Page 36 of Meet Mason, the Billionaire

I kept worrying that I’d upset him, somehow. Or that the courier would get lost, or get mugged, or not make it to the precinct in time. Once Junebug went from a holding cell to ‘real’ jail, he became a different kind of inmate and his bail went even higher, not to mention we wouldn’t be able to get him out for another forty-eight hours.

For a man with perpetual diarrhea of the mouth and an inability to make decisions in interpersonal interactions that might prolong his life, forty-eight hours could be lethal.

I glanced up when a shadow darkened the door. A big—and I do mean BIG—man in a suit stepped up to me. He pushed his glasses up on his nose and rumbled down at me.

“Are you Megan?”

“That’s me. Are you the courier I was told to expect?”

“Yes, Ma’am.” He thrust his massive paw out. “Nicholas Montague at your service.”

“Nice to meet you, Mr. Montague. Um, how does this work?”

He lifted up his right hand, which I know realized was handcuffed to a Halliburton briefcase. “I’ll accompany you to the window, and when it’s time to pay I’ll dispense the funds.”

“Sounds good.”

I went to the window and bailed Junebug out. Nick paid his bail, shook my hand again, and left. I had to wait around for Junebug to be released, of course, because red tape. Golga, How Weird, and Sage joined me after a time.

When they finally let Junebug out, he smiled at the sight of all of us.

“Look at all my friends, come to help support me in my time of crisis.”

He walked forward with his arms out. “Hey, Sage! Welcome back to—”

She slapped him across the face.

“You dumbass! How could you get pinched for graffiti? Again? What is your major malfunction?”

“And why did you go and mouth off to the judge?” Howard asked. “That was pretty dumb, too.”

“I’ve just got to be me.” Junebug said with a shrug.

“Is there a way you could be a smarter Junebug?” I quipped.

We all laughed and made our way out of the building—and almost ran right into Mason on the way in.

“Mason.” I went to him immediately and hugged him tight. “Thanks so much.”

“I assure you, it was my pleasure.”

I turned around and faced the crew. Mason kept his hand on my waist when I did so. I liked that. I enjoyed having him touch me.

“Sage, this is my boyfriend Mason. Mason, this is Sage.”

I confess that it felt very good to call him my boyfriend.

“Pleased to meet you,” Mason said, offering his hand for a shake.

“Likewise,” Sage said, scrutinizing him closely.

“What’s he doing here?” Junebug asked.

“Um, he’s the one who paid your bail, you ungrateful punkass,” Golga said with a sneer. “Try being a little nicer.”

“For real? You bailed me out?” Junebug went up to Mason and hugged him. “Thank you so much.”

“Junebug, stop trying to kiss him!” I said, aghast.

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