Bracing myself, I slowly turned on my heels and walked towards the bar. The clicking of my heels gave me the boost I needed to look in his direction. Almost instinctively, my eyes met Mason’s from across the room. He looked good. The plaid shirt he wore stretched across his broad chest, and the beard that he’d grown made him look sexier than ever. I saw him mouth shit. It was almost enough to make me smile. His face was locked in a look of panic and another indistinguishable emotion. Joy maybe, but why in the hell would he be happy to see me?
I squared my shoulders and walked over to him, trying to think of the best opening line. Oh god, why hadn’t I thought this far ahead in my plan?
From behind the bar Kaleb looked up at me in surprise. I could tell he was about to come around the bar to hug me hello, but I wanted to fire my opening line first.
"Hey Kaleb. I’ll take a scotch, and you can put it on my husband’s tab.” I looked pointedly at Mason. He winced almost imperceptibly.
After a stunned beat of silence, Kaleb deftly poured two fingers of scotch and took it. He poured another one and passed it over to me without a word. Then I watched as he poured another two for himself. I downed mine and motioned for another.
“Em, I know you can hold your liquor, but do you want to slow down, sugar? You know I’m serving you the good stuff."
“You’re always looking out for me. I’ve missed you Kaleb." I said, walking around the side of the bar to hug him. "And just so you know, my tolerance for liquor hasn’t changed. Plus, now I can afford the good stuff.” I winked at him. “You always tried to get me to open up my pallet and I finally took your advice.”
Kaleb wrapped his arms around me in a bear hug, pulling me tight against his chest. I could make out Mason’s profile from the corner of my eye. He looked confused at the exchange that I was having with his brother. It almost made me laugh to think I finally had the upper hand with him. This was what I needed to throw him under the bus, both his brother and his sister on my side. I pulled away from Kale and looked at Mason, making my face void of all emotion.
“You look a little surprised to see me, but you shouldn’t, Mase. I’d think you would be expecting me to come back, since you forgot to do something really important a little over a year ago.” I glared at him and put my hands on my hips. “Or did you just decide we should stay married without consulting me first? Just like you decided that we should get divorced without talking it over.” My voice took on a sharp edge. “Don’t you think those are decisions we should probably make together?”
Without another word, I took the second scotch that Kaleb had poured and walked over to my wonderful sister-in-law. She knew I would need refuge after confronting Mason, bless her for getting here early to claim this table. I could feel Mason's gaze on my back as I hugged Aubrey. After Mason and I had started dating, we had got really close. We’d been a team, and it killed me that I wasn't able to see her every day now that I was in New York.
I sat down in the chair quickly, trying not to show my nerves. My hands shook as I held the glass up to take a drink.
“Oh god, I feel like I’m about to pass out.” I whispered. “Is he still staring at me?"
She looked at me incredulously over the small pub table.
“What the hell is going on, Em?”
"Did you know we were still married?” I asked suddenly.
Aubrey looked over at me with an amused expression, but I also noted that she looked a little shell shocked.
“Yes, he is still looking at you, and no, I didn’t know you guys were still married. I’m not surprised that he didn’t file the paperwork though. He asked you for the divorce when he was mad, not because he stopped loving you. Mason hates change, you know that.”
I scoffed. “Aubrey, you should have seen him when he signed the divorce papers. I’ve never seen a more determined man. It was like he couldn’t wait to get rid of the shackle he accidentally put on himself. When we were arguing about everything, it was like he totally forgot it was his idea to get married in the first place."
Lowering her voice and moving in closer, Aubrey said, “Em, I saw him the day after you left for the city. It was bad. He looked so lost. Even after dad died and he was taking over the practice, he never looked as broken as he did that day. I think he had some major regrets about how he handled everything.” She paused and bit down on her lip. “I need to ask you something, but I don’t want to upset you.”
I nodded and took another drink. “I’m not going to get upset.”
