Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (142 page)

“That’s ridiculous,” Mason said.

“But it’s reality,” she returned. “Most people don’t understand what we do, and they sure aren’t going to understand how much we do it. If we want to be in love with normal people we have to have more normal lives.”

He could hear scraping sounds that indicated Lauren was cleaning up her brownie mess while she talked to him.

“I don’t think that’s true,” Mason argued. “Adrianne—”

“This is your fault anyway.”

“My fault?” Mason repeated. “I left town when you asked me to so you could be with her.”

“I mean all this craziness that I’m choosing over her. We can’t stop now. The stuff we’re doing at work is bigger than both of us, thanks to you being brilliant and stuff.”

“Have you been drinking?” he asked.

“No, dammit.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, I put some vodka in my orange juice this morning. But that’s not why I’m saying this. Mason, we’re supposed to be in Haiti in two weeks for the preliminary visit. We’re supposed to be in DC next week. I dumped Alex for this.”

He heard a thump on her end of the phone.

“I thought Alex dumped you.”

“Alex dumped me because I said I was going to Haiti instead of staying here with her. So you are not staying in Sapphire Falls.”

“This is different. Adrianne is—”

“I get it,” Lauren said. “I do. She’s hot, right?”

“Yes. She’s…” Mason trailed off, at a loss for the perfect way to describe Adrianne. Beautiful wasn’t enough. The way he felt about her was so much more than how she looked.

“I know,” Lauren said. “The lips, the breasts, her smell, her skin, her hair…I get it. But that heat that fast doesn’t make sense. What about compatibility? What about what we—you—have in common? How can I—you—keep her interested when I—I mean you—are sitting on the couch watching
Dancing with the Stars
and all you can think is how much you could be getting done at work instead?”

Mason’s knew his mouth was hanging open in shock. Lauren didn’t rant and rave like that. She sounded…crazy. She sounded…

“Are you crying?” he demanded.

She distinctly sniffed. “No.”

He really had no idea what to say now. Lauren didn’t cry. She yelled sometimes. She slammed doors. She ate brownies. But she never cried. And she’d never been crazy about anyone like she was about Alex. Alex was different. With Alex, Lauren had been distracted, spontaneous…different. It had been fast and hot and crazy.

Like him and Adrianne.

He sighed. “Maybe you should just watch the show, Lauren. If that’s what she wants, do it.”

“I’m still not there though. I’m still thinking about other things.”

“Then maybe,” he said carefully. “She wasn’t the right one.” He hesitated with what he was about to say. “Adrianne gets it.”

“Gets what?”

“What we do. Why we do it.” He paused. “Who I am.” Lauren didn’t answer right away.

“Does she?” she finally asked.

“Yes. And she likes it. Admires it.” She let him write work notes on her.

“Ah.” Lauren’s tone had totally changed. “She likes you.”

“She likes me,” he agreed.

He knew that Lauren understood what he was talking about and didn’t feel pathetic about it. She was almost the only one who could really know him without him feeling vulnerable. Almost the only one. There was another woman, a short blond with the sweetest mouth, who he was more than willing to have as close as possible.

“Of course she likes you.”

“Don’t say it like that.”

Lauren sighed.

Lauren knew women liked him. But not the real him. He was great at putting on the act. He was suave, polished, sexy, sure of himself. As far as they were concerned. But they didn’t really know him. When conversation turned to fertilizer and irrigation, most lost interest, if they didn’t just outright think he was weird. So he kept it superficial. They talked about social issues, politics, his travels, their work.

But Adrianne knew him. Knew about him, even some of his past here in Sapphire Falls. And liked him. Wanted him.

He’d left her sleeping this morning. She was probably going to be sore when she got up this morning, he thought with a grin. He’d been unable to keep from waking her every few hours throughout the night. At least when she wasn’t wakening him.

They’d made love repeatedly in several variations, each more incredible and better than the last. Especially after he told her he loved her. She hadn’t repeated it, but he could feel it—stronger every time.

“You’ll see,” Mason said gently. “It’s going to be fine.”

“This is all my fault,” Lauren said. Something clattered on her end of the phone. “I made you go to Sapphire Falls. I made you so attractive that Adrianne couldn’t resist. I told you that something had to be more important than work. But don’t listen to me, Mason. Because of Alex, I’ve been distracted and leaving work early instead of focusing on the stuff for Haiti. And now she’s gone and all of that is wasted time. But none of the time we’ve spent on Haiti is wasted. Those people need us. Those people will appreciate us. They deserve us. Hot girls who make us think about nipple clamps and bubble baths and being in love forever and ever do not deserve us.”

Mason’s eyes were wide. He wasn’t sure what he was more stunned by—Lauren’s continued ranting, his mental picture of Alex and nipple clamps, or the fact that his best friend really believed that Adrianne was bad for him.

Damn.

None of that was good.

“Lauren, calm down. Everything is going to be fine—”

“Are you coming home?”

“I’ll have to make a trip eventually. I’ll have to figure this DC meeting out.”

