Chapter Seven
Liv
Prove it.
Those were the last two words exchanged between Mason and me.
That was fourteen days ago.
Last week, he was at Lake Gaston celebrating the Fourth of July with friends, and it was the worst five days at work of my life. I missed him. I missed the brief glances as he walked down the hall. I longed to hear his laugh as he joked with our colleagues. I’ve missed his jokes, his sexual innuendos, and most of all I’ve missed his touch. My body still burns from our epic weekend of the best sex of my life and every time I walk into my office, I can still imagine him bending me over at the window and claiming me. I can’t help my need for him both sexually and emotionally. Besides my best friend Janette, he has always been in my corner, rooting for me, even if he hated every second of being an assistant. My assistant.
Trey never gave me that. Besides the lackluster sex, he never once built me up when I felt down, and he was my boyfriend! I should have seen the signs earlier with Trey, and I’m so thankful my sister called off her wedding to him. I guess it didn’t help that she found messages to another woman on his phone while he was in the shower. Sleazebag.
I can’t blame him for being mad at me. He saw I had feelings for him well before I even did and when his dad asked if he was interrupting something I know he would have brought the relationship we both longed for to his attention. I don’t know why I didn’t say anything. The only blessing to Mason not talking to me for the past two weeks is that I finally realized I want more with him. Asking me to come forward with my feelings after just three days of realizing I actually had them was scary. I needed the time to figure it all out, and I now know what I want. I want him to tease me at work, and I want to tease him in the bedroom. I want for us to be more, and I want to prove to him, once and for all, that I’m all in. I just need to figure out how.
Walking into work today, I pass Mason’s office, noticing his door is closed and continue on to my own. My new assistant is nowhere to be found but at least my schedule for the day is on my desk already. Highlighted in yellow is a change in one of my appointments. This is something Mason never did. Adeline likes to highlight any major changes that occurred to my schedule that weren’t there the previous day.
My entire mid-morning has now been cleared for a companywide meeting and luncheon. Three hours long.
I groan. This is not how I wanted to spend a chunk of my day, but at least I get to be in the same room with Mason and he can’t walk away.
I find Adeline as I walk down the hallway and we both enter the large conference room together, finding most of the staff has already taken their seats. We find two chairs next to one another. My heartbeat stills when I spot Mason sitting directly in my line of vision to the front of the room. His eyes are taking me in with no shame. I wore a red dress today, a contrast to the old stuffy skirt suits that were way too big on me, and let my hair down. I now feel a bit more comfortable while I work long hours. I turn my head to the side in a “can I help you” look but he swivels his chair away.
I’m taking notes an hour into the meeting when my cell phone vibrates on the table. I pick it up, discovering a text from Mason. My body heats up with anticipation of what it holds. I’m almost too scared to open it but I do anyway.
Mason: Tempt me all you want with your tits hanging out of your dress. I’d love to slide my cock between them. But…
Me: But what?
I brace myself as I wait for his reply. Watching him intently, I grow frustrated that he hasn’t picked up his phone to see my response. I cough loud enough to get his attention. It’s childish but I want to keep this going. I need to talk to him. He looks at me before picking up his phone but sets it back down again. Thankfully, Mr. Finn calls a fifteen minute break and everyone jumps up like the room is on fire. Since I am in the back and Mason is closest to the door, he is gone before I can reach him.
I use the restroom but when I walk out I watch as Mason slips into his office alone. I take the opportunity, pushing the door open, making him jump just as he gets to his desk.
“What do you want, Liv?” he asks, annoyed.
I step closer, my legs trembling. His voice can do that to me. “I want to talk.”
He looks up from his computer. “You want to talk, or you want to fuck? Either of those I’m not interested in right now.”
“I missed you.” I tell him, shocked that I just admitted that to him.
He falters, letting his eyes close, like that is music to his ears. That he’s been waiting for me to say anything that shows I want more from him. From us. I take the opportunity to move closer to him, but he stops me with a hand before he stands up.
“Do you know that every day for the past nineteen days, yes I’ve counted, nineteen days since you left my bed that I’ve wanted to hear those words from you?” His voice grows more aggravated. “Every single day I’ve wanted you to come to me, tell me that you were sorry, that you’re happy for me and my promotion!”
