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“Coming right up. I hope you have the bookstore spick and span, Emily. And Leah, you better be up for making some extra special treats. We are all going to have to work hard and help each other.” She walks off toward the kitchen with a little extra pep in her step. Leah just stares at me.
“Why didn’t you let me tell her that you are the one that brought all of this to the town? Mason couldn’t even take a meeting by himself with his old head coach let alone make a deal to have the event moved here.”
“Honestly, it was more of Coach’s idea. I just said the town could make it happen,” I reply. “Plus, I don’t want it to get around that I’ve been spending time with him. It’s all work and planning sessions but people here won’t look at it that way. I would hate for Stuart to think that I blew him off for Mason, but more importantly, I don't want all that attention on me.” The thought of all that focus makes me shiver. “Mason knows how to handle all that from his pro days and he can have all the hero worship. I don't want it. He saves people every day, he deserves it.”
Leah sits back and sighs, “Girl, when are you going to give yourself some credit? You go above and beyond for this town and then downplay your efforts. I see you Emily, you’re an amazing person. You may have saved our hometown.” Leah makes the sound of a crowd cheering and makes me laugh.
“Well thank you, but it was a group effort and I didn’t do it all alone,” I tell her as Susie brings our drinks and lobster rolls with fries.
“Chef’s trying out a new recipe. Something a little on the fancier side for the people that are coming in.” She puts the plates down on the table. “These are on the house. He only wants your honest feedback in return.”
“Of course. Thanks, Susie and tell Dan that we are more than happy to give our honest opinions in exchange for free food any day of the week,” I smile at the older woman and bite into my lobster roll.
I hear Leah groan from across the table at the same time as I do. These are amazing.
“Dan’s lobster rolls are usually great, but this is next level,” Leah says before shoving the sandwich in her mouth and taking another bite. We polish off the sandwiches in record time and sit back in the booth and relax.
“Mason sent me an invite to all of these charity events and the ball. He said he has a teammate that needs a date and asked if I’d be interested. I said yes. It will be fun. Maybe you and I will end up with our happily ever after's with some wealthy football players or boosters.”
“I doubt that Leah, I can see you striking out of here and getting into all sorts of adventures, but it isn’t for me. I don’t want to move to the city and get on one of those reality shows, the ones where the women fight like alley cats and flaunt their husbands’ money.”
“That would be alright with me. I can get catty with the best of them.” She winks at me, and I roll my eyes.
“Again, maybe you and this player will hit it off and you can ride off with him in his Jag, your hair flying in the wind,” I say, lifting my hair out behind me.
She rolls her eyes. “Have you ever thought of writing books instead of reading them? You’ve got quite the imagination. Now let’s get out of here. I want to hit a few more shops before we go home.” Leah grabs my arm and pulls me toward the door.
“We have an unlimited black card. We are hitting Macy’s Intimates because even if no one sees what we have on underneath our dresses, we will be dressed to the hilt with every layer.” Leah waggles her eyebrows at me and I laugh.
Suddenly a random thought pops in my mind that I wouldn’t mind showing Mason all my layers, but I stop myself. There is nothing but heartbreak down that path. Although, after the almost-kiss I wonder if the real thing would be worth the risk.
“So, tell me about that almost-kiss the other night,” Leah says casually as we go through the racks of lingerie. Macy opened the store about a year ago, a transplant from California. Everyone thought she was crazy, but she said that even women in a small Maine town deserved to feel sexy. Then she winked and said she had a huge presence on social media and made most of her money from online orders. The shop did well just with the women in town. It wasn’t a surprise to Macy that women would want something silky and soft next to their skin and she was always complaining how long it took her inventory to get there.
“I don’t know what you are talking about,” I respond as I look at a black bra and panty set.
“You would look fabulous in that even if you are the only one that sees it. Which, if the way Mason was looking at you the other night is any indication, you wouldn’t have to be.”
“What do you mean the way he was looking at me?” I frown at Leah. Apparently when she poked her head out to ask about inventory, she had seen much more than I hoped.
“He looked like he was dying of thirst, and you were an oasis in the desert.”
I feel my face heating, “Stop, he did not. You are seeing things that are not there. Don’t you think you should be concentrating on your own hot date with a football player?”
“Nah, it’s just to help Mason out. There is no way some guy is going to quit the NFL to move here and play house with me. And I don’t have any desire to go to the big city.”
“Back to you and Mason. Do you think there is something there? I know you crushed hard on him when we were in school.”
I look at Leah over the rack of clothes. “He’s smart, hot, and saves people for a living. I would have to be dead a thousand years to not think he is a good catch.”
Leah waggles her eyebrows as Macy comes to stand next to us.
Chapter Eight
Mason
“I thought you onlyneeded a date for the gala and the charity events. Now we are adding in meetings with Coach and dinner with your friends? If you’re not careful, Mason, people are going to start to talk.” Emily gives me a sunny smile as she pulls on a dress coat and scarf over a cute pale pink sweater dress. She looks cheerful and beautiful with her hair swept back in a simple French twist and minimal makeup. Most of the women I went out with in the past, including Julia, wouldn’t leave the house without a full face of makeup and in an outfit worth less than the price of a pony.
“I love your dress,” I tell her as I open the car door and wait for her to slide in. I walk around and slide into the driver’s seat before starting the engine.
