Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance) (5 page)

Since she didn't need to rush home for her dad, and she didn't feel like cooking, she decided to have dinner at the little restaurant in Gardiner. She loved to stop here when she could and have an elk burger. It wasn't something you could get in New York. She sat at a booth in the corner and ordered a beer while she waited.

The server had just brought her food when she saw him. Damn him! He stood silhouetted in the doorway for a moment as he looked around. Double damn him! He really shouldn't be allowed to look like that. His cowboy hat was pulled low over his eyes, but she could still see them peeking out at her, that hint of laughter in the creases around them. His broad shoulders were speckled with raindrops. The same buckle as he'd been wearing last night sat at his narrow waist, his muscular legs were encased in work worn Wranglers, brown boots sticking out the bottom. He was sexier than any man had a right to be. His smile told her he knew it, too. He sauntered over and slid into the booth to sit opposite her.

“Hey, babe.”

Her heart stopped in her chest. His words took her right back, back to all the times they'd sat here, in this very booth. All the days they'd spent in the park, hiking, snowshoeing. All the times he'd packed her gear around for her when she was determined to get the perfect shot of the Grizzlies or the wolves.

“What do you want, Mason?”

“You.”

Her heart went from naught to sixty in a nanosecond. If only that were true. If only he wanted her like he used to say he did—forever. But he didn't. He hadn't then and he certainly didn't now.

“We both know that's not true, Mase.”

“Never spoke a truer word in my life, G. I want you. You say you don't want me. But you do.”

“I told you. I'm getting married.”

He stared pointedly at her left hand.

She realized that he was noting the lack of a ring. “We haven't picked one out yet.”

He laughed. “
We?
Isn't he supposed to pick one out himself? What kind of proposal was it if he didn't even have a ring ready?”

Gina felt her cheeks color. She wasn't about to tell him that there hadn't even been a proposal!

He narrowed his eyes at her. “You're not shitting me, are you? Does he even exist?”

“Yes, he does! He'll be here this weekend. You should come to Chico and meet him!” Oh, why in the hell had she said that? Introducing the two of them had not been part of the plan!

Mason was grinning at her, looking way more confident than she could be comfortable with. “That's mighty nice of you, babe. I think I'll do that. Be good to meet the guy.” He picked a fry from her plate and smiled as he popped it into his mouth. “You want to eat that before it gets cold.”

She couldn't eat a damned thing! She took a swig of her beer. “What are you doing here, Mase? I don't for one second believe that you just happened to be down here.”

He grinned and took a swig of her beer before answering. “You're right. I stopped by to see you at lunchtime. Your dad said you'd come down to the park. I figured you'd stop in here on your way home.”

She let out a big sigh. “Why did you want to see me? I thought we said everything we were going to say last night.”

He held her gaze. “Last night I asked you to give me one good reason why I should keep it my pants.”

Gina swallowed. She wanted to wriggle in her panties, the way he was looking at her. She was getting wet just at the memory of last night in the kitchen. And damn him, and his lazy smile, he knew it.

“I'll be honest. You stunned me when you said you were getting married. But I've had time to think about it.” He held her gaze and smiled that smile. “I thought it was only right I should let you know.”

“Let me know what?” Even to her own ears, her voice sounded husky, full of desire.

He caught hold of her hand and traced circles on her palm with his thumb. She didn't pull away. She couldn't. She stared at him, mesmerized, waiting for him to reply.

“That I don't consider that a good enough reason.”

Now she did try to pull her hand away, but he closed his own big paw around it. “What the hell are you saying?” she gasped.

“I'm saying that you can lie to me if you want. You can marry him if you must.” He held her gaze as he lowered his voice and squeezed her hand. “But you're going to sleep with me again before you do, babe. And don't even try telling me you don't want to. We both know that'd be a lie.”

“No, Mason!” She wanted to sound strong, indignant, but it sounded more like she was begging.

He grinned. “Gina, last night I took you from
No, Mason, no,
to
Yes, Mason, yes!
in just a few minutes. Maybe tonight we should take our time.”

“Mason. Last night was wrong. I shouldn't have done that. I shouldn't have let
you
do that.”

