Love, Laughter, and Happily Ever Afters Collection (Eight Fun, Romantic Novels by Eight Bestselling Authors)
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âItâs difficult between flying from Chicago to the Middle East and Greece and Africa and sitting in on conference calls with kings and presidents,â Mason said.
âOh, wow, you guys, did you see whoâs in the dunk tank?â
Suddenly Adrianne was beside him, oozing enthusiasm, her eyes wide, her smile wider.
âWho?â Drew seemed relieved by Adrianneâs interruption.
Mason had to hide a smile. Likely Drew had been told to make sure the boys played nice with Mason and he was worried about getting into trouble with Hailey. Mason wasnât sure what kind of punishment Hailey might dole out, but he did know that she wasnât as sweet as she seemed.
âKelsey Kramer,â Adrianne said. âAnd sheâs wearing a white shirt.â
âAnybody dunked her yet?â Drew asked.
âNope. But Jason Conrad is up next.â
âOkay, well Iâm feeling the need for a little walk across the square,â Drew said, clapping Steve on the shoulder and turning the man in the direction of the dunk tank. âWhoâs with me?â
The others seemed to agree that a wet white T-shirt on somebody named Kelsey was more interesting than Masonâs jobâkings or notâand headed off with Drew. Leaving him alone with Adrianne.
âWhoâs Jason Conrad?â Mason asked, watching the other men cross the park.
âThe all-star pitcher from the state championship baseball team.â Adrianne didnât look at him either.
âAnd Kelsey Kramer?â
âHot new kindergarten teacher.â
âA kindergarten teacher is in the dunk tank in a white T-shirt?â
âNo. But by the time they realize that, you and I will be gone.â
CHAPTER SIX
ADRIANNE TURNED AND started toward the Ferris wheel.
The Ferris wheel where heâd very much like to kiss her. At least.
âYou lied? I was thinking about how much I appreciate your openness,â Mason said as they walked.
âOh, I was quite genuine in my desire to get rid of the guys,â she said.
He chuckled. âAfraid I was going to punch Steve in the face?â
âAfraid you were going to hurt his brain by challenging it to think outside of his backyard and beyond his own direct compensation to something truly significant on a worldwide, humanitarian scale.â
Mason wasnât quite sure what to say to that. Adrianne Scott seemed to really understandâor at least grasp and admireâwhat he did. That was so unusual and satisfying that he knew he took longer than he should have to answer.
The universal truth was that it was hard to stay mad at a woman you wanted to cover in chocolate syrup. Or powdered sugar, he thought as they passed the funnel cake stand. It was how wives got their way so often.
He stopped. âWeâll be gone?â
She turned and came back to him. She tipped her head back to look up at him. âTraditionally, you should be the one insisting we talk about last night, especially after that kiss I laid on you. But since you were a bit of a dork with the girls in high school, Iâm giving you a pass on this one. Weâre going somewhere to talk. I insist.â
He fought the smile that pulled at his lips. Only Lauren knew him and liked him enough to dare tease him. He liked that Adrianne felt comfortable doing it too. âAnd here you are saving me again.â
âSaving you?â
âThe softball game, poker game, golfâ¦and now this. Youâre always saving me from my nerdiness.â
She frowned. âHow did you know about the golf?â
Ah, heâd been right. âIncredibly high IQ, remember?â
She gave a half smile. âRight.â
âIâm good at golf, Adrianne.â
âI was more concerned about the conversation. And you proved me right, by the way, with your little discussion with Steve.â
Mason grimaced. Maybe she had a point. âI donât do well being questioned. Itâ¦irritates me.â
âYeah, Iâll remember that.â She didnât sound intimidated at all.
He liked that about her too.
âAdmit it, you just canât leave me alone,â he said, moving in closer.
He knew now that he couldnât leave her alone either. And the Ferris wheel might not cut it.
SHE WAS NEVER going to be able to leave Mason alone, she realized as she looked up into his eyes. The man had the strangest effect on her. Sheâd seen him talking to the guys and by his postureâand sheâd known him for what? A little more than twenty-four hoursâknew that he was tense and the conversation wasnât going well.
Yes, sheâd been assigned to make sure he was accepted and comfortable and happy, but that wasnât what propelled her across the street and up the sidewalk. Sheâd been watching for him for almost an hour, and when she finally saw him she couldnât stay away.
Once she had his full attention with no interruptions, she should ask him more about the building project and why he didnât like it and work on convincing him that he should like it. She was a star in sales and marketing after all.
But she wasnât going to do that.
She wanted him to know that she was with him simply because she couldnât help it.
Something over his right shoulder caught her eye and she glanced at it. At her to be more specific. Hailey had arrived. In her stupid high heels and another short skirt. Had her clothes always been so skimpy or had she gone shopping?
It didnât matter. Adrianne wasnât ready or willing to share Mason.