“Did you guys ever talk about having a baby before you left?” I jerked my hand back and she rushed to continue. “He’s been acting so weird around Jacob. I know Mase loves Jake, but I can’t even ask him to come over because every time he sees the baby he looks like he’s going to cry or lose his temper. I don’t know why he’s lost his cool. It’s kind of scary because he used to love kids.’’
I took a huge sip of my whiskey, savoring the burn as it went down. "No. We didn’t talk about that, not for a long time before we got married. We’d always said if I got pregnant we would get married, or if we decided that we wanted to start trying.” She nodded and to my relief didn’t ask anymore questions. “How is my nephew? He’s like, what, five months old now right?"
Aubrey nodded and a small smile tugged at her lips. "Jake is absolutely wonderful. Having him helps with the pain of losing John.” She closed her eyes. “God, after the funeral, I wanted to die. Losing John was the worst thing I’ve ever gone through. It still hurts every day, but when Jacob was born, he helped me heal. You should stop by and see him before you leave."
I gave her a sad smile. "I'll try to."
I took another drink of my scotch and risked a glance at Mason. His eyes were burning holes into me, but I couldn’t tell if he was mad or in utter disbelief that I was there. Our gazes met from across the bar, and even though I wanted to look away, I couldn’t. The pull I felt towards him made my chest ache.
“Earth to Emerald,” Aubrey said, waving a hand in my direction.
I reluctantly turned away from Mason and looked at Aubrey.
“Sorry, honey. This is harder than I thought it would be.”
She reached over and patted my hand. “You guys were together a long time. It’s understandable that you still feel some of the same things. He was a hot mess when you left.”
“He was?” I asked, doubt evident in my voice. “I still can’t wrap my head around that.”
“Yeah. I don’t think he left the house for two weeks. When I went to go check on him, he hadn’t showered and he wouldn’t even let me in the door. He looked like hell.”
I pursed my lips. “Hmm.”
“From what Lexi said, you weren’t any better off once the anger faded.”
I groaned. “Damn Lexi.”
“I had to check up on you somehow.” She grinned. “Don’t blame her, I was worried.”
I was quiet for a minute. This was all wrong. Aubrey wasn’t supposed to be telling me that Mason had taken our divorce so badly. Suddenly everything about this plan and this place was too much.
Air. I needed air.
Or something.
“I’ll be back.”
She nodded in understanding and didn’t try to follow as I got up from the table.
Thank goodness for small miracles.
As I walked down the small hallway leading to the back of the bar, Mason stood across the bathrooms, arms crossed in front of his broad chest. I tried to brush past him, but my feet wouldn’t move. It killed me to fight back every stupid instinct that made me want to ask him what the hell he was thinking when he decided not to file. Mason had always been my rock, but now he was this stranger who I wanted to know, but didn’t.
He pulled me against his chest and for a split second I melted against him. My fingers dug into his back and his hands wandered over my body, grabbing my ass, grazing my breasts, all as his lips trailed over my heated skin. It felt so right. I’d missed him so damned much. I all but melted int
o him when his lips finally met mine. It took me longer than it should have to shove him away.
I glared at him while he stared at me in confusion. “Mason, you’ve passed the bar exam, right?”
His confusion turned to a stubborn, mulish expression.
“You run a law firm, correct? You passed the bar?” I pressed.
Still no answer.
“Answer me this, why after asking me for a divorce—which I gave you, because you told me our relationship was over if I left—did you not file the fucking papers?”
If looks could kill, he would be dead on the ground from the one I was giving him, but he still didn’t answer. Maybe he couldn’t. I didn’t know.
“You single handedly fucked up our relationship, Mason,” I hissed.
He smirked and showed off the dimple in his right cheek that had always been one of my weaknesses when it came to him. “You’re mad.”
“Yes Mason, I’m a little fucking pissed at you right now.”
“So kissing you hello was a bad idea?”
My fingers itched to slap him across his smug ass face. “I should have bit your tongue when you shoved it into my mouth.”
“Come on Emmy, admit it, you missed me. Just a little bit.”
