Chapter Thirty-Eight

Chapter Thirty-Eight


I gave them my whole spiel about where I was from and what I did for a living, by the end of which Evelyn was practically yawning.

“Wow, a cake shop. Oh my God, don’t take this the wrong way, but how are you so skinny?” Mina asked me, and I grinned at her, always pleased to be called skinny.

Claudia and Evelyn both sort of scoffed, though, which was rude. And it wasn’t like Evelyn was some kind of supermodel, though she was undeniably thinner than I was.

With a blush, I glanced at Mason again.

He was smiling at me warmly, which, of course, made me blush all the more. I remembered that I was supposed to be selling our relationship as authentic, and he had been respectful of not touching me except for that hand I had briefly allowed to alight upon my back.

I reached out now and laid my hand upon his arm, giving him a shy smile that I hoped made me seem genuinely starry-eyed about him.

Oh, Hell, who was I fooling? I was starry-eyed for him!

Claudia cleared her throat and with a jolt I recalled that Mina had in fact just asked me a question.

“Well, it’s hard, believe me! There’s days I wanna just eat the whole bakery myself, but I go running about three times a week and this fella here is doing his best to whip me into shape.”

I could feel their collective gaze shifting back and forth between Mason and I now.

“That’s how we met.” I explained.

Mason and I had already talked about it and agreed that we should stick as close to the truth as possible in our act of intricate lying.

“That’s right.” Mason grinned down at me, picking up the slack for me at last. “This one here wandered into my gym one day, looking for a personal trainer, and guess who happened to be available for some private coaching?”

Mina and Mason’s cousins laughed, but Claudia was frowning at me, I noticed with a flicker of anxiety.

Maybe she wasn’t buying it?

“Oh, Mason, you old dog.” Colin guffawed too loudly. “I’m glad to see that you took my advice, though, old sport, and finally found yourself a good woman. Now don’t go messing it up, dear boy!” Colin continued to chortle to himself as he sipped his mimosa.

Mason sighed and looked away, clearly as uncomfortable as I felt.

###

Luckily for me, Claudia had a fundraiser to organize. I was encouraged to stay out from under foot and Mina took sympathy upon me and offered to help me dress for the ball when the menfolk decided that they were going golfing. Because their estate had its own golf course, of course.

Mason’s Uncle Rex, had arrived and they seemed to be having fun bonding.

“Should we really get started this early?” I had to ask her, though, checking the time on my phone.

Mina laughed lightly. “Oh, believe me, it will take us every minute. But don’t worry, I’ll help you. You can even borrow one of my dresses if you want.”

“Thank you, I would love that!” I told Mina with a genuinely warm smile.

I inquired politely if Evelyn wanted to join us, but she said she was going to lie down for a nap. Mina made a tipping-the-bottle-back gesture when Evelyn was gone that made me burst out laughing despite myself.

###

“This is quite the family reunion for them, eh?” I commented as Mina stood behind me, styling my hair for me.

Hers was already perfect; the shoulder length auburn locks ending in an adorable little flip-up. She reminded me of a china doll, she was so damn perfect. I had to find out what shade of lipstick that was...

“Yes, well, actually that reminds me.” She met my eyes in the vanity mirror as she experimentally played with my hair. “Can you keep a secret?” She asked, biting into that dark pink lip.

“S-sure!” I was already keeping one helluva secret for Mason, what was a few more, give or take?

“Colter is actually coming tonight! He’ll be here, probably a little after the party itself has begun, if I know him at all. He just loves to be fashionably late.” She rolled her gray eyes, but I got the impression that it was just to cover up a deeper pain and resentment that she harbored inside.

“Wow.” I breathed, my heart fluttering in anxiety for Mason. It was sure going to be a nasty shock for him, no doubt, for his brother to suddenly appear at the party and surprise him. It didn’t seem quite fair to me, but then again, it was really none of my business.

“Does-does Colter know Mason is here?” I hedged.

Mina nodded as she expertly curled another strand of my blonde hair for me. “Yeah, he says he wants to see him; that it’s time and Mason doesn’t get a choice in the matter.” Mina then heaved a sigh. “He’s a stubborn man.”

I let out a terse laugh. “Yeah, he and Mason must be related or something.”

We shared a good chuckle over that.

I continued smiling to myself as I watched her earnestly working on making me a presentable lady for the ball tonight.

Mina was so sweet and beautiful, like the perfect little fairy godmother sent from Heaven.

###

Twilight was just settling when Mina finally pronounced us both finished.

She was wearing a dusky pink sheath gown that was snug to her insanely slender body. Like, the girl did not have a single ounce of fat on her, it was enviable beyond belief. She also had perfect calves and that killed me; I had such stocky legs.

She had also done an elegant up-do, not unlike Claudia’s, and she had done her makeup so that her gray eyes seemed even bigger and her plump pink lips even plumper.

When she turned me to look at myself in the mirror, I gasped at what my own reflection showed me.

I looked stunning, more elegant than I ever had; in a long, sapphire blue gown that clung to my torso before flaring out beneath my hips so that my plump bum was still on display, but so that it also had the drama of a full skirt. The bodice was a sweetheart cut with little sleeves that draped off my shoulders.

Mina had pinned my hair up on one side while the rest of my yellow hair tumbled down over my shoulder.

“You look like a freakin’ fairy princess!” She exclaimed, and we laughed, then took a few pictures together with our phones, with promises to send them to each other. Also that we would Friend each other on all the usual social media sites. We took selfies aplenty and I just knew that Penelope was going to die of jealousy when she saw me in my princess ball gown.

“Alright, let’s go make our grand entrance at the ball together and get our princes!” Mina giggled after we had taken one last selfie of our cheeks pressed together, no doubt smearing the makeup she had just so artfully applied.

My heart was racing as she gave me one last spritz of her perfume, and I did the same for her.

Outside the window, dusk had fully settled over the Hamptons. The lights out in the garden all twinkled prettily as more and more fancy cars kept pulling up into the big, circular driveway.

I could hear laughter and classical music as the band downstairs began to play.

It was all so terribly exciting, I was afraid I might throw up on myself and ruin the lovely dress.

Thankfully, Mina really was a godsend, who pulled out a little flask of whiskey from her clutch for us each to take a nip of before heading downstairs.

“Thank you.” I said with a grimace, passing her back the flask.

“Oh my gosh, you’re scared to death of her, too, right? It’s not just me?” I said, shaking out my hands as my fingers started to tingle.

“Who? Claudia?” Mina took a second nip of the flask and made a face that made me laugh.

“Oh yeah, everyone is terrified of her!” Mina assured me with wide eyes. “Even her sons are terrified of her! You’ll get used to it, kinda. Just...it’ll be fine. You’re great, and beautiful, and Mason is clearly crazy about you.”

I blushed furiously at this and waved her off in a hapless fashion. “No. Stop. We’re just....casually dating.”

It was about as close to the truth as I could get, and technically, it wasn’t a lie. We had gone on a few dates, so technically, we were dating. Right? Casually, of course.

Mina gave me a knowing smile, clearly not convinced. “Oh, come on! He couldn’t take his eyes off you all morning. I’ve never seen him look at anyone like that, and I’ve known him for years now.”

“Thank you.” I murmured, lowering my eyes and fidgeting with the little silver bracelet she had loaned me. I knew I couldn’t argue with her about it, but inside, I hated how much it stung; the reminder that Mason didn’t care about me like that, and never would.