Chapter Forty-Six

Chapter Forty-Six


“So?! How did it go with your super sexy personal trainer/not-boyfriend on your uber-romantic, glamorous weekend in the Hamptons?!” Penelope demanded to know as soon as she got on shift that Monday morning.

I rolled my eyes as I tied my apron, but in truth it was just to hide my feelings. I wasn’t about to tell her that I’d just had the best sex of my life.

“How was your weekend with Charlie?” I countered.

“Oh no!” She laughed, though she had a telltale blush to the roots of her brunette hair now. “You first, girly! Spill!”

I sighed. “Let’s get to work, you vulture, then maybe I’ll tell you. Jesus, you could, like, work for the paparazzi or something.”

Penelope sniffed. “Thanks, I’ll take that under advisement as a new career path!”

###

I stood at the windows, gazing out at the twinkling street lights. I stared down the road and into the heart of Atlanta. I don’t know why, but suddenly the sheer beauty of the world had started to make me feel lonely.

I was used to the feeling of loneliness, but this was different somehow; deeper, like a chill I could feel deep in my bones.

Then I saw Mason’s face in the reflection of the glass and I slowly turned to face the man himself as he walked across the polished hardwood towards me.

“You’re early.” He commented.

I shrugged. “I ran a few laps on the treadmill.”

I’d had a lot of nervous energy to burn off, but he didn’t need to know that.

“Glad to know you’re making use of the equipment that Blacksteele Gym has to offer. May I suggest a spin class?”

I smiled because I knew I was supposed to.

I didn’t know what to do with my hands.

We had made love.

He had been the first man in so long that I had finally let down my guard with, and had let inside.

Now what?

What did I say to him, what did we say to each other?

Most importantly, where did we go from here?

Mason cleared his throat, seeming to feel the tension, too. “So, Annie...I have some news. It’s good news.” He hastened to add, though something in his coffee brown eyes told me there was a catch.

“Oh? I like good news.”

“My mother paid me a visit yesterday. She-she signed over Blacksteele Gym to me, in full. As soon as the paperwork gets properly notarized...it’ll be final.”

“Wow.” I breathed even as I felt myself spiraling inwards. “That’s-that’s great, Mason! Wow, so easy. And here I thought it was gonna be all over once she caught onto us!”

Mason smiled benevolently and shook his head. “You know, it was funny, she actually attributed a lot of her decision to you. You convinced her I was serious about this place and she believed you.”

I blinked at him slowly, processing this. “Wow, well, I guess maybe she’s not as narrow-minded as I pegged her as. No offense!” I hastily amended when I recalled I was speaking of this person’s mother.

Mason merely shrugged, though, unoffended. The truth was the truth, in his eyes, and his family didn’t need any defending from him. They were all much too proud themselves to ever let someone else’s pithy opinion of them carry any real weight; not on those hard shoulders made of steel.

“Well, I’m glad for you, Mason, really.” I smiled at him as best I could through the fear I felt clamping my heart.

It was over now, between us, I could just feel it.

“So...I guess there’s no need to...keep up the farce, eh?” I said, my eyes casting back and forth now; gaze low to the floor as I contemplated the best way to escape.

“With the fake dating? I should say so.” He chuckled, then stopped when he seemed to notice my shifty expression. “But that doesn’t mean I’ll just let loose my end of the bargain, Anne.” He said quietly, drawing my wild gaze back to him. “I still plan on keeping my word, and training you to the best of my abilities.”

I nodded numbly. This all made sense, after all. I couldn’t let my feelings cloud my judgment and cause me to forgo my original mission of why I had come here in the first place; to Blacksteele Gym, to him.

This was about getting my sense of security and independence back. This was about being able to go running by myself at any time of day or night, and not feeling queasy and weak at the knees every time I went into a bank.

This was about not having to cross the street with my heart in my throat just because a man was walking down the sidewalk towards me.

This was about me, dammit, not Mason or my love life or anything but me, as a woman, strengthening myself.

The Fear was my enemy, my own sanity had to be my sole focus in defeating it.

I wanted to win. I wanted to be free.

I couldn’t let anyone - not myself, not Mason Blacksteele - not anyone, get in my way of that.

###

“I suppose I could start paying you the old-fashioned way.”

Mason lips twitched and he tipped his head. “Annie, what you’ve done for me...money couldn’t buy my mother’s change of mind, not all the money in the world. I was afraid for a while that I would never be free of her overarching reign, but now...”

I blinked at him a few rapid-fire times. I just didn’t understand the way rich people thought sometimes.

My parents had given me a good portion of the startup money for the cake shop, and even though they’d had different intentions for me, they would never try to seize control of my business or meddle in my affairs that way.

We gave each other our space in my family. I sent them on a cruise to the Caribbean every winter and we called it good. They loved their cruises, my parents did, and that way, I didn’t have to come home for Christmas...

I cleared my throat, shaking myself of my reverie.

Mason was walking towards me now, I realized when I found myself blinking up at him.

“I can never repay you, Annie.” He told me softly. “For what you’ve done. Anything you need, and I mean anything, ever, I’m here for you, okay? I’m your man.”