Chapter 22
Mason
I’d finally gotten a text from Emma letting me know where I needed to meet her for tonight. I watched the news like a hawk all last night to see if any of those pictures had somehow seen the light of day. But, with no news talk and no urgent phone call from Tony, it looked like Sarah and I were out of the woods.
I just wasn’t sure how I felt about that yet.
I dressed in my nicest pinstriped suit and headed to the restaurant where Emma wanted us to meet. It was some barbecue pit with a full bar and outdoor patio seating. The hostess walked me through the building and up to the rooftop dining they offered, and right away, I was impressed. I would never have expected a barbecue joint to have rooftop dining, and they even had a decent view of the city.
“Mason! Over here.”
I turned toward Emma’s voice as a mass of white-blond hair came bouncing in my direction. She threw her arms around me, and I hugged her back as I tried to hide the shock zipping around in my system. Why was she so happy to see me after I’d blown her off? Dodged her phone calls?
I felt as if I understood less and less about women every single day.
“I’m glad you made it. Thank you,” she said as she stood in front of me.
“It’s the very least I can do,” I said, smiling.
“Come on. I want you to meet my best friend.”
My heart hammered in my ears as my eyes caught Sarah’s. She had a small smile on her face like she didn’t even know who she was looking at. We got over to the table, and Emma sat me down beside her, which meant I’d have to stare at Sarah’s beautiful fucking face all night and not say a word to her about anything substantial.
Great.
“Sarah Williams. We meet again.”
“Hello there, Mason Baker. Did you watch your own interview?” she asked.
“Of course. I was lovely as always. And you weren’t so bad yourself,” I said, winking.
“Seriously, Mason? Are you already hitting on my friend?” Emma asked.
“Well, she is a very beautiful friend,” I said.
Her gaze hardened for a split second while Emma was giggling at me.
This was going to be much easier than I originally thought.
“Well, it’s nice to come across you again. Had I known you were my best friend’s brother, I would’ve talked with you a bit more after the show.”
“I’m sure you would’ve,” I said.
“I am so excited the two of you are meeting. Formally, at least. Meeting on a show isn’t really meeting. You don’t get to know someone that way.”
“No, you don’t,” I said, smirking.
The way Sarah wiggled around in her seat was amusing to me. I was going to have a splendid time at this dinner, even if Sarah was secretly wanting to kill me the entire time.
“You’re both just so important to me. Really,” Emma said as she grabbed our hands. “I’m glad my two favorite people are finally meeting.”
“Me, too,” Sarah said.
The three of us ordered, and I told the waiter to put everything on one tab. Emma tried to protest, but I simply told her it was the least I could do. I wanted to show her I was wanting to make this work, and the only way I knew how to do that over dinner was to pick up the tab and make everything about her.
So, that was the plan.
“I’d like a better relationship with you,” Emma said as our drinks were sat on the table.
“And I would too. I just wish you wouldn’t press the whole Mom thing so much,” I said.
“But she really wants to make up,” Emma said. “She feels terrible about what happened.”
“And she should. She’s the one who left. You promised me we wouldn’t talk about this,” I said.
“I promised you I wouldn’t bring it up. All’s fair game when you do,” Emma said, grinning.
I could see Sarah’s grin on her face out of the corner of my eye. I grabbed my drink and turned back toward her, locking my eyes with hers as I took a sip of my bourbon.
“I wish you guys would reconcile,” Emma said. “We could all be one big, happy family.”
“Never going to happen,” I said.
“But why, Mason? Why are you so resistant to patch things up with Mom?” Emma asked.
“Emma, why don’t we talk about your and Mason’s relationship, hm?” Sarah asked.
I threw her a thankful look, but Emma didn’t get the hint.
“I just want to know. What happened between you and Mom that was so bad?” Emma asked.
