Mia stepped to Natalie, throwing her arms around her in a huge hug. “You know you love me no matter what. Have fun and text me later. Bye,” she said before wandering away, arms swinging in a carefree manner.
With Mia gone, it became quiet between them. He considered maybe she hadn’t been looking forward to hanging out with him. She didn’t look happy as she glared after Mia.
As much as he didn’t want the evening to be cut short, he also wasn’t trying to drag someone against their will. Dakota had taught him that being present wasn’t enough. He wanted someone who actually wanted to be around him. “Look, Natalie, I don’t know what happened between the time I asked you and you agreeing, but if you really don’t want to, I’m not going to pressure you into it.”
“So if I want to go home, you’d be okay with that?” she asked, eyeing him.
“Yeah, of course.” Although he couldn’t hide his disappointment.
She took a moment to ponder this and it was pure torture on his end. Natalie took the steps necessary to stand close, tilting her face up to him. She carefully reached into his jacket pocket, removing today’s waffle wrap. “I think I’ll stick around.”
The tension dissipated and he smiled, half happy, half relieved. “Really?”
Her gaze dropped as she peeled the paper from her food. “I’m sorry about earlier. I was unfairly rude. When you’re used to being a villain, it’s a hard habit to break.”
Her position remained fixed; she hadn’t shifted away. It would be the most natural thing in the world for Mason to slip his arms around her and settle them at her waist. It took all his willpower to keep his hands to himself. “Rough day?”
If the reason was Stan, he may resort to taking away all his negotiated perks. The temptation was there, especially considering the man didn’t know how to keep his mouth shut even after bribery.
“It certainly wasn’t the best but it’s my own fault. I should warn you that I’m not the most normal person in the world, as I’m sure you’re more than aware.”
He laughed. “God, if you want to hear aboutnot normal… I like this woman, see, and I visit her truck to order Mexican hot chocolate. I want to expand my taste buds so she doesn’t think I’m boring but I’m also starting to like it. And I bring her offerings of food and ask her to go snow tubing on my family’s farm instead of taking her out to a fancy restaurant because apparently I’m still ten years old and super awkward.”
Her brown eyes took on a mischievous glint. “It sounds like the only thing you haven’t done is pull her hair.”
“That’s probably pretty risky.”
Those eyes grew glittering and dangerous. “Some villains actually like it.
This time he didn’t resist, giving a loose strand a playful tug. Her lips parted in a gasp and—God, he wanted to kiss her so badly, just to press every part of her against every part of him. If a small tug could elicit this kind of response, he couldn’t wait to see what else he could draw from her.
She gave him a light smack on his stomach, and he released a small grunt in surprise.
“I wasn’t ready! And I never said thatIwas that kind of villain.” Natalie focused again on her waffle wrap. “What kind is it this time?”
“I think it’s a Philly cheesesteak waffle wrap.” He pulled his own food from his other pocket and they made their way toward the barn.
“So that woman from earlier today, she does events here at the farm?”
Mason took a bite from his food, nodding in response.
“How long has that been going on?”
“About five years or so. Do you want me to give you her contact information?” He was happy to do anything he could to help Natalie.
“Oh, I was just thinking about your bee situation and your father. Have you ever created a full business proposal? In my situation, it felt like my uncle never listened to me either, and I realized, even though I’m thirty and have been working with him forever, he still sees me as a kid most of the time. It wasn’t until I started approaching him as a businessperson that I could make some leeway. It wasn’t just me bothering him to ask for something. I put in the work to give him actual numbers. I show him that if we do this, this is what we can expect and this is how I can back it up. And, as reluctant as I was to do this coffee truck thing at Poinsettia Paradise, I can understand why he wanted me to do it. It was from one of my proposals and now he wants to see me prove it. I’m sure it was the same thing with the event planner. Her proposal got your father to listen, and maybe that’s the only way he’s able to see past the person.”
He had never thought about it before but what she said made perfect sense. Mason almost laughed at having his mind blown away at this different perspective. “Yeah. Maybe you’re right.”
They had arrived at the barn, and he opened the door in order to usher her inside. They would be able to finish their dinner while being somewhat protected from the cold.
She took a seat on a haystack. Natalie removed her gloves, but her jacket and beanie remained in place. He wondered what it would take to see her hair in its full glory, thick and cascading with those dark, glossy locks tangled around his fingers. It was hard to focus on anything else.
“Wow,” she said, taking in the barn’s interior. “It’s actually pretty nice in here. I don’t know why I expected the barn to be full of cows and cobwebs.”
“It used to be. But since Lana started using it for weddings and receptions, we thought we should at least sweep out some of the cobwebs and get rid of the cow shit.”
She laughed, her head tilting backwards. Getting her to laugh felt the same as discovering he could perform magic. “You’re telling me that no one’s wedding theme is cobwebs and cow shit? Better adjust those dream wedding Pinterest boards.”
