I looked blankly down at the pregnancy test in my hand. This was supposed to be the happiest day of my life, but instead I was numb and I felt sick. My husband had left me or had I left him, I don't even know what had happened anymore. All I knew is that I was pregnant. This situation was out of control.

I was supposed to be starting a brand new life in New York, not bringing along a stowaway. I've already been living with Lexi for two months, so when the hell did this happen? I did some quick calculations and realized I probably conceived the night that the divorce papers were signed.

Fucking awesome.

Do I tell Mason? Do I not tell Mason? Would he even care? How did I get in the situation that I had to decide if telling my ex-husband that I was pregnant with his kid was a good idea or not?

I can't do this. I need reinforcements. My hands shook as I opened the bathroom door.

“Lexi, can you come here please?"

She was pulling her scrub top into place as she came up. I couldn't take my eyes off the stupid piece of plastic that had effectively ruined my life.

"What in the hell is in your hand?"

"My worst nightmare." I held it up to show her. "It’s even got a cute little pink positive sign to make me think that everything will be okay.” I thunked my head against the sink cabinet. “What am I going to do, Lexi? Mase and I aren’t even talking."

She shook her head as if trying to clear it. One of us needed to be clear headed.

"First, we are going to make you some dry toast so you don’t get sick again. Then we’re going to get you an appointment and you’re going to get the best damn prenatal care available. That’s what we are going to do. Fuck Mason."

"On top of you taking me in, you get stuck with a bitchy, divorced, knocked up version of me. Hell Lexi, just kick me out now. Save our friendship while you still can."

She put her arms on my shoulders. "It will be fine as soon as you suck it up and stop feeling sorry for yourself. You were just telling me the other day you wanted a kid by the time you turned thirty. This is just God’s way of speeding things up a little bit, a kick in the ass so to speak. Who cares what Mason wants? You have some time to figure out what you want to do. But right now, you have to get ready for work, or you madam president, will be late."

 

I woke up in a cold sweat. Thank God, it was only a dream.

A horrible, awful dream.

It wasn't fair that I kept punishing myself this way. The covers were twisted and halfway off the bed, probably from my tossing and turning during the dream. Mason had an arm curled over me as he spooned me from behind. I sat up slowly, careful not to wake him.

It had almost been two years ago since that stupid little stick had turned pink or sprouted a pacifier or whatever the hell it did to tell you that you were pregnant. That was about the time my dreams of becoming a mom had all but evaporated. I shivered when I thought about waking up in the hospital bed with Lexi next to me. Honestly, I was lucky that I lived. If Luke hadn't found me on the floor of my office, I probably would have hemorrhaged and bled out. The ectopic pregnancy and losing a fallopian tube would have been the least of my worries.

I tugged Mason's shirt over my head and made sure he was still asleep before walking out of the bedroom. My feet padded lightly on the hardwood floors as I quietly crossed through the house towards the kitchen. The glasses were in the same place they had always been. It made me happy to see that some things never changed. At least Mason hadn’t felt the need to change every single thing about the house after I’d left.

The shirt slipped higher up my thigh as I reached to grab a glass out of the cabinet.

“That’s a nice sight.”

Mason leaned against the doorframe with his arms crossed across his bare chest. A smile played at his lips, making it impossible to be mad at him for startling me. I went across the room and kissed him softly. A contented sigh slipped from my lips as he tugged me into his chest. His hands rested on my ass and it made me think of how we would always end up in this position during our late nights of raiding the fridge after hours of sex.

“You were asleep when I got up.”

He kissed my neck once. “I woke up the second I realized you weren’t there with me.”

“What kind of snacks do you have? I need food.”

He grinned. “Sit down and I’ll make you something.”

Instead of sitting at the table, I climbed on the countertop. Mason brushed against me each time he went by to grab something from the pantry. Just being here with him like this brought back tons of memories. It took me a few minutes, but after watching him pull item after item out of the pantry, I realized what he was making.

“You’re making me pancakes?” I asked with a smile.

He flicked on the burner and turned to look at me.

“Does that sound good?”

I nodded shyly. “That sounds great.”

He worked in silence for a few minutes. I loved watching him cook. He was always sure and steady in his movements.

“Remember the first night we were in the old apartment?” I asked.

A huge smile covered his face as he recounted the story. “Yeah, you woke up early to make me pancakes.” He grinned. “I still have that button up shirt you wore that morning. I can’t believe that all my frat brothers came in and saw you dressed like that. I wanted to punch them all.”

I laughed. “Maybe you shouldn’t have bent me over the counter while I was cooking. A few minutes more and they would have seen a hell of a lot more of me. We’d barely finished before they came barging in the door.”

Mason flicked the burner off and I cocked my head at him. “I don’t want to burn the pancakes when I fuck you over the kitchen table.”

