Page 3 of Hypnotized By Love

She gave Lulabelle a doggy treat and frowned slightly. “There was a guy last night, but it was no big deal. Just a onetime thing.”

“I feel like you should text us whenever you bring a random guy home. For safety reasons,” Sierra said, and I nodded.

“Oh, I couldn’t do that. Think of my data plan,” she said with a wink, and I couldn’t help but laugh.

“Maybe we should go out this Saturday,” Sierra said. “We could have an actual girls’ night out.”

“I can’t. I have a date Saturday night,” Bridget said.

“Who with?”

“I don’t know yet. And speaking of dating possibilities ... I heard a rumor today. One that I think will particularly interest you, Savannah.”

I raised both of my eyebrows at her expectantly. “Me?” After my recent brush with quasi-stalking and harassment, I wasn’t really in a dating kind of place.

“Mm-hmm. Guess who I heard is back in town?”

“No idea,” I said. Our little beach town loved gossip more than anything, but during the tourist season, everybody was more focused on earning as much money as they could before things got quiet again.I hadn’t heard any tidbits lately that warranted the feline grin my friend was currently sporting.

“My white whale has returned. The only man who ever escaped my clutches,” she said, as if that would clear things up. I was still drawing a blank. “I’m pretty sure you had a huge crush on him. I can’t blame you. I did, too. We all did.”

I had no idea who she meant.

But before she could fill me in, the bell rang on the front door and I happened to glance over.

Mason Beckett walked in.

My heart leapt into my throat and I gripped the edge of the table so tightly my knuckles turned white. I hadn’t seen him in six years.

Not since he completely wrecked my entire life.

Camila had told me to avoid the appearance of evil, as if she’d somehow intuited that the horrible offspring of Satan and a snake was going to waltz right back into my Starbucks.

Mason’s being here felt like an omen of doom. I knew that my life was about to be completely upended.

CHAPTER TWO

Red-hot rage filled me, making my limbs quake. How could he just stroll in here, to my favorite hangout, like he hadn’t made me the laughingstock of our entire high school?

I closed my eyes quickly. Part of my job was helping people to not feel the way I was feeling right now. I needed to relax, calm down. I did some breathing exercises, but my skin still tingled with angry anticipation of the moment when I’d open my eyes again.

“There he is,” Bridget said with a sigh. “Mason Beckett. My soon-to-be Saturday date.”

“Huh,” Sierra grunted. “Was he always that hot?”

“He’s definitely gotten yummier with time.”

Not able to help myself, I opened my eyelids slightly to look at him. He stood in line, waiting for his turn. A detached part of my brain that wasn’t sharing in the full-body panic at seeing him again evaluated what Bridget had said.

Mason seemed taller. Definitely broader, like he’d grown up and filled out. His hair was a lighter brown than I remembered, a caramel color that suited him. He wasn’t looking at us, but those soft, lying hazel eyes of his were indelibly burned into my brain. He had on a light bluebutton-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up over his forearms and a pair of khaki pants, looking every bit the bestselling author I knew him to be.

He seemed cool and casual and not even a little bit sweaty, and it made me hate him more.

“Cool timing, universe,” I muttered under my breath. Like I hadn’t been punished enough today?

“Did you say something?” Sierra asked, the concern evident on her face. “Are you okay?” She was older by three minutes, something she constantly reminded me about, and apparently thought that gave her the right to be the mother hen in our relationship.

“I’m fine,” I said, still gripping the table. Bridget was oblivious to our conversation, making eyes at Mason’s back.

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