“That’s debatable,” he said as his hand touched my lower back. “I’ll drive you home.”
“Who said I needed a ride?”
“I know Ashley was your ride. How do you think I got here?”
We walked to his car, a black Tesla, a fancy electric car I had seen recently in a magazine. It was just like Mason to be more concerned about the environment than wasting his money on something extravagant.
“Have you been following me?” I asked with a laugh.
“Some would call it stalking,” he said, his dimples deepened as he grinned.
“You’re really something else, you know that?”
“I do. It’s why you’ve never forgotten about me.”
“I definitely didn’t forget how cocky you are.”
“Tara, it’s been fifteen years and you still look at me the same way you did all that time ago.”
“Maybe you’re seeing things.”
“Maybe I am. Or maybe I’m seeing what I know you see in me. I know how I look at you. It’s the same way I’ve always looked at you.”
“Like a starved wolf.” I laughed nervously. Why was he being so serious? What was going on?
“If I’m starved, it’s because I’m only hungry for you. You’re the only one who has ever made me feel this way. Ever.”
They were the words I had dreamed about hearing, but I wasn’t ready for them. My heart fluttered in my chest with a mixture of happiness and pain. I didn’t know what his words meant. Was he serious?
“I’m not ready for this,” I said as I looked out the window of the moving car.
“What do you mean? I’ve spent all this time thinking about you, hoping that one day fate would bring us together again, and it has.”
“We just got back together. Wait, what am I saying? We’re not even together. This is the first time we’ve seen each other in months.”
He had me so confused I didn’t know what I was saying or thinking anymore.
“I’m tired of wasting time, Tara,” he said as he pulled the car over. He turned to face me, and his eyes were intense and his jaw was set. “I am taking you out to dinner tomorrow night. I will not take no for an answer.”
“But--”
“No buts. It’s just dinner. If what I think is still there between us, then maybe it’ll be something more. If I’m wrong, at least we’ll get a nice meal out of it.” He turned the car back onto the road, then stole a glance at me. “Go ahead, say it.”
“You’re still the same cocky sonofabitch, aren’t you?” I asked, barely hiding my smile.
He laughed softly. “The same son of a bitch you fell in love with. The one who hopes you might still feel the same way.”
It was funny how long ago the time felt, but my feelings made me feel like everything just happened yesterday. It was all right on the surface waiting as if something deep down said that one day we would meet again. One day I’d feel everything for him anew. What I never expected was that fifteen years after we first met, he would be the same man who once swept me off my feet.
Fifteen Years Ago
I arrived at the ranch early in the morning. Today was Mason Abernathy’s first day and as much as I had heard how he had worked the ranch before, I didn’t expect much hard labor from that entitled jerk.
My stomach dropped as I approached the main stable and saw that the doors were wide open. I remembered locking up before I left the night before, but what if there was a break in? Each of those horses was worth more than I’d probably make in my life.
As I ran into the stable, Mason exited one of the stalls near the entry. My boots slipped on some hay. I was moving too fast to gain my footing on the wood floor when his arms wrapped around me.
“So far so good,” he said, holding me close as his mouth spread into a smile. “Seems I am always around to catch you.”
“Let me go,” I said as I pushed him away.
“Until next time.” He raised his eyebrows and grinned.
I stepped back from him and tried to collect myself, but my damn heart kept pounding whenever I thought about his catching me.
Maybe I need to slip on some hay again.
I shook my head to get the thought out of my mind and finally noticed how Mason filled out his jeans. He was wearing an ivory t-shirt that was a little damp from sweat, making it cling to his muscular chest.
Maybe I need a roll in the hay.
I looked around the stable, trying to get my mind off of undressing my new boss, and mentally counted the horses. They were quiet as they ate.
“You’re here early,” I said, forcing myself to not end my sentence with a question mark.
“I like taking care of them before the heat of the day becomes too much.”
“You didn’t have to do this. You’re the manager, I would’ve taken care of it.”
“That’s not how I work,” he said. “Listen, I can only imagine what you think of me. I’ve been called a cocky bastard, a spoiled handsome asshole, and I’m sure that’s exactly what you think of me.”