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared him down. He had the decency to blush a little and look away.
“We’ve been married the entire time I’ve been in New York. What would have happened if I started dating? Or hell, sleeping around?”
“Did you?” he asked, suddenly alarmed.
Now he reacts. Maybe I should have lead with that.
“No, you idiot, but I could have."
"Can we talk about this at the house tomorrow?" He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. “Please?”
I stared at him for a few seconds before finally nodding. He kissed my forehead and walked down the hall like we hadn’t been having a conversation about anything important and definitely not like he hadn’t just been kissing me like he missed me as much as I missed him.
Dr. Adam Parker kissed my cheek before sitting down at the table next to me. We had been dating for a while, way before I found out about the divorce, or lack thereof. The man had been a saint with all my baggage.
Men like him did not grow on trees.
"I'm sorry I'm late,” he apologized. “I had an appointment run over at the hospital. One of my patients had way more questions than normal. First kid."
He smiled, showing off his gorgeous, perfect smile. I couldn’t help but smile back. Adam was everything that girls dreamed of being with. He was the quintessential boy next door with light brown hair that always looked tousled like he’d just climbed out of bed and beautiful brown eyes. It wasn't fair that I was the one that had captured him, for now at least.
"It's fine,” I said smiling. “I was able to catch up on some emails."
"The music industry can't live without you for two seconds?" he teased.
"Of course not. I always have to be ready to find the next big thing." I winked and he reached across the table, taking my hands in his.
"Let's just get it out of the way, Emmy. Lexi already told me that you filed."
I sighed. "I don't know if I'm relieved or if I'm pissed off that she told you."
"Honey, it’s fine. Now we can get the big pink elephant out of the room. How are you doing with everything?"
"I guess I'm okay. Shocked mainly, I think. Waiting for the papers is putting me on edge." He rubbed the back of my hand gently as I spoke. "I thought I was past all of it, you know?”
“It doesn’t surprise me that you aren’t. Em, you guys have been together practically your whole lives.”
“Adam, I don't want to lose you or whatever this,” I motioned between us, “is evolving into, but I need to take a step back for a while. You deserve better than getting half of my attention when I’m going through all of this."
He sighed and rubbed a hand down his face. "I can’t say I'm surprised. Disappointed yes, surprised no. When you told me what Mason had done, I was afraid of something like this.”
God, he really was too perfect.
“This isn’t fair for you. For us.”
“Em, I'll do whatever you need. We haven't put any…formal parameters on our relationship and we can just wait longer to do that." He shrugged. "I had hoped I could introduce you to my parents as my girlfriend soon, but I'm not going to pressure you into something you aren't ready for."
I pulled my hand back and stared at my water glass. Parents? God, I was so screwing this up.
"Why are you so amazing?"
His eyes twinkled. "Just promise me you won't keep anything bottled inside. If you need to talk, I'll be here, even if it’s about Mason."
I shot him a tight smile and nodded. It killed me to do this to him, because I could tell he was upset, even if he was trying to hide it.
"I don't want whatever this is to end," I said again quietly.
"I don't either," he said taking my hand again. “We aren’t going to let this small setback screw us up. Okay?”
Just that small action made me feel like I was on more even footing. Adam was always there being my rock. He’d been amazing, being my friend after the divorce and never pushing me for more than what I was willing to give. Most women in NYC were ready to steal him away the first chance they got. He had been voted one of the most eligible bachelors by New York magazine two years running. Plus he had this wealthy family that was some of the most philanthropic people I’d ever heard of. It was insane how much they donated year after year.
I tried to change the subject and ask what he had been up to for the past few days. He smiled and told me about spending time watching a Knicks game with his brother. Of course they had to leave when one of his patients had gone into labor and he had to get to the hospital. He practically had us in tears when he told me the story about his brother fighting with one of the people in front of them, all over a stupid carton of nachos. By the end of lunch, we were almost back to normal.
