Page 6 of Merrily Mine
She gave me a soft smile, twirling a brunette strand with her finger. “Hey, Mason. It’s been, what, two years?”
“God, yeah.” The last time I’d seen her had been at Hunter and Gabbi’s wedding, though I hadn’t really noticed her then. I’d spent most of the night fighting with Maggie. I’d seen the writing on the wall for months before the wedding, but that was when it had been over for me.
“Mom told me you moved back. I’m sorry to hear about the divorce.” Emily ran her finger over the rim of her glass.
“I’m not,” I admitted, reaching out to place my hand over hers before thinking better of it.
Touching her was bad. Touching her was definitely not something I should do.
She blinked. I wondered if she’d expected that from me—honesty. But I didn’t regret getting a divorce. I didn’t wish that things had worked out with my ex-wife anymore. She’d made her choice, and I’d made mine.
“Oh.” Emily bit her lip. “I don’t—” She let out a small laugh. “I guess I don’t know what to say.”
“You don’t have to say anything.” I shook my head, shoving my hands into my pockets. “It’s in the past.” I rubbed my empty ring finger. “Besides, I’m over it.” The lie felt wrong, even on my tongue, but the more I said it, the more it would be true, right?
All I could do was move forward. I knew what I wanted, now more than ever. The ranch. A family. A life of love and laughter. Things we would never have together. I didn’t blame her, but I’d long since stopped mourning the life I’d thought we would have.
“Well, in that case…” Her lips curled up. “Maybe we should start over.”
“Oh, good. So we can forget about when I slid in here, thinking you were just a beautiful stranger in a bar and attempting to flirt with you?”
“Is that what we’re calling it?” Her eyes sparkled with mischief. “Oh, I’m definitely never going to forget about that, cowboy.” There was something about the way she said the word, about her eyes landing on my hat, that made me want to be bold. Want to embrace whatever this was, going on between us.
I shrugged, taking a drink of my beer. “Well, it was worth a shot.”
“So, you think I’m beautiful, huh?” She twirled a strand of hair around her finger.
It was hard to deny. “You own a mirror, don’t you, darlin’?”
What was I thinking? She was eight years younger than I was, and totally fucking off-limits. I shouldn’t be telling her how pretty she looked tonight, how she took my breath away the moment I saw her across the room.
Hunter would kill me, wouldn’t he? This was his little sister. His baby sister.
And yet, there was no way I could pull myself away from her.
Her green eyes connected with mine, and we both laughed. It felt good to laugh with another person—to feel like, if only for a moment, I could let myself be free.
“It’s good to see you, Mason.” She smiled.
“You too, Emily.” There was a glow to her skin—a warmth that made her practically glow in this dimly lit, grungy bar. “Haven’t seen you around much,” I said. Not that I’d spent many nights out since I’d moved back. Most of the time, I had a date with my bed after working the ranch all day and then woke up before the sun rose each morning.
She fidgeted with the charm bracelet on her left wrist. “Yeah, I’ve been traveling a lot. I’ve been back here and there—mostly to visit Hannah.” She nodded towards where her friend was sitting at the table, texting on her phone. She was vaguely familiar, though I assumed it was because they’d probably spent time at the Sullivan house when Hunter and I used to goof around after classes. “I’ve been spending a lot of time in Portland, too.” Emily tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.
“Visiting your brothers?” I guessed.
She nodded. “They’ve always been in such different places in their lives—that happens when you’re so much younger—but now… I don’t know. Both of them aresohappy. Wives and babies and all that.” She waved her hand in the air. “And I’m just…”
“Stuck,” I answered for her. God, it felt like she was prying the word from my soul. We were in different situations, and yet…
“Exactly. Not that I don’t love my job, but… I guess I figured I’d have my life figured out by now.” Emily frowned. “I don’tknow why I just told you that.” She stared down at her empty glass.
I chuckled. “Maybe we should get another round of drinks?” I looked across the bar at Jonah, who was chatting with two girls, a blonde and a dark-haired duo. He was fine.
She nodded, and I waved over the bartender and ordered us both another drink. “On me,” I insisted.
“Thank you,” she murmured.
I raised my glass after he set both down in front of us. “Of course. My pleasure.” Emily clinked hers against mine. “Cheers,” I said, taking a sip.
