Because of Sydney (7 page)

Mac was no longer watching us. I felt the muscles in my shoulders relax.

What were the chances I would run into her three times today? And each time I reacted the same way. Thrown off by her body, but even more interested in how she didn’t back down. She challenged me without even thinking about it.

“Tell me something.”

“What do you want to know?” There was a fire behind her eyes. Her words always quick as if she was able to guess my next move.

“How did you find Grey at the bar?”

Her lashes were damp from light tears. Her skin glistened and I felt myself leaning closer, anxious to feel her breath dance against my cheek again. Her voice in my ear.

“I stopped by the Palm Palace office. When he wasn’t there I asked a couple at the pool. They said he always walked over to Pete’s Bar after work.”

I rubbed my jawline. My rule was getting crushed under her pouty stare. She didn’t know what she was doing, but I did.

“All right.”

“All right, what?” She chewed on her bottom lip, and I knew exactly how I wanted the rest of the night to play out.

“Come have a beer with us.”

“You want me to drink with you? But I thought you said it was family time.”

“It will be fun. You’ve already met Grey. You can meet my future niece-in-law. We can have a few drinks,
then
you can ask your questions. But no business-talk at the table. Agreed?”

“Why are you doing this? You feel sorry for me?”

I shrugged. “Maybe, but you have a point. I need this land acquisition today to be a success, and I need the people of South Padre to be on board with it. So, I’ll grant you one interview tonight. Only one, though.”

“Why don’t we go ahead now with the interview?” She reached into her bag and withdrew a pad of paper. “I can file my story and then we can have a drink.”

I took the pad from her. Her eyes turned frantic. “These are the conditions. One interview after we have some drinks with my family. Take it or leave it.”

I knew she wouldn’t walk away from this. I had never granted an exclusive interview. She knew she was sitting on the kind of scoop that could launch her career.

She paused. “I just need to make a phone call.”

“I’ll see you at the table.”

I walked toward the patio, knowing I had broken my number one rule.

I
t was manipulative and conniving, but I was out of options. I didn’t expect him to actually fall for it. I pushed down the guilt growing in my stomach. This wasn’t the kind of reporter I wanted to be, but I couldn’t afford to be an out of work journalist either. I was surprised when the tears surfaced. I blamed the heat and the fear of losing my job.

I dialed the after-hours number at the office. Alice was still there. She answered after a few rings.

“Alice Compton speaking.”

“Hey, it’s Sydney.”

“You’re late. Over an hour past deadline. I’m afraid you didn’t take our earlier conversation very seriously.”

“Wait, Alice I have an exclusive.” I smiled at the bartender. He was busy polishing pilsners, but I thought he had an ear extended my direction.

“What kind of exclusive? You already missed the scoop on the land sale. Two other sites beat us to it.”

“Mason Lachlan has agreed to an interview.” I held my breath. This was the only card I had to play to keep my job.

“He’s going to let you interview him?” She laughed. “I don’t know if I can believe that. He never does interviews. Believe me. We’ve tried.”

“It’s true. I’m with him right now and we’re getting ready to start the interview.” She didn’t need the exact timeline. She also didn’t need to know he had invited me for drinks. I had entered a murky gray area where my journalistic ethics were concerned.

“Holy shit. This is big, Sydney. How did you manage that?”

I breathed for the first time realizing she wasn’t going to fire me tonight. “I’ve been working on it all day. That’s why I missed the first deadline.”

“I’m impressed you could gain access to him.”

“Thanks. I’m going to work on the story tonight, and I’ll have it submitted in the morning. First thing. I promise.”

“I expect to see it in my inbox before I have my first cup of coffee,” she warned.

“Not a problem. I won’t sleep tonight until I have the full story.”

“That’s what I need to hear. Good luck.”

I turned my ringer to vibrate and shoved my phone into my bag. I didn’t want any distractions. I couldn’t let anything ruin this chance.

I walked out onto the patio with a smile plastered on my face.

Mason was sitting with Grey, who I had met earlier, and the girl he had mentioned.

“There she is.” He stood. “Sydney Paige, meet Eden and you’ve already introduced yourself to Grey.” I heard his admonishing tone.

The tall blonde stood to shake my hand. “Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Mason said you write for the
News & Record
?”

“Yes, the online magazine. I started there in May.”

“Cool. I was a business major at Carolina. I try to keep up with business trends when I can. How did you get that beat? Did you double major in business?”

God, that would have at least made some kind of sense. I had nothing under my belt other than a terrible economics class sophomore year.

I sat in between Mason and Eden. “When I graduated I started applying everywhere. The online business journal at the
Record
was hiring so it just kind of worked out. I drove down a week after graduation with nothing but what could fit in my car.”

She laughed. “I get that. You could say my current job just kind of worked out too.”

