Summer Love by Piper Rayne
Chapter Seven
The ride back was awkward, and I knew it was my fault.
I felt bad for freaking out on Mason back by the pond, but the level of disappointment I was feeling in myself was all too real.
It wasn’t really even because of him. He’d been absolutely lovely and our time together magical, but the fact that I allowed it to happen, that I so easily fell back into old habits, had me mentally kicking myself the whole way back.
He’d barely even put the Gator in park before I was hopping out of the passenger side and speed walking to the barn.
When I saw Dr. Garcia’s car parked back next to mine, I felt my face heat with embarrassment, and I began mentally berating myself some more.
Oh. My. God. Becs! Your first day on the job and you slept with one of your patients. Well, not your patients … Gross! ... but one of the clients who hire you to take care of the patients. Talk about crossing a line. You’ll be lucky if Doc doesn’t send you away and never let you do anything other than deworming’s and nail trimming.
“Becs … Rebecca,” Mason called from behind me, but I just looked over my shoulder, shook my head, and kept marching inside.
“There you are,” Dr. Garcia said as she looked up from her examination of Charming, who’d been moved to the calving box for privacy and much-needed seclusion. “How was lunch?”
I narrowed my eyes and looked at her with suspicion.
Had she been a part of this whole setup?
“Um, it was good. Mrs. McClintock is an amazing and generous cook,” I replied lamely as I joined her. “How’s Charming?”
She glanced over my shoulder before bringing her gaze back to me.
“She’s doing great. We should be calving in no time.”
“I need to go check on something, but I’ll be back,” I heard Mason say from the entrance to the barn.
Dr. Garcia nodded and then looked curiously at me.
“What happened?” she asked softly.
“I don’t know what you mean,” I said, hoping to deflect this conversation. “Mason took me out and showed me around the farm, we had a nice lunch, and now we are back and ready to work.”
“Did things not go well?” she prodded.
“How do you mean?” I asked, really not wanting to talk to my boss about what happened with Mason.
The doc patted Charming absently as she chewed on her lower lip.
“Look, I know it was probably not professional of me … I shouldn’t have gotten involved … but when Mason expressed a romantic interest in you and asked me to give him some time to get to know you, I thought it was terribly sweet.” She gave me a worried look and added, “I know it wasn’t my place, but you’re both such great people, and when he told me about his plans for a picnic, well, I’m afraid the woman in me outweighed the doctor. I thought about how nice it would be to have a man like Mason going to such lengths to get to know me. I hope you aren’t mad.”
Dang it, when she laid it all out like that it did sound horribly romantic. Had I ruined everything with my reaction to what happened between us?
“He spoke with you about it?”
“Yes, when I called and told him you’d be coming with me. He was surprised and then excited and it was so sweet I guess I got swept up in his plans. I’m sorry I overstepped.”
“No, please, don’t apologize,” I said, holding up my hand. “It was a lovely gesture, and we had a nice time. I think maybe I just got overwhelmed by everything. I mean, I wasn’t expecting any of it. I didn’t know who Mason was before today and had no idea he had feelings for me. It was probably all a bit sudden, that’s all.”
Even though she had a hand in planning what was ultimately my seduction, I didn’t see any need to tell her what had happened between Mason and me. Not only because I didn’t want her to think less of me, but I really felt something so private should be kept between the two of us.
I really hoped he felt the same.
“Is there anything you need me to do to prepare?”
“I think it’s about time to make Charming more comfortable. Would you mind grabbing Mason and Henry?” she asked,
“Sure, I’ll be right back,” I told her and started toward the exit.
Once outside, I glanced around. Mason wasn’t over by the Gator, or the goats, or anywhere I could see him. As I rounded the corner I wondered if he’d gone farther out onto the farm for something else, then I saw him standing on the wraparound porch of the house, talking to a lady who was almost as tall as him, her gray hair swept up in a bun.
I stopped and was about to run back around the corner to hide before they saw me, but I was too late.
The gravel had crunched beneath my feet, causing both of their heads to swing toward me at the sound.
The woman, who had to be his mother, raised her hand in greeting before turning it and waving me over.
Oh boy.
