“Where to?” Liana asked.

I pointed to the right. “This way.”

Charlotte shook her head again. “Mason, she lives in Washington. She knows the park you’re talking about.”

I glanced at the backseat. “Really?”

Liana shrugged and mouthed, You’re welcome.

A new smile spread on my lips. With her best friend on my side, how hard could this be?

Charlotte

The ten-minute ride seemed like ten hours, even though Liana kept the conversation going, touching only light subjects—weather, the park, if Mason liked roller skating. Once at the park, Liana ran ahead of us, putting her skates on in a rush and darting away on the smooth pavement.

Unsure what to do or to say, I sat on a bench and put my skates on, trying to admire the beautiful view before me and failing, admiring the handsome man near me instead.

Mason sat by my side. “Still skating, huh?”

I nodded. “My father gave me my first pair of skates when I was five. Haven’t stopped skating since.”

“Is it just a hobby, like I first thought, or do you enter competitions and things like that?”

A loud laugh came from my mouth. “What? Competitions? Yeah, right.” I stood on my roller skates. “This is just for fun, and as exercise perhaps. But mostly fun. My mother would kill me if I entered a competition.” I slapped a hand over my mouth, embarrassed I blurted out something about my mother.

“What?” Mason stood and stepped before me. “What is it?”

Shaking my head, I pushed the pavement under my feet and strolled away. Unconsciously or not, I rode slowly and Mason kept up with me.

After a few minutes, I stopped and faced him. “Why did you come here?”

His eyes bore into mine. “Because I wanted a chance to talk to you. Once more, I found you by chance. These opportunities are rare and I won’t waste them.”

“Mason”—I stared at the pavement—“this is ridiculous.”

“Why? Because you’re gonna be America’s princess soon, and I’ll continue working as a bartender and waiter to pay my bills?”

I shook my head again. “It’s complicated.”

“That’s the oldest line in the history of the world.” Mason put his finger under my chin, sending jolts of warmth down my body, and raised my face so my eyes met his. “Talk to me. I need you to talk to me.”

A heavy sigh and I blurted out, “I was raised to be a perfect lady and make my mother proud.”

His gaze fell to my skirt and legs. A low heat blossomed low in my belly.

“But you are a perfect lady.”

“With short skirts and roller skates? Not really. But does roller skating make me a guy?” My tone was harsher than I intended, but this was a sore spot. The only other person I talked about this with was Liana, and we hadn’t talked about it in a while. “My mother doesn’t know I roller-skate, and I try not to wear skirts when she is around. Not short skirts at least.”

“So you live a double life?”

My lips pressed together and I resumed skating. “I don’t like to think about that.”

Mason caught up with me. “Then let’s change the subject. Is that Donnie guy your boyfriend or not?”

I laughed. “Way to change subjects. I already told you. He’s not, though he wants to be, so does my mother.” Mason stepped in my way, and I bumped against his hard chest. “Hey! You could have warned me or helped me stop before throwing yourself in my way.” My hands on his chest, I pushed him away. His warmth under my palms teased me.

“But then you wouldn’t have fallen over me.” The corners of his lips curled up. “So that guy isn’t your boyfriend?”

“In his dreams maybe, but not in mine.”

Mason grabbed my wrist, keeping me from putting too much space between us. “Then who is your boyfriend, in your dreams?”

“Oh, Lord,” I whispered, rolling my eyes.

“Is this because I’m not rich? You don’t want anything to do with me because I don’t have a cent?”

“Oh, Lord,” I groaned. “Why does everything always come back to money? Everyone always thinks it’s about money. It’s not. I don’t care about it. Haven’t you noticed Liana has no money too? And she’s my best friend.”

Mason offered me a mischievous grin. “And I could be your poor best boyfriend.”

I jerked from him and skated away, putting more speed into my strides, wishing the distance made me brave enough to keep up with what I was supposed to.

Not much farther ahead, I found Liana seated on the pavement, a box of chalks at her side, drawing.

The only thing better than skating? Chalk drawing.

With my skates on, I knelt beside my friend—careful with my skirt—pulled my long hair up in a ponytail, grabbed a few chalks, and began drawing.

Twenty minutes later, I had my knees and up to my elbows covered in colored chalk dust, and an area of about thirty square feet under my strokes.

For those twenty minutes, I forgot about Mason. My mind wandered free over the landscape I painted. A beautiful 3D waterfall that seemed to have emerged from under the pavement I sat on. Liana added the 3D forest around the waterfall.

I didn’t even notice the little crowd gathering around us.

Until he knelt beside me. “This is amazing,” Mason whispered, startling me.

“It’s not half done yet.” I used the back of my wrist to wipe a few loose strands of my hair away from my face, smearing chalk on my cheek.

His hand rested on my shoulder and turned me to him. His eyes locked on mine, Mason brushed my hair away and cleaned my cheek, his fingers lingering on my skin, sending shivers up my spine.

“Does your mother approve of this?” He gestured to the ground, but he didn’t break the stare.

“She doesn’t know.”

“You hide many things from your mother?”

“I try not to.” I sighed. “But I do. A few things are easy to hide. Some others are impossible.”

“Like boyfriends.”

I nodded. “Like boyfriends.”

“What if I found a way to be your hidden boyfriend?”

My heart fluttered and a sad smile spread through my lips. Damn, how I wanted that. “There isn’t a way. She will try to force me onto other guys, like she’s doing now, and she will become wary of why I’m refusing. Actually, she won’t accept a no.”

His brows curved down, forming a deep crease. “May I ask a question?”

“I know I’ll regret this, but yes, you may.”

“Why do you do everything your mother wants you to?”

“Good question,” Liana butted in. “Her answer changes every time I ask.”

“Stay out of this,” I snapped. Used to our arguments, Liana shrugged and kept drawing. “My mother comes from a long line of politicians. My father was a politician. It hurts her that I’m her only child and I don’t want to follow in their footsteps, but then she made sure my profession will go along with hers.”

He nodded. “Political science, and later law school.”

“How do you know?”

“Google.” He grinned, but it wasn’t his cocky grin. “But that isn’t what you want.”

“No. I wanted to go for art, like Liana. But can you imagine my mother, president of the United States, with a daughter who works in an elementary school, teaching kids how to draw, or at a gallery, painting for a few dollars?”

“Hey, nothing wrong with that,” Liana chimed in.

“Shush over there,” I said again. “Liana’s parents work at an elementary school, and my mother doesn’t approve of our friendship, so she thinks I’m not Liana’s friend anymore.”

“I thought that as a presidency candidate she would encourage your friendship with the lower class.” He raised his hands to Liana. “No offense.”

“None taken,” Liana said with a smile.

“Yeah, well, she does what she has to do to be elected, but she wants me out of that part. She expects me to marry a rich politician whose path might be the presidency of the country. Oh, and she would rather it to be soon. Anyway, I know how important this all is to her. I can’t slip, or she won’t be elected.”