Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance) (6 page)

Shane caught Gina's eye. Her heart sank. Liam was hardly making a great first impression. “Liam, this is Shane Remington, an old friend of mine.”

Shane held out his hand and Liam shook it. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too,” said Shane. “I'm glad you could finally make it out here. What plans do you have for the weekend?”

Liam frowned at him. “If you'll excuse us, I need to talk to Gina about that.”

Shane looked a little taken aback but took Liam's rudeness in stride. “Not a problem. I was just leaving.” He pulled Gina into a hug and whispered in her ear. “You were right. I don't like him.” He pecked her cheek and left.

Gina couldn't believe Liam had been so rude and told him as much. “Liam! Shane is a very dear friend of mine. I wanted you to meet him.”

Liam shrugged. “Sorry, but Gina these people aren't exactly our kind of people, are they? I don't want to spend the evening talking about cows and bears.”

Kaitlyn giggled, making Gina even angrier. Was he serious? Was he deliberately being a pig? It certainly felt like it. “
These people,
are my friends, Liam. I thought you were here to meet them. To let me show you around my life.”

“I'm sorry, sweetie.” He put a hand on her shoulder. “I think I'm just tired and grouchy from the trip. I didn't mean to be rude.”

She smiled a tight smile. “That's okay.” He got a little cranky when he was tired, and he had a habit of going for the laughs in front of his friends. It was just his strange sense of humor. That was all. They did much better when they were alone together. “I thought I could take you over to see my dad.”

“Not tonight?” asked Kaitlyn. “We want to get some dinner and then soak for a while. After all that traveling I want to make the most of the hot springs.”

Gina did her best to keep her temper. “That's okay, you go ahead. I was only asking Liam.”

Liam squeezed her shoulder. “I'm looking forward to getting in the water, too. We can see your dad tomorrow.”

Gina couldn't believe it. He'd rather soak in the hot springs with Kaitlyn than come to the ranch and see her dad? Why had he even bothered to come? And why the hell had he brought the others?

Ian smiled at her, always the one to try to keep the peace. “It does sound like fun, Gina. We can soak for a while and then hit up that wonderful wine cellar you were telling me about.”

“I don't have a bathing suit.” And besides she hated going in the water here. She loved the resort, but she preferred natural hot springs, the ones you had to hike to, where there was hardly ever anyone else there. She didn't enjoy sitting in the man-made pool with dozens of other people. It made her feel like one of the ingredients in a huge vat of people soup!

She turned to Liam, desperate to salvage what was looking like it would turn into a disastrous weekend. “Please come and see my dad with me?”

“Tomorrow, sweetie.”

Well, screw him! “Okay. I'll see you tomorrow then.” She stalked out of the bar and left them to it. As she climbed into the truck, her cell phone rang.

“Gina, what's wrong with you? We came all the way out here to see you and you're not even going to spend the evening with us?”

She was furious. “Liam, I asked
you
to come and see me. I don't know why you brought them. I didn't want to spend the weekend with your friends. I wanted to spend the weekend with you.”

“Well, we still have work to do. We're pulling the Avery show together, but we changed our plans to come out here for you. You could be a little more gracious about it.”

“You shouldn't have bothered coming at all if you couldn't spare the time for me, Liam!”

“I'm starting to wish I hadn't.”

Damn him! This wasn't going anything like she'd hoped it would. “I'm sorry. I'm disappointed, that's all. I thought you understood how important this was to me.” She had been a little hasty walking out like that. She should go back in. She had been planning on spending the night here with him.

Silence buzzed on the phone. “What time will we see you tomorrow?”

Wow! He was dismissing her. That was always his line when he didn't want to argue. And she'd thought he wanted her to stay. “How about you call me when you're ready?”

“Fine. Good night, Gina.” He hung up.

Gina threw her phone so hard the battery came out when it hit the passenger door. “Screw you, Liam!”

The tires screeched as she pulled out of the parking lot.

“Is there any point in my hanging around to meet the guy today?”

Gina made a face at her dad. “I told you. I'll bring him over around lunchtime.”

“You said you'd bring him over last night, too. That didn't happen, did it?”

She scowled. “He was tired after traveling all day.”

“And judging by the mood you were in when you came home—and the fact that you came home at all—everything is less than rosy in the garden.”

Gina sighed. Things couldn't be less rosy. Liam was here, but instead of making things better it was making things worse. She was angry with him. Hurt by the way he was treating her. Hurt by the way he was treating Kaitlyn. She was starting to wonder if marrying him was the mistake her dad seemed to think it was. But if she didn't marry him, where would that leave her? Liam—and the gallery—was central to her life. If they split up what would she do? She shook her head. She couldn't think about that. She needed to get back over to the resort and make things right with him. She needed to feel happy with him, convinced that marrying him was the right decision before she saw Mason. His words kept echoing in her mind.
I'm going to remind you how I make you feel.
She'd need all her strength to resist his determination, and right now she wasn't even sure she wanted to.

