Can't Hurry Love
Chapter 8

"Definitely the black."

Beth studied her reflection and decided that Paige was right. The black dress she was currently wearing made her look sophisticated. In the blue, she'd looked about sixteen.

And Mason Decker seemed like the type of man who was used to sophisticated.

Since his visit to the bakery, she'd gotten Jenna to quiz Damon about the man in preparation for tonight. Now, she kind of wished she hadn't.

The man was intimidating, there was no doubt about it. A complete and total city slicker. Mason would stand out like a sore thumb here in Rocky Valley. He sounded like the exact opposite of pretty much every man she'd ever met, and she wasn't sure she'd be able to even talk to him without sounding like a bumpkin.

"I'm not sure about this, you know," she confided in Paige, who'd come by the ranch to run over some details about the festival and ended up staying to help her get ready. "It doesn't sound like we'd have a lot in common." "Well, you won't know until you spend time with him," Paige pointed out pragmatically.

"I suppose you're right." Beth sighed. She should be excited about tonight. It wasn't often fresh blood rolled into Rocky Valley. Especially fresh blood that looked as if it came straight from a GQ shoot.

The truth was that even though she'd grabbed the opportunity to date him with both hands, she hadn't really felt anything for the admittedly gorgeous businessman. Nothing. No zing. Not even a little zap. "He's just he's very urbane. Isn't that what they call it? I'm not sure how to talk to people like that."

"Oh, I don't know. You never struggled to talk to Dr. Larson, and he went to Harvard and worked as a city doctor."

The mention of Josh made her wince slightly, but she kept her features smooth.

Besides, Paige was right. When Josh first arrived, he'd oozed city. And though he'd adapted to life in Rocky Valley well-really well-there was no denying that he was cut from the same Ivy League cloth as Mason Decker. But she'd never felt uncomfortable with Josh. She'd never felt intimidated or nervous. As for zing and zap? There was an abundance of it, which was why she found herself in this situation now.

"You don't think he's a little scary then?" she asked, not willing to answer the question about Josh.

"Oh, yeah. I think he's terrifying." Paige laughed, a pretty pink blush on her cheeks.

Beth wished she blushed prettily. But whenever she blushed, it looked like an allergic reaction. She knew that because her brothers used to take great pleasure in pointing it out when they were kids. "But you never know... maybe spending time with him will reveal that he's just a big teddy bear."

Beth eyed Paige skeptically but before she could answer, the doorbell rang, echoing throughout the cavernous house.

"Oh no, he's here already?"

"Don't worry about it," Paige said in that calming way of hers. "I'm sure Grayson, Zach, or Seth can answer."

"No, they're already gone on their stupid boys' night.

Can you get it? I haven't even picked out shoes!"

"Sure." Paige reluctantly got up. "And wear the strappy ones."

She turned and left, leaving Beth alone and trying to force herself to feel enthusiastic about the evening.

Fifteen minutes seemed a reasonable amount of time to leave a date waiting, so Beth made her way down the giant staircase that dominated the foyer of the house.

Now that her parents were gone, the house sometimes felt more like a hotel than a home, the huge space and elaborate décor feeling a little stiff. But they were all loath to change the things their mother had picked, and when Dad had been alive, he wouldn't have let them change it anyway.

Beth knew that the boys had been contemplating maybe turning the place into a dude ranch at some point. A couple of places around had done it to varying degrees of success. Jenna Wakefield already ran a riding school out of the Wakefield place, with summer treks and pony camps. A couple of them were overnight and weekend camping trips. But they hadn't fully converted, and she wasn't sure that they would.

Asher didn't seem the type to enjoy having to play nice with visitors. And Damon would probably play too nice. If they did decide to do that, Beth would need a lot of help in the kitchen. But it would probably come to nothing anyway. A lot of land around here had been sold off since the last recession, but thanks in large part to Grayson, the Big Sky Ranch was still thriving as a cattle operation. They didn't need it to do anything else. Not for now anyway.

Beth knew she was letting her mind wander a bit out of nervousness.

She took a deep breath, metaphorically pulled on her big girl pants, and strutted as confidently as possible in three-inch heels toward the lounge.

As she'd expected, Paige had brought Mason in here to wait. What she hadn't anticipated was the tableau before her.

Her books always talked about sparks flying between two people, but Beth had never really seen it before. Now she knew exactly what it meant.

Mason and Paige were facing each other across the large room like combatants on a battlefield. But even though there was a lot of tension swirling around them, it did seem like the kind of tension that happened around-as in, the kind where clothing started getting removed.

Which was all well and good-except that Mason was her date.

Beth didn't know what to do. They hadn't noticed her entrance. And she was afraid to step closer in case she got a shock from the electricity swirling around the two of them. She was contemplating just walking backward out of the room when Paige's eyes suddenly snapped to her and widened, looking like pools of sparkling green.

Strangely enough, even though Paige was in a simple sweater and jeans, with her golden hair pulled into a messy bun, Beth didn't think her friend had ever looked more beautiful.

"I'll let you get on with your date," Paige snapped surprising Beth.

In all their years of acquaintance, she'd never seen Paige angry. But she was angry now. Furious even.

"Goodnight, Mr. Decker." She walked toward the door, her chin jutting out. "And Beth-good luck."

The silence she left in her wake was more than a little awkward.

"Is she always like that?" Mason asked, seeming more amused than offended.

Beth eyed him curiously. "Actually, she's never like that," she answered.

"Ah. Lucky me, I guess. You hungry?"

She wasn't particularly, not anymore. But she wanted to get to the bottom of whatever the heck she'd just walked into. And she definitely didn't want to be spending a Saturday night thinking about Josh Larson. "Sure am!" She smiled brightly then led the way out the door.