he was a part of it.

He wasn’t willing to sign anything or make any commitments—or public announcements—until they had the building built and mostly paid for.

That was the part that was pissing Hailey off.

That he planned to put his name on it via a sports bar called Bennett’s was what annoyed Adrianne.

How a sports bar fit with candy, coffee, furniture and jewelry was beyond her. But she was determined to make it work. If anyone could convince people that beer and burgers fit with handmade greeting cards and locally produced jams and jellies, it was her and Hailey. And if those beers and burgers pulled people in to buy the cards and jelly, then she was all for it.