Page 23 of Fallen Hearts

Mason appeared in the doorframe, filling it, as he always did. In jeans and a navy distressed T-shirt, his arms were on full display. I waved him inside.

“What about any boys? Oh, and I forgot to tell you, I saw Richard Sterling yesterday.”

Oh my God. Quickly pressing the speaker button, I picked up my phone. “Seriously, Mom. I’ve been here less than two weeks. Have to run though, the boss is here.”

A smiling Mason slayed me. It was so much easier when he was being a jerk, something he did from time to time, though never quite as much as that first day. But sometimes his short, curt responses jarred me. We were opposites in so many ways.

Getting my mother off the phone, I was prepared to pretend he hadn’t heard part of our conversation and thought quickly what I could ask him instead.

“Boys, huh?”

So much for that.

“My mother is very… curious.”

He sat down in the plush evergreen cushioned chair opposite my desk. “Curious?”

“Yes. My sister calls her intrusive, but I don’t see it that way. She just cares and wants us to be happy.”

“Hmm.”

He was so difficult to read. Did the Rangers teach him to do that? Make his expressions completely neutral?

“So I guess that means no boyfriend?”

It was the last question in the world I’d have expected from him.

“No boyfriend.”

Did he have a girlfriend?

“You?”

Oops. It slipped.

“Do I have a boyfriend?”

“Sure. Or girlfriend. Whatever.”

At least he was still smiling. “No girlfriend at present.”

Alrighty then.

“I actually came in to see what you thought of this.” He leaned forward, putting a color palette on my desk. “Parker is going to start working on the reception and foyer area next week, so we need a wall color. It’s similar to the one you sent, maybe a shade darker.”

“Next week already? Wow, that’s quick. How are you thinking to reroute guests?”

“What do you think of some sort of wall divider as soon as they enter, taking them into the parlor? I could have the reception desk moved in there.”

“I think it’s a great idea, and I love the color too.” I handed the swatch back to him. As I did, our fingers touched. Brief enough to hardly notice. But I noticed. And the way Mason looked at me, it seemed he did too.

At first I thought it was my imagination, but every day the charge between us grew stronger. There was no doubt at this point he was attracted to me, and I was to him. Big time.

Boss.

Jerk.

I tried to remember those two things, but when he wasn’t all sulky and reticent, thinking of him like the big jerk he was that first day became more and more difficult. Added to the fact the poor guy’s father just passed away… it was a dangerous train of thought.

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