He slowly set down the spatula and took a step in my direction. The wicked look in his eye said he wanted to play. He took another step and grabbed for me. I screeched and took off across the kitchen, pushing off the counter as I ran. A grin covered his face as he followed behind me closely. I giggled as I zigzagged through the doorways of the old house, Mason hot on my heels.

His arm wrapped around my stomach and I sucked in a breath as he pulled me tight against his chest in the hallway. I didn’t fight when he turned me around in his arms. A sharp gasp left me as he lifted me up and pinned me between him and the wall. His eyes flashed as he moved my panties to the side and found me wet and ready for him. I pushed his loose basketball shorts off his hips and grinned at him. Without bothering to pull down my panties, he pushed inside me. We groaned in unison with the first thrust. My fingernails dug into Mason’s back, leaving long red lines where I clawed at him. He thrust deep and hard, each movement of his hips more punishing and desperate than the last.

“Look at me,” he demanded. I yanked my head up to meet his eyes. “Promise me you won’t leave me again.”

“Mase,” I whimpered.

“Promise me you won’t run.”

“God, yes.”

My eyes rolled back and my head hit the wall as it fell back. His fingers dug in deeper, my body clamped down on his in release. The keening noises coming from the back of my throat were guttural and shrill. Mason thrust viciously one last time and pinned my body harder against the wall as he braced himself for his release. Our breathing came back to normal slowly. His forehead rested against my chest, a smile covering his handsome face. When we were finally able to breathe, I made a face as he pulled out and helped me stand up.

I leaned into the touch of his hand on the side of my face. My arms wrapped around his waist. When I was around Mason I was the same fun loving, bubbly person I’d always been. There was no need for the hardened bitch I was at work. It was like I had a New York persona. She was a person I didn’t really care for unless I was around Adam. She was crass, and grumpy, and way too damn serious all the time.

“Do you really want me to stay?” I asked in a whisper.

“No.” He kissed my temple. “Because I’m going to New York with you.”

“But Mason, what about your promise?”

“Don’t worry about it.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You need to talk to me, tell me what you’re thinking. If you don’t, I’ll be back on the first flight to New York, first thing tomorrow morning. Not talking is what messed us up in the first place.”

I let him take my hand in his and lead us back to the bedroom. He settled back against the headboard and I curled into his chest.

“Em, I’m going to talk to my Mom and sister. Lately I’ve been thinking of leaving the firm. I don’t want to work on real estate law; I never have. The only reason I joined the family business was because of my Dad.”

“If you quit, what are you going to do? Plus that doesn’t change what you promised John. Won’t you feel guilty for leaving?”

“I’ll deal with the Aubrey thing. It’s been almost a year. She’s doing a lot better now.” He played with my fingers before answering. “And what I’ll do after I resign depends on if you’ll let me move in with you in New York.”

I leaned up and turned to him. “Is that what you want?”

He frowned slightly. “Do you not want me to move in with you?”

I threaded my fingers with his. “That’s not what I mean. I’ve been doing some soul searching of my own.” I stared down at our intertwined fingers. “I think I’m going to resign as CEO.”

Mason tipped my face up to his. “Why?”

“Because I hate it,” I admitted. “Well, it’s not that I hate it or can’t handle the workload. I really hate dealing with the drama. I thought I would actually be making music, but I’m not. All I do is look pretty, babysit spoiled brats, and make decisions that don’t seem to even matter in the long run.”

His frown deepened. “I’m sure you do more than that.”

I sighed and snuggled into him. “I do, but it’s nothing like I expected.” I paused for a second. “You know when you want something so bad, like a piece of pie, and it’s supposed to be the most amazing pie you’ve ever had in your life, because you’ve convinced yourself it’s the best. Then when you eat it, it’s okay, but not the amazing and life changing pie that you thought you were getting. You’re all disappointed because you’ve wasted all this time convincing yourself that it was the best pie in the world.”

Mason laughed. “So your pie was disappointing?”

I exhaled. “My pie was disappointing.”

He kissed the side of my head. “I love you so much. You and your pie analogies.”

My fingers trailed over the light smattering of chest hair. “I love you too.”

“Let’s rest. We can talk more in the morning.”

“Okay,” I said through my yawn. “Will you make me pancakes in the morning?”

I felt him smile against my shoulder. Sleep came quickly, and for the first time in forever, no bad dreams awaited me as I drifted off.

 

***

 

I woke up to the amazing smell of bacon and pancakes. The smell made my mouth water as I climbed out of bed and stretched. My body ached in the most delicious way. Three times in one night was enough to wear me out, but still leave me wanting more. I leaned against the doorframe watching Mason serve up breakfast on an old wooden tray that we’d acquired sometime in college. He looked adorable as he put a carnation in a juice glass as a finishing touch.

“You don’t have to impress me, I’m staying.”

He jumped at the sound of my voice.

