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“I know.” She grinned even bigger. “Listen, all that’s left to do is put leftovers away, so you guys can head up there too, if you want. I know Owen’s eager to show you your new workspace, Mason.”
I quickly finished off my margarita, giving Sarah the empty glass, and Mason and I made our way up the stairs. Finley and Owen had already made it to his office, so Mason slapped my butt on our way up. “Mason,” I protested, turning around to give him a playful shove. He fought back by tickling my waist, making me double over in laughter as I tried to wriggle away.
“I could take you right here on these stairs,” he said, parroting Owen’s words from the weekend before. I threw my head back and laughed before Mason kissed my lips.
“That’s probably not the best idea,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. I nuzzled my nose against his before going in for another kiss.
Just as our lips touched again, a voice interrupted us from the top of the stairs. “What the hell?”
We both turned in horror to see Finley standing above us with her hands on her hips and her mouth open wide.
She had witnessed everything.
chapter fifty
mason
“Finley! I thought you were in Owen’s office.” My cheeks were burning.
“Does anyone wanna explain to me what’s goin’ on here?” She was speaking like she had some kind of authority over us. And in that moment, she did.
“We were, uhh, acting out a play?” I offered, glancing at Kendall. She looked just as mortified as me.
“What play?”
“Um. What I meant to say was—we thought there was mistletoe on the chandelier up there. And you have to kiss if there’s mistletoe, right?”
Finley just stared at us. She wasn’t buying my lame excuses, and why would she? I was doing a terrible job at covering for us. I wracked my brain for a better explanation, but it was already too late. My kid could see right through my lies.
“Hey,” Kendall said, gently touching my side. “Is it okay with you if I try to handle this?”
I waved one arm, motioning for her to give it a shot. “Please. I’m dying here.”
Kendall walked up the remaining stairs, taking a seat next to Finley on the landing. “Can you sit with me for just a second?” she asked. Finley nodded, taking a seat. A few feet away, Owen was standing in the doorway of his office with his hands in his pockets, half-listening. I didn’t turn to look, but I could hear Sarah breathing at the bottom of the stairs. Whether she realized it or not, Kendall had an audience.
“Why were you kissing my dad?” Finley asked, her eyes still wide, but now she looked more amused than shocked.
“Well. Because your dad and I like each other.”
“Yeah, I could tell,” Finley said with a toss of her head. So sarcastic—I saw so much of myself in her at that moment. “Are you his girlfriend, or what?”
“I would like to be,” Kendall said, putting her hand on Finley’s shoulder. “Would that be okay with you?”
Finley pondered this for a moment, as though trying to discern whether Kendall was telling the truth or not. Finally, she began to nod. Her lips curled upward in a smile, and for possibly the first time in her life, she was speechless.
“I really care about your dad, Finley, just like I care about you. But listen—this is really important, okay?”
Finley gave Kendall her full attention.
“It wouldn’t be a good idea to brag about this to other kids. Do you remember how Trinity bragged about getting a phone and it really upset you?” Finley nodded. “Nobody likes a bragger. And, well, when your friends hear that Mr. Reed is my boyfriend, they might feel like you’re bragging about it. They could feel jealous. And we don’t want that, do we?”
“Prob’ly not.”
“So while it’s not a secret, necessarily, it’s not the kind of thing we want to talk about at school. We can talk about it at my house or your house or even here at Owen and Sarah’s place, but at school, I’m still going to be the same ol’ Ms. Devin. Does that make sense?”
Finley nodded.
“So it’s okay with you if I go on some dates with your dad?”
