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I know what I’m doing is not the best decision I’ve ever made but I can’t hold back. When my lips are a hair’s breadth away, I feel more pressure from her hand on my chest and I pull back to look in her eyes. I see the doubt and hesitation there before she says anything.
"I'm sorry," she says, dropping her head. "I'm not sure this is a good idea." She hesitantly looks back at me.
I can't help but feel disappointed, even though she's right of course, this isn't a small thing. This is my best friend’s sister.
I bend down to get at her eye level and smile at her. "Don't apologize, if anyone should apologize it's me."
"No need, Mason. There is nothing to apologize for." She steps back and shyly smiles at me. Removed from her warmthit immediately feels like the temperature has dropped twenty degrees.
Still smiling, I open the car door without a word. Once she slides into the passenger seat, I close the door and take a deep breath. I run my hand through my hair as I walk around to the driver’s side.
I mentally force myself to slow down. This is not just a random person, this is Emily and if anyone deserves to be wooed it’s her.
“What do you say to that pie?” I ask when I get in the car.
“I could eat some pie.” She smiles back at me and I feel the tension break. I’m not sure exactly what my feelings for Emily are, but I know that I haven’t ever felt this way before, and I want to explore where this goes.
Chapter Nine
Emily
“I’m going to haveto fight the men off with a stick,” Mason says and whistles, making me blush. I can’t help but notice how good he looks in his tux. It fits his body perfectly and he will be the most handsome man in the room.
“Stop,” I say, feeling my face heat. Him looking at me like that is making my stomach flutter. “It’s the dress. We both know I’m just me and as we have discussed before, none of the players are going to give up a career and come live in this little town. I don’t want to live in the city so we would be at an impasse before we even had the first drink.”
“I don’t think you have a mirror, Em. Have you seen yourself tonight?” Mason asks.
I decided on the red dress and one of the sets I bought at Macy’s. I have to admit that between the dress and prettyunderwear, I do feel truly beautiful and special tonight. Just like one the heroines in my novels. Having Mason make such a big deal about it puts things over the top. It’s nice to hear him say these things and look at me like I’m a woman and not just his kid sister.
I smooth out my dress with my hands, trying to calm my nerves. “Thank you Mason.” I smile, my confidence starting to settle me.
Something has been brewing between us but the past few days he has put things firmly back in the friend zone. He has been nothing but kind to me, but he has not been anything more than kind either.
“I think you’re something special, Em,” he says, his voice gruff, and it pulls me out of my thoughts.
His words make my breath catch and my heart stutter.
“Thank you. You look handsome in that tux. I forgot how you look in formalwear.” I can hear the breathiness in my voice and hope that he doesn’t notice.
“When have you ever seen me in formalwear?” He raises an eyebrow, making me laugh.
“There was the prom, you and Jack, remember? And then I watched when you got the award for best college player.”
“You really have followed my career. Why didn’t you ever say anything?”
I feel myself shrug.
“It’s funny you think I wouldn’t,” I chuckle. “I’ve known you forever and thought it would be obvious that I’d be excited about your success.” The look he gives me is inquisitive, like I'm a puzzle he’s trying to figure out. “I wasn’t going to make a big deal of it. You had your life and were with Julia. She didn’t seem to be a fan of mine, so I just let it be.”
He opens the car door for me and it’s something I’m starting to get used to. Who knew that Mason had all these chivalrous tendencies?
“These are for you.” He hands me a bouquet of flowers and I just stare at them for a moment.
They are not just any flowers, they are hand dipped flowers in my favorite shade of lavender made out of book pages. As I look closer, I notice they are pages fromPride and Prejudice,my favorite novel.
“These are perfect, Mason,” I whisper as he starts the car. I carefully lay the flowers down gently in the middle console next to me and look out the window so he can’t see the tears that are welling in my eyes.
I feel like I’m walking in a dream. These last few weeks feel as if every daydream I’ve ever had has come true. If Mason rode up on a white horse and swept me off my feet, I wouldn’t even blink. I know that this isn’t real and after the gala and charity activities everything will go back to normal but it’s hard to not get my hopes up that this time, he really sees me. Regardless of whether that happens, the fact remains that he is my brother’s best friend and keeping our friendship is the most important thing to me.
