Page 98 of Hypnotized By Love

I wondered if there would ever be a time when I wouldn’t want to make out with his face as soon as I saw him.

He encouraged me to forgive Bridget, too, for the same reason Sierra had given me—that he thought it would be better for me to move on. His words carried a lot of weight with me because he’d been on the receiving end of my anger without it even being warranted. I was pretty growth resistant, but he made me want to try.

It became easier and easier to trust Mason, to focus on how much I was in love with him. It wasn’t really a “falling” kind of experience—I had never stopped loving him, and it was more like reading a book I’d forgotten about. We just picked up where we’d left off, the page bookmarked and waiting for us to return to our story.

Camila finally returned and asked to meet me for lunch. The second she sat down, I completely unloaded on her. I told her everything about Mason and Bridget and all the things I’d been dealing with lately.

She was an attentive listener, asking questions here and there, but mostly she just let me tell her what I needed to say. I told her abouthow Vivian and Mr. Franklin were related and how worried I was about being caught.

“I know you told me that I had to be super careful and not give them any ammunition, but I—” I still hadn’t said it out loud, not even when I was the only person who could have heard it. Maybe if I said it to Camila, that would make it a bit easier. “I’m in love with him.”

“Are you currently treating him?” she asked.

“No.”

“Were you inappropriate with him during the session?”

“I thought about stabbing him a couple of times, but I didn’t,” I confessed.

She smiled. “Internal thoughts don’t count. Just what you did and said. Did you do something that the Board would consider inappropriate?”

“I don’t think so.”

“And you say he never paid you for your session? Money changing hands is important.”

Not unless we were going to count a barter system where he had more than repaid me in kisses. “He never paid me. He was doing research for an article.”

It seemed so clear as Camila questioned me. I had been holding on to the whole “he’s a client” thing so that I wouldn’t have to face the fact that I was attracted to him and very much wanted to spend time with him.

Now that I was admitting at least that much, I was glad that I could put that potential problem aside.

“Then Mason isn’t a client and you haven’t breached any ethics. If Mr. Franklin mistakenly believes something different, we can set him straight. You were helping a professional journalist in doing research for an article. Do you think Mason would be willing to testify to that, if you were called in?”

I was pretty sure Mason would get up and tap-dance on the Board’s big conference room table if I asked him to. “He would show up and tell the truth.”

Mason had been right about him not being an official client, which meant the last obstacle I’d put in our way was officially destroyed. There was no reason for me not to tell him that I loved him.

And the thought didn’t terrify me the way it had before. I was ready to give him my heart. I knew he’d keep it safe. “It’s funny—none of this would have happened if I hadn’t been worried that he was in a too-suggestible state and that I had to keep him safe from making potentially harmful choices.”

Camila looked confused. “That was never an issue. The second he woke up, he was fine. You didn’t need to follow him around.”

Oh.

I was very glad that I hadn’t known that at the time. While I sat there and thought about how things might have turned out if I’d known, she asked, “Where are things at with your friend Bridget?”

“It’s been a shock. I haven’t spoken to her since I confronted her. She did apologize to me, and she made some really public statements owning up to what she’d done. She’s pressing charges against the teacher, and several other women who went through something similar have joined her.” If someone asked me, I would be more than happy to testify.

“That’s good. I’m glad she’s working on finding her peace and dealing with her past. You know how I feel about radical forgiveness.”

I did know. We had talked about it often enough over the last couple of years, especially with regard to Mason.

That made me consider where he and I were and where we wanted to go.

An idea came to me then, and I sent Mason a quick text, asking him to meet me at my house later that evening. He asked:

For a secret assignation? Do you want me to come in through the window?

No, use the front door.

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