As we stood waiting for cabs outside the restaurant, he wrapped me up in a tight, reassuring hug. His breath tickled my ear as he kissed my neck. I was surprised when he leaned into my car before it pulled away from the curb.
"You're worth waiting for, Emerald."
I smiled at him and the cabbie pulled forward, leaving Adam standing on the sidewalk behind us. I just hoped he would hold onto hope that we could make it through this. More than anything I hoped I was worth it.
***
I sat at my desk staring out the floor to ceiling windows into Central Park. The trip to Georgia, and now waiting for my divorce papers had me out of sorts. I hated being so tense. It made me feel unsteady. My mind wandered as I attempted to study the files in front of me. As I tried to avoid anything that reminded me of Mason, I ended up thinking about how I met Adam for the first time. He was so patient, and somehow I knew it would only last for so long before he decided it wasn't worth waiting on me.
April came quickly, bringing Lexi’s epic Welcome to New York party with it. I was procrastinating until the last second to get ready, agonizing over every small decision. I took way too long getting in the shower, waiting until guests would be showing up in the next few minutes. Lexi had been held up at the hospital and was running late as well. When she came home I heard her talking to someone in the entryway with her. Sighing, I drug myself across the hall into the shower, letting the hot water soothe my nerves. It only took me a few minutes to finish, but as I wrapped the towel around myself and started walking to the door, I bit down on my lip, cursing myself for waiting so long to get ready. People would be here any second and my bathroom was across the hall from my bedroom, not directly attached. The chances of me running into someone if they’d showed up early were high. Grabbing the handle to the door I opened it and stepped out and directly into a large, broad, incredibly defined chest that knocked me off balance.
Strong hands reached out to steady me before I fell back. My finger
s clutched at the terry cloth, holding onto it for dear life. This stranger didn’t need to get an eyeful. God, if all of Lexi’s friends looked like this, it was going to be a good night. The gorgeous man in front of me ran his eyes up and down my lush body, making me flush. He watched with heated eyes as rivulets of water ran off the ends of my hair and down the slope of my chest, being absorbed by the towel before they went any lower. He couldn't stop staring, and I didn't know if I should be turned on or offended. A blush ran across my face at being caught like this. He quickly dropped his hands and jerked his head up to meet my eyes, instead of staring at my body. I laughed as he started to stammer an apology.
"Are you okay? Sorry, I didn’t mean to knock you over or stare at you. Lexi said I could come over and shower and change here since I was running just as late as she was leaving the hospital. This is the bathroom she always has me use, so I just—"
Looking down I noticed his scrubs for the first time, so I decided to brazen it out. "You must be Adam. I’m Emerald. I’m happy to finally meet you, I wish it had been a little more dignified on my part, but Lexi speaks very highly of you. She couldn’t wait for us to meet." Awkward pause. God I was an idiot. "Um...I’m going to go get ready. I’ll see you in a little bit? Maybe we can just forget this happened?"
He chuckled and I enjoyed the husky sound more than I imagined possible.
"Definitely. I’ll see you in a little bit, but forgetting this happened might take a little bit of work on my part."
He winked at me as he brushed past to go into the bathroom. I caught the briefest glimpse of him pulling his shirt over his head before the bathroom door shut behind him. Holy muscles. The man was hot. Lexi wasn’t joking about that. Realizing I was still standing in the hall in only a towel, I squeaked and dove for the safety of my room.
Twenty minutes later, I stepped out fully dressed and ready for the party. I had pulled my long brown hair into a simple updo and applied a perfect smokey eye that only a pageant girl could pull off in less than five minutes. My dress was a skin tight spaghetti strap, floral print dress that showed an ample amount of cleavage and my curves perfectly. I absolutely loved it. Lexi had talked me into buying the dress the last time we’d gone shopping, saying I needed something to make me feel like my old self. A merging of the old and new, if you will. Shoes had always been my weakness, and tonight was no different than every other day. I decided to wear my favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's to give me the confidence I needed for the dress.
Flawless: A Relentless Series Novel (The Relentless Series Book 4) Page 2