Page 43 of Love Me Ever After
Tossing my phone to one side, I stared up at the ceiling watching the air conditioning fan whir around and around.
Thinking about the future was a scary prospect.
This time I had to consider Ems’s feelings too.
Unlike when I’d last taken an offer without consulting her, I didn’t want to fuck it up.
She meant more to me than that. It had taken a period away from her to work it out, but truthfully, I didn’t want to be with anyone else.
She was a massive part of my future.
If I got this next move right, I could carve out a great life for the both of us.
20
Ems
When Suzanne suggestedwe spend the afternoon at the spa, I readily agreed. After everything that had happened recently—Mason’s return, my falling out with Sonya—anything that could give me some form of respite and stress relief would be amazing. After the most amazing massage, followed by a mani pedi—sorry Sara—we sat by their indoor pool in our towelling dressing gowns waiting for our drinks to be delivered.
“Ems, it’s so lovely to see you again,” Suzanne began. “When Mason told us you weren’t together any longer, I have to admit I cried.” She gave me a small smile.
“Really? Oh, Suzanne!” I reached over and grabbed her hand.
“You should have kept in touch. I wouldn’t have minded.” She squeezed my fingers. “But the two of you being back together seems a surprise—a nice one, mind.”
The server came over with our mimosas and I released Suzanne’s hand. Taking a small sip, relishing the freshness of the grapefruit juice. It also gave me a couple of moments to think about her question.
While Mason was away, I’d dated. Nothing serious, nothing more than a couple of months of fun with a guy. When the conversation turned to moving things onto a proper relationship footing, I backed away. If I was being honest with myself, I hadn’t connected with any of them like I had with Mason. Sara would tease me that I wasn’t over him and if he were to come back, she knew it wouldn’t be long before we were seeing each other again.
How true her words were.
I guess I’d never really moved on, never really got over him. Because our break-up hadn’t been messy, there weren’t other people involved, it just sort of fizzled out, it was almost like we were on a break. Rachel and Ross had nothing on us.
“Ems?” Suzanne’s voice broke into my thoughts and I turned my attention back to the present.
“Sorry, I was miles away.” I took another sip of my drink. “It was kind of hard being thrown into the same house without much warning.”
“Yes, Mason said something about that. What happened?”
I briefly told her about Tasha and Luke and their quick decision to move in together, leaving a spare room at mine and Sara’s place. “Mason and I went from not seeing each other at all for nearly two years to being in each other’s faces the whole time. It kind of escalated from there.” I omitted to tell her about the night of passion at the hotel. For one, my boyfriend’s mother didn’t need to hear about her son’s sex life and two, I wasn’t exactly proud of myself for what happened that night.
“Well, I do think the two of you are perfect for each other. I’ve always thought so.” Suzanne sipped her own cocktail. “What do you think the future holds?”
That was a bloody good question and one I couldn’t answer right now. As we were already living together, we didn’t need to take that step and anything else would likely include a proposal. Despite everything, I wasn’t sure I was ready for that yet.
“Mason seems to be getting on really well at work,” I said instead. “He’s attracted the attention of the CEO so I’m pretty sure there’s a promotion on the cards in the not-too-distant future.”
“He did mention something about that.” Suzanne laughed. “It’s one of the reasons Clive offered to take him out to the golf course. They’re going to have a father son talk about it.”
“Mason’s promotion or his golf game? I’m pretty sure he hates golf.” I giggled.
Suzanne rolled her eyes. “Oh, I do hope he does, because believe me, Ems, you don’t want to end up a golf widow.”
We chatted for the remainder of the time we had at the spa. It felt comfortable, easy, right. I’d really missed having Suzanne in my life.
“What didyou and Mum talk about this afternoon?” Mason stood in front of the mirror in our room, fresh from the shower. He had a towel slung around his waist, which was totally in danger of slipping off and revealing everything. Droplets of water glistened across his back, trailing down the tattoo on his shoulder.
I lay back on the bed, my mouth practically watering at the sight. The new gym-improved Mason somehow made everything moreintense. We were meant to be going out for dinner, but I wondered if there was time for a quickie first.