Despite not wanting to react, I found myself nodding.
“See, I know. And I don’t mind it, I am a cocky bastard. And handsome.” He smiled and his dimples made another appearance. “Remember you agreed to that too.”
“I did not!”
“You did. And I have all these horses as my witnesses.” He took his cowboy hat off the hook and put it on. “Let’s go for a ride. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
His eyes were warm and trusting and despite how much I wanted to continue disliking him, he was winning me over.
“Okay, but you have to let me lead,” I said.
“Not a problem, I’ll be enjoying the view.”
He wiggled his brow at me then walked out of the stable towards the round pen. Inside the pen was a young man I hadn’t seen before. He was tall with dark wavy hair and as he cleaned, it was obvious he had done this before.
“Rafa, get the two horses.” Mason called to him.
“Who’s he?” I asked, keeping an eye on the boy as he entered the stable.
“Part time help. He’s the real reason I came home.”
“He’s a little young. Is he yours?” I asked, surprised.
Mason laughed. “No. His sister is a good friend of mine and asked me to help him out. He's been getting into a bit of trouble lately.”
Rafa led two horses to us and Mason took their reins. I climbed onto one of the horses and trotted down the path that led to the hills surrounding the ranch. Mason rode alongside me when the path was wide enough and slipped behind when it narrowed.
The ride was just what I needed to clear my mind. I breathed in the fresh air and decided to put aside any of my hard feelings about Mason getting the job over me.
We rode in silence, just taking in the rolling hills and the dark green leaves of the trees. As we approached a clearing, Mason went ahead and dismounted before taking the reins of my horse and helping me down.
“We need to talk,” he said. “My father didn’t handle this as well as he should have.”
With the horses grazing, Mason and I looked across the valley as the sun made its way further into the sky.
“He wants you to learn the business,” I said, thinking about my conversation with him.
“I don’t need to manage a stable of horses to learn the business. I grew up here, it’s already part of my life and not something I’m interested in taking over.”
“But what about your dad? He said he’s dying. I think that’s why this is so important to him.”
“My father has been dying most of my life,” he scoffed. “Don’t get me wrong, I love my father, but I always wanted a life outside of the ranch.”
“Is that why you’ve been away so long?”
“You heard about that? Nice to know people talk about me.”
“I...umm...we weren’t talking about you,” I said, stammering as he laughed.
“I’ve known Lucy and Maddie for years. If the
y weren’t talking about me, they were talking about someone.”
“My lips are sealed.”
He touched my cheek and his thumb grazed my lips. This wasn’t how I wanted our first day of working together to end up, but all I could think about was him kissing me.
“I’m only going to be here a couple of months,” he said, turning towards the view.
“A couple months? Are you going back to school?”
“No, I’m done. I just completed my Masters in Environmental Science at Yale and started my own environmental consulting firm. I haven’t been home in years, but Chloe asked me to come home and help with Rafa. He’s seventeen and getting in with the wrong crowd. He knows horses, so I figured some hard work would do him good. Once he’s settled in here, I’m heading to Germany for a business opportunity. In other words, I’ll be out of your way before you know it.”
“Oh well, maybe you're not as bad as I thought.”
“I’m not all suits and hundred dollar bills, if that’s what you were thinking,” he said. “As a matter of fact, I’m going to take you out to dinner sometime to prove that.”
I studied his handsome face for a moment. As I opened my mouth to accept, something Maddie said a while back flitted through my mind.
“What for?” I asked. “So you can have your fun while you’re here and then go?”
As I glared at him, he met my gaze steadily before cracking a smile.
“You can’t fault a guy for trying. You’re the prettiest thing I’ve seen around here in a long time. You keep this up and I promise one day I’ll marry you.”
I rolled my eyes. Like that would happen.
“You don't even know me,” I said. “I think we should get back to work.”
As I turned towards the horses, Mason reached out for my arm. The heel of my boot caught on a jagged rock and I tripped forward.
Not again!
Mason, with his hand still on my arm, yanked me up before I landed on the ground. For the third time my klutziness landed me in his arms, but this time I let myself enjoy his hard body pressed against me.
