Page 97 of Tempt
“Exactly.”
“Well, he’s not a lost puppy,” she pointed out, a tinge of hope in her voice. “Is Mason the issue?”
“Mason is a huge part of it. Zach gave Mason his word that nothing happened between us.”
“But that was before there reallywassomething, right? I mean, couldn’t you just explain to Mason that you tried not to act on your attraction, but you just... couldn’t help it?”
“‘Couldn’t help it’ might explain one time,” I said. “But the last three months? If we admit the truth to Mason now, it means revealing that we’ve been carrying on since the wedding behind his back. People will talk about me, and it won’t be nice. I’m trying to get a business going in this town. I want people to associate my name with professionalism and romance, not a tawdry scandal.”
She sighed. “Yeah. It would be juicy gossip.”
“We would hurt Mason, destroy his relationship with his father, make Zach look like a jerk, ruin my reputation...and for what? It’s not like there’s any possibility of a future.”
“None at all?”
“No.” I set my coffee down and tried to fight the tears that sprang to my eyes. “He has a grown son and an ex-wife.”
“I didn’t know about the ex. Are there other kids?”
“No. He had a vasectomy years ago.”
“Oh.” Then, a little softer. “Oh.”
In the silence, the hopelessness of it all seemed to pile up around me.
“Wait, can’t a vasectomy be reversed?” Felicity asked, sitting up taller.
“It can, but the success rate of pregnancy afterward is only about fifty percent or so, given how long it’s been since he had it done. I Googled it.”
“Hmm.” She leaned back again. “Fifty percent doesn’t give you great odds.”
“Nope. So there’s really no point in suffering Mason’s anger and small-town scorn. Zach cannot be the one.” The lump in my throat continued to swell. “No matter how perfect he is for me in every other way.”
Felicity sighed. “I’m sorry, Mills. I don’t know what to tell you.”
“Tell me I’m an idiot to fall in love with him.”
“I could, but I don’t think it will help.” My sister scooted closer and put an arm around me.
A tear slipped down my cheek, and then another. Annoyed with myself, I wiped them away. “This is stupid. I knew going in what this was.”
“Sometimes our hearts don’t communicate with our heads.”
“Hearts are dumb,” I said angrily.
We sat in silence for a moment, watching the snow grow a little thicker. “So what now?” she asked.
“We’re meeting in Chicago next weekend.”
“Youare?” She sounded surprised.
I remembered Zach’s words the night he showed up at my house after telling me he couldn’t see me again. “Believe me, Felicity, if I could stay away from him, I would.”
“But isn’t it just going to make it harder to end things if you keep seeing him like that? Why torture yourself?”
I sniffed as my eyes welled again, then picked up my coffee. “Like I said. Hearts are dumb.”
CHAPTER21
