Chapter 1

Sarah

“Good afternoon, Dallas. Today, we have a very special guest here with us. Mason Baker, branded in the media as the second-coming of Steve Jobs, will be here with us today sharing his story, his success, and his secrets. Stick around because it’s going to be a doozy.”

“Sounds good to me,” my makeup artist said.

“You think so, Ang? I wasn’t sure if I should use his media persona in the opening or not,” I said.

“It’s what all the newspapers and magazines are saying about him. Can you believe his success? I think he made a deal with the devil,” she said and gave me a look.

“Have you seen his looks? I think he definitely made a deal with the devil.” I tried to hide the smirk playing at the edge of my mouth. Anyone with a pulse knew how fucking hot Mason was. Hell, he knew it too.

Angie and I giggled while she put on my makeup. In the three years I’d hosted my talk show in Dallas, she was the only veteran still here. ‘Does This Affect Dallas?’ was a show premise I had rolling around in the back of my mind for years before I finally pitched it to someone. All the talk shows nowadays were glorified gossip tables. I wanted something that would inform as well as entertain, a show that would dive into things that affected our beautiful city, breaking them down in entertaining ways to educate as well as distract.

And Mason Baker was just that.

“I can’t get over his dimples. I wanna poke my fingers in them,” Angie said.

“I could swim in those beautiful peridot eyes all day,” I said.

“And that thick, dark hair of his? Kill me in the face, please. I’d pay so much money to run my fingers through it.”

“His hair? I’d give anything to run my hands up those meaty arms of his. Did you see that picture of him in the media last week? Jogging around like he didn’t know the entire world was watching him?”

“Did you see the fucking video?” Angie asked. “The guy needs a damn jock strap.”

“There’s a video? Let me see.”

Angie put down the makeup and pulled her phone from her pocket. I watched the video and practically salivated, watching that cock swinging between his legs. The man was doing this on purpose. He had to be. No one made a hundred and fifty-seven million dollars in revenue their first year in business and didn’t understand he was being watched.

Then again, he wasn’t only known for his quickly-rising technology company.

“No wonder he’s a playboy,” I said, smirking. “That swinging cock could satisfy an entire block.”

“Then come back around for dessert,” Angie said, mumbling.

Out of all the interviews I’d done, I’d never been nervous. I had scored daily interviews with scandalous senators and had video interviews with some of the hottest names in Hollywood so they could talk about their charities. Anything that could educate Dallas and get them off their asses to help the world is what I focused on.

And Mason Baker’s product was no different.

His idea started with a social media campaign and the premise was simple, a device you could adhere to any surface to keep track of something. It came with an application you could put on your phone, tablet, or computer, and from there you could track up to thirty different devices. Thirty. You could stick it on the inside of your phone. You could wrap it around the keyring of your keys. It was pliable, bendable, waterproof, fireproof, and you couldn’t ruin it if you stepped on it.

The original campaign was set to raise two hundred thousand dollars, and it ended up raising almost four million fucking dollars.

All from donations.

The applications of this item were endless. You could put it on your car and track your car. You could put it on your children’s electronic toys and track where they were. Hell, you could put it on your fucking kid and track where they were.

The moment the product launched, it flew off the shelves, and it was Baker’s customer service setup that took the prize for that one. Complaints came flying in immediately from people who used it, and they used those complaints to tweak the product further. An updated product hit the shelves while those who complained about problems got a free upgraded replacement, and the product went viral.

Eight months into their official launch, they were trying to figure out how to ship overseas, and from there the rest is history. One hundred and fifty-seven million in flat-out revenue for their first year, and they’d only begun to scratch the surface.

It was absolutely incredible, and it was something that most definitely affected Dallas.

But those piercing green eyes and that muscular body. It was almost disarming how sexy this man was. Angie was finishing up my makeup while everyone started bustling around me, and that’s when I heard someone say it in the distance.

I heard them whisper that Mason Baker was here.

I knew I was going to nail this interview. I always did. But never had I found anyone I’d interviewed this hot. I mean, I could feel my pussy heating up for crying out loud. That was beyond unprofessional, and it wasn’t a road I was willing to travel down again, not after I’d caught my ex-boyfriend making out with who was now my ex-host.

It really wasn’t a big deal. I’d gotten the bitch fired within five minutes of figuring it out. Then, I took to kindly blasting them on social media. I made it apparent that the show does not tolerate unprofessional behavior of any kind, especially when it hurts multiple people involved. I told my fans that I’d interviewed senators and mayors and governors caught in scandals where they’d cheated on their spouses, and I took those accusations seriously. I used the moment as a platform to take a stand against men who manipulated, abused, cheated, and otherwise dealt anything else less than full respect to women they claimed to love.

Especially after what I’d endured in high school.

“Sarah?”

“Yeah, Ang?”

“You’ve got about ten minutes. You okay?” she asked.

I double-checked my makeup in the mirror before I gave her a confident smile. I stood from my chair and embraced her, pulling her close to me. She was the closest thing I had to a friend in this town, and I would always respect her and love her for allowing me to talk to her before every single show I did.

“You know I appreciate you, right?” I asked.

“Oh, yes. I know,” she said. “I just have to remember not to make out with your boyfriends. I quite like my job.”

We giggled one last time before I shook my head at her. I walked out of the room and down the hallway, smoothing out my outfit one last time. I got to the entrance of the stage as they were running the intro to the show, and then it was time for me to take my place on stage.

