Mason (Remington Ranch Book 1) (Contemporary Western Romance) by SJ McCoy Read Free Book Online

of her life was over when she was just twenty-one years old. He'd broken her heart and yes, she hated the way he made her feel. Even now. She felt stupid. She felt betrayed. And she felt as if she would never love or be loved like that again. She felt as though she had to grow up, stop believing in dreams and make sensible decisions. She hated that the man who had starred in all her dreams was also the man who had killed them.
    She pulled herself together. Liam was the sensible decision and she would do well to stop dwelling on broken dreams and remember that. She'd call Liam later and ask him to come. That was the best way to put Mason out of her head. If Liam came here, she'd be able to put it all back in perspective. So what if it wasn't realistic for him to come? She'd beg him if she had to. Tell him she needed him out here. She did!
    “Morning, love.” Her dad rubbed his eyes as he came into the kitchen.
    “Hey. Did you have a good night?”
    He grinned. “I did, thanks. How about you?”
    She wasn't going to tell him about Mason's little visit. “I took a bath like you said.”
    He frowned at her. “That all?”
    Did he know? Had he set her up? She wasn't going to go anywhere near it either way. “Do you need me for anything today?”
    He shrugged. “It's you that's in a hurry to get everything packed up and sorted out. Don't see why though. Like that realtor guy told you yesterday. We can't go expecting a quick sale.”
    Gina nodded. The realtor had done a lot to dampen her hopes that they might get an offer on the place any time soon. While her dad was pleased about that, she was worried whether they'd be able to keep the place going until they got a solid offer.
    “Why, what are you thinking?”
    She shrugged. “I'm thinking of taking my camera and going down to the park for a few hours. I want to get out, take some photos, clear my head.”
    He raised an eyebrow at her. “Anything you want to talk about?”
    “No.” She thought about it. “Actually, there is something.”
    He grinned. “What's that, love?”
    It seemed he must know that Mason had been here. Well, he was going to have to get over it. The same as she had. And Liam was going to help them both with that. “I'm going to call Liam today and ask him to come this weekend. Is that okay with you?”
    He scowled. “What do you want to do that for?”
    “I want you to meet him. I want to show him where I come from.” And I want to prove to Mason and to myself that I'm in love with someone else now, she didn't add.
    “Well, there's no room for him here.”
    “What do you mean, there's no room?”
    “What I said.”
    “Dad, there's plenty of room!”
    He shook his head with a finality she recognized. There would be no point arguing with him. “Let him stay at the resort, if he can even be bothered to make the trip this time.”
    “Fine! I will.” Gina stood up. If he was going to be all stubborn about it, then let him. “You might not want him to come, but I need him to!”
    He gave her a sarcastic little smile. “And why's that, Gina?”
    She stared at him. Why did she need him here? If she was honest, she needed him to remind her of her real life. She needed his help to hang on to sensible and to stop herself from getting sucked into life here and everything else. What she really needed was to hide behind him so she wouldn't let herself go anywhere near Mason again. “Because I'm going to marry him, Dad.” She hurried out before he had a chance to say anything else.
    She called Liam and, of course, got his voicemail. She left him a message begging him to come out for the weekend. He'd probably think she was nuts, but what the hell, she probably was. She had the idea lodged in her head now, that if he came everything would be okay. She'd stop thinking about Mason, stop yearning after broken dreams and be able to hang onto reality.
    It was six o'clock by the time she drove out of the park. She'd had a great time, hiking up to the