Before
he started the car, he turned to her briefly. “Thank you for doing this, Emma.
I know it is not what you would have chosen, and I appreciate that you are
honoring your sister's commitment.”
She
looked over at him, her eyes boring into his, her expression serious. “I know
you do, Mason. And you’re welcome,” she added with a slight smile.
He
looked at her for a moment, then nodded. Starting his car, he focused on the
road.
The
ceremony was quick and formal, and before Emma could grasp that she was really
going through with this, it was over. Mason bent down to kiss her lightly on
the cheek, and they were husband and wife. He had thought to bring rings, which
surprised Emma, since it hadn’t even occurred to her to think about that. But
he had bought one for himself, and had gotten a smaller and simple ring for
Emma. When he placed it on her finger, she felt a small pang of conscience. Marriage
was supposed to be for real, she thought. She felt some sense of guilt that
they were doing this for a reason other than love.
People
got married for business reasons all the time, she reminded herself, trying to
work through her guilt. Royal families used to unite for political reasons.
There were all sorts of reasons to marry. But this just felt odd. Probably
because she never expected to marry for anything other than love. And she
certainly never intended to marry a man who didn’t love her. And her dog.
Shaking
off the sense of discomfort she felt over what she was doing, she accepted the
business-like congratulations of Mason's attorney, posed for a series of
photographs with her new husband, and then finally turned to Mason.
“I’ve
got to get back to work,” she said quietly. And it was true - not because she
needed to be there for any meetings, but because she needed to get out of here
for a while. To be alone, yes, but also to be back in the company of people she
knew well.
Before
she could go, Mason gently grasped her arm and pulled her to one side of the
room. “I should have asked you this sooner, but would you have dinner with me
this evening?”
“Dinner?”
she asked, unsure if she'd heard him right.
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“I’d
like to get to know you a bit, Emma. We just shared marriage vows. I’d like to
know more about the woman I married.”
“Because
you’re interested, or because there will be questions that you’ll need to be
able to answer?”
“Both,
of course.”
She
thought for a moment, then nodded her acceptance. “I should be done with work
by 6:00 tonight. I need to get home to let Chaos out, but that won’t take long.
So anytime after 7:00 would work. Tell me where to meet you and I’ll be there.”
“How
about Alamaya at 7:30?”
“Perfect.”
“Shall
I send a car for you?”
Emma
shook her head. “I appreciate it, but no.”
“It’s
not a problem.”
“I’m
sure it’s not. I’ll see you at 7:30.”
She
gave him a quick smile, then turned to go. But Mason stopped her.
“Emma.”
Turning,
she asked, “Yes?”
“We
can pick out a ring for you when you get back next weekend,” he said softly.
Emma
looked at him in surprise, then looked down at her finger. “There’s nothing
wrong with this one, Mason. It’s lovely. Simple, which is just what I like. So
no, no need to pick out anything else.”
He
looked startled. “I just bought a plain and inexpensive band for the wedding –
I assumed that you’d want something with diamonds, and we could pick it out at
our leisure.”
She
shrugged. “I don’t much like diamonds. Besides, this is a temporary
arrangement, Mason. This ring is fine.”
It
wasn’t that Emma didn’t appreciate diamonds. To her, they were brilliant and
beautiful and elegant, but they just didn’t fit her personality. She wore very
little jewelry, and what she picked out tended to be understated. So the simple
band that Mason had used in their wedding ceremony actually fit her well.
His
eyes narrowed as he looked down at her. “Jen...” he started to say.
“I'm
not Jen.” Her words came out a bit harsher than she intended, but if Mason was
going to begin comparing her to her sister, she knew that his reflections would
hurt. After all, Jen was the one he had been planning to marry. She was the
beautiful one, the fun-loving one, the one Emma had been compared to all her
life. Emma was always the dependable one, and the dependable one was who Mason
was now stuck with. Trying to soften her words, she added gently, “I'm sorry,
but I’m not my sister, Mason. If you want her, please try to find her. You may
be able to talk her into changing her mind. And if you do, I’m more than
willing to step aside. Now I really need to get back to work. I’ll see you
tonight for dinner.”
She
moved by him and was in the elevator heading down to the street before Mason
remembered that he had driven them both. By the time he had said a quick
goodbye to his attorney and followed her out, she had already hailed a cab, and
was climbing into the back seat, her shapely legs disappearing behind her as
she closed the door. He watched as the taxi moved away, but she didn't look
back.
Mason
leaned against one of the pillars outside of the building. He wasn’t sure where
Emma’s comments had come from - any comparison he would make of her and Jen
would hardly be critical of Emma. Jen would have wanted a diamond, he was certain.
Maybe not the largest one in the shop, but a tasteful setting with an
eye-catching stone. He would have been willing to buy her that, just as he was
willing to do the same for Emma. That was part of the deal. But Emma seemed to
want no part of the arrangement he had struck with her sister.
For
one thing, she had refused the rest of the money he had offered to Jen. She had
named a few charities that she would be happy to have the money go to if he
insisted, but she made enough money to be comfortable on, and had no desire to
be gaining financially from this marriage. In fact, she seemed downright
uncomfortable with the idea.
Pushing
away from the pillar, he headed for his car, glancing down at his ring finger
as he did so. He was almost surprised to see the wedding ring there, doubly so
since he had been the one to purchase the ring himself. If he hadn’t done so,
he probably wouldn’t even have needed to wear a band since Emma hadn’t thought
about it at all. But when he had been choosing Emma’s ring, he had made a quick
decision to purchase one for himself as well - if he was marrying for show,
then he might as well make sure that the world knew that he’d taken the plunge.