“I'll call you when we're on the way, okay?”

“Whatever you say, love.” Her dad came and wrapped her in a hug. “I want to see you happy. You know that, don't you?”

She nodded. She did, too. She just wasn't sure anymore that Liam was the one she could be happy with.

As she drove out to Chico, she wondered again whether she could ever be happy with anyone who wasn't Mason.

~ ~ ~

Mason stared at himself in the bathroom mirror and grinned. He looked good, if he did say so himself. The way Gina had looked at him had made it clear she was bowled over by the man he'd become, the same as he was bowled over by the woman she'd become. He had a good feeling about tonight. The fiancé couldn't have much of a hold on her. She wasn't even wearing a ring! What kind of man would ask a girl to marry him without giving her a ring? And no matter what kind of hold the guy had on her, Mason was convinced that the hold he had was stronger.

He hadn't thought of much other than Gina since he'd seen her coming out of the pharmacy the other day. She might say there was nothing left between them, but her body told him otherwise. He shifted in his pants as he remembered her arching up underneath him. He'd bet the fiancé had never made her come for him on the kitchen table without even unfastening his pants. He grinned. He was looking forward to the time when he would unfasten his pants. Maybe she'd do it for him. The thought of her little hands on his zipper had him aching for her. He pulled himself together. He shouldn't be thinking like this. He'd never gone after another guy's woman before. Didn't believe it was something a decent man would ever do. But this was different. This was Gina. She wasn't another guy's woman, she was
his
girl,
his
woman and all he needed to do was remind her of that. He knew it now. Whatever her reasons for pushing him away all those years ago, it didn't matter anymore. He'd been stupid for way too long. It was time to make things right.

“Are you coming out of there any time soon?” shouted Shane.

“Be right out.” He took one last look in the mirror and nodded.

Shane wolf whistled when he stepped out into the hallway. “Damn, Mase! You're going for the kill, huh? If I wore panties, I think I'd throw them at you!”

Mason laughed. “I need to remind her what a real man looks like.” He was wearing his best Wranglers and a black, long sleeved T-shirt that clung to his muscular chest and stretched over his biceps.

Shane laughed. “She might not be able to see you with all the girls that'll be flocking around you looking like that.”

“I'm sure you can have fun fending them off for me.”

Shane nodded. “Anything to help out.” He sniffed the air. “You even smell good, too.”

Mason grinned. He'd added a splash of the cologne that Gina used to love so much. Whenever he wore it, she used to bury her face in his neck to smell him. Then she'd wriggle her way underneath him, telling him that she could never resist it and he needed to just take her now. He'd always been happy to oblige. He'd give anything for her to do that tonight. He'd heard that smell was the sense most closely linked to memory, and he was hoping that this particular scent would evoke memories she'd want to re-create.

“Are we ready?” called Chance from the living room.

“Give me a couple,” called Shane and pushed Mason out of the way so he could get into the bathroom.

Mason pulled his favorite boots out from the closet in the hallway.

Chance grinned at him. “You're going all out tonight, aren't you?”

Mason nodded grimly. “I am. I have to. I want her back. I intend to get her back, and I need to see off this fiancé in order to get her.”

Chance nodded as he watched him pull on his jacket and cram his hat on his head. “The poor bastard doesn't have a hope.”

Mason looked at him. “If it were just about two guys and her having to pick one, I'd agree with you. But she's held something against me for years, something that I don't even know about. I have to get past whatever that is, as much as I have to get past the fiancé.”

“Yeah, but you seem pretty sure you
can
get past it.”

Mason nodded. He had to believe he could. “There's only one way to find out,” he said. “Come on, Shane. It's go time.”

They all piled into Shane's truck.

”So you think things aren’t good between them?” he asked Shane again once they were out on East River Road.

“For the hundredth time, Mase! No. I don't. She told me she didn't think I would like him. And she was right. He'd left her to go park the truck while he checked in, some gentleman, huh? And he seemed a little too close with the blonde chick that was with them. While Gina was playing valet for them, he was making sure blondie had the best room at the inn.”

Mason frowned. “So what's she doing with a guy who'd treat her like that?”

Chance punched his arm. “That's what you're going to find out isn't it, Mase. But we need to get there so that you can—and quit playing twenty questions in the truck!”

Shane laughed. “See. Listen to your Uncle Chance, why don't you? And give my ears a rest.”

Mason smiled through pursed lips. “Sorry, guys.”

~ ~ ~

Gina sat on the end of the bed watching Liam get ready. She'd never known a man take so much care over his appearance. He was almost as engrossed in the mirror as he had been on his computer since they'd come back to his room.

“Your dad's going to have a hard time in New York, isn't he?”

She nodded sadly. That had become very clear this afternoon when she'd taken Liam out to the ranch. Her dad had made a big point of talking about everything he loved about his life here. He'd had his two old hounds by his side the whole time and kept making a fuss over them, saying he would never be able to leave them behind.

