Page 12 of Fallen Hearts

Also, I didn’t want to move back home, tail between my legs, and basically tell everyone I was let go before I even started the position.

“Mind if I join you?”

He was even hotter up close, but I knew that already. Too bad the guy apparently hated smiling, at least at me. Catching a glimpse of him laughing with his buddies, the bartender unfortunately one of them, I’d been taken aback. A smiling Mason was a devastating sight indeed.

“Actually,” he began, but his friend cut in.

“Not at all.”

I took the seat next to Mason. “Parker, right?”

“You got it. And you remember Beck, I’m sure,” he said as the bartender sauntered over to us. I knew more than my share of women who’d fawn all over the guy. Good looks plus that kind of confidence? Luckily, I’d had my heart broken enough times to know how to avoid it.

“Hello, Beck,” I said as if bored. In truth, I didn’t even dare reach for my drink in front of me for fear my hands might shake. I could feel Mason looking at me.

“Hello, Pia,” he drawled back. “Fancy meeting you on this side of the bar.”

“Does that usually work?”

“To pick up women?”

“Yeah.”

“Always. Except tonight. I have a feeling you’re not into me.”

Laughing at his appalled expression, I took the bait. “Do you really? That’s so strange since it’s very untrue.”

“Now you’re just toying with me,” he accused.

“As much as I’d love to continue this extremely enlightening conversation,” I said, “it seems there’s a woman who you might actually have a chance with boring a hole into your back.”

Chuckling, Beck turned toward the woman he’d been flirting with all night. She lifted her empty drink. “Seems like you’re right,” he said, winking at me before walking away.

Sitting back on the stool and grabbing my wine, I finally turned to Mason. Though he wasn’t smiling, exactly, his frown didn’t seem to be as big as when I first sat.

“So,” I began.

“The answer is no.”

What a bastard. A gorgeous, gruff bastard.

“I’d say something about your lack of manners but will cut you some slack. Given your circumstances.”

“His attitude,” Parker said from the other side of Mason, “has nothing to do with his dad. Mason’s always like this.”

“Good to know,” I said, rethinking my plan. Maybe not a boss I’d care to have.

“Were you going to ask me something else? Like if you can have the job?” Mason asked.

Like I said. Bastard.

“I was going to ask how you managed to snag these two as friends,” I said sarcastically, “since they apparently like to smile and you do not.”

I was wasting my time. Clearly he wasn’t going to reconsider, so the gloves were off. This wasn’t my potential boss but a guy being a complete dickhead to me.

“We met in kindergarten,” he said of Beck. “And this one”—Mason nodded toward Parker—“in college.”

Surprised he answered without a hint of sarcasm, I had no comeback.

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