Coldhearted (9781311888433) by Melanie Matthews Read Free Book Online Page B

declared.
    Edie chuckled. “What about your school
texts?”
    “ I’ll get the audio
version,” he deadpanned.
    Edie chuckled again. “You’re silly, Mason
Fenwick. No wonder all the girls have a crush on you.”
    He furrowed his brow. “Who told you
that?”
    Edie hesitated, biting her lip, and then
said, “Jules. She…also said you’ve recently gotten out of a bad
relationship.”
    Mason frowned and took a glance around;
perhaps on the lookout for his ex. Satisfied at not finding her, he
gave Edie a small smile of relief, but then frowned again. “We
dated for years. In the beginning it was…fun, but after awhile, she
changed. I changed. I’d thought about ending it sooner, but I
didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and I didn’t want to be alone.
Late last year, she ended it, said she wanted to see other people.
Little did I know that she’d been cheating on me already.”
    Edie gasped. “No. That’s awful.”
    Mason lifted one shoulder into a half shrug.
“It’s in the past now. I’m over it. Over her.” He caught Edie’s
eyes. “I’m ready to move on,” he said in a determined voice.
    Edie’s heart was racing like a jackhammer.
Suddenly, she was hotter than a lava bed. She loosened Mason’s
scarf.
    “ Edie?”
    Edie looked up into Mason’s expectant eyes.
“Yeah?”
    “ Have you made up your mind
about going to that sanatorium?”
    Oh. She wasn’t expecting
that question. She was expecting something along the lines
of: Will you marry me? Hey, it was possible.
    “ Uh, I don’t know yet,” she
replied. “I still have a few days to think about it.”
    “ Remember, Edie, if you do
go, I want to be there with you, okay?”
    Edie nodded and smiled. “Okay.”
    Mason opened his mouth to say something else,
but Rebecca cut him off, arriving with their drinks.
    “ Here you go,” Rebecca said,
“and your orders should be ready soon.”
    “ Thanks,” Mason said, taking
his milkshake.
    When Rebecca put the coffee in front of Edie,
she was so hot, she couldn’t drink it.
    “ Problem?” Rebecca asked,
surprisingly observant. Then again, she was a waitress.
    “ Uh…can I get a milkshake
too?”
    “ Of course,” Rebecca said.
“Be right back.”
    Mason slid his over to Edie. “Take mine.”
    Edie waved his offer away. “It’s okay. I can
wait.”
    “ I insist. Or better
yet...”
    With a spoon, Mason dipped out some of his
milkshake and stirred it into her large cup of coffee, mixing the
two extremes.
    “ This tastes way better. Try
it,” he insisted.
    Edie watched Mason dip a straw into the
milkshake/coffee mixture, and then motioned for Edie to do the
same. She did, and then took a small sip, not sure, but she was
surprised at how good it tasted.
    “ See?” Mason said. “Better,
right?”
    Edie nodded, silent, and continued sucking on
her straw. Mason was staring into her eyes, as he did the same.
Then he stopped, but continued staring at her.
    He smiled. “We look like a commercial for
Valentine’s Day.”
    Edie loosened her lips and pulled away.
“Huh?”
    “ Yeah, like those
commercials about two lovers, sharing a milkshake, or walking
hand-in-hand along the beach, then he gets down on one knee, and
proposes to her.”
    Edie’s heart was racing again. “Oh, really?”
she asked, sounding blasé, and then went back to her
concoction.
    “ Yeah, but obviously that’s
not what we’re doing. I mean, I haven’t even picked out a ring
yet.”
    Edie nearly swallowed her straw.
    “ You okay?” he asked, after
she’d coughed up her lungs.
    “ Yeah,” she replied in a
scratchy voice, keeping her head down, embarrassed.
    “ Sorry for implying I wanted
to marry you. I know how ugly I am.”
    Edie looked up to see his teasing smile. She
chuckled. “Yes, you are hideous,” she agreed, playing along.
    Mason covered his face with his hands. “Don’t
look at me. I’m a monster!”
    Edie was still chuckling when Rebecca came
with her milkshake. “Thanks,” Edie told her,