Chapter 11
Lara
Would I ever learn? I knew more than a few glasses of wine would leave me with a horrendous headache in the morning, but it didn’t always stop me. Now I was suffering from a world-class hangover. It sucked. Day drinking was not my thing. My brain felt like a dehydrated sponge. Even my eyes hurt. My mouth felt like I had been sucking on cotton balls.
Water. I needed water and lots of it. I knew from experience I couldn’t down three glasses of ice-cold water or I would end up puking. I prayed there was some juice in the fridge. Juice and something greasy. No. That could end up being very bad.
I groaned and threw my arm across my head. Yesterday had been crazy. I had kissed Mason. It was unlike me to be so bold. It was even more unlike me to kiss a man in front of my ex-husband and brother—the same brother that forbade me from seeing the man I had kissed. Thinking about it made my head spin. Well, that and the effects of the wine.
“Shower, Lara,” I mumbled to myself. A shower would help. It would wash away the remnants of the wine and hopefully make me feel a little more human.
I stumbled into the bathroom and smiled when I took in all the blue. I loved the color, and it instantly made me happier. I turned on the hot water and stepped into the shower. I stood there, letting the jets hit me. The gentle massage of my skin helped to liven me up. I could feel my blood circulating a bit more and felt better. Now I needed coffee and food.
I stepped out of the shower, threw on a pair of yoga pants I had purchased and a long shirt, and made my way into the kitchen.
“Please let there be food,” I moaned.
I pulled open the refrigerator and saw the leftover pizza box.
“Oh yeah,” I said with a giggle. I’d forgotten I had ordered pizza yesterday. There were a few pieces left. Cold pizza was exactly what I wanted.
I grabbed a slice, stuck it in my mouth, and then started the coffee maker. I would have to give up coffee if and when I got pregnant. Wine, too. Technically, I should have already cut them out of my diet, but yesterday had been a hell of a day. I needed both. I would worry about clean eating tomorrow.
I grabbed my phone, checked for messages, and found none. Not surprising. I knew Brian was pissed. Good. He should be. I was still a little upset as well. He had intervened when he shouldn’t have. Mason wasn’t the dick I’d thought he was. It had all been a colossal mistake.
I thought back to the moments before Mason and I had been rudely interrupted by Brian and then Mitchel. We had been in the middle of a crucial conversation. He’d told me he had loved me. Those were words I had longed to hear for so long, and yesterday he had dropped them on me out of the wild blue. It had been like fusing my broken heart back together after twenty years, but there was a lot of scar tissue. He may have mended my heart, but there were still deep scars that I would carry for the rest of my life.
I swiped my finger over my phone and pulled up Kali’s number.
“Hello,” she answered, a little groggy.
“Hey,” I said with as much cheer as I could muster. The wine was still rearing its ugly head.
“Hi,” she replied, a little more enthusiasm in her voice.
“What are you doing today? Want to grab lunch later? I have to get out of this place or I’m going to paint the walls, again,” I joked.
“Oh, uh, I can’t today,” she said in a voice that was barely above a whisper.
“Why? What’s wrong?” I asked, suddenly worried she was sick.
“I have company.”
I giggled. “Oh, got it. It’s going to be a lazy day in bed. I hate you. Have fun, and you’ll have to tell me all about it tomorrow!”
“Bye,” she said, laughing.
That sucked. It looked like I was on my own today. It wasn’t the first time, and with my life plan, it was not going to be the last. I had no problem going to lunch by myself. It was kind of nice in a way. I could sit as long as I wanted or leave as soon as I was finished. I didn’t have to make polite conversation or make sure there wasn’t food in my teeth.
I pulled up an app that showed me all the restaurants in the area. I had heard about a new place but couldn’t remember where it was. I found it and quickly bookmarked it. Eating at a brand-new restaurant seemed like the perfect thing to do today. It was all a part of the new me.
I finished the pizza and coffee and headed for my closet. I spent a few minutes picking out an outfit and settled on a pretty white top and a pink skirt that floated just above my knees. I pulled out a pair of my new sandals that had lots of bling. Once dressed, I checked the time and realized it was close to eleven. I had really slept in.
I checked my app to see how far the restaurant was and decided I would walk. The weather was beautiful, and I wanted the exercise. A little fresh air would help get the rest of that wine out of my system.
When I walked into the restaurant and checked the tables, my gaze landed on the last person I had expected to see today.
Mason was sitting there looking at me. I gave a small smile and waved a few fingers, feeling completely self-conscious.