She looked at Grey, and I caught the emotional current passing between them. It was tangible. The hues from the sunset caught the corner of her ring and the sparkle landed on the table.

“That’s a beautiful ring,” I admired.

“Thank you. Grey proposed at Christmas.” She held it out so I could examine it more closely. “It was a complete surprise.”

I looked at her fiancé. I could see the family resemblance between him and Mason. They both had broad shoulders, defined jawlines and I wasn’t sure I had ever seen piercing eyes like that before. The Lachlan men were a dangerous combination. I blushed, knowing my mind was traveling to some dirty places.

“When’s the wedding?” I asked.

“October. It’s going to be in North Carolina. That’s where I’m from.”

“Sydney just graduated from Longmire,” Mason added.

Eden looked impressed. “Wow. Virginia. You’re a long from home too. We Southern sisters are going to need to stick together, don’t you think?” She passed a beer to me.

I nodded. It was the closest gesture of open friendship I had had since I moved here. “Definitely.”

I could feel Mason’s eyes on me. Those sparkly, bright blue eyes. The guys didn’t seem to mind that we talked about bridesmaid dresses and hairstyles. They drank their beers, and we all watched the sun go down.

I missed this—nights filled with conversation instead of my DVR. I had started to worry I wouldn’t meet people on the island, although technically meeting the family of a source didn’t qualify as me getting out in the social scene. I had to remind myself of that. No matter how edible he looked, Mason was a source.

The sky around us grew dark. “Darlin’, what do you say we head home?” Grey’s hand landed on Eden’s knee.

“That sounds good to me.” I saw her throw a glance at Mason. I needed an interpreter. “Nice meeting you, Sydney. We’ll have to get together later.”

“I’d like that. With my schedule I haven’t had a chance to meet anyone here.”

“Well, we can definitely fix that.” She jotted her number on one of the cocktail napkins. I did the same and handed it to her.

She reached for Grey’s hand. He looked ready to get out of Pete’s Bar.

“See you around, Uncle.” He patted Mason on the back.

“That’s right. I’ll catch you two later.”

“You’re not leaving Padre right away are you?” Eden asked.

“No, I’ve got enough to keep me busy here for a while.”

“Good.” She grinned. “Bye, Sydney.”

He waited until they had left before he spoke. “So, what do you think about a round of shots?” He waved the waitress toward us.

I tried to protest while he ordered a top shelf tequila.

“I-I-we still have the interview. I can’t do shots.”

“Sure you can. I insist.” He placed the glass in front of me, brimming with tequila. “One round.”

“Only one.” I held up my finger.

He laughed at the face I made when I swallowed the shot. “That’s good stuff. What a face. It’s not like I made you drink vegetable oil.”

The tequila warmed me from the inside out. I was hot enough already after trying to stay out of the sun, chasing Mason Lachlan around, and now in dangerous territory with a professional flirt.

I tossed the lime on a napkin. I wasn’t sure if it made the tequila better or worse.

“Ahh, this is nice, isn’t it?” His eyes were focused on the horizon. Sailboats glided past us. Their lights brighter now that the sun had dipped below Port Isabel.

“It is. Do you spend a lot of time here?”

“I split my time between all of my assets. I’m based out of Dallas though.”

“And what do you do when you’re in South Padre?” I was certain the tequila had reached all the way down to my toes. Everything felt tingly.

“A little bit of this. A little business.”

“And which do you prefer?” The stubble along his chin darkened under the sunset shadow. It gave him a rough and athletic look. A twist after seeing him polished and professional all day.

“It sounds like you’re trying to interview me.” His gaze moved from the sailboat to me, and my breath caught in the back of my throat.

“I’m only trying to have a conversation. How do I do that without asking questions?”

“How about I ask the questions?” When he smiled like that I could see the straight lines of his teeth.

I laughed. “You want to interview me?”

He shrugged. “Until it’s your turn.”

The way my cheeks flushed was involuntary. I didn’t know how he did that. Everything he said was dripping with sex, without even mentioning it. I pressed my knees together.

“Ok. Let’s test your reporter skills. What would you like to know?”

He ordered another round, and I waited for his first question.

“Why would a pretty girl from Longmire drive all the way to this island for a job at an online business journal?”

It was the way he said pretty that made me smile. It was the second time he had mentioned it today. “That’s an easy one. I already told you. I needed a job.”

“Hmm. I think there must be more to it than that, Miss Paige. How about this one? Was there a guy involved?”

I tipped back the second shot of tequila. This one went down smoothly and I knew why Mason liked it. “You think I moved here for a guy?”

“It would make sense. What’s down here for someone like you?”

I didn’t know whether to be insulted or complimented. “I told you I moved for the job. It’s not really the time to be picky in the job market, especially for someone who just graduated. And no, there was no guy.”