Finally, Sadie says, “Okay, turn around. And remember, just have fun with it. It doesn’t have to be roman—okay…or that.”
I don’t hear anything else because as we turn, Mason already has one hand around my waist as I move in to cup his face.
The sight of him hits me like a ton of bricks, and he knocks the breath out of my lungs. Our height is similar, but where his muscles are built byskills, farm work, and the daily grind, mine were built in a gym. His eyes flash a fierce blue to my chocolate brown. And his ribbed tank top probably came in a pack of six, whereas my T-shirt alone cost forty-eight dollars.
But the second he touches me, none of that fucking matters.
I groan against him, pulling him closer, my hand moving to his ass. I forget that we only met a very short while ago; I forget that someone is capturing this entire exchange with a camera; hell, I even forget my own name. All I see is the man in front of me.
Thankfully, the pumpkin pickers and families here for a night of fun are in the section of the patch much closer to the visitor’s entrance, and my employees are running things smoothly, because even if they weren’t, I couldn’t tear myself out of his arms.
We wasted no time with closed-lipped kisses. We dove straight at each other with lips parted and tongues ready to tangle, and as his tongue sweeps across my own once more, I groan into his mouth.
I move my grip from his cheek to the back of his head, holding him in place with my hand and a prayer.
When we finally stop kissing, our foreheads remain connected. We’re soaking in a moment that was far too intimate to be shared between strangers, and yet here we are. Mason pulls me into a hug, his words muffled as he speaks into my neck.
“I didn’t know how lonely I was until I met you this afternoon,” he confesses.
“I feel that more than you know,” I tell him.
Perhaps I wasn’t lonely in the same way as him, seeing as I just got out of a long-term relationship notthatlong ago, but in the way that loneliness creeps in when your closest friends are also your biggest rivals, the internet becomes your biggest source of interaction, and you’ve completely forgotten how to truly invest in anything other than your paycheck.
Mason is solid. He’s capable. He’s compassionate. He’s honest. He’sreal.He’s everything I didn’t know I was looking for.
CHAPTER 03: MASON
No way could I have predicted this, but I couldn’t be happier about it. Casey is so warm, and his white T-shirt is doing little to conceal that massunderneath. I’ve always craved a man who values health and strength. My dream of owning a place just like this one day demands it.
Keeping up with a farm is hard work, and I’ve always known whoever I end up with will need to have a passion for the long days, just like me.
My hands continue to roam over his broad shoulders and down his arms. For the first time ever, flannel is my enemy because it’s preventing me from feeling his skin.
“How is it that you already feel like home?” he asks, mirroring my thoughts.
I’m lost in my perusal of his body, soaking up his vibe, when a feminine laugh sounds beside us.
“Well, this is a first,” Sadie says. “Can’t say I’ve ever felt like an intruder at my own photoshoot before.”
At her words, Casey and I finally break apart, and I’m shocked by how much I miss being in his arms already.
“You guys know you didn’t have to kiss…likethat, right? I mean, not that it looked like either of you were uncomfortable or felt forced, but…wow…” she trails off.
Casey’s cheeks turn the color of a turkey’s tail feathers.
“We, uh, sort of met on the side of the road when my tractor broke down,” he says, offering an explanation even though it doesn’t really explain much.
“Oh, bummer. So, you guys weren’t strangers?” Sadie looks crestfallen, and I can’t stand the thought that we ruined her project.
While Casey continues to stare at me, I try to fill in the rest of the story, hoping to put Sadie at ease.
“No, wearestrangers,” I confirm. “We literally met like forty-five minutes ago. I was on my way here when I saw him stopped on the side of the road, his tractor smoking like a freight train. I pulled over to help. That’s how I got so dirty,” I add.
“I was on my way back from the hayfields and was in a hurry, so I wasn’t late for this, and Mason offered me a ride. But we never talked about what we were doing this evening, or why he was over here in the first place,” Casey says, jumping in. “I didn’t know it was him until I grabbed his hand.”
“Right,” I agree, spurred on by the hopeful look in Sadie’s eye. “I mean, I still don’t know his last name.”
“Porter,” Casey says, making me smile while I keep my eyes on Sadie.
