Reining In The Billionaire

EvaMarie was obviously not daunted by Mason’s refusal to relent. She extended her hand in his brother’s direction. “You must be Kane?”

His traitor brother went to the bottom of the stairs to shake her hand and properly introduce himself, then he glanced at Mason over his shoulder. “Gotta go. I’ll see you back at the town house tonight.”

What a wimp! Though Mason knew Kane wasn’t running; he was simply leaving Mason to deal with the awkward situation of his own creation. The odds of EvaMarie simply happening by here were quite small, even though the town was only moderately sized with a large population of stable owners in the area.

Sure enough, she waited only long enough for Kane to disappear around the corner before turning back to him. “Could I speak with you, please? There’s a café nearby.”

A tingling sense told him he was about to be asked for a favor. Not that the Hyatts deserved one. After all, Daulton had shown no mercy when he’d had Mason’s father fired from his job and blacklisted at the other stables in the area. He hadn’t cared at all that his father was the sole support of two children. He’d only wanted revenge on Mason for daring to touch his daughter.

Mason would do well to remember that, regardless of how sexy EvaMarie might look all grown up.

The café just down the street was locally owned, with a cool literary ambience that was obviously popular from the crowd gathered inside. Bookshelves lined a couple of walls, containing old books interspersed with teapots and mugs. Tables and ladder-back chairs shared the space with oversize, high-backed chairs covered in leather. He glanced at EvaMarie, only to see her gaze sweeping over the crowd in a kind of anxious scan.

Though he refused to admit it, seeing her do that gave him a little pang. It seemed as though things hadn’t changed too much after all. She still couldn’t stand to be seen with him in public.

Struggling to stuff down his fifteen-year-old resentments, Mason was a touch short when he snapped, “Grab a table. I’ll order the coffee.”

“Oh.” She glanced his way, her smile tentative. “Could I just get an apple cider please?”

Apparently she hadn’t chosen the place for the coffee. As he took his place in line, he couldn’t help but think how strange this was. EvaMarie wasn’t someone he’d had a typical relationship with—though she’d been the only woman he’d had more than just sex with. That was a first—and definitely a last.

But they’d never been on a real date, just his graduation party with his high-school friends. Never really out in public. Mostly they had gone on trail rides together, holed up in the old barn loft and talked, sneaking stolen moments here and there when no one was looking.

Once he returned with their drinks, she fiddled with the protective sleeve on the cup, moving it up and down as if she couldn’t decide if she wanted to try the drink or not. But she’d requested this meeting, not him, so he waited her out in silence.

Which only made the fidgeting worse. Why did he have to feel such satisfaction over that?

“I found a place for my parents,” she finally said. “They’ll be moving tomorrow.”

“That’s nice—is something wrong?”

Just as he’d known it would, his question only made her more nervous. She started to slowly strip the outer layer off the corrugated paper sleeve.

“No,” she said, then took a big swallow that was probably still very hot, considering the way she winced. “I’m fine. I just...well, I didn’t realize there would be so many people here at this time of day.”

“Still embarrassed to be seen with me?” he asked. Then wondered why in the hell those words came out of his mouth.

She must have wondered too, because her eyes widened, her gaze darting between her drink and his. “No, I mean, that isn’t the issue at all.”

“Could’ve fooled me.” He wasn’t buying it. Especially not with too many bad memories to back up his beliefs.

“And my father’s reaction didn’t teach you any differently?”

That gave him pause, almost coloring those memories with a new hue. But he refused to accept any excuses, so he shrugged.

“Anyway—” she drew in a deep breath “—they chose to move into a senior living facility so my mother would have help with my dad. The cost of getting them settled is more than I anticipated. I wondered about an extension on the house?”

“Nope.”

He caught just a glimpse of frustration before her calm mask slid back into place. “Mason, I can’t afford first and last month’s rent on a place to live and to pay someone to move all of our stuff.”

“Don’t you have friends? You know, the old standby—have a nice pizza party and pickup trucks? That’s how normal people do it. Oh, right, you aren’t familiar with normal people—just the high life.”