He thought about suggesting Lauren go without him. But the truth was she couldn’t. She could explain everything, present everything, make the case. But the vice president was upset with Mason. Mason had to deliver the presentation and make nice. Not that he exactly cared if the vice president liked him or was happy with him, but it would undoubtedly make things easier in the future when he and Lauren wanted to work overseas. They could do what they wanted without the vice president’s blessing, but it would be easier with it.

Dammit.

“I was thinking we could do a conference call—”

“Oh, sure. A conference call. Why didn’t I think of that?” Lauren asked with sudden brightness. “I think that’s a fantastic plan.”

“You do?”

“Hell no. That idea sucks.”

“Why? They’ll get the info they need. I’ll even apologize to Vice President Forrester.”

“You’re seriously telling me that you’re going to ask the vice president of the United States to have a conference call with you so you can stay in Hicksville for a fling.”

“She’s not a fling,” he said stubbornly. “She’s the one. You’ll like her. She’s—”

“A distraction you, we, don’t need.”

He arrived at the café. “I have a meeting. I have to go.” He could have told her the guys had invited him to coffee, but she would have thought he was making it up.

“Mason,” Lauren said quickly. “I don’t lie to you, right?”

“Right,” he said with some reservation.

“Then believe me when I say that if you are not on a flight to Chicago by tomorrow morning, I will do whatever I have to do to save you from yourself.”

That didn’t sound good at all.

“I don’t—” he started.

“Do not make me come to Sapphire Falls.”

“I’ll have to call you later.”

“Sure, you do that,” she said. “Whenever you get a minute. No big deal. I’ll go ahead and do all of our work for the DC meeting without you and—”

He hung up.

He’d never, ever hung up on Lauren before. But she was pushy and bossy and had been dumped and was blaming him—at least indirectly—so there wasn’t really anything good to come out of further conversation at the moment.

A minute later, he had to silence his phone as he stepped into the diner. Lauren could leave all her thoughts and opinions about all of it on his voice mail. Which he was sure she would.

“Mason!”

Drew’s enthusiastic greeting made him smile in spite of himself. Maybe they were all faking it to make him feel good. But maybe they found him interesting. He was going to stay carefully away from the topic of his work and concentrate on things they cared about—the Sapphire Falls high school football team, the University of Nebraska’s football team and the Kansas City Chiefs football team.

All things he’d spent time researching on Adrianne’s computer that morning.

“’Morning.” He took the chair across from Tim. “I see the Huskers have a great new running back from Texas.”

CHAPTER EIGHT

“THIS IS
SO
GREAT.”

Adrianne dropped her head onto her hands. “No, Phoebe, this is not great.”

“How is you falling in love with a great guy not great?”

Adrianne’s head whipped up. “What?”

Phoebe grinned and lifted the takeout coffee cup she’d brought with her knowing, she claimed, that Adrianne would be too tired to get up and make anything. She’d brought Adrianne tea too.

She was tired. No doubt about it. And sore. But if she were given the chance to repeat the night, she wouldn’t change a thing. Except for Mason’s declaration of staying in town. And she wouldn’t have wasted even the time she had sleeping. He was leaving Monday—he was—and she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible until then.

Until she had to swear him off with the carrot cake and drinking and staying up too late and her Blackberry and…all the other things that she’d loved and been addicted to.

“You’ve never been in love before?” Phoebe asked, reaching for one of the sugar packets she’d brought along as well.

“I’ve…” Adrianne thought about it. Besides one college boyfriend, she couldn’t honestly say she’d been in love. And that had been first love, kid stuff. Certainly, she’d never felt the way she did about Mason.

With a groan, she dropped her head back to her hands. “This is terrible.”

Now not only did she know he couldn’t stay, and she was going to be sad to see him go, it really was going to break her heart.

Dammit.

“How did this happen?”

“He came to town, you danced with him and the rest is the story you’ll tell your grandkids.”

“Stop it.” Adrianne lifted her head again. “Seriously. This can’t happen.”

“It already did.”

“Then I have to keep it from…continuing. Even if he has some feelings for me, he can’t stay.”

Phoebe didn’t look convinced.

Adrianne tried harder. “He’s wrapped up in everything, being a part of the crowd, the phenomenal sex, the idea that the
in
crowd wants him for something. It won’t last. It’s not real.”

Phoebe added another sugar packet and stirred her coffee. “I probably shouldn’t say anything. I’ll make you mad. Again.”

“If you’re referring to what you said about me not being willing to fight for him, then yes, please don’t say anything,” Adrianne said. Phoebe was right. That was the sucky part. She didn’t want to have to fight. She was tired of fighting. She didn’t want to have to try. She wanted easy, simple, angst-free.

“I’m thinking that if the guy you’re in love with isn’t enough to make you want to take a risk then I don’t know what will be. I worry about you.”

Adrianne swallowed against the lump in her throat. “I’m fine.”

“Well, at least you’re getting laid. That’s more than I can say.”

That simple reminder was enough to make liquid heat rush through Adrianne’s body.

Phoebe must have seen something in her face because she whistled. “Wow, it must have been good.”

It had been. It had been enough to ruin her forever for other men. It had been enough to make her want to beg him to stay.

“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.”