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The tall blonde stood to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you.”
“You too. Mason said you write for the News & Record?”
“Yes, the online magazine. I started there in May.”
“Cool. I was a business major at Carolina. I try to keep up with business trends when I can. How did you get that beat? Did you double major in business?”
God, that would have at least made some kind of sense. I had nothing under my belt other than a terrible economics class sophomore year.
I sat in between Mason and Eden. “When I graduated I started applying everywhere. The online business journal at the Record was hiring so it just kind of worked out. I drove down a week after graduation with nothing but what could fit in my car.”
She laughed. “I get that. You could say my current job just kind of worked out too.”
She looked at Grey, and I caught the emotional current passing between them. It was tangible. The hues from the sunset caught the corner of her ring and the sparkle landed on the table.
“That’s a beautiful ring,” I admired.
“Thank you. Grey proposed at Christmas.” She held it out so I could examine it more closely. “It was a complete surprise.”
I looked at her fiancé. I could see the family resemblance between him and Mason. They both had broad shoulders, defined jawlines and I wasn’t sure I had ever seen piercing eyes like that before. The Lachlan men were a dangerous combination. I blushed, knowing my mind was traveling to some dirty places.
“When’s the wedding?” I asked.
“October. It’s going to be in North Carolina. That’s where I’m from.”
“Sydney just graduated from Longmire,” Mason added.
Eden looked impressed. “Wow. Virginia. You’re a long from home too. We Southern sisters are going to need to stick together, don’t you think?” She passed a beer to me.
I nodded. It was the closest gesture of open friendship I had had since I moved here. “Definitely.”
I could feel Mason’s eyes on me. Those sparkly, bright blue eyes. The guys didn’t seem to mind that we talked about bridesmaid dresses and hairstyles. They drank their beers, and we all watched the sun go down.
I missed this—nights filled with conversation instead of my DVR. I had started to worry I wouldn’t meet people on the island, although technically meeting the family of a source didn’t qualify as me getting out in the social scene. I had to remind myself of that. No matter how edible he looked, Mason was a source.
The sky around us grew dark. “Darlin’, what do you say we head home?” Grey’s hand landed on Eden’s knee.
“That sounds good to me.” I saw her throw a glance at Mason. I needed an interpreter. “Nice meeting you, Sydney. We’ll have to get together later.”
“I’d like that. With my schedule I haven’t had a chance to meet anyone here.”
“Well, we can definitely fix that.” She jotted her number on one of the cocktail napkins. I did the same and handed it to her.
She reached for Grey’s hand. He looked ready to get out of Pete’s Bar.
“See you around, Uncle.” He patted Mason on the back.
“That’s right. I’ll catch you two later.”
“You’re not leaving Padre right away are you?” Eden asked.
“No, I’ve got enough to keep me busy here for a while.”
“Good.” She grinned. “Bye, Sydney.”
He waited until they had left before he spoke. “So, what do you think about a round of shots?” He waved the waitress toward us.
I tried to protest while he ordered a top shelf tequila.