“Look, I’m not here to talk about that. I told you this over the phone. If you want to be real, this is why I keep dodging your calls and our dinners, because this is all you want to harp on. Now, I’m willing to try. For you. Not for Mom. This dinner is for us to get to know one another. For us to establish a relationship, not for us to try and mend the family. That’s not happening, okay?”
“I just want to be a family,” Emma said lightly.
“And we can be,” I said as I took her hand. “Let’s just do this for us. Okay? We’re worth it.”
“I guess you’re right.”
“I know I am. I’m going to try harder for you, so long as you realize this isn’t me opening a door to Mom.”
“Will you at least think about it?” Emma asked.
“No, Emma.”
She sighed, and I could tell she was disappointed. Sarah was studying us both closely, and part of me was upset she had to witness that. I didn’t enjoy people getting a first-hand glimpse into my familial life. It was dysfunctional and not at all the portrait I wanted to paint of my life going forward. I wanted to usher in my success with stability and love.
Not drama and past tensions.
“Plus, it’s very rude of us to do this in front of your friend,” I said.
“Oh, I don’t care. I’ve seen your sister naked. Shit happens with us,” Sarah said.
“You’ve what?” I asked.
She giggled, a small grin crossing her face. Emma was laughing as our food hit the table, but all I could think about was what she’d just said. Had she seen other women naked? Had she ever touched another naked woman? Oh, was she open to something like that?
My head was swirling with disgustingly beautiful thoughts while the three of us continued to talk over dinner.
“So, Sarah Williams—”
“Just call me Sarah. It’s going to be a mouthful if you address me by my first and last name all the time,” she said.
“So, Sarah,” I said. “How did you bust out into the talk show world?”
“I felt talk show television was lacking in substance, so I drew out the bare bones of my talk show plan, walked into a producer’s meeting, interrupted it, and presented them with my plan. Told them I’d foot the bill for the first seven episodes. If the audience liked it, they had to sign me. If the audience didn’t, no harm no foul.”
“Just like that,” I said.
“She’s really not kidding,” Emma said. “This woman goes after what she wants.”
The smirk that donned Sarah’s face after that comment twitched my cock.
“I could use a woman like that in my life,” I said.
“You’re not going home with my best friend,” Emma said.
“Oh, you’re no fun. I got the no fun sister,” I said.
“Trust me, your sister’s plenty of fun,” Sarah said.
“Oh, do tell.”
“Sarah,” Emma said.
“Oh, come on. You were drunk. People do all sorts of shit when they’re drunk,” Sarah said.
“What did my lovely sister do drunk, Sarah?” I asked.
We laughed and drank and ate a ton of food that night. By the time we were finished, we were all lounging back into our chairs and enjoying the nighttime light show of downtown Dallas. We all sat there for a bit, silent and simply enjoying one another’s company.
But Sarah soon interrupted the moment with her interjection to go to the restroom.
I watched her get up and walk away right as Emma’s phone rang. She picked it up and started chattering away, so I tapped her on the shoulder and told her I was going to go to the men’s room. I got up and started for the stairs, taking them two by two as I dodged waiters and skirted the manager of the joint. When no one was looking, I slipped into the women’s restroom and locked the door behind me as Sarah was washing her hands at the sink.
Her eyes slowly rose to mine as she stared at my reflection in the mirror. I reached over and plucked a few paper towels from the dispenser and then handed them to her. She dried off her hands and tossed the towels into the trash can, her eyes never leaving my reflection, and she smiled at me for the first time that evening.
My hands settled on her hips, and I watched her eyes flutter closed.
I whipped her around and backed her into the wall. My lips matched with hers, swallowing her moans as her hands flew into my hair. She jumped, wrapping her legs around me as I walked us back into the handicapped stall. I could feel her warmth growing against my body while her tits rose to beautiful peaks and poked through her wonderfully thin bra.
Our mouths battled for dominance as my hands flew to my belt buckle, and in that moment, all memory of Emma was lost.
It was only me, Sarah, and the pleasure I was about to rush over her body.