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“Yes, back to Los Angeles.” I fidgeted with the hem of my tank top, suddenly feeling self-conscious under his piercing gaze. “But I might be coming back. There’s a certain property that caught my eye.”
His eyebrows raised in mild surprise. “Oh?” He took another step forward. Though he was still a few feet away, his aura invaded my space. My senses. “Now why would a girl like you want anything to do with a property here in Whittier?”
A girl like me. I didn’t know if I should be insulted by that, but it sure felt like it. And I hated that my attraction to him made me barely care.
I shrugged. “Just something I’m working on.”
Nothing was set in stone, and it wasn’t his business anyway. Gray wasn’t exactly the Whittier Falls welcoming committee, despite the enjoyable trail ride he gave us. If the seller accepted my offer and we were to become neighbors, I’d deal with telling him then.
His eyes were curious, but he didn’t say another word. I figured that was my cue to get the heck out.
“Anyway, I just wanted to thank you. Again.” Smooth.
“Not a problem.”
I smiled, the sweet one that I noticed got under his skin. “I’ll see you Saturday, then. At Mason’s.”
He grunted and I internally smirked. But when he said nothing else, I backed up and left through the door, waving a hand as I went.
I was halfway down the hall when I heard him clear as day.
“Be seein’ you, princess.”
11
Gray
The hum of conversation and the clink of ice in plastic cups greeted me the moment I arrived at Mason's house. Kids ran around, their shrieks of delight mingling with the deeper timbre of adult laughter. I could already tell there were too many people here for my liking, but since I’d made it all this way, I figured I could stay for a while. The smell of grilling meat wafted through the air, making my stomach growl in anticipation.
I headed around the left side of the house to the back yard. Mason lived on a good plot of land out by the old school house on the south side of town. It was too close to everything for my liking, but Mason always talked about how nice it was for him and Abby to walk into town for dinner or ice cream.
He’d bought the old three-story Victorian a few years ago. It’d been a shell of itself due to years of neglect, but Mason fixed it up, room by room, into one of the nicest homes in Whittier Falls. He even fixed up the carriage house in the back, turning it into an apartment. Our ranch hand Billy Myers lived there now. I tipped my hat to Billy as he sat outside the carriage house nursing a beer and talking to some of the local guys.
“Gray! Over here!” Mason called from where he manned the grill, a cloud of savory smoke billowing around him like a misty halo. “Surprised you actually showed up.”
“Wouldn't miss your famous ribs for the world,” I replied, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Yeah I bet that’s the reason,” he teased, expertly flipping a rack with tongs.
“Fuck off.”
He hooted a laugh and took a swig of his beer. We hadn’t spoken since I’d ran him out of my office after seeing him waltz in with Eryn’s hand tucked in his arm. I knew he’d been baiting me and it worked. I couldn’t deny I wanted to break his neck a little.
“Where do you want these?” I asked, lifting up the two twenty-four packs of beer I was carrying.
“Coolers are over there,” he said, pointing with the tongs. “Might be full though, so you can bring ‘em into the kitchen if you need to.”
“Got it.”
I emptied one box into one of the three coolers Mason had set out, and then made my way inside to stick the other box in the fridge.
“Well I’ll be damned, look who the cat dragged out.”
“Isn’t the expression ‘dragged in’?” I asked Walker, who appeared behind the fridge door.
“Yeah, but you’re out. Out in the real world. Socializing. It’s a big deal.”
“I’m not a fuckin’ hermit,” I argued.