âDammit.â She quickly looked around, then grabbed his hand and pulled him across the street and through the wrought-iron archway over the sidewalk leading to Herschfield House. The haunted house for the weekend.
âWhere are we going?â he asked, following her without hesitation, which she appreciated.
âSomewhere we wonât be found.â She pulled him around the side of the house and then through the door leading to the kitchen.
âI think weâre supposed to go in the front.â He sounded amused.
âI helped set this damned thing up,â she told him as they walked. âIf I canât duck in a side door, somebodyâs gonna get yelled at.â
âYou helped set the haunted house up?â
Once through the side door, instead of stepping through the cobwebs into the room where they were going to be threatened by a chainsaw-wielding Dracula, Adrianne turned right and tugged Mason along with her behind the black curtain that separated the victims from the actors who needed to periodically jump out or grab people as they walked by.
She ducked the elbow of a man with a plastic ax lodged in his head and dodged the two zombies heading for the front of the house.
âI helped set everything up for the festival except the rides and games that the carnival company brought in. I did the craft fair, the quilt show, the pie shop, the beer gardenâ¦and this.â She pulled him with her up the back staircase to the second floor.
âWhy do they have a haunted house at the town festival anyway?â Mason asked. âIâve always wondered.â
Sheâd thought it was strange too, but Hailey had insisted it was a tradition that would not end during her reign. Hailey didnât call it a reign but Adrianne knew thatâs how she thought of it. âItâs fun.â
âTo be scared?â
âYeah.â
âThen this doesnât make sense.â
âWhat do you mean?â
âYou know this is fake, right? No one would let a bunch of people walk through a house with a real ax murderer in it. So itâs not really scary.â
She chuckled. âRight, but you suspend disbelief during the e
xperience.â
âWhy?â
She rolled her eyes but grinned. In the candle-lit hallway, he couldnât see her anyway. âBecause it makes it fun.â
âSo youâre fooling yourself into thinking itâs fun.â
âIâ¦guess.â
Adrianne stepped into the first bedroom on the left with Mason right behind her. When she stopped, he bumped into her and steadied them both with his hands on her waist. And he didnât let go. Or move back. In fact, he seemed to press closer. At least part of him pressed closer. She felt his breath along the side of her neck and then he trailed his lips along her skin.
She sighed. God, that felt good.
The sound of a chainsaw and a chorus of screams interrupted the fantasy she had going of his mouth continuing on down.
âCrap.â She stepped out of his hold, closed the door and then locked it. âWe can hang out in here for a while.â
âWeâre hiding.â
âYes.â From the whole town, the whole world, for at least a week if she could arrange it. âSo youâve never been in a haunted house before?â
âNo.â
âWhy not? Itâs been a part of the festival for years. Wasnât it here when you lived here?â
The distant sound of screams drifted up the stairs.
âYes. But I have trouble with the whole suspension of disbelief thing.â
âRight.â A smart guy like him was probably too logical for something like fantasy. Which was a bit of a bummer considering some of the impure thoughts sheâd had going lately.
âAnd a very hard time with fooling myself into anything.â
âEspecially something fun,â she said dryly. Maybe she could show him how fun fantasy and imagination could be.
There was no bed nearby, but they could make do.
Herschfield House had once been an actual residence but now served as a sort of town museum. Sort of. This room for instance, held clothing and furniture that people felt were historic. For the most part, it was just old, but it was true that some of it easily dated back to the 1930s. The ladies of the Museum Guildâmany of whom had donated a lot of the clothes and furnitureâkept the rooms clean and somewhat organized. Like the room of historic dishes or the room of historic booksâold yearbooks, cookbooks and scrap books.
The first-floor living area was used for events like Motherâs Day tea, bridal and baby showers and club meetingsâbook clubs, Garden Club, Sewing Clubâand of course, the Haunted House at Halloween and festival time. It was the oldest house in town, was right on Main Street and was huge with a multitude of rooms that lent itself perfectly to a haunting.
âWhy not have fun for real?â He moved to the far side of the room and grabbed the cushions off an old couch. He propped them up against the wall by the windows, then took a seat, stretching his legs out in front of him.
âLike what?â Sheâd love to know what Mason Riley thought was fun.
âWhateverâs fun for you. What do you like to do?â
She tried to gauge if he was being suggestive, but it was hard to tell. She sat next to him and positioned herself like he had. âI like toâ¦â
Why was it such a hard question? It wasnât that she never had fun, but sheâ¦stayed home a lot. It didnât feel un-fun, but it wasnât the interesting trips or late nights at clubs and parties and shows that she used to have. âI love movies. I read a lot. Iâ¦â Go to bed early. Grocery shop with an obsession for food labels. âHow about you?â
She felt him lean more fully into his pillows. âHonestly? I have to make myself go out. Or more specifically, my partner, Lauren, has to make me go out. I work too much.â
âYour partner?â
He nodded with a smile that had her feeling a little jealous of Lauren. It was clear that Mason had a lot of feelings for the other woman.
