“Sorry, we’re closed,” I said. I was most likely giving off some major creeper vibes with the way I was staring at him. But come on! When do you ever get the chance to look at a GQ model in real life?
He was leaner than Mason and his hair was shorter. And maybe his arms weren’t as nice, but it was hard to tell through the suit jacket. And why the hell am I comparing him to butt-face?
“Where is Maisie?”
“I don’t know. Have you tried the bakery three streets over?”
He raised a brow, most likely his version of an eye roll. “I saw her run in here.”
Well damn, I didn’t have anything to reply to that. Maybe I could pretend to be blind. But it was probably too late for that since he had to have noticed me blatantly ogling him.
I would never admit to anyone that I was even thinking it, but I was relieved when Mason stepped through the door with a scowl on his face. I even considered making him coffee. The feeling thankfully passed after a few short seconds.
“Can I help you?” he asked the new guy.
“Hi, I’m Oliver Thorpe,” new guy answered and held out his hand. “I’m looking for Maisie.”
“As in Thorpe Holdings?” Mason asked. There was something akin to awe in his voice.
“The very one.”
Mason moved to stand in front of me and shook Oliver’s hand.
“Nice to meet you. If you want to book your car, Stella is happy to do that for you,” Mason said.
“No, she’s not. Stella needs to close the office and go home,” I answered. Mason really was nice to everyone but me.
“Thanks, but I don’t need any work done on my car. Only bought it a few weeks ago,” Oliver said. “I really need to talk to Maisie though.”
Mason pointed at me. “Her name is Stella.”
Oliver nodded. “Nice to meet you, Stella. Now can I talk to Maisie?”
Mason looked from me to Oliver. I pursed my lips, pretending to think. “Not sure when I’ve seen her last, sorry.”
“Look, I saw her run in here. I know she’s hiding, so she won’t have to talk to me,” Oliver said.
Well, things just got interesting. I’d never heard of Oliver, and Maisie was an over-sharer. She told us everything. From what she had for lunch to how many times she had gone to the toilet that day. Her not telling me and Willa something set off all the alarm bells in my head.
He held out a handbag to me. “Can you make sure she gets this?”
I pushed past Mason, who refused to move to the side, and took the bag. “Sure. No problem.”
“Thanks. And tell her I’ll see her at my sister’s birthday party.”
He left without a backward glance. As soon as he started his car, I whirled around and dropped to my knees behind my desk. “Who the hell was that?”
Maisie was biting her lip and shuffled out from under the desk. She sat down in front of me and shrugged. “Just some guy.”
“Liar. I want to know what the hell is going on.”
“Nothing is going on. He thinks he has some sort of claim on me. But he doesn’t. Now, can we forget this embarrassing scene ever happened?”
I grinned at her and pointed toward Mason. “If you can convince him to keep quiet you might have a shot.”
“What are you doing in the office? Don’t you have your mechanic thing to do?”
Mason raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s my garage and I can be wherever I want to be. And right now I want to be in the office because seems to me like Stella forgot she works here. Not sure why you are here though.”
Maisie wasn’t easily intimidated and pulled herself up to her full height. She still had to look up to talk to Mason, but there was no more hesitation. “I’m visiting Stella to make sure you haven’t made her quit yet.”
“Still working on it.”
“Lucky I need the money,” I grumbled, getting up as well.
“Has Mommy finally cut you off?” Mason asked.
I clenched my teeth and balled my fists, my nails cutting into my palms. “Why don’t you get back to whatever it was you were doing before you came in here?”
“Gladly,” he drawled and left. As soon as the door closed behind him with a loud bang, my shoulders slumped forward and I exhaled loudly.
“Seems like I’m not the only one keeping secrets,” Maisie said.
“Ha, so you admit to keeping Mr. GQ a secret. I knew it.”
Maisie grinned at me and took my hand. “Come on, seems like we have a lot of catching up to do.”
Crying to her about the butt-wipe that was Mason Drake was just what I needed.
“Should we head to The Grill?” I asked.
“What kind of question is that?” she answered and grinned.
I laughed and squeezed her hand. “I missed you these last few weeks. No more overseas internships.”
“I missed you too, Estrella, and there are no more trips in my future. Europe is overrated anyway. Now I hope you have your car here because Lincoln dropped me off.”
Lincoln was one of her four roommates and a computer nerd who worshipped Maisie.
“Lincoln, huh?” I teased her on our way out.
She groaned. “Don’t start.”
We got in my car and I sank into the leather seat, the familiar scent and feel calming my frayed nerves. Whenever Mason was close, my body decided to start going from cold to hot, tense to boneless. It was infuriating.
“How did you manage to keep your car?” Maisie asked and sat in the passenger seat.
“It was in my name, so my mother couldn’t really take