“Is that who you’re meeting?” the young hostess asked.
“No, no. Just a friend. I’ll need a table for one,” I told her.
Mason arrived at that exact moment. “Please, join me. Then neither of us has to eat alone.”
That bitch Fate better run if I ever run into her in a dark alley.
“I’m fine. Don’t let me intrude on your Sunday lunch,” I said with all the elegance I could muster.
“Please, it would be my pleasure. Join me, Lara,” he said with a big smile.
The hostess looked at me, raised her eyebrows as if to wonder what the hell was wrong with me for trying to turn the man down, and then gave a slight nod of her head.
“That would be lovely. Thank you, Mason.”
“Great. I’ll send the waiter over to take your drink order,” she said, walking to Mason’s table and handing me a menu.
When she walked away, I looked up to see Mason staring at me. “You look beautiful,” he said with a genuine smile. “Radiant, really.”
“Thank you. I don’t mind eating alone if you were expecting someone.”
“I wasn’t. Junie kept telling me this place had the best clam chowder, and I figured I had some time today, so thought I would give it a try,” he said, staring into my eyes with those piercing green eyes that always made me feel as if I were naked.
“Oh.” I couldn’t seem to form words when he looked at me like that. “I, uh, I—fish.”
“What?” He looked baffled.
I felt like an idiot, like a fish floundering in the air. “The fish and chips. A customer was raving about them the other day, and I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.”
“Oh, that sounds like a better choice. It’s a little warm today. Not sure I want hot soup,” he said, looking back at the menu.
The waiter came by, and I ordered orange juice, water, and a diet coke. We both ordered the fish and chips.
Mason was grinning when I looked back at him. “Thirsty?” he asked.
“A little.”
The waiter delivered my drinks, and I immediately started guzzling the juice. I was in desperate need of rehydration.
“So, what do you do for a living?” he asked.
“I own a baby boutique. We sell unique baby items, mostly natural, organic stuff.”
He nodded his head. “I think I know the one you’re talking about. I have had several patients tell me about it. I didn’t realize it was yours. What a small world.”
“What about you?” I asked. “I mean I know you’re a doctor, but what have you been doing the past twenty years? Married? Divorced? Kids?”
He chuckled. “None of the above.”
“Really? Why not?”
He shrugged. “I guess I never found the right girl for me.”
I sighed. “I wish I had never married. I mean, in the beginning it was all right, but the past five years…” I didn’t say the words. I shook my head. “I love my job, and I am glad to have it. I love where I live, and I guess I can thank Mitchel for pushing so hard to get us out here all those years ago.”
“How long were you married?” he asked.
“Ten years. Twelve years together. Twelve years of my life I’ll never get back,” I said quietly.
“You’re still young and have lots of life to live.”
“I hope so. I feel like I wasted so much time trying to make Mitchel happy and forgot about my own happiness. Now that I look back, I don’t know that I ever truly loved him. I was lonely and wanted to fill the void. He came along and seemed like a good substitute.”
“Substitute for what?” he asked in a low voice.
I looked at him, wanting to tell him Mitchel had been a substitute for him.
I opened my mouth to offer up a lie, but fortunately, I didn’t have to say it. Our food was delivered, and we dug in. It was as good as my customer had said. We both ate with gusto, barely keeping up our idle conversation.
When we finished, he asked if I wanted to take a walk. I quickly agreed.
“Do you live in the area?” I asked him.
“I do. Not far from you.”
We shared a laugh. It was crazy to think we had been so close this whole time. So close, yet so far away from each other.
As we walked down the sidewalk, our hands occasionally brushed one another’s. I imagined strolling down the streets with him, hand in hand, talking about our future and our family.
“Watch out!” he shouted, bodily shoving me off the path and into an alley we were passing.
I looked up to see a man on a bicycle whizzing by.
“Oh my god,” I said, breathing hard. “He almost hit us!”
Mason turned his head to look at me. “Are you okay?”
I met his eyes and saw the concern in them. It was sweet and made me feel protected.
I leaned up the inch or so that was separating us and kissed him. His hand dropped to my waist, and his other went to my cheek, gently pressing his palm against my face. His mouth moved over mine, and he quickly took control of the kiss. His body pressed against mine. I took a step back and found myself pushed against the brick wall of a building.
His tongue swooped into my mouth. I moaned into him, loving the feel of his body against my own and the taste of him. My hands moved to his waist. I pulled him in closer, needing to feel him closer, as if it were physically possible.
“Lara,” he breathed against my mouth.
My eyes opened, and I found him staring at me.