And now, looking down at the band encircling his finger, he felt like he’d made
the right decision. He was married. And before long, his circle of friends and
colleagues would notice. He’d need a plan to introduce Emma to them, he
thought. And to his mother. That, he thought, would be interesting.
Back
at work and behind the closed door of her office, Emma shifted her ring to her
right hand. It fit well there, and she was not ready for the questions that a
ring on her left hand would bring. She knew that news of their marriage would
eventually leak out, but she had no desire at all to have that happen today.
Not while she was still reeling with the consequences of her actions. Or
rather, the actions of her sister.
Emma
was under no delusions. Jen had disappeared. Her cell phone was off. There was
no way to trace her. This was no accident. Had Jen really met someone, or had
she just decided that she didn’t want to be tied down to a man for three years?
Mason was handsome, rich, sexy, and cold as an Antarctic winter. Did Jen decide
that the money was great, but the marriage was a losing proposition?
She
was sure that Mason was disappointed, though he was coping with the change
fairly well. Jen was Miss America compared to Emma's girl next door. What man
would prefer the latter when he had held the former in his grasp? Mason was
definitely settling, though he probably had little choice given his time
constraints. It appeared that he would be a gentleman about it, but it was also
clear that there would be no real interaction between them. Had it been the
same with Jen?
Briefly,
Emma wondered if Jen had slept with him. Her guess was no, simply because she
didn’t see Mason as someone who would add a personal dimension to a business
arrangement. Maybe once they’d been married, it would have eventually happened.
But before the deal was finalized? No, probably not. Jen may have given it a
shot, but Mason wanted an emotion-free relationship. And while Mason would
undoubtedly be able to keep emotion out of a sexual relationship on his end, he
would probably be concerned that such emotion could develop for the woman he
slept with. So no, Emma didn't think they’d been together.
Emma
couldn’t quite picture Mason in bed. He was sexy as hell, yes. His body was a
work of art, and Emma had a feeling that he would know exactly how to touch a
woman. She felt a slight tingle just thinking about that, but pushed it aside.
Mason was cold and hard, she thought. His lovemaking would not be passionate or
out of control - it would be pleasant for the woman, to be sure, but there was
no way that he would ever lose himself in a woman, unless some woman could
reach him, and break through that hard outer shell. That woman would need to be
someone amazing – someone way more attractive and appealing than Emma Jameson.
And while she liked to think that she was a nice person, she was not anyone who
could break through the kind of hard that made up Mason Parker.
That
evening, after waving Rhoda and her colleagues off to happy hour, Emma finished
up some last minute paperwork and then headed over to the doggy day care
facility to pick up a waggly and very happy Chaos. Back home, she let him out
into the back yard, and while he scouted the perimeter for errant squirrels,
Emma changed out of her ivory suit and into a black skirt paired with a
short-sleeved red silk blouse. She added a pair of black heels, pulled her hair
down from the chignon and simply pulled it back into a ponytail, and then fixed
her makeup. As she was applying lipstick she noted her hand in the mirror, and
pulled it back to look at the ring on her finger..
Nobody
had noticed it today. It was a new ring, clearly, but it was on the right hand,
so it called no attention. It was lovely, Emma thought as she studied it. And
it signified something that still sort of terrified her. She was married. To
one emotionless and kind-of-intimidating man. With some trepidation, she moved
the ring back to her left hand.
Sighing,
she glanced at the clock, then let Chaos back inside to feed him before
re-crating him while she headed out for dinner. On days like this, she felt
extremely guilty for not being home all day with him, but as long as she gave
him something to gnaw on in his crate, he seemed content. Plus, doggy day care
always wore him out. Doggy socializing was serious business, and Chaos was
nothing if not serious about playing with other dogs. He was probably whooped.
After
guilting her into giving him a frozen Kong of peanut butter, Chaos settled back
into his bed and started chewing on his treat, barely looking up when Emma
called good bye to him. As she headed to her car, she looked down at herself
and rolled her eyes. This was why she kept a lint roller in her car. Chaos
didn’t seem physically capable of holding on to any fur at all when she was
around.
Quickly
running the lint roller over her skirt, she inspected herself carefully for any
remnants of fur, then hopped into her car and started the engine. It wouldn’t
take her long to get to the restaurant, and if there were any justice in the
world, she’d have a glass of wine in her before Mason showed up. Tonight, she
badly needed Dutch courage.
For
a Friday night, Emma was surprised to find that parking wasn’t too difficult.
Mason had chosen a restaurant that was very close to a garage, so rather than
drive along the streets looking for metered parking, she just pulled into the
lot, took the ticket offered by the machine, and quickly found a convenient spot.
After one last look in the mirror, she headed for Alamaya.
Walking
in the front door, she was immediately greeted by a friendly hostess, who asked
if she were meeting anyone this evening.
Emma
nodded. “I’m meeting Mason Parker. I believe he has a reservation?”
The
woman smiled a warm greeting. “Yes, of course. He just called, and he asked us
to let you know that he’s on his way. Shall I seat you?”
Emma
shook her head and said, “No, but thank you. I think I’ll have a glass of wine
at the bar while I’m waiting for him.”
The
hostess nodded. “I’ll let him know where to find you.”
“Emma.”
Mason.
She swiveled around on the bar stool and smiled up at him. Her smile faltered
somewhat when she noted the glower on his face, but since she couldn’t think of
what she might have done that would cause a scowl she just shrugged and slid
off the stool to join him for dinner. Waving her thanks to the bartender and
grabbing her nearly untouched glass of wine, she turned and nearly ran into the
immovable wall that was her new husband. Precariously balancing her wine, she
somehow managed to not spill down his white dress shirt, or her own outfit.