I cringe. I didn’t realize that after accusing him of using me to get ahead that I never once apologized or told him I was proud of him.
“Mason, I…”
“No!” he yells, rounding his desk and heading to the door. “I like you, Liv. Hell, I think I’m even starting to fall in love with you. I told you to prove it.”
Guilt creeps in when I realized how shitty I’ve treated him for the past couple weeks. What kind of woman am I turning into? I can’t let what Trey did to me filter into my future. Mason is not Trey. I am not the old Liv either. Mason has always been supportive of me even when he really wanted my job. I can’t let this conversation end here. I just can’t. I storm down the hallway after him, forgetting all about the meeting that is back in full force. I look at Mason in his chair, he doesn’t glance my way when he takes his seat.
“Ms. Marx.” Mr. Finn calls from the front of the room. “Do you have a question?”
I sigh. “No,” I answer walking around the large table toward my chair. Adeline looks at me curiously, then over to Mason, before she smirks.
I’m in over my head on this. He asked me to prove it but I’m not the only one who needs to prove anything. He knows how bad I’ve been hurt and he knows why. As I sit here and listen to Mr. Finn go on I can’t concentrate on anything other than Mason across the table. Again he isn’t looking at me but I couldn’t turn away if I wanted to. His long fingers, the ones I wish to have all over my body again, drum against the tabletop. His lips, the ones that tell me I’m beautiful are pursed together. His chest, the one I laid my head down on just over two long weeks ago, rises and falls.
I stand to my feet, all eyes looking at me when I rudely interrupt Mr. Finn talking. “I actually do have a question.” I state.
Mr. Finn opens his palm toward me in a “go ahead” motion. “What question do you have for me, Ms. Marx?”
My nerves kick up. It’s now or never…and I can’t live with myself if it’s never. “My question is for the other Mr. Finn.” I scoot my chair back and walk around the table.
Mason leans back, attempting to hide a smirk. “Yes?” His eyebrows rise.
I grab the back of his chair and spin it around, leaning my hands on the armrests so my face is parallel to his. I can hear gasps around the room but I don’t care. “You’re not Trey.”
He nods before licking his lips. “I know this, Liv.”
“You’ll never make me choose between you and my career?”
Mason shakes his head no. “I would never do that. I know how important it is to you.”
“What if we had kids?” I whisper but not low enough because I can hear murmurings of “what?” and “oh my God” all around me.
He reaches up and caresses my cheek. “My mom would love to watch them while we both worked.”
I snag my lip between my teeth before asking, “You really think you love me?”
Leaning in closer he says, “I know I do, but do you love me?”
Taking a deep breath, I open up my heart to the first man in years. “I really do.”
“Prove it.”
Without hesitation, I grab his stubbled cheeks between my hands and crash our lips together. The entire room erupts around us with cheers and claps, almost like a cheesy eighties movie. When Mason stands up and continues the mingling of our tongues, my hands fall to the side as he grips my hair between his fingers and deepens an already inappropriate kiss.
Once we pull apart, and he takes his eyes off me, we both look to the front where his father has his arms crossed. Anxiety fills my body. I’m positive there isn’t a no fraternization policy in our contracts but maybe I missed it.
All my worries slip away when he smiles and says, “It’s about damn time.”
After Mason’s and my show, his dad decides to let everyone go early for the day. Once everyone has trickled out, Mason walks into my office, leaning against my doorway as I make my way out.
“You ready to go?” he asks, reaching his hand out. I take it with a huge smile.
“Yup. I’m all done.”
He tugs my hand and begins to walk with purpose toward the exit. I can barely keep up. “Come on, Livvy!”
“Don’t call me that.” I chuckle. “Why are you in such a rush?”
The elevator greets us, and he drags me in, grips my hips and pulls me close. His lips brush against mine on their way to my ear. He whispers, “So I can take you back to my place, talk too much, and have you suffocate me between those beautiful legs all weekend long.”
I giggle and my body tingles with the anticipation of what is to come this weekend. I know it’s the start of something amazing. The possibilities with him are endless. I know this is exactly where I belong. With Mason. And in love. Finally.