“But you did let me do that. For all your words, babe, you let me because you wanted me to. You still want me to. So I thought it was only fair that I should come tell you, before you leave we're going to do it again. Except this time I won't be showing any restraint. When I spread your legs, I'm going to remind you how I make you feel. Remind you how my cock feels inside you, stretching you, filling you, driving you wild until you come for me.” He looked deep into her eyes. “Remind you that you don't hate it at all.”

Gina squirmed in her seat. If he kept talking like that, she was in danger of coming for him right now!

He smiled, knowing what he was doing to her. “So what do you say, babe?”

What could she say? It was all wrong! But her breath was coming low and shallow and her panties were wet. She'd be lying if she said she didn't want him.

He saw her hesitation. “Gina, sweetheart. If you're going to marry this guy, you need to be sure. You can't tell me you haven't thought about me over the years. Can't tell me you haven't remembered how good we were, haven't wished we could have one more time?”

She shook her head. She couldn't.

“So why pretend you don't want to? You'd have let me last night if I hadn't left.”

She nodded. It was true.

“Tell me you don't want me. Tell me and I'll walk out of here right now. Wish you the best and leave you alone.”

Gina was shaking. If she could do it. If she could tell him one last lie. It would be over. Finally. She swallowed around the lump in her throat, furious with herself as she felt her eyes sting with tears.

Mason's smiled faded. Hope shone in his eyes. “Tell me you don't
love
me anymore.”

Gina shot out of the booth and fled.

Mason rested his feet up on the coffee table and looked at his brother. “I need you to tell me whatever the hell you remember, Shane.”

Shane pulled a chair out from the dining table and turned it around. He straddled it and propped his arms on the back. “Mase, how many times have we done this whole inquisition thing? I must have told you everything I know at least a hundred times over the years.”

Mason stared at him. “But maybe I missed something. Maybe
you
missed something. I mean when I first realized she wasn't coming back, I wasn't thinking straight for months. Then for the first few years, I was angry. When she wouldn't talk to me, didn't even have the decency to tell me why she broke it all off, I was madder than hell. I'm starting to think that I should have tracked her down and
made
her explain. This is the first time I've pushed her, and she couldn't bring herself to say that she doesn't love me anymore!”

Shane looked at him. “I don't know what to say, Mase. I've badgered both of you for all this time to just sit down and talk to each other. I never understood why she did what she did and I never understood why you let your pride stop you from going after her.”

Mason rubbed his hand over his eyes. “Because I'm a complete asshole! That's all I can think of.”

Shane grinned. “I didn't like to mention that possibility. There's no point beating yourself up for what's already gone, though. What are you going to do now? That's what matters.”

Mason shrugged. “She said this guy of hers is going to be here this weekend. That I should come meet him at Chico. She seems to think he can put me off. I think I can put
him
off. I'm definitely going to go. But what the hell I'm going to do when I get there, I don't know. You're going to come with me, right?”

Shane laughed. “You know it, bro.”

“What did her old man say about this guy? I don't even know his name.”

“Al has never met him, but from the way he talked, he doesn't like the idea of him. You know he's always wanted to see the two of you back together. I'd say he's got even more reason to want that now, too.”

“Why's that?”

“Think about it. If you and Gina got back together, she'd come back here. Al wouldn't have to go to New York because Gina wouldn't be there anymore.”

Mason did think about it. “You really think there's a chance she'd have me back?” He could hardly dare to hope. But since he'd seen her in Gardiner, he couldn't help but hope. He'd known she wouldn't be able to tell him she didn't want him. The physical attraction and connection they shared had always been strong. Stronger than any other he'd known. The other night in her dad's kitchen had proved it was still as undeniable as ever. What had given him real hope was when he'd seen the struggle on her face, seen her eyes fill with tears. She wouldn't have been like that if she didn't care, if she didn't… And she hadn't been able to tell him that she
didn't
love him. That put a whole different spin on everything.

There were a few details that stood in the way though. Details like a fiancé who was going to be here this weekend, and a life and career that she had in New York. Still, if she loved him, nothing would be able to stand in the way. He'd driven himself crazy these last few days, thinking about it all, finally admitting to himself that he still loved her. That he always had, and that he'd been stupid to accept that she meant it when she'd said it was over between them.

Chance came in the back door. He kicked out of his boots and hung his hat and coat on the rack before coming through. “What's up, guys?”