I walked up to the middle of the stage as the crowd cheered. Cameras panned around me, and I waved to the audience. Then, I made eyes with Camera 3 as it panned around me. I waved to my at-home audience and blew them a kiss like I did every show. I drew in a deep breath and started the opening I’d rehearsed in the makeup room.

“Good afternoon, Dallas. How’s everybody doing?”

The crowd of people erupted into cheers as I clapped for joy.

“Today, we have a very special guest here with us. Mason Baker, branded in the media as the second-coming of Steve Jobs himself, will be here with us today sharing his story, his success, and his secrets. Stick around because it’s going to be a doozy.”

I walked back to my chair and took a sip of water while the credits for our sponsors rolled, and it gave me just enough time to fluff my hair before the camera was back on me.

“I could go on and on about the man standing backstage, but something tells me he wants to do that himself,” I said, winking. “Without further delay, welcome into your homes Mason Baker.”

I stood from my chair as I watched him come out from behind the screen. He was even taller in person, standing at a looming six-foot-four. His beaming white smile contrasted with his tan skin wonderfully, making his peridot eyes sparkle more than ever. His thick, luscious mane of dark hair was parted to one side, combed back expertly as his gray suit tailored itself to every curve and dip of his strong, throbbing muscles. He shook my hand, his palm dwarfing me, and for a second, I could’ve sworn he winked at me.

“Mr. Baker, thank you for your time. I’m so glad you could be with us,” I said as I sat down.

“It’s a pleasure. Anything I can do to educate the city of Dallas is all right by me,” he said.

The crowd whooped and hollered at his statement while I simply shook my head.

“So, tell us a bit about this product. How in the world did you come up with a concept like this?” I asked.

“To be honest, I can never find my wallet. Ever. And I got sick and tired of hunting it down at the last minute only for it to make me late. I tried going online and finding something that could work, but everything on the market was subpar.”

“Define subpar,” I said.

“Products were either not reliable, only detected a product within fifty feet of the base, or was simply too bulky to do anything with,” he said.

“Never in my life did I ever think too bulky could be a bad thing,” I said, grinning.

“Depends on where the bulk sits, I suppose,” he said.

I felt his eyes heavily on me, and it took everything I had to keep pushing through the interview. I could feel a flush creeping up my neck, threatening to burst forth on my cheeks and destroy the professionalism of this interview.

“So you created a social media campaign,” I said. “Did you have a prototype when you created it?”

“Nope. Just some designs, schematics, and an incredibly detailed professional video of how the technology was supposed to work.”

“And by professional you mean …?”

“Me sitting in front of a camera and stuttering out my idea,” he said, grinning.

Laughter trickled through the audience again as I shook my head.

“Mr. Baker—”

“Please, call me Mason,” he said.

“Mason,” I corrected, “did you ever think it could become this big of a success?”

“No. Not in a million years. I just wanted to find my wallet, and that was it. Even if I made this product and was the only one who used it, at least I’d solved my problem. But apparently, people lose things all the time.”

“Have you ever gotten any reviews about the product where someone had stuck your product on something odd?” I asked.

“Define odd,” he said, smirking.

“You have a list of items on the back of the packaging. Everything from phones to children’s backpacks. Anything not on this list you’ve heard of your product being used on?” I asked.

“Yes, but I’m not sure they’re very appropriate for a daytime talk show,” he said.

I quirked my eyebrow, wholly curious as to what he was talking about.

“Sounds mysterious.”

“I think you’d enjoy it. Maybe I could tell you after the show,” he said, grinning.

“What do you attribute your success to?” I wasn’t about to travel down that road. I’d sworn off men the moment I caught my ex-host slobbering all over the man I had been dating at the time. I was over playboys and their innocent facades. Mason didn’t even make the attempt to be innocent. His playboy ways were known, especially the scandals that were already surfacing in the media.

“Myself and Tony,” he said.

“You mean Anthony Thomas,” I said.

“Yes. He and I co-own the company. I went to many people with the idea, and he was the only one who supported it,” he said.

“What about your parents?” I asked.

For a split second, he paused. It was a blip on the radar. A momentary lapse where I realized I’d asked a question that delved into a part of his life he probably didn’t want to talk about.

But now the question was out there, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.

“My father supported it like he’s supported all things in my life, but Tony was the one willing to get in on the action and help me do something about it.”

I knew enough about bad familial situations to not press why he didn’t mention his own mother. Though I had to admit, I was curious.

“So, the infamous question. Does this affect Dallas?” I asked.

“I don’t know. What do you think?” he asked as he crossed one long leg over the other.

“I think it most certainly does. Texas is in the heart of child abduction country. We are surrounded by states known for trafficking children, both into Mexico and back up into the States. It’s a rampant problem that doesn’t get enough attention, and I believe your product could really raise awareness about it.”

“I didn’t know that about this area of the country,” he said. “I’ll definitely have to look into it.”

“You should. This is why I think your product is brilliant.”

“Brilliant, huh?” he asked, grinning.

“Yes. Because of the way the technology radios out to cell towers, you can clock wherever this device goes so long as you have it programmed into the application you download. I could see hundreds of uses for this product in law enforcement, the military, and in general, keeping the public safe. Especially our children.”

I felt his eyes hard on me as I leaned back into my seat. I was getting too personal. Too emotional. I had to reign it in before we took our last commercial break.

“Mason Baker, thank you so much for being here with us,” I said as I stuck out my hand.

“The pleasure is all mine, I can assure you,” he said as he took my hand.

The electricity that shot up my arm made me grateful that I was wearing a jacket.