She looked away. He could swear he saw a flush creep over her cheeks, but he certainly saw her lips tighten. That guilty satisfaction of getting under her skin flowed through him.

She turned back with a tight smile. Boy, she was certainly pushing to keep that classy demeanor, wasn’t she? “Honestly, I’ve spent the last two years taking full-time care of my father. I don’t have any—many close friends. And while I’d like to think of myself as capable, even I can’t move the bed or couch on my own. I just need—”

He opened his mouth, ready to interrupt with a smart-ass answer, when a woman appeared at EvaMarie’s side.

“Oh, EvaMarie, you simply must introduce me to your handsome friend.”

“Must I?”

EvaMarie’s disgruntled attitude made him smile and hold out his hand to the smiling blonde. “Mason Harrington.”

“Liza Young,” she said with a well-manicured hand laid strategically over her chest. “I don’t believe I’ve heard of you—I would most certainly remember.”

The woman’s overt interest wasn’t something Mason was comfortable with—he preferred women more natural than Liza—but rubbing EvaMarie the wrong way was worth encouraging it. Besides, he and his brother were gonna need contacts. Liza’s expensive jewelry spoke to money, her confident demeanor to upper class breeding. “I’m new to the area.” He glanced across the table so he could see EvaMarie’s face. “Or rather, returning after a long absence.”

“Oh? And what brings you here?” So far she had completely ignored EvaMarie beside her, but now she cast a quick glance down. “Surely not little EvaMarie Homebody.”

Okay, this wasn’t as fun. Mason narrowed his gaze but kept his smile in place. For some reason, it was perfectly acceptable for him to pick on EvaMarie—after all, Mason justified that he had a reason for his little barbs—but this woman’s comment seemed uncalled for.

“The area’s rich in racing history,” he explained. “My brother and I are setting up our own stables.”

“Oh, there’s two of you?”

No substance, all flirt. Mason was getting bored. “Lovely to meet you, but if you’ll excuse us, we were discussing business.”

“Business?” She threw a sideways glance at EvaMarie, who looked a little surprised herself. “Well, that makes more sense.”

Liza giggled, leaning forward in such a way to give Mason a good look into her not-so-modest cleavage. He couldn’t help but compare the in-your-face sexuality and lack of subtlety in a woman he had just met with the image of soft womanhood sitting beside her. EvaMarie was smartly dressed, and yes, he detected a hint of cleavage, but she hadn’t flashed it in his face in order to get what she wanted. Of course, that thought reminded him of just how much of her cleavage he’d seen...and how much he’d like to see it again. Sort of a compare-and-contrast thing. He remembered her as eager to learn anything he’d been willing to teach her—did she still need a teacher?

Mason quickly reined himself in. There was no point in going there, since he had no plans to revisit that old territory. No matter how tempting it might be. Besides, EvaMarie was looking stoic again. Maybe he should relent—a little.

He stood, then pulled a business card out of his inner jacket pocket. “Well, it was a pleasure to meet you, Liza,” he said, handing the card over. “I hope I’ll get to see you again soon.”

Liza grinned, then reached into the clutch at her side for a pen, wrote on the card and handed it back. “So do I,” she said, then flounced back to a table across the floor where several other women were waiting.

EvaMarie had turned to watch her go, then groaned as she caught sight of the other women seated at Liza’s table, all of whom were craning their necks to get a good look. “Well, I hope you’re ready to announce your presence, because it’s gonna be all over town in about two hours.”

“That’s the plan,” Mason murmured. A glance at the card revealed Liza’s cell phone number. With a grin because he knew how much it would annoy EvaMarie, he slipped the card back into his pocket. “Now, where were we?”

The pained look that slipped over her face as she opened her mouth, probably to start from the beginning, made him feel like a jerk. So he broke in before she could speak.

“Let me see what I can do,” he said. Not a concrete answer, but he needed time to think. And a few more days of worry wouldn’t hurt her.

* * *