Shane grinned at him. “We're making plans to go to Chico this weekend. You coming?”

“I could do. It's been a while. Is there a good band coming?”

Shane laughed. “I don't know who's playing. All I know is that big brother is going to go meet Gina's fiancé and I need to be there for that.”

Chance turned to Mason. “What's the plan?”

Mason shrugged. “There isn't one. All I know is that I'm not going to give her up without a fight this time.”

“Good. Then count me in.”

~ ~ ~

Gina sat by the big fireplace in the Bozeman airport. She shuddered in spite of the warmth. Nothing about this trip was working out the way it was supposed to. Liam had insisted that the real estate market was picking up all over the country and that she should get her dad's place up for sale. That it would sell fast. The realtors had told her a very different story—that it was taking at least six months to a year to sell properties like her dad's. She'd thought that while she was here, she would perhaps be able to catch up with Shane and definitely be able to avoid Mason. She'd only seen Shane briefly and had three major run-ins with Mason. Liam wasn't going to come at all and yet here she was waiting for him to land. The fact that he was going to have Kaitlyn and Ian along for the trip confused matters more.

When she'd asked Liam to come, she'd been hoping the two of them would get to spend some time together. That she'd be able to share the place she loved with him and that, seeing him here, she would remember what she loved about him. She'd begged him to come because she'd believed that his presence would be enough to make Mason leave her alone. Even that had been turned on its head! She was dreading him coming, dreading having to spend time with Kaitlyn and Ian, and seriously regretting the fact that she'd told Mason he should come out to Chico to meet Liam!

She stood up as passengers started coming down the escalator towards the baggage claim area. Ian spotted her first and waved. She waved back and frowned as she saw Kaitlyn leaning a little too close to Liam, smiling up at him as she said something that made him laugh. The two of them didn't even notice her until they were almost at the bottom. She shrugged it off. Kaitlyn had been Liam's PA at the gallery for years. They were close. Ian came straight over to give her a hug.

“Gina! I hope this resort we're staying at is civilized. It feels like we've come to the ends of the earth to find you. We must've flown over at least seven mountain ranges and nothing that looked big enough to even call a town since Denver.”

She laughed and hugged him back. “Don't worry. It may be a little more isolated than you're used to, but Chico is very civilized—and they have a great wine cellar. You'll be fine.”

Ian laughed as he let her go. “Glad to hear it.”

Liam put his hands on her shoulders and pecked her lips. “Well, we're here. I'm not sure what your plea for help was all about, but we came to the rescue.”

No hug. No
good to see you.
Or
I've missed you.
And
we
not
I
came to the rescue. Gina smiled to cover her disappointment.

“Hi.” Kaitlyn smiled.

“Thanks for coming,” said Gina, even though she wasn't at all glad that Kaitlyn was here.

A little over an hour later, Gina pulled up in front of the lobby at the resort. “Shall we meet you in the bar once we're all checked in?” asked Liam.

Gina looked at him. Was he serious? He was going to let her go park the car while he and his friends went and got settled in their rooms? He didn't want her to come with him? Didn't want a moment alone with her? “Sure,” she replied.

Liam climbed out and helped Kaitlyn down from the truck. Ian seemed to understand. He ruffled her hair as he climbed out himself. “You know what he's like, Gina. He's just doing what he thinks is going to be most efficient.”

Gina smiled at him. “I know. I wish he could show a little more interest in me than in efficiency sometimes.”

Ian shrugged. “He is what he is. We all know that.” He grabbed his bag and closed the door before hurrying to catch up with the others.

Gina drove around the lot looking for a place to park. It looked like it was going to be a busy weekend, judging by the lack of empty spaces. She eventually found one and parked up. She was making her way back to the lobby when she saw a very familiar red Tundra coming towards her. Shane!

She stood still, blocking his way and he flashed his lights and revved his engine at her. She laughed and folded her arms, refusing to move. She laughed even harder when he started flashing his headlights in Morse code. Blinking S.O.S. at her. She stepped to the side and he pulled up next to her, rolling his window down.

“You know what that was about, right?” he asked.

“Of course I do!” They'd learned Morse code together when they were ten years old. “Save our souls.”

“Nope.” Shane laughed. “Scoot over sister!”

