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He’s a madman with a sense of honor. No conscience, but he won’t lie to me no matter how many times I do it to him.
Just because he doesn’t lie to me, that doesn’t mean he’s honest to a fault. Or maybe he is, but he’s delusional, too. After the hostess seats us at a cozy table at the back of the small restaurant, I notice that everyone is watching us. It’s not completely full—there are maybe like twelve other diners in here—but me and Burns… we have their complete attention.
I find out why when our waitress approaches.
She’s about Burns’s age, maybe a year or two older. Pretty. Her strawberry-blonde hair is done up in a chic twist, complementing the simple black-and-white uniforms that all the servers wear.
She gives him a warm smile. My gut goes tight with unexpected jealousy.
Crap. Why is she smiling at him?
“Hey, Mace. I’ve been seeing your truck around the hills a lot lately, but you haven’t come to visit us for dinner. It’s about time. How’ve you been?”
Mace.
Why is she calling him ‘Mace’?
Yeah. It’s his name. More than once, he corrected me when I called him ‘Burns’, as though he’d prefer I be as familiar with him as this waitress is.
He smiles back. I have to fist my hand in my lap to resist the urge to go for the butter knife next to the complimentary bread on the table.
Wait a sec—
I know that smile. It’s the fake, friendly one I’ve seen him flash a hundred times before. The deceptively charming one that fooled me in the beginning. It’s not the secret, crooked grin that he shares with me.
Maybe… maybe there’s no reason to be jealous, Ang. Remember what he said. No one has to know about us. I’m his dirty little secret, right?
That might be all I am—
“Good to see you, too, Stephanie. Job keeps me busy, you know, but it’s always nice to come up for a hunt.” He slides a teasing look my way. “It’s my favorite pastime.”
I can’t tell if he’s referring to me, or to Carter. Either way, I stay quiet.
No one has to know…
“I’m glad. What about your friend? I don’t think we’ve had the pleasure of meeting before.”
“That’s because I’ve been hiding her.”
Stephanie laughs. Burns chuckles.
I sit there like a freaking deer in headlights.
He just… he just admitted the truth. And he’s right. She wouldn’t believe a word of what happened to me if I actually told her. He has her fooled. He probably has them all fooled.
And I start to wonder: am I fooled, too? Or am I the only one who sees Mason Burns for who he truly is?
I don’t get long to think about that. Because, on the heels of his truth, he tells one hell of a whopper. Worse, I’m absolutely sure he believes he’s still being honest.
“Stephanie, this is Angela Haver. My fiancee. You’ll be seeing a lot more of her around.”
“Fiancee?” Her deep brown eyes light up. I decide I won’t hate her on principle if only because she actually looked pleased at Burns’s fabrication instead of envious. “Congratulations, Mace. Hear that, everyone? Mace is getting hitched!”
At her announcement, the entire damn room cheers, calling congratulations to us.
“Dinner’s on us,” beams Stephanie, pulling out her waitress pad. “Whatever you want, we’ll get it right out for you two.”
Wearing a grin that can only be described as shit-eating, Burns places our orders for us. Ravioli for me, eggplant parm for him, and a bottle of red to split. I know it’s his way of, once again, recreating that fateful date I had with Dean. I couldn’t care less right now.
