Page 8 of Raised On It (Between the Pines #1)

Mason

I ’ve been walking around with my head in the clouds since Miles’s truck drove away from Katie’s place after our spur-of-the-moment lunch.

I’ve been so distracted that I completely spaced about my nail appointment and jumped out of my skin when my phone pinged, reminding me I was supposed to be at the salon.

I am never late for anything.

Well, at least I wasn’t until I met Miles Montgomery.

Luckily, Tell Me About It is smack dab in the middle of Main Street, so I don’t have to think too hard to get there because my mind is all over the place.

If someone had told me when I woke up this morning that I would be having lunch with Miles, I would have laughed in their face.

But watching him try to come up with things to do outside to delay leaving was not only obvious but also quite endearing.

He wasn’t trying to get my attention, but I couldn’t help but sneak peeks out the kitchen window and maybe even the bedroom window.

I love New York City, but no penthouse, no matter how big the mortgage, has a view as good as the one I had this morning looking out into that backyard.

Central Park is nice, but the landscape here comes complete with backward baseball caps, sexy work boots worn from years of work and weather, and denim that fits in a way I didn’t know was even a thing.

The best view in town is one that has both Miles and Lou in it.

Yes, watching his tan, toned arms flex while he worked did a little something to me, but watching him with his dog is why I went to lunch with him.

I was kicking myself all the way to The Jury Room, but once we got there, our conversation flowed easily, and shockingly, I told him about Grant.

Not only did he find my career and my success interesting, but he asked question after question.

And the best part? His inquisitiveness seemed entirely genuine.

Now, here I am, running late and feeling as confused as Lou was when Miles would pretend to throw his ball only he couldn’t find it anywhere because it was still in his dad’s hand.

That’s exactly how I feel right now.

Everything about the man should have me running in the other direction. He might as well have a big red circle with a line through it on his chest.

But then there all those other attributes he has with his charming ways that most men don’t.

He listens. Like really listens.

He isn’t threatened by my success.

He wants to know the way my brain works and about my writing process.

He wants to know what makes me tick .

But the jaded part of me can’t help but think all of this could just be the way he thinks he can get in my pants?

Will the other side of him, the side of him he hasn’t shown me yet, come out once he gets what he wants?

I park Katie’s Honda in front of the salon and silently thank God that I’ll finally have something to do to take my mind off Miles.

The salon is adorable, adorned in pink and red lips that go with the theme of the name out front. There are several employees as well as two clients, and I can’t help but feel as if I’ve interrupted their conversation when the room falls silent and all eyes are on me as I approach the front desk.

“Welcome to Tell Me About It. You must be Mason?”

“That’s me. I have an appointment with Cara for a mani/pedi. I’m so sorry I’m late.”

“Nice to meet you. I’m Cara and don’t give it a second thought. We’re gonna sit right over here in the open chair. These are my friends Emmett and Amelia, and they were just telling us about their crazy trip to Vegas. They were there during the big blackout last week.”

Both women say hello and welcome me. I haven’t met a person I didn’t like in Eastlyn. I have a feeling it’s gonna be hard to leave this place.

Hating to interrupt, I urge them to continue their storytelling and the petite redhead Cara introduced as Amelia continues her story.

“So as I said, we weren’t just in Vegas during a blackout, but we were with Nicolette Gwen when it happened. And I don’t mean she was across the room or in the building. We were backstage! In. Her. Dressing. Room!”

“How in the world did you end up in the same dressing room as Nicolette Gwen?” Cara asks the question we’re all thinking while she removes the old polish from my toes .

“This one arranged it,” she says, aiming a painted thumb in Emmett’s direction.

I’m pretty sure that was her name. She looks so familiar to me, like really familiar. Only I cannot figure out why. Tall, thin, and with a head full of foil. “Emmett and Josh are besties with ‘Nikki’ as Em calls her.”

Cara and her co-workers squeal and fangirl over Emmett and start asking questions about what the famous pop star is really like. Emmett answers a few questions but graciously steers the conversation back to Amelia.

“Honestly, you guys, it was a little scary. Not only did the lights and power go out but there was also no cell service. Twelve hours with no cell service had some people ready to blow a gasket. Not to mention, Reece and Rachel were stuck in an elevator. Twelve hours did the two of them plenty of good, and now they’re back together, she’s going to Africa with him, and all is right in the world.

He even delayed going back right away so he could fly back with her. They leave in two weeks.”

“Aw, it’s good to hear the two of them are back together after all these years. It’s nice to know second chances really do exist,” the woman doing Emmett’s hair says. “But tell me, who freaked out the most? Was it you, Amelia?”

“I would have thought so too, but it wasn’t our sweet Melly.

It was actually the one and only Josh West who started to have a minor meltdown.

You would have thought his phone was keeping him alive, and without it, he might just die on the spot.

I think he might even be a little afraid of the dark.

But if you tell him I said that, I’ll deny it. ”

The moment Emmett says the name Josh West, I know exactly why she looks familiar. She’s dating the biggest movie star on the planet, Josh West. I’ve seen her all over the tabloids the past couple of weeks.

Eastlyn, Oregon, keeps getting more and more interesting.

“Josh didn’t freak out for long, though,” Amelia, apparently also known as Melly, chimes in. “Miles did what Miles does and calmed him down.”

“I bet he tried to calm Nicolette Gwen down too,” Cara says, confirming it’s my Miles she’s talking about.

My Miles?

What in the world is wrong with you? He is far from yours, Mason. You don’t want him anyway. Remember?

“Nah, Miles was too concerned with making sure our entire Crew was okay to worry about Nicolette. He’s who kept us all calm.

He would go get information and updates from the hotel staff, and of course he kept us all laughing.

” Amelia backs her friend up, describing the Miles I’ve gotten to know and not the version Cara referred to.

“Once he finds the right girl, Miles is going to make one lucky lady very happy. This I know for sure.”

“Emmett, I couldn’t agree with you more,” says the stylist whose name I can’t remember.

Hearing them talk about Miles this way has my heart giddy-upping on the inside, and my skin blushing on the outside.

They have no idea the stranger who has infiltrated their chat fest was just at lunch with the topic of conversation a mere hour ago. Nor do they know how I desperately hope not to let him under my skin, but I can already feel the itch from him finding its way just below the surface.

“It’s too bad nobody here at home has ever been more than a good time to him. I know we call him a man-whore, and I mean, I guess he is, but he’s never cheated on anyone. He’s just never settled down with anyone. You can’t cheat if you don’t commit, right?”

“Well, he may be a man-whore, but he’s our man-whore,” Amelia proudly claims Miles as one of their own from under the pile of foil wrapped hair hanging in her face.

“Once he meets her, he’ll be a goner, and I think he’s gonna surprise the judgy folks in this town. Enough about us. Tell us about yourself, Mason,” Emmett says from the chair next to me.

All heads turn in my direction. “I’m sure listening to us talk about people who are total strangers to you is boring as hell.”

Honestly, I could listen to you talk about Miles all day but…

I fill them in on how I met Katie and why I’m here. Where I’ve eaten so far and how I like the town. But I neglect to mention that apparently, I’m going to marry Miles Montgomery.

Five minutes later, Amelia and Emmett are inviting me to meet them at The Verdict for drinks later tonight and I’m accepting.

Just like that.

Since when do I say yes to lunches with hot men I have no business spending time with and drinks with complete strangers I just met in a salon?

Eastlyn is doing something to me, and so far, I think I like it.