Read Wasted for Free Online Page B

is
good.”
    We backtracked, leaving a trail of water and
wet shoeprints in our wake as we made our way back to the
garden.
    The warming rays of the sun beckoned me, and
I lifted my face toward the sky. I sat down on the bench and took
off my shoes and socks, laying them on the pavers in front of us,
so that they could begin drying.
    Mason peeled off his dripping shirt, hanging
it on the back corner of the bench, and then he sat down and
removed his shoes and socks, placing them in the sun beside
mine.
    “ The sun feels good,” he
said.
    “ It does.” Water trickled
down my scalp, and I rubbed my fingers across it to rid myself of
the icky feeling. I gathered my hair in my hands and squeezed out
the excess liquid.
    “ Well, I guess you know
where the pool is now,” he said, stretching his arms across the
back of the bench.
    “ I guess so.”
    “ Maybe next time we’ll try
it with our bathing suits.”
    I stole a glance at his profile. He talked
like we were going to be best buddies, hanging out at the pool all
summer.
    He caught me looking and amusement lit his
eyes. “Unless you want to skinny dip?”
    Definitely not. His back was pressed against
the back of the bench, and I glanced at his tattoo, my eyes
following the design down to his well-defined abs. Absolutely no
skinny dipping.
    “ Is that a
‘yes’?”
    My eyes flew to his face, and I could feel a
crimson heat flooding up from my neck as I realized that I hadn’t
answered him.
    His smile widened. “Well, it wasn’t a
‘no’.”

 
    Chapter
5
    Rusty Nail
     
    Mason
     
    Even though I’d already been turned down for
a couple of loans, I’d spent the last two weeks searching for new
places to apply, thanks to Lexi’s comments about creating options.
I’d had a business opportunity presented to me a couple of months
ago, but I couldn’t secure the funds to turn it into a reality.
    “ Well, shit,” I mumbled as
I hung up my phone after being notified of another rejection.
Bankers were a strange breed. They wanted you to have money before
you could borrow money. How the hell did that make any sense?
Apparently, my flat-ass busted bank account was doing nothing to
prove that I was worthy of a loan.
    Attempting to push the disappointing phone
call out of my head, I concentrated on training Lexi behind the
bar. She could make the most popular drinks with little input from
me, and she often helped me take orders from patrons. Since it was
Monday, we weren’t overly busy, and I watched her as she talked and
laughed with an older gentleman at the end of the bar.
    When she turned and searched for me, I knew
he’d probably ordered a drink that was unfamiliar to her.
    I stood motionless as she sauntered toward
me, her dark curls swaying as she moved. Her red lips broke into a
smile, and as I often did, I watched them as she spoke, “Can you
help me make a Rusty Nail?”
    “ You know it.” With only
two ingredients, it didn’t take long. She delivered it, and I
continued to watch her.
    I’d thought about her a lot
since the morning she’d pitched a fit about the naked chick in our
kitchen. Her words haunted me. …if you
want to spend your life chasing meaningless relationships, that’s
your prerogative. Ever since I’d destroyed
everything that had meant anything to me, that’s exactly how I’d
been spending my life. My friends knew I dallied in meaningless
relationships. The chicks I passed time with knew our relationships
were meaningless. It was strange how someone who I barely knew was
the one who called me out on it. Something about the way she’d so
easily dismissed me that day wrenched my gut.
    She leaned against the bar, the older
gentleman still demanding her full attention. When her laughter
floated through the air, I suddenly had the urge to interrupt
them.
    I didn’t know why it bothered me. Hell, he
was old enough to be her daddy. And even if he wasn’t, she was
nothing to me—just a temporary roommate.
    Some women liked older