Page 9 of Hidden Resolution
Bite her, more like, his inner devil urged.
He clamped down on his wayward thought. Later. Maybe. For now, he needed to rein that shit in.
Her stomach grumbled, and his roared back louder, making them laugh.
“Let me grab my purse.”
Mason took her hand on the way to the elevator and again when they entered the restaurant. A show, he reminded himself, for appearances only, to warn the vultures off. It had absolutely nothing to do with how naturally her fingers laced with his or how good it felt when he kissed her inner wrist while seating her.
Her glowing smile disconcerted him, causing him to freeze mid-motion. An unintentional frown drew his brows together before he could stop it, and hesitation flashed across her features. When her apprehension filtered into his sluggish brain, he shook off his momentary lapse and took a seat across the small, intimate table.
“Sorry.” It was his only concession to hovering and unintentionally intimidating her with his commanding height. He hated when other men dominated with their size, and he felt like a complete ass.
She nodded, gracious as ever, and perused a menu.
Once the orders were placed and drinks arrived, small talk picked up.
“So, what do you do?” she asked.
“I co-own Workout World with my brothers, Zack and Dane. Three locations as of this year: Stonebrooke, Wisteria Heights, and Sagefield. I handle the marketing.” He tilted his chin toward her. “You?”
“Marketing director for WTKO news. I oversee all the stations statewide. Periodically, I get drawn in for national stuff, since our parent company is in Miami.”
He accepted a salad plate from their server with a smile and “thank you” before returning to their conversational thread. “That must keep you busy,” he said.
“Ten-hour days minimum, half-days on Saturdays. I love it, but it’s exhausting.” Her shy, self-effacing smile told him she was downplaying how much work she put in.
“WTKO? We have an account with them for our local commercials.”
“Yes. I’ve run across it. Amber Harrington is your rep, I believe.”
“Yes.” He sipped his wine. “I know Amber.”
The slight hesitancy in his voice must have tipped her off.
“Ah.” Her brows arched as she forked another bite of salad, and her gaze skimmed past him.
Did he detect censure? He would be disappointed if it were. As a grown-ass adult, he didn’t need to justify a handful of forgettable dates, damn it. Especially not to a woman he’d met today.
But she pivoted the conversation before he could get defensive.
“How long are you in St. Thomas?” she asked brightly.
“Ten days, and I’m really looking forward to it.” He smiled in the face of her unspoken curiosity. “This is my first real vacation since we opened four years ago. I’ve taken some weekend trips here or there, but nothing for any extended length of time. It’s overdue.”
“Same. I was supposed to come with my best friend, Erica, but she got hit with an unexpected deadline. She’s an author, and it happens, but a girls’ trip would have been fun.”
“Erica?” The coincidence was too great. “Not Erica Sutton?”
“You know Erica? Don’t tell me you read romance, because I won’t believe you.”
He snorted. “Not hardly. My brother sent me a text to say she’d just joined our gym. He knew her as a kid.”
“Erica? Joining a gym? We can’t be talking about the same woman here. Shehatesexercise.”
Mason chuckled at her emphatic use of the word hate, suspecting she’d said it for entertainment value. “The average person doesn’t like to work out. They do it to stay healthy.”
“You don’t understand. Erica lives on donuts and coffee. She wouldn’t set foot in a gym if her life depended on it. Even then, it would be to escape out the back door.” Shonda lifted her wine for a quick sip. “I’m pretty sure she breaks out in hives at the mention of a treadmill.”
