Page 13 of My Secret Santa Mason

This wasn’t a case of old habits dying hard. This was a case of keeping those habits sharp.

The unfamiliar faces in town weren’t right. I had a sinking feeling in my gut that something was off. Those two men weren’t here to buy fucking fairy lights. They were here to look for shit, and I wasn’t going to have any of it.

When I saw one of them again, it was a stroke of luck. But Silver Ridge was like a maze that brought everyone back to the main street, no matter where they veered off. Only those who knew the town didn’t end up back here.

I kept my distance, trailing behind at a safe length, my senses on high alert as I followed the suspect. It brought me back to the old days—the missions, the adrenaline, the constant sense of danger that gnawed at me.

My past was a minefield of betrayals, each one leaving a scar that made me the cynical bastard I was today. And that’s why seeing these newcomers, all slippery and secretive, had my nerves on edge.

The asshole turned around the corner, and by the time I got there, he was gone.

Where had he disappeared to? How had he moved so fast?

I wasn’t just seeing shit. He’d been right here, walking, acting like he was looking for shit, and now he was just… gone.

I walked up the street, looking into alleyways, hoping to find him.

But it was like he’d vanished into thin air.

That just pissed me off. I didn’t like it when people came to my town to look for shit. It pissed me off even more when they came to my town and they got away from me.

I turned the corner and almost ran straight into Rae and Cami.

“Mason!” Rae cried out when I nearly bumped Hunter’s stroller. The little tyke grinned up at me as if I hadn’t nearly railroaded him.

“Rae,” I said, trying to shake off the adrenaline and get my head straight.

Rae wasn’t a threat.

And neither was Cami.

Great.

Cami.

Just what I needed—more complications.

“Are you okay?” Rae asked with a frown. “You look—”

Ready to wring a neck or two?

“I’m fine,” I said and tried to shake off the kill mode I was in.

“What are you doing out in town?” Rae greeted me with a big smile, although her eyes were still hesitant, before she checked on Hunter, who was bundled up like a miniature snowman.

“Just, you know… stuff.” I pushed my hands back into my pockets.

“Sounds really important,” Rae said, her lips pinched in a smile.

Cami stood beside her, looking like she’d just stepped out of a holiday movie—hair loose and wavy, cheeks flushed from the cold, and eyes that sparkled with a mix of mischief and warmth.

Goddamnit, she was beautiful.

“Hey, Mason,” Cami said, her voice light and cheerful like she wasn’t the reason I was out here grumbling like a bear in the first place. “Doing some Christmas shopping?”

I scratched the back of my neck, suddenly feeling like an awkward teenager.

“Something like that,” I mumbled. I wasn’t going to tell her I was hunting for shady characters instead. I tried not to look directly at her because every time I did, it was like someone punched me in the gut. Hard.

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