Gina laughed with him. He felt more like a brother than a friend. They'd been so close for so many years growing up.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

Gina was uncomfortable now. Just on the drive over from the airport she'd realized that Liam didn't belong out here. He'd commented on pretty much everything he'd seen—and not in a complimentary way. She was pretty sure the resort wouldn't be up to his standards and he wouldn't hesitate to make that known. Asking him to come had been a bad idea, but it was done now. He was here and she would have to make the best of it. “My fiancé, Liam, and some of our friends are here for the weekend.”

Shane cocked his head to one side. “You don't look thrilled, G. And you didn't invite me to come meet him. What's up?”

He knew her too well. There was no point lying to him. “Honestly, I don't think he's going to like it here. And...”

“And what?”

“And I don't think you're going to like him.”

Shane grinned. “You underestimate me. I may be a valley boy through and through, but I've been out in the big world, remember? I can make allowances for snooty city shits. I mean it's not their fault. They just don't know any better, do they?”

Gina had to laugh. “I didn't say he was a snooty city shit!”

Shane winked at her. “You didn't need to. Don't worry. I'll do my best not to embarrass you. You
are
going to introduce me, aren't you?”

She nodded. She hardly had much choice, did she? And besides, introducing Shane to Liam was going to be a lot easier than introducing Mason. She waited while Shane went to park up. Then walked arm in arm with him into the saloon.

Ian was sitting at the bar, but there was no sign of Liam or Kaitlyn. He waved when he saw them. Gina had to wonder why on earth he'd come. He ran the gallery with Liam, and the two of them spent most of their free time together, but coming all the way to Montana seemed a little much.

He looked apologetic. “They should be down soon. Kaitlyn had a problem with her room and Liam was helping her to get a better one.”

Gina pursed her lips but didn't comment. “Okay. I'd like you to meet a dear friend of mine. This is Shane Remington, we grew up together. Shane, this is Ian Rawlings, Liam's partner at the gallery.”

Shane held out his hand. “Nice to meet you. Are you a photographer, too?”

Ian shook his head. “No, I'm a business brain, not a creative one. Liam and I simply showcase the talents of people like Gina. And you?”

Shane grinned. “I run a dude ranch on my parents’ property.”

“That's like a vacation ranch, right? Where people stay to ride horses and pretend to be cowboys for a while?”

Shane laughed. “Yeah. Pretty much. The way the economy is going, it's tough for any of the ranches to survive. So we take in paying guests and give them a taste of the Old West. Usually, it's more like picnic rides exploring the back country, but some of them want to try real ranch work and we get them involved in as much as they're capable of.”

Ian nodded. “Sounds cool.” He looked at Gina. “That would make an interesting show, wouldn't it? A study of how the West is changing in order to survive?”

Gina frowned at him. “Don't start me on that one. I've tried for ages to get Liam to agree to it. He won't hear of it.”

“Sorry.” Ian looked uncomfortable.

Shane raised an eyebrow at her. “Wasn't that what you always wanted to do, G?”

She nodded. Her dearest professional dream had been to come back out here to do a study of the West. She knew the kinds of shots she wanted. The dilapidated old barns that dotted the landscape, the ghost towns in the eastern part of the state, the weathered faces of old cowboys. She would stand those in contrast to shots of places like Chico, the new organic farms that were springing up, and ventures like Shane's dude ranch. Setting the new and thriving against the old and disappearing ways of the West. Liam thought it was a sentimental indulgence on her part and refused to see the cultural value of documenting so much that would soon be lost.

She looked up as Liam and Kaitlyn came in. She couldn't help but compare him to Mason. Where Mason was tall and broad shouldered, Liam was shorter, five feet eight. He was a much slighter build, too. Where Mason's face was tanned and weathered, Liam's was smooth, unlined thanks to regular facials. While Mason was rugged, Liam was...pretty. She gave herself a mental shake. She didn't need to be thinking like that. The only difference that mattered between the two men was that Mason was her past, while Liam was her future.

When they reached the bar, he pulled out a seat for Kaitlyn and stood beside her. “Sorry, that took a while. Can you believe they don't have any hypoallergenic rooms? The staff are useless. I had to get the manager down before we could get anything sorted out. He wasn't much better.”