Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
Emma
T hree freaking weeks.
And it felt like a lifetime since I had hooked up with Mason. He hadn’t come into the café, either. Jackson was still a regular, but he was still missing more days than he was coming in. The town was full of rumors and conspiracies regarding the missing cattle from the Lowe Ranch, which had now made the newspaper and the local news. I was sure it had Mason very busy…
Which was why my mouth dropped open when he stepped into my café five minutes before I was planning to close for the night.
“Hey, Emma,” he greeted, clearing his throat as he removed his hat from his head. “I’ve been meaning to stop by.”
“Well…” my voice trailed off as I tried to gather my thoughts. “I’m actually closing in a couple of minutes… But you can look in the case at what’s left. I’m out of mostly everything. I let Sarah take it home with her. ”
A soft smile stretched across his face. “I’m, um, not here for the food. It’s really good—don’t get me wrong—but I’m actually… I’m here to see you.”
My mouth grew dry at his words. “Oh?” My hands began to sweat, and I casually wiped them on my burgundy dress, dotted with flowers. For all he knew, I just had some leftover flour or something on them…
“Is it a good time or…?” He took a step toward me, glancing around the empty shop. “I won’t take up much of your time.”
“Oh, it’s fine,” I brushed it off like my heart wasn’t hammering away in my chest. “If you wouldn’t mind though, could you lock the door and turn off the open sign? I just don’t want anyone coming in.”
“Yeah, of course,” he said, spinning on his boot and doing as I asked. I watched his strong back muscles as he reached over to the open sign, pulling the chain.
Ugh. Why is he so hot?
I forced myself to reach for the broom, ripping my eyes from him. I had already swept the place twice in the last thirty minutes, but I was feeling the need to do something with my hands—that didn’t involve the sheriff.
“So… What can I help you with?” I asked, sweeping imaginary dirt and crumbs from behind the counter.
“Honestly,” his voice was suddenly much closer. “I was coming to apologize.”
That got my attention.
I looked up from the floor, my brow furrowing. “What for?”
“Well, what happened a few weeks ago…” His eyes locked with mine, and my thighs clenched at the sparks firing off in my core. “I think you should know that I don’t do that kind of stuff—and I’m real sorry if it’s something that you regret. I’m sorry I was an asshole to you at the ranch, too. I’ve been real busy with that investigation.” His words caught me off guard, and the vulnerability in his voice was touching.
I nodded, grasping at straws when it came to a reply. “I, um… Thank you,” I finally said, wishing I could facepalm myself right then and there. I was always the confident, outgoing person—and now I couldn’t even get a coherent word out.
“I’m real glad this place is doing well for ya,” he said to my awkward reply, leaning against the counter. “The town needed a place like this. There used to be a diner across the street, but when Matilda, the owner, passed away, her kids—who had long moved away—let the building go into disrepair.”
“Yeah, Drew told me about that,” I said, speaking easier now that I had something to say. “I looked at taking it on, but it was cheaper to renovate this spot than that one. I think there’s some structural damage.”
“Yeah, who knows what all there is,” Mason chuckled, meeting my gaze as I stopped sweeping. “It was a nice place though. Someone like yourself would’ve enjoyed it, I think. She had a lot of homemade recipes.”
“I would’ve,” I admitted, a smile stretching across my face. “I love finding those hole-in-the-wall places with refined recipes and history. I don’t feel like there’s as many as there used to be.”
He shrugged. “I don’t know, really. I don’t leave this county too much and given that this is the county seat—and the most populated town—I don’t travel much.”
I laughed, unable to hold back. “So Lily was right about you then. You really don’t get out much.”
“You’ve been talking to Lily about me?” He raised an eyebrow, a glimmer of something that looked a lot like amusement filling his ocean irises.
“Well… I mean…” I felt the heat building in my cheeks. “I was curious. I think the whole town is kind of curious about you, to be honest.”
He chuckled, setting his cowboy hat on the counter. “Now that might be true to some degree. Any time you’re a public figure in a town like this, there’s always rumors that float around.”
“Yeah, I could see that.”
“Just know that probably only about half of them have some merit,” he teased, flashing me his pearly whites. Butterflies fluttered in my stomach, and my hands felt sweaty again.
“I haven’t really heard anything too questionable,” I admitted, finally leaning the broom in the corner. “But are you hungry or anything? I can make you something?”
“Thanks, but I’m good,” he said, his eyes drifting down my body for a split second. “So… Where are you from? Lily said you were a college friend from Austin.”
I licked my bottom lip, the thought of my mother coming to my mind. “I am from Austin, actually. I was born and raised there. It was just my mom and my sister growing up.”
