Page 74 of Roman & Olivia
She entered the building, and the guys at the security checkpoint nodded to her with a smile. The office was quiet. The mayor was out of the office, too. Mason could have taken the day off if he wanted, but he said he needed to get some additional paperwork completed.
If their relationship had been stronger, then she might have surprised him with lunch, and they could have spent time in each other’s company.
But that wasn’t how this would go.
Every step that brought her closer to Mason’s office only added to the nerves that threatened to overtake her body. She was still a people-pleaser at heart. She didn’t want to hurt him. And those were the last thoughts that entered her mind when she pushed open his office door.
Her whole body seized up as she got an eyeful of Mason seated at his desk with a girl on his lap. They were kissing—deeply, passionately.
Olivia’s eyes widened. The gasp that ripped from her throat must have been loud enough to be heard because the girl stiffened and Mason’s eyes darted to her.
He immediately stood up and the girl on his lap fell to the floor. “Liv—darling?—”
The pain she expected to feel upon seeing them together never came. In fact, her heart seemed to settle down the second she realized what was happening. Mason had never stopped seeing the other girls he’d said meant nothing to him. He’d gone behind her back and continued dating multiple women.
Gone was the panic that she’d anticipated in telling him things were over—replaced with a strange sort of peace.
“Olivia! It’s not what it looks like.”
She scoffed, but he continued.
“I don’t know what Roman said, but he’s crazy?—”
Roman? What did he have to do with this? She frowned with confusion as Mason blubbered on.
“I love you, Liv. It’s you and me.” He gestured toward the girl who had righted herself and was staring daggers at him from behind, her arms crossed. “She came on to me, and I?—”
“It’s okay, Mason.” She offered him a saccharine smile.
The relief on his face was almost hilarious. “I knew you would under?—”
Olivia cut him off. “Clearly, I wasn’t enough for you. And you know what? The feeling is mutual.” She moved to leave the office but thought better of it. There needed to be zero questions about what this conversation meant. “It’s over between us, Mason.” Then, without another word, she headed out the door and didn’t look back.
She was tempted to call Cammi and tell her everything that had happened, but she held back. There would be time for that—after she went to talk to Roman. The two of them had a lot they needed to work out. Whether Cammi was right or not didn’t matter. Olivia could admit that she had feelings for Roman, and they ran deep.
It was hard to tell when they’d started exactly. Maybe they’d been there all along. Maybe the love she felt for him came so gradually and quietly that she hadn’t noticed it until she lost it completely.
Her chest started to ache again. She couldn’t lose him. That was one thing she refused to allow. Roman was her person—the one who could make her laugh until she cried. He was the guy who could turn her upside-down world right again. Roman was her everything. She wasn’t going to sit back and let him slip through her fingers.
Yes, she’d been the one to push him away, so she knew there would have to be some groveling to get him back.
But she was up for the challenge. Whatever he’d give her, she’d swallow down like a man in the desert without water. If all he wanted was a friendship? She’d accept that.
And if he wanted more?
The question burned through that hole in her chest, almost as if it could heal the emptiness and draw it closed.
If he wanted more, she’d do everything in her power to keep him. She’d hold onto him for dear life, and she wouldn’t take him for granted ever again.
Olivia climbed into her car and started the engine.
Mason hadn’t gone after her when she’d left—typical. Clearly, he’d been in it for the chase.
And maybe she was guilty of the same thing.
Now? She knew better. She was wiser. She knew what she wanted and was ready for the chase to come to an end.
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