âSheâs also my best friend,â Mason said.
âTell me about her.â Adrianne knew she shouldnât sound so possessive.
âSheâs awesome. Everything weâve done, weâve done together.â
âSheâs a genius too?â
âNot literally, but sheâs incredibly bright. Sheâs the leading authority on water and soil conservation in the United States.â
Yeah, but could she make candy? Adrianne rolled her eyes at herself. She made candy, she was the assistant to a small town mayor, because theyâd been sorority sisters. What did she have that would interest a guy like Mason?
âSo you work together and socialize together? Does that get complicated?â she asked, meaning, of course, have you ever slept together?
âNo. Iâm her charity case. I make her feel good about herself.â
âCharity case?â Adrianne asked. As if feeding third-world countries wasnât enough?
âYeah, she keeps me on the normal side of the spectrum. Whenever I start to drift in the nerd direction, she pulls me back.â He smiled. âKind of like how you rescue me when Iâm in a situation thatâs going to make me look bad.â
That got her attention even as she grimaced. She wasnât sure if he appreciated that or not. But she couldnât seem to help herself.
âYou think of yourself as a nerd?â she asked.
âI am a nerd, Adrianne. Iâd rather read scientific journals than novels. Iâd rather play with my plants than go to a nightclub.â
âYour passion is science. And youâre doing things most people canât even imagine not to mention do. Thereâs nothing at all wrong with that, or you, Mason.â
He looked surprised by her vehemence. She was too. But she meant all of it.
âWow, why couldnât you have gone to my high school?â he asked with a little grin.
She smiled and settled back against the cushion again, having realized her passion about his normalcy had made her sit up straight. âIâm sorry to say that I was probably not as enlightened about what makes a man truly attractive at that age.â
âYou were a cheerleader, class president, homecoming queen?â he asked.
She sighed. âYes.â
He laughed. âNo need to sound embarrassed. Thatâs normal stuff. What everyone wants. Even nerds. At least on some level.â
At those words, she felt a twinge near her heart. Different from the others Mason had been causing. This felt likeâshe wanted to hug him rather than ravish him. The desire to ravish was under the surface for sure, but she would have been okay with simply hugging. For now.
âYou didnât feel normal?â
âNever here. Wellâ¦rarely.â
She wanted to know more about those rare times, but he wasnât sharing more at the moment and she hesitated to push.
âYou would have liked to golf with the guys today?â she asked.
âI would like to think that Iâm to the point where I can have a normal conversation with normal guys.â
âWhy do you care about talking with those guys?â Part of her really hated that Mason had never felt normal, but she also hated that he was measuring normalcy by Drew, Tim and Steve.
âI can talk to anyone else. Mostly. I have to think through what Iâm going to say, but I generally hang out with people I have something in common with, so itâs easier.â
She grinned. âYou see these guys as a challenge then.â
He grinned back. âSomething like that.â
She really liked him. She wanted him to feel normal, accepted, appreciated.
âMaybe theyâll invite you to go golfing again,â she said.
He looked at her. âDo not tell them to invite me to go golfing, Adrianne.â
Okay, so he wa
s kind of on to her and the whole plan to make him happy. âOkay, I wonât say anything to them about golfing.â
âAdrianne.â His voice was deep and full of warning.
She looked up at him.
âDonât tell the guys to invite me to do anything with them.â
Dammit. Sheâd been thinking they could invite him for more cards. Or fishing. Or beer. That pretty much summed up the menâs social activities in Sapphire Falls.
âFine, I wonât say anything.â
âThank you.â
âSo when you make yourself go out, what do you do?â she asked, knowing it wasnât playing cards, fishing or drinking beer in someoneâs backyard.
âShows, dinner, parties.â
With women, she was sure. He lived in Chicago and rubbed elbows with some very interesting people. The high-class parties and weekend getaways sheâd experienced were probably nothing compared to what he was invited to.
âI like comedy,â she said. âThere was a club in Chicago I used to love: Picadillyâs.â
âNever been there.â
âNo? You should go.â
âSo, itâs like jokes and stuff?â
She smiled. âRight.â She could only imagine his reaction to the raunchy, politically incorrect stuff he would hear at Picadillyâs.
They sat quietly, listening to the muffled screams and pounding going on below them.
âDid you hear about the cat that ate the ball of yarn?â Mason asked.
âNo.â She was already smiling. Mason Riley was telling her a joke.
âIt had mittens.â
There was a long pause and then she burst out laughing. Holy crap, heâd told her a joke and it wasâ¦corny, dumb and something she could tell a Sunday-school classroom. She loved it.
âDid you hear about the skeleton that walked into a bar?â she asked in return.
âNo.â
She could hear the smile in his voice. âHe ordered a beerâ¦and a mop.â
Another long pause, and then Mason chuckled. âNice.â
âI can do corny jokes all night long.â
They lapsed into silence again for nearly a minute.