“My mom was a single mom as well,” he said, his lips turning downward. “My dad passed away when I was young, and she raised me on her own. She passed away when Jess was three, so it was a tough time for me. My wife left me about a year after my mom passed. So, needless to say, my twenties were turbulent.”
I nodded, sympathy filling my chest. “I’m so sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Mason said in a flat voice, like he was used to hearing those words. “Are you close to your family?”
“Uh… I wouldn’t say that,” I grumbled. “My mom keeps up with me, but that’s about it. My sister is married with a young daughter, but I don’t get to see either of them much. They moved to NYC with her husband. She’s very close to my mom—in fact, my mom is actually moving up there in a few months.”
His eyes flashed with an emotion—pity, I think. “I get that. Lily has talked about you since she moved back from college, so I’ve always been aware of the best friend from Austin.”
I wasn’t sure why he was telling me that, but it made me feel better about it all. “Yeah, we’ve been really close since we first met during welcome week of our freshman year. It was just meant to be.”
“You sound like Lily,” he chuckled. “I grew up with her and Drew, but I’m quite a bit older than they are, so I didn’t really know them back then. It wasn’t until they came back to town that I got to know them—and then well… you know Dara and Jess are best friends.”
I nodded, but I was suddenly reminded of the friend that Jess had been ditching Dara for. I opened my mouth, thinking about spilling it to Mason, but stopped. It probably wasn’t my place to inform him what his daughter was up to. In fact, it might come across very wrong.
“Are you busy tonight?” Mason asked, his question sending a jolt of excitement through my bones. “Lily has Jess tonight, since it’s a weekend. I’ve been working late on the missing cattle investigation. I was thinking about taking an evening ride and didn’t know if you’d like to join? No pressure,” he added quickly.
Is he asking me on a date?
I nodded before I let myself think too much about it. Yeah, I preached that I wasn’t into it—that I was an independent woman who did things all on my own… But honestly, I was curious about Mason. He was the definition of mysterious.
And sexy.
“Do you want to meet me at the ranch or ride together?” Mason had this gleam in his eye that made everything about this adventure more thrilling.
“I suppose I could just meet you there? I’d hate for you to have to bring me back here.”
“What if we did it the right way, and I pick you up from your house? Then I can just take you home.”
I almost agreed with him, liking the heroic male notion, but shook my head. “There’s no need for that. I’ll just meet you there.”
Just in case things go wrong.
“All right.” He sounded reluctant but didn’t argue. “Whatever makes you the most comfortable.”
“Perfect. I’m ready to lock up and I’ll follow you there,” I said with a smile, disappearing to get my things. However, I stopped, turning back to him. “I guess I should probably stop by my house and grab some jeans? I don’t think I want to ride a horse in this dress.”
A chuckle escaped his lips. “Yeah, that might not be such a bad idea—though I have to admit I like the dress.”
A shiver of arousal ran down my spine, filling my cheeks with a hue of crimson. “Thank you. I’ll just meet you there in about thirty minutes.”
“Sounds good.” He tipped his hat, before unlocking and slipping out of the front door of the café. I grabbed up my things and followed him out, relocking everything before sliding into my SUV. As soon as I was backing out and was certain Mason wouldn’t notice, I pulled out my cell phone, calling up Lily .
“What’s up?” she greeted me, her voice sounding more fatigued than usual.
“Well… Mason stopped by the café this evening right around closing time…”
“Oh?” She perked up. “And why the impromptu visit from the sheriff? To talk to you or grab one of those delicious scones of yours?”
“Nope,” my heart fluttered at my own answer. “He totally showed up to apologize for everything, and…”
“And what?” Lily was on the edge of her seat—I could tell.
“He asked me to go for an evening horseback ride out at the ranch.”
“So like a date?” Lily squealed, sounding like a teenager all over again. “Because that is wild , Emma. I swear I haven’t heard of the man hanging out with a woman… like ever. ”
“Okay, I’m sure that’s an exaggeration,” I laughed, playing off how giddy I felt about it. “But didn’t you say that he wasn’t a relationship kind of guy?”
“I just said that he hasn’t been with anyone publicly that I knew of—or that Jess had told Dara. And I mean, I feel like I would know, considering it took all of twelve hours for my daughter to inform me you went into the barn alone with him.”
“True,” I agreed, my hands feeling sweaty as I pulled into my driveway. Mason had gone ahead to the ranch, and I wondered just how much of a date this whole thing was going to be. Had he planned to come and ask me? Or was it spontaneous?
I shoved open my door, the phone still against my ear. “Just one more thing,” I said to Lily. “What the hell do I wear to a horseback riding date?”