“Good morning, baby. I wanted to surprise you.” He wiped his hands on a dish towel and walked over to me. I kissed him once and let him rest his hands on my hips. “Breakfast here or in bed?”

“You went to all this trouble, I feel like it’s only fair that we eat in bed,” I said smiling. “You have to actually let me eat though, no funny business.”

He grinned mischievously. “I make no promises.” I smiled back and grabbed a piece of bacon off the tray. “Let me grab the tray and I’ll be right there,” he said, kissing my forehead. I swatted his butt and walked down the hallway with a nice sway to my hips I knew he would appreciate.

I straightened out the comforter and laid crossways on the bed so Mason could put the tray between us. We dug into huge stacks of pancakes and salty bacon. After our long night, we’d worked up quite the appetite. Our conversation was easy and we kept sneaking looks at one another as we ate. It was like when we were first dating again. I felt lighter than I had since before I left for New York. The city had a way of making me feel stressed without even stepping foot there.

“You have some syrup,” Mason said, pointing to my lip. He laughed as I tried to lick it away. “Let me get it.”

Instead of wiping it with a napkin, he leaned over and kissed the corner of my mouth. “Did you get it?”

His eyes heated. “I don’t think I did.”

I sighed contentedly as he kissed me again. His hand cupped the side of my face and as he pulled back I kissed the palm of his hand.

“I’m happy.”

Mason smiled and his eyes lit up. “I’m happy too, but we still have things to figure out.”

He tugged the tray out of the way so he could move closer to me on the bed. We laid on our backs, staring up at the ceiling fan as the blades made slow, lazy circles.

“You know Sidney is still looking for someone to work for her. She’s been turning away business for at least a year now because she’s so busy,” I said innocently.

“How do you know more about my cousin’s business than I do?”

I rolled to my side and propped my head up with my hand. “Violet told me after her dad passed that Sidney was having a hard time keeping up. Apparently James left the practice to her and she’s burning the candle at both ends.”

Mason shook his head. “How did we end up with so many lawyers in the family?”

“I don’t know, but I can say I’m happy that I’m not actually using my law degree.”

“Me too.” He kissed my fingers. “So why did you mention Sidney?”

I rested my chin on his chest. “What if I moved back?”

His eyes widened. “What would you do if you did? There aren’t many recording companies for you to work for out here. You’ve always wanted to work in a recording studio. This was your dream job.”

“That’s the thing, when I took this job, my salary was insane. It was my dream job.”

“Okay,” he drawled. “Spell it out for me, baby.”

I sat up and looked down at him. “I have enough to open my own studio. When I signed Luke, I made sure to put it in his contract that he was my client and if I chose to leave he could go with me.”

“Do you think Luke would want to do that?”

I sighed and picked at the hem of the shirt I’d thrown on. “It was his idea. He knows how unhappy I’ve been lately.”

Mason was quiet for a beat. “So you move back to Savannah, open your own studio. I go work for Sidney so I can work on juvenile cases like I’ve always wanted to. What happens between us?”

“What do you want to happen?” I asked, turning the question back on him.

“I want you to move back in here and for us to get remarried. Then we can work on a baby if that’s what you want. It’s going to be hard, but I want you to be happy. I don’t care what we have to do; I just want you to get the baby you always wanted.”

Tears pricked at my eyes. “I think all of that sounds amazing.” I took a deep breath. “Can’t it all be done already? I don’t want to waste any more time being away from you. I have to go quit my job and give them time to hire someone else to replace me. Not to mention I need to go have a really difficult conversation with Adam. Lexi is going to go nuts.”

Mason tensed beneath me. “Does Adam know you’re here?”

I closed my eyes. “No one does.”

He looked at me incredulously. “I booked myself on the last flight out of LaGuardia and didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t even go home to pack before I left. It all made sense in my head at the time, but I don’t have any clothes or anything.”

He choked back a laugh. “You’re telling me that you just got on the plane? No plan other than coming here to talk to me?”

I snorted. “Yeah. Insane right?”

Mason’s laughter bounced off the walls and I giggled. The harder we tried to stop, the harder we laughed. Why was this so funny to us? In all honestly, it was rather crazy. The idea of me leaving my office to get on a flight out of NYC without a word to anyone. I wiped tears away as I tried to catch my breath.

“So you wrap up everything in the city and I’ll wrap up everything I can before I tell the partners I’m leaving. First thing tomorrow I’ll call Sidney and see if she would be open to letting me buy into her practice. As soon as I can, I’ll join you to help you pack up your apartment.”

I leaned over to rest my hands on his chest. “So we’re doing this?”

“Yeah, we are. Baby, I told you we are always going to find our way back to each other. This time, I’m never letting you go.” His fingers brushed my hair back from my face. “I love you Emerald Carter Davis and I’m going to give you the whole damn world.”

I smiled. “We’ll see. Maybe I’ll give you the world.”