The fresh morning air must have done something to my head, because I felt woozy as he held me. My heart thumped and I forced myself to breathe normally. He didn’t do or say anything. His eyes swept over my face as if he was trying to memorize it.
“I’ll pick you up for dinner tomorrow night,” he said.
He released his grip on me and reached out for the reins of his horse. Before I could say anything, he galloped out of the clearing.
I hated his cockiness and I couldn’t stand how much I enjoyed being in his arms. But he filled me with a nervous excitement when I thought about dinner with him.
As I climbed back onto my horse and rode back to the ranch, I knew I needed to cancel. It wasn’t just that he was a spoiled, rich jerk, with him getting the manager role that made him my boss. And if he was being honest about leaving, not only did I want to position myself to get his job, but I didn’t want to get hurt. And just by the twinkle in his eyes, I knew he was someone who could break my heart without thinking twice about it.
Present Day
I expected Mason to be pushy and want to come into the cottage, but he only walked me to the door and left before I had time to ask if he wanted to come in for coffee.
The parallels between now and then were driving me crazy. I wanted to give in and go with it, to feel what it meant to be loved by him again, but I couldn’t forget what it felt like to be left by him also.
The next day I asked Maya to take care of things for me while I figured out what I would wear on my date. Maya decided to stay after Ashley offered her a job and a room in the main house. I had to admit I missed having her in the cottage with me, even if it was cramped.
After spending the day shopping, I had a couple of new outfits picked out for the date. At the last minute, I decided to not make a big deal about it and just be comfortable. I put on my favorite pair of jeans and then looked in the mirror. My nose scrunched as I looked at my hair.
“Crap,” I muttered as I pulled my hair out of the elastic. “What am I supposed to do with this?”
As I looked at my limp blonde hair in the mirror, the doorbell rang. Dammit, out of time! I flipped my head over, shook it, then flipped my hair back up. Taking a quick glance at myself, I was surprised to find my hair looked a little better.
I opened the door and found Mason leaning against the frame. In his hand, he held three large sunflowers with dark purple irises. A thick yellow ribbon was tied around their stalks.
“Sunflowers?” I asked.
“I saw them and thought about that day in the field together. The day of the picnic. Remember?”
“How could I forget it? That was the first time we...well, you know.”
“I can’t believe you still can’t say it,” He laughed and gave me a sideways glance. “That was the first time we did it, had sex. Since you are a lady, I’ll spare you the F word. It was the first time we made love.”
“You can be such a girl sometimes,” I said, taking the sunflowers and letting him into the cottage. “I’m surprised you even remember. I’m sure there were plenty of women after me.”
“There's been no one since you. Every woman I've met has been compared to my memory of you. They didn’t stand a chance.”
“Are you telling me that for fifteen years you haven’t, well, you know.”
He laughed again. “What I’m telling you is that since being with you, I haven’t made love with anyone else. Of course I’ve fucked--”
I put my hand up. “That’s enough. I don’t need to hear it.”
“I am a man you know.”
I brought the sunflowers into the kitchen and set them on the counter. I had one old vase that was collecting dust in the back of a cabinet. Cleaning the vase, I took the opportunity to glance over at Mason. His hands were in his pockets as he looked around my home.
I was surprised to see he wasn’t in a suit, although I wasn’t sure why I expected him to be. As I filled the vase with water, I realized what I said the other day was true. Despite how familiar he was to me, I didn’t know much about this Mason. My memories were all about the man in his twenties, not the man almost in his forties.
“Where are we going for dinner?” I asked.
“On a picnic,” he said.
He smiled and raised his eyebrows as his dimples deepened. My memories flooded me again, but I pushed them away. Tonight I was going to get to know Mason Abernathy again and leave the past behind.
Second Chance, Tara and Mason’s story, is now available!
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Liliana Rhodes is a New York Times and USA Today Bestselling Author who writes Contemporary and Paranormal Romance. Blessed with an overactive imagination, she is always writing and plotting her next stories. She enjoys movies, reading, photography, listening to music, and spending time with her son. After growing up in the Northeast, Liliana now lives in the Southeast with her husband, son, two very spoiled dogs, and a parrot and a fish who are plotting to take over the world.
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