Page 19 of Between the Paragraphs

I make it through my day in a whirl of meetings and more panels. I’m only half paying attention though because all I can think about is my evening with Mason. Sure, I’m excited to be with him, but I’m also worried about what my boss is up to. This just doesn’t make sense to me, and I don’t like participating in something that makes no sense.

There’s a knock on my door at five minutes to six, and I smile. I love a man excited to start the evening. I give myself a final check in the mirror, then move over and answer the door to see Mason’s smiling face. As he takes me in, his eyes alight, and he grabs me, pulling me straight to him while lowering his head.

I don’t even hesitate to accept the kiss as he wraps his arms around me and pulls me close. His tongue slips into my mouth, and I get lost in his arms as he pulls me tight against his body, allowing me to feel exactly what I’m doing to him. Screw this party.

“You two might want to go inside the room,” someone says in between a lot of giggles. Embarrassment fills me as I pull back from Mason who looks a whole lot turned on, and a bit too smug. I pull him into my room as my cheeks heat.

“What in the world?” I gasp.

“Let’s get back to that,” he says as he reaches for me. I dance away from him and hold up my hand, shaking my finger.

“Don’t you dare. We have to go to the event or I’m fired,” I tell him.

“We can make an entrance much later,” he says, his voice almost pleading.

This makes me laugh. I have a feeling this man is right, that I’m going to end up in his bed, and in a very short time. Each time he touches me I melt. To not explore this seems like a sin. I can’t think about it right now, though.

“Not going to happen,” I tell him.

“Then you shouldn’t have worn this red dress,” he tells me. His eyes are darker, and though he’s smiling, I can see he’s right on the edge of control. I have to admit, it doesn’t hurt my ego that I’m bringing this man to his knees.

“I’ll have to remember your weaknesses,” I say.

“You. That’s it. You’re my weakness,” he says, too confident to be embarrassed to admit this.

“Then we better get out of here. I need to fix my face first,” I say as I move to the bathroom and shut the door.

He calls through the door. “We have to come back after the event,” he warns, and my heart skips a beat. I have no doubt if we come back, something’s going to happen. I’m not sure I hate the thought of this. I need to accept it’s inevitable.

I fix my mussed hair and lipstick, then come out. Mason behaves as I take his arm and we exit my room. There isn’t a whole lot of talking as we make our way to the company party. We are about twenty minutes late, and the room’s already filled with people all connecting, seeing what deals they’ve made and plan on making. This isn’t my favorite part of conferences. I don’t like trying to one-up people. I’m confident in what I do, and I don’t need to toot my own horn.

Mason’s a natural as the two of us grab drinks and jump right into the conversation as we move around visiting with various people. The lines between fantasy and reality have certainly blurred when it comes to Mason. I’m supposed to be his fake girlfriend, but this feels so dang real. I know that kiss wasn’t fake. Nothing about us feels fake.

Mason shamelessly flirts with me in front of my colleagues, and I love every moment of it. For a while, it’s fun and makes me feel like the star of the night. The way he looks at me makes me feel like I’m wearing nothing at all. It seems he’s doing this for me, and me alone, not for some pretend act.

“I want to come to every event with you if you dress like this,” he whispers, his eyes twinkling with mischief.

I laugh, loving how impressed he is. “I only dress this way when I have exes to taunt,” I tell him, a brief reminder of why the two of us are here together. He frowns at this as if not happy at all to be reminded. I’m not sure I’m reminding him or myself.

“I’m not even thinking about exes when you’re next to me,” he says. The intensity in his gaze makes me shiver as my skin tingles where his breath brushes across it. Before I can respond to him, Robert comes over, practically giddy with excitement.

“I’m so glad you made it to the party, Mason. I’d love to sit and chat with you for a few minutes if your lovely date doesn’t mind.” It’s not like I can tell my boss that I do, indeed, mind, which I do.

“Of course I don’t mind. You two have fun,” I say with a false smile.

“I appreciate the invite. I love to come anywhere with this woman,” Mason replies. He lifts my hand and kisses my palm before he exits with my boss. I move straight to the bar to grab a drink. We’ve only been here for an hour and I’m already more than ready to leave. When will that be appropriate? I normally love these parties and getting to see some people only during them. We all live in different places, and getting together isn’t easy.

I look over at Robert and Mason as they chat, and I’m confused as it seems my boss is almost starstruck at being with Mason. Sure, he’s a former NFL star, but my boss is around famous people all of the time, and I’ve never seen him act this way before. I’m distracted when I get into a conversation with another person.

More time passes than I realize when I look up again to see Mason speaking with a woman. No big deal. But suddenly that woman moves indecently close to Mason and throws her arms around him, her face much too close to his neck. He laughs at whatever it is that she’s saying to him, and I feel my gut clench.

Once she releases him from her claws the two of them remain in a conversation. He’s smiling, and I’m growing angrier. What in the world is going on? Sure, I know we’re only pretending to be a couple, but everyone here assumes we are so what’s he doing openly flirting with another woman?

I move a little closer to try to eavesdrop, and hate myself a bit for doing so. I’m not an insecure woman, and I don’t play games. I certainly don’t do jealousy. If a man wants to stray then he can go with the other woman. I’m certainly not fighting for his attention. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.

I hear him say her name and realize it’s the ex-girlfriend he told me he wants nothing to do with. If he came up with this whole scheme to keep her off of him, then why is he seemingly so comfortable with her right now? It makes absolutely no sense to me. I’m not used to feeling this jealous, and I don’t like it.

I assure myself it’s not jealousy I’m feeling, it’s anger that he’s embarrassing me in front of the people I work with. Gossip will spread through the office about how I’m unable to keep the attention of men. They know my ex cheated on me, and now it looks like Mason’s planning on doing the same. It takes all I have not to exit the room.

---