Her face twisted in a frown. "I don't have any information. What are you talking about?"
I had debated how to let this play out, but this would be win-win for both of us.
"I have a story for the News & Record. That's going to be the card you play."
"You do? What is it?" She was on the edge of the seat. I could see the fire in her eyes.
"We'll get to that."
"Mason, if you have a story for me, I need it."
"I thought you said you couldn't separate me from work. This story is very specific to one of my latest acquisitions."
The darker it got, the more I realized the weekend was almost over. Tomorrow was already a beast of a day. I would be on conference calls from seven until seven.
"You didn't mention you had acquired anything new." Her eyes narrowed. "What is it?"
"I buy and sell every day. You know that. But you could tell your editor you have a scoop on a South Padre land deal that has a direct impact on the resort. Trade her the story for a chance to focus on the features you really want to write."
"A trade? But you aren't going to tell me what it is?"
My hand squeezed her knee. "Remember the mother and daughter from the Cove?"
"Shawna and Lindy? Of course." She lowered her eyes. "They remind me of-"
"Your sister. I know. I thought the same thing when I met her."
"You met Shawna? When?"
"I didn't have much choice after that article you wrote. You basically crucified me in that story."
"They are going to be homeless, Mason. It wasn't as if I could put a happy spin on it."
I took a second to pour another glass of wine for myself. Sydney was still working on hers. The bottle was almost empty.
"No. You're right. There's no way to make people losing their homes a happy ending, but I have good news."
She stared at me, the expectation circling her eyes. "What is it?"
"I am the proud owner of a new campground on the sound side of the island. Shawna and Lindy will be moving in two weeks." I grinned.
"Are you serious?"
I nodded. The wine was dry and crisp. "It was a good business move. I can relocate ten residents. The mother doesn't get kicked out on the street. I built in a cushion for the demolition budget, so I'll use that to make the abandoned lot livable. In a few years when all of this blows over I'll sell it."
"But then what will Shawna do?"
"Hopefully by then she's not still living in a camping trailer."
"So you did this for the press? To kill the story I wrote?" Her brow was starting to furrow and the lips I loved to kiss so much weren't smiling.
"Darlin', I'm building that resort. Things are going to come up along the way. This was one of those things, and I took care of it. I'm happy the mom and little girl have a place to go. But I didn't promise her anything other than I would get her moved. I don't owe her a damn thing."
"How can you say that? She grew up on this beach. She used to vacation here with her family. Lindy's father has never paid her a cent. That trailer park is all they have. Don't you get that?"
"What I get is that you made the right decision."
"What are you talking about?" Her eyes glared.
"There's no way we can do this." I grabbed her around the waist, despite the way she struggled in my arms. "And you not cause problems for me. You'd write another story just as damaging if you got the chance."
"Me cause problems for you?" Her tone was irritated.
"You disagree?" I studied her eyes. She was breathing heavy and her skin was still warm from the sun. I couldn't believe I had spent two days on the beach. We had significantly increased my total number of lazy minutes.
"Ugh. I hate it when you're right." She threw her arms next to her side. "If I wrote the story now you'd probably have to buy the rest of South Padre to recover from it."
"I know I would." I chuckled. "Now that we have that settled, do you know what you're going to say to your editor tomorrow?"
She considered my question. It took her awhile to answer. "You want me to trade story choice for this planted piece of public relations?"
"If you don't report it, someone else will. I'm giving you something to wield before you head into that meeting." I leaned back on my elbows. The wind fluttered through her hair.
"True. It's bound to be picked up tomorrow." She chewed on the side of her lip. "And you think my boss will go for it?"
"It's worth a try."
Her face softened. I smiled as she lowered herself on my chest, resting her head over my heart. I tangled my fingers through her hair.
"I'll try it. But I can't promise anyone will paint you in as positive light as I will," she teased.
"I'm hoping one that's much better."
"Hey!" She assaulted my sides with her fingers.
I looked at my watch over her head. "It looks like we only have three hours of this weekend left. What do you say we take this party inside?"
"What's in there?" she teased.
"Ok, never mind. Let's keep it going right here." I pulled her on top of me, bringing her lips crushing down on mine.
I was worried I might get used to this, but the instant I heard her moan my name, I knew this was a weekend I wouldn't forget. I'd rather crack open another bottle of wine and spend the night loving Sydney into oblivion if it would make time stand still.
18
Sydney
I straightened the pleats on my skirt. I rehearsed what Mason and I had gone over. This was the right thing to do. I had to remove myself from the situation. I had flashbacks to my ethics class. It heavily focused on slander and defamation, but I hadn't forgotten the discussion on sources. The last thing I wanted to be as a new reporter was labeled as unethical and biased. I held my breath and counted to eight. Somehow that always seemed to help, but right now all I felt were sweaty palms and a nervous stomach.
"Paige, come on in." Alice called across the newsroom. Her door was cracked.
I closed it behind me and turned to take a seat.
"Did you have a good weekend?" I asked.
I knew nothing about Alice's personal life, other than she was married. She wore a simple gold band on her left hand. There wasn't a picture in the office. Not even a shot of a dog, or a landscape.
"It was a weekend." Her lips were so thin they almost formed a straight line when she wasn't smiling. "I got your email. Let's talk."
There was too much silence. Too much space in between our words. "Well, thank you for seeing me so quickly this morning. I need to talk to you about something." I could feel the plan unraveling. Alice stared at me, and my resolve to be a hard-ass negotiator seemed ridiculous.
"It's Monday. My schedule is filling up. What do you have for me?" She chewed on the bottom of a pen.
I didn't know how Mason did this every day. How he faced people and walked away with exactly what he wanted. He wasn't just good at it. He was amazing.
"Last week you mentioned that you thought there was a possibility I could change over to straight features." I twisted my hands in my lap. I was using weak words. I knew it. "And anyway, I thought we could make that transition start a little sooner."
Alice looked puzzled. "Sooner? How so?"
"Yes. See I need to remove myself from any stories pertaining to Mason Lachlan. And it seems like maybe the timing is right to go ahead over to features."
"And why do you have to come off the Lachlan stories?"
I chewed on the inside of my cheek. "I just do, but I have a story I thought I could give the reporter you assign to the resort." My words sounded ridiculous. I couldn't string together one impressive sentence.
"You haven't answered my question. And if you have a story, why isn't it already written?"
"Ok. That's a good question." We didn't analyze enough of Alice's reactions. Mason was used to overcoming negotiation obstacles. I didn't even know how to barter in a flea market.
"Look, Paige, we all get assignments we don't particularly like. That's the news business. This happens to be a business journal. We serve the southern half of Texas. So, we don't have the luxury of picking and choosing what we report. We have a readership that depends on us. We have an obligation to those readers."
"I'm sleeping with him." I blurted it out before she could finish.
I had worked there three months, and in those three months I had seen Alice angry, happy, pleased with a well-written story. This morning I saw what she looked like when she was surprised.
"With-with?"
I could barely look at her. "With Mason Lachlan."
The tiny office erupted with her laughter. "You can't be serious."
I nodded. "I am. We started dating after the interview." I blurred the timeline a bit.
"You realize he's a complete womanizer. He's nothing short of the business equivalent to George Clooney."