Chapter 5
5
PIA
Screw it.
No one ever got ahead in life by sitting on the sidelines and letting other people carry the ball. If I wanted this job to be my fuck you to the jerk who passed me over for a promotion I deserved, one I’d more than earned, then I actually needed the job.
Also, I didn’t want to move back home, tail between my legs, and basically tell everyone I was let go before I even started the position.
“Mind if I join you?”
He was even hotter up close, but I knew that already. Too bad the guy apparently hated smiling, at least at me. Catching a glimpse of him laughing with his buddies, the bartender unfortunately one of them, I’d been taken aback. A smiling Mason was a devastating sight indeed.
“Actually,” he began, but his friend cut in.
“Not at all.”
I took the seat next to Mason. “Parker, right?”
“You got it. And you remember Beck, I’m sure,” he said as the bartender sauntered over to us. I knew more than my share of women who’d fawn all over the guy. Good looks plus that kind of confidence? Luckily, I’d had my heart broken enough times to know how to avoid it.
“Hello, Beck,” I said as if bored. In truth, I didn’t even dare reach for my drink in front of me for fear my hands might shake. I could feel Mason looking at me.
“Hello, Pia,” he drawled back. “Fancy meeting you on this side of the bar.”
“Does that usually work?”
“To pick up women?”
“Yeah.”
“Always. Except tonight. I have a feeling you’re not into me.”
Laughing at his appalled expression, I took the bait. “Do you really? That’s so strange since it’s very untrue.”
“Now you’re just toying with me,” he accused.
“As much as I’d love to continue this extremely enlightening conversation,” I said, “it seems there’s a woman who you might actually have a chance with boring a hole into your back.”
Chuckling, Beck turned toward the woman he’d been flirting with all night. She lifted her empty drink. “Seems like you’re right,” he said, winking at me before walking away.
Sitting back on the stool and grabbing my wine, I finally turned to Mason. Though he wasn’t smiling, exactly, his frown didn’t seem to be as big as when I first sat.
“So,” I began.
“The answer is no.”
What a bastard. A gorgeous, gruff bastard.
“I’d say something about your lack of manners but will cut you some slack. Given your circumstances.”
“His attitude,” Parker said from the other side of Mason, “has nothing to do with his dad. Mason’s always like this.”
“Good to know,” I said, rethinking my plan. Maybe not a boss I’d care to have.
“Were you going to ask me something else? Like if you can have the job?” Mason asked.
Like I said. Bastard.
“I was going to ask how you managed to snag these two as friends,” I said sarcastically, “since they apparently like to smile and you do not.”
I was wasting my time. Clearly he wasn’t going to reconsider, so the gloves were off. This wasn’t my potential boss but a guy being a complete dickhead to me.
“We met in kindergarten,” he said of Beck. “And this one”—Mason nodded toward Parker—“in college.”
Surprised he answered without a hint of sarcasm, I had no comeback.
“I see.” Finding my words, I asked, “Where did you go?”
“University of Rochester. You?”
“Oregon State University for hospitality management.” And though I probably shouldn’t, I added, “You know, to manage hotels and inns… things like that.”
Parker snickered. Leaning forward, he smiled in a way that was almost encouraging. As if he was rooting for me.
“You don’t say?” Mason asked, the sarcasm back in full force.
Mom always told me you catch more flies with honey, but I was over here full of piss and vinegar. “My parents own a restaurant in Oregon, which got me interested in the hospitality business. Since graduating, I’ve worked in various places, mostly lodges, up and down the coast.”
“Never been to Oregon.” So much for his acknowledging my credentials.
“It’s beautiful. I’m an ocean girl at heart and got used to being by the water.”
“Yet you came here?”
I met his gorgeous eyes that all at once seemed to both beckon me and push me away. “I was ready for a challenge.”
“You think Heritage Hill is a challenge?”
“Have you seen your father’s books?” Oops. Too much vinegar.
“I meant it when I said it was a surprise that he hired you. My father did not like change, with a few exceptions when he updated the place. He wanted to keep Heritage Hill running much the same as when he was a child. I have seen the books and tried to talk to him about making some updates, but the man is… was… as stubborn as they come,” Mason said, wincing at that last part.
“Something made him change his mind. I spoke to him twice, after a string of emails, and he was ready to do, in his words, ‘whatever it takes’ to get Heritage Hill back in the black.”
“Interesting.” Mason turned to Parker. “Does that sound like Dad?”
“No,” Parker said. “It doesn’t.”
“Sure it does.” Beck braced his hands on the bar in front of us. Where had he even come from? “He told me about a month ago that there would be some changes coming. Admitted he’d been too slow to keep up with the times.”
“That’s about when he first contacted me,” I said.
Mason studied Beck closely. “You didn’t think to mention that today?”
“You mean after Pia had left? When you locked yourself in the office for the afternoon?”
Mason’s jaw flexed. Beck might be a player, to the extreme, but he wasn’t intimidated by the very intimidating Mason Bennett. If they’d been friends since college, that was a long time. My guess was that Mason was in his early thirties.
I’d just hit the big three-oh this past summer. Hooray for me. They said age was just a number, but it still stung. I never imagined myself starting a brand-new life at thirty. Or flying cross-country to attempt as much, only to be turned away by the hottest, most emotionally unavailable man on the planet.
“Were you in the military?” I blurted.
Both Mason and Parker looked at me. It was just an instinct, but it seemed like a good one. Parker’s knowing smile gave Mason away.
“I was. Why do you ask?”
“Mr. Modest won’t tell you, but he was more than just military. Army Ranger. My boy is as badass as they come.”
A former Army Ranger. That explained a lot. Though I didn’t know as much about them as the Navy SEALs, I did know the average person wouldn’t have the grit or discipline to accomplish such a thing.
You are not impressed. The guy’s still a dick. Not. Impressed .
“No reason,” I said, turning away.
Watching Beck very capably run the entire bar himself, I decided to finish my drink and leave. I was done begging for this job. A guy like Mason, a Ranger, wouldn’t change his mind. He would be impervious to any form of manipulation or persuasion, not that I was trying to manipulate him.
It was done.
Pushing my glass away, I stood up and grabbed my purse.
“Where are you going?” Mason asked, almost like he didn’t want me to leave.
“Back to Oregon,” I said. “There’s nothing for me here.”
I couldn’t stay another second. Mason smiling was a sight to behold, and one that would be burned onto my brain for life. I all but ran from the bar, realizing I’d never said goodbye to Parker. Or Beck for that matter. They seemed like decent guys, but I just had to get out of there.
Pushing open the door of the bar, I stumbled out into the chilly fall night but didn’t move. I leaned against the brick building, closed my eyes and imagined getting off the plane in Oregon. Failing. Again.
“Pia?”
My eyes flew open.
Apparently Mason had used his stealth training to follow me. I hadn’t even heard the door open. “Do you still want the job?”