Delivering His Gifts (Mountain Men of Liberty #10)- K.C. Crowne Page 0,17

tell him no, there was no way I would meet with a client at a bar over a cocktail or a beer, but something stopped me.

His eyes held the darkness from before, but there was a sadness etched into his face. He wasn’t asking just because he thought I needed it - it was clear Mason needed the distraction as well.

“Not a date?” I asked, raising my brows in suspicion. “As in, I pay for myself and we only talk about the client?”

“Scout’s honor,” he said, placing a hand over his heart.

“You were a Boy Scout?” I asked with a soft chuckle. It was hard to imagine Mason as a little boy, much less wearing one of those cute little suits.

“I was, believe it or not, once upon a time.”

Ooo000ooo

“So why did you go into the military and decide to be a medic?” I asked, sipping my watered-down cocktail. I had let the ice melt into the drink, nursing it so it would last the entire evening, if possible. I didn’t want to get wasted, nor did I want to spend the money on drinks.

Mason chuckled. “Hey, what about only talking about business? I thought we had an agreement.”

I shrugged. “I think I have a pretty good idea about what we’re doing. I want Calvin to meet Oscar, and we can gauge if they’d be a good match. Then I can start training. Not sure there’s anything else to talk about.”

He raised an eyebrow. “I made an oath to you.”

Yeah, he had. But that was before seeing him relaxed and looking so sexy at the bar. Something about the lights in the place, or maybe it was the mood, made me chill the hell out as well. And once I was relaxed, my walls crumbled.

That and it had been a very long time since I’d been out for a drink with a man.

My eyes moved around the bar, checking for any familiar faces. Any of Greg’s friends. He wasn’t friends with the type to show up at honky tonk bars in the middle of nowhere, but there was always the chance he could be following me.

But the bar was mostly filled with guys in jeans and flannel shirts. Not the outfit anyone connected to Greg would ever wear.

“Are you going to answer my question or not?” I asked, playfully poking him in the arm.

“How much alcohol did the bartender put in that thing?” he asked with a laugh.

“Not much. Why?”

“You seem like a totally different person, that’s why.”

“You mean I seem nicer,” I commented.

“Listen, I didn’t say that,” he defended playfully. “Just that you’re more relaxed, and not all business. I wasn’t expecting that after the exchanges we’ve had.”

“I know I can be a bit…” I stopped to think of the right word. “Frigid, I guess?’

“Well ain’t that an interesting word choice,” Mason said with a soft laugh as he took a long pull from his beer.

My cheeks flushed at the unintended hint toward my sex life.

I stammered. “Just, well, I know I can come off as cold sometimes, especially toward men.”

“Well, I can’t say that I blame you. Many men are assholes,” he said.

“Exactly. Sure, I know not all men intend to do women harm, but I’ve not been the best at picking them, that’s for damned sure.”

I took another sip of my cocktail. It had tasted of cranberry juice and some tropical fruit flavors, but it was nothing but melted ice now, with barely a hint of flavor. I contemplated ordering a second one but decided I shouldn’t let my guard down. Mason seemed like a great guy, and I’d heard nothing but good things about him around town. But he was still a man, and if I was interested in him, it made me think there had to be something wrong with him – red flags I was ignoring in favor of staring at that chiseled jawline and broad shoulders.

As if the bartender could read my mind, she walked over and asked, “Would you like another?”

“I think one is enough,” I murmured, handing her my cup of melted ice. “But thank you.”

“No problem, sweetie,” the woman said. “Let me know if you need anything else. A water, a Coke, maybe?”

I didn’t really want my time with Mason to come to an end. “A Coke would be nice, thank you.”

“Sure thing. One Coke coming right up.”

The waitress was a pretty young thing with a thin waist and large breasts. Her red hair fell to the middle of her