It’s Teaser #Tuesday, and The Only One releases TWO weeks from today. . .on April 7th. . .I thought you might like a tiny teaser taste.
Oh. . .and how about a look at the long-awaited cover??
Mason is the owner of The Road Block, a bar and club just outside Burton, Georgia. If you read The Last One and The First One, you’ll remember that Meghan and her friend Laura went to The Road Block for some fun the night Sam ended up rescuing them. And of course Ali and Flynn each tried to out-fun each other there when they were still pretending not to be in love.
In this scene, he’s about to meet Rilla, who’s been working for Sam at the stand, selling vegetables and setting up advertising and promotion. All of their mutual friends want Mason to hire Rilla, too, but at the same time. . .they’re a little worried about how the quiet, sheltered young woman will react to him.
Oh, and Mason’s holding his sleeping daughter Piper as this opens.
Enjoy your teaser!
***
“Speaking of which. . .that’s why I’m here. Sam says I need to meet this publicity guru and see about getting her to work for the bar, too.”
“Yeah, he told me you were coming by.” Meghan hesitated. “Mason, Rilla’s really shy. She’s not like Ali and me, you know?”
“You mean she’s not a ball buster?” I smirked.
“Hey!” She swatted my arm. “And watch your language in front of the little one.”
I shifted a little. “She’s out. I felt her snoring against my shoulder a few minutes ago. And she looks little, but when she’s asleep, she’s dead weight. So can you point me in the direction of this shy little girl both you and Alex seem to think I’m going to overwhelm? I promise, I’ll try to tone down my irresistible charm so she doesn’t faint when she sees me.”
Meghan rolled her eyes. “Yeah, irresistible charm. It’s more that you’re just larger than life, Mase. And sometimes you tend to forget it.” She paused. “Alex said something to you about her, too?”
“Yeah. Actually, he said that exact thing. ‘Larger than life.’ Are y’all trying to say I need to lose weight?”
“God, no.” Meghan’s tone was fervent enough to make me grin again. “But you’re tall, and you’re built. And you just have this air. . .like you’d take someone over and. . .consume her.”
I frowned. “Really? I always thought I was just. . .you know, folksy. Friendly.”
“You are, Mason. Totally. You’re a good guy and a good friend, and I’m glad to know you. I’d happily introduce you to any woman I know, but Rilla’s so different. It’s taken her weeks to open to me even a little, but when guys are around, she kind of freezes. She can handle herself with customers, and she seems to have gotten used to Sam and Flynn. But anyone else and she just stops talking and kind of shrinks.”
“You’re not making a good case for me hiring this chick, Meghan. An advertising expert who doesn’t like people? Yeah, that doesn’t sound like it’s gonna fly.”
“It’s not like that, Mason. First of all, most of the work she does is online, so she’s not even dealing with people. Second, like I said, she pulls it together for work. Rilla’s good at what she does. And you know Sam. Even if he wanted to help her out, he’d never recommend her to you if she wasn’t good.”
“Okay.” I nodded. “But the more important thing right now is letting me meet her, so I can get this kid back to the car and home. She’s drooling, and it’s going down my back.”
Meghan threw back her head and laughed. “Oh, that’s precious. C’mon, big guy. Follow me.”
