Page 26

There was a brief moment when he thought Harley would leave the conversation where he had, but then she chased after him again. “You can’t leave,” she insisted.

“Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because… you agreed.”

“Well, I changed my mind.”

“Why?” She’d come around to stand in front of him again. This time her hands were on her hips. “Was it something I said?”

Mason’s frown returned. “Maybe you just can’t accept that you’re not everyone’s piece of pie. I don’t owe you anything, and I’d rather not put myself through the torture of spending time with you.”

She gasped and her face turned a delightful shade of scarlet. He took this moment to move past her once more. Nothing could have prepared him for the groan that burst from her small frame as she hurried toward his truck and blocked his door. Her hands were splayed out at her sides, preventing him from gaining access to his vehicle. “Don’t go.”

Lifting a brow, he kept his eyes trained on her. Before he could say anything else, she said the one thing that was enough to make him reconsider.

“Please,” she whispered.

The desperation in her voice was enough to catch him off guard. Thankfully, he wasn’t the trusting type. “I don’t understand why this is so important to you. Do you have a bet going on with your uncle or something?”

She flushed again. “Of course not. I…” She pressed her lips together firmly. “I just think it’s going to be easier for me if I have someone else to take the brunt of the work off my plate. The way I see it, there’s only the two of us here. My uncle and me. I know my uncle well enough to see that eventually, he’s going to have me doing a lot more than I’m able to.”

“You don’t know that.” His eyes swept over her for a second time. “Seems to me he’s doing a good enough job at easing you into it. Didn’t take long to have you dress the part.”

Her blush deepened, as did her scowl. If looks could kill, he might have been turned to dust right there. “The agreement I made with my mother is to be here for the summer and learn a thing or two about working hard. If I do a good enough job, there’s a chance my sentence could be shortened. I don’t know. Maybe you would be able to… put in a good word with my uncle.” She lifted her shoulders listlessly, then dropped them.

He snorted. “A good word would have to be earned, and you aren’t instilling that kind of faith in me.” He watched a myriad of emotions flit across her face before she dropped her eyes to the ground.

“You don’t like me. I get it. But maybe after you get to know me—”

“Fat chance.”

Still she didn’t look up at him. A twinge of guilt swept through him and he heaved a sigh. Somehow, he’d grown soft. Helping Harley out wasn’t something he should have felt pressed to do, and yet here he was feeling bad for her. She didn’t belong here; that much was clear. She hated it here, and all she wanted was to be set free. She was like a wild creature who didn’t want to be caged.

Mason groaned, dragging a hand down his face as he turned back toward the house. He could hear her shifting behind him, though she was smart enough not to utter a word. She could probably sense that he was close to giving in. Well, she was going to be disappointed. All he needed to do was find Mr. Abrams and let him know that this wasn’t going to work out. Harley would have to find a different character witness to help manipulate her uncle.

“Where’s Mr. Abrams?”

“I thought you’d already seen him.”

Mason faced her, shaking his head. “I haven’t seen him.”

Instant worry crossed her pretty features. “He wasn’t in his office? He said after his ride this morning, he was going to wait for you in his office.”

Mason’s chest tightened and he glanced toward the barn. “Did you see the horse he took? Is it back?”

She paled, shuffling away from the truck as she shook out her hands and then crossed her arms. “I don’t remember.”

“How can you…?” Mason pinched the bridge of his nose and took a deep breath. She wasn’t used to being here yet. And instead of working, she was hiding away. She probably had no idea what was going on around her. “What direction did he go riding?”

Harley shook her head, lifting her shoulders and dropping them.

“You’re telling me you don’t know what direction he might have gone or if his horse even came back?”

Slowly, she shook her head again.

He released a groan and charged toward the barn.

“What are you doing?” Harley hurried to catch up with him and fell into step beside him. “Are you going to go looking for him?”