Page 177 of Grand Love

“Fuck the coffee.” He tries to pull me back to him, but I push him away.

“Mase, go and get him!” I laugh.

“Fine.” He rolls his eyes and leaves the room, returning a few minutes later with Ellis who now has a perfectly positioned bow tie around his neck. “Look at this champ, Mummy!”

“What’s George done to you?” I follow Mason around the desk and stand leant against his office chair when he sits down with Ellis on his lap. The second I’m close enough, his hand slips down to glide up my inner leg, grasping me just above the knee.

“You came to see me,” he says, looking up at me with a boyish look on his face.

“We missed you. You left without saying goodbye this morning.”

“I didn’t want to wake you both.”

“Always wake me,” I tell him, smoothing my fingers through his ruffled hair. “It was odd waking up at the penthouse.”

“Odd how?”

“I don’t know… It felt like I’d never left.”

“Good. I like that.” He smiles, beckoning my lips with the twist of his.

I lean down and give him a deep kiss, keeping it short for Ellis’s benefit. Mason’s eyes are heavy and full of lust as I pull away. “Come to mine tonight. I don’t want to be alone,” he admits.

“We’re supposed to be taking things slow,” I remind him. I should have known he’d have no restraint. But his honesty has me conflicted, and I already know I won’t deny him.

“I can go slow.” He winks.

“Get away you sex maniac.” I push on his chair and step back.

“I’m serious. Come to mine tonight. We can keep it PG.” He gently slides a hand down Ellis’s back, looking up at me with so much adoration in his eyes it floors me. “I want you both with me. Always.”

My heart sings with his words. Is there anything I want more than to be with this man—always? I don’t think so.

“Will you pick us up on your way home?”

“Of course I will.”

* * *

I spendthe rest of my day giving Ellis one hundred percent of my time. The last few months have been nonstop. I started working at the gym, then Mason—he gets his own category all to himself, and then all the preparation for the ball. For the last year I’ve thrived off of routine–even though I’ve struggled being alone. But the idea that everything is changing again and so quickly, despite how much I’ve wanted all these things, it still scares me.

Leaning down, I kiss Ellis’s smooth hair, inhaling his sweet shampoo. Something deep inside of me tells me things are about to change for us again. Mason doesn’t want us apart anymore, and I get it. I hate being alone too. But my concerns are that we will move faster than our hearts can handle. I’d like to think I know Mason, that I can deal with the curve balls that come our way now. But am I foolish to think that after only a couple months we can find our happy again?

Right now, I want to spend my time with my son, snuggling on the sofa and listening to the rain fall outside.

I look down at his little face which is resting against the crook of my arm. “You’re so tired today, baby.”

His wide eyes don’t leave the TV screen and I smile as his small hand clenches my vest, holding me tight. “Daddy will be here soon.”

* * *

The soundof my phone vibrating has my eyes snapping open. Ellis is asleep in his cot. He drifted off whilst we were lying on the sofa, and I felt so drained after yesterday and this morning that I decided to have a lie down.

Searching my bed, I find my phone.

“Hey, Scar,” I whisper, pushing back the covers and slipping from the room.

“Hey!” She sounds happy and cheerful, and it instantly lifts my mood. “I just got back from work. I stopped in to see Joey today…”

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