Liam had at least made an effort, telling him about things he might enjoy in New York. It had been a pretty awful afternoon though. 

“So what are you going to do?” asked Liam.

That brought Gina back to the present. What was
she
going to do? For months, Liam had been talking as
we.
Making plans for how
we
would work things out to take care of her dad and get him settled into a new life. The only
we
she'd heard from him this weekend had included Kaitlyn and Ian, not her.

“I don't know, Liam. I don't know much of anything right now.” She looked up at him sadly. “Do you still love me?”

He turned around to face her. “Of course I do. What kind of question is that, Gina?”

“It's a scared kind of question, Liam. I feel like everything is changing and I don't like it.” Suddenly she felt as if it would all be okay if he would make love to her. She needed him to reassure her. She lay back on the bed and held her arms out to him. “Show me, Liam. Show me you still love me.”

“Later. We don't have time right now. The others will be waiting.”

“Let them wait. I need you to make love to me.”

It worked. He started undoing the shirt buttons he'd just fastened and came to the bed. “You're a sensual woman, Gina. That's one of the many things I love about you.” He took off his shirt and lowered himself onto the bed next to her, drawing her into his arms. She pressed herself against him and kissed his neck. “What else do you love, Liam?”

He closed his hands around her ass. Gina closed her eyes trying to close out the thought that his hands didn't feel like Mason's—didn't feel as good as Mason's. That as he pulled her against his erection,
he
didn't feel as good as Mason. She couldn't let her mind go there. She reached up around his neck and rubbed herself against him.

“I love the way...”

A knock at the door cut off the words he'd been about to say.

Gina pulled his head down to her. “Ignore it.”

The knock came again. “Liam?” called Kaitlyn. “Are you ready?”

He sprang up from the bed. “We'll be out in a minute.”

Gina heaved a big sigh. “Really?” she asked him.

He smiled. “We can get back to this later.”

Gina pulled herself together and got up. “Maybe.”

They found a table in the corner where they could see the band and the dance floor.

Ian grinned at her. “I thought places like this only existed in old movies. I had no idea that people still went out in cowboy boots and hats and did all this old-time dancing.”

Gina laughed. “It's not old-time. It's country. You've spent your entire life in New York City, Ian. You need to broaden your horizons.”

“Thanks, but I'd sooner get back to civilization.”

“Me too,” said Kaitlyn. “This is all very quaint to visit, but to think that people live their whole lives like this is kind of scary.”

Gina turned to her. She'd considered Kaitlyn to be a friend these last few years, but that was wearing pretty thin this weekend. “What's scary about it?”

“The fact that they've never been anywhere else, never done anything else. They lead such small lives and don't know any better.”

“What do you know about life outside New York?” asked Gina. “Where have you ever been? What have you ever done to make your own life so
big
?”

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you.” Kaitlyn didn't look sorry at all.

“Calm down, Gina,” Liam frowned at her.

Seriously? He was going to come down on Kaitlyn's side against her? Gina scowled at him. “I'm going to the ladies' room. Excuse me.”

She pushed her way through the crowded bar and into the bathroom. She splashed cold water on her face and her wrists. She did need to calm down. She was wound up that things were going so badly with Liam, wound up at the thought that Mason would be here tonight. Wound up that she didn't know what she was doing anymore.

Kaitlyn came in after her. “Sorry, Gina. I didn't mean to be rude about your home.”

“That's okay. I'm a little tense. I shouldn't have snapped your head off. I'm sorry.”

Kaitlyn smiled. “You probably have reason to be mad at me. I'm not being a very good friend, am I?”

“I thought it was just me. What's going on, Kaitlyn?”

“I hate to say it. But I don't want Liam to marry you.”

Gina stared at her. “Why not?”

“Because I don't think you're right for each other.”

Gina couldn't believe this! “And what gives you the right to be the judge of that?”

Kaitlyn smiled apologetically. “The fact that I've been in love with him for years. I've watched his girlfriends come and go and always known that they wouldn't stick around. I thought someday he'd realize that he and I are perfect for each other. I like you. I didn't think the two of you would last very long at all, you're so different. But once he started to get serious about marrying you I knew I had to let him know how I feel before it's too late.”

Gina just stared. “So you're trying to come between us?”

Kaitlyn nodded. “Why do you think Ian and I came along this weekend? I need to make it clear to Liam that you're all wrong for him, and that I'm all right.”

Gina didn't know what to say.

“I hope you don’t hate me, but I want to be honest with you. If I thought you truly loved him I don't think I'd be able to do this, but you don't, do you?”

Gina swallowed. “Of course I do!”

“Really? You see, Gina, I love him. I want to see him happy. I know what makes him happy. I don't want him to be any different than he already is. You do. You want him to care about the things that are important to you. You want him to show you more affection. You want him to be interested in your opinions. And we both know he isn't. You don't love him, you love who you want him to be.”