Page 84 of Grand Love

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Nina

I knewhe’d be difficult to train, and not because of the way he works out but because of the way he looks when he works out. And the way his mouth moves. It’s not only distracting but frustrating, because Mason Lowell thinks he can have a say in what I do. But he lost that right a long time ago.

“Nina, you’re heading out?” Gemma asks. She is sat at the reception desk, her hair pulled back from her face and sat high on her head.

“Yep, Logan is closing tonight.”

“Oh, I must have got my days…” I wait for her to finish, but she doesn’t. Instead, she nods over my shoulder in warning.

“Hello.”

I flinch then spin, pushing hard on Mason’s shoulder. “Do you know how creepy you are?”

“I only said hello, jeez,” he says nonchalantly, completely carefree and so unlike him.

“I will see you tomorrow, Gemma.” I smile over at her then push through the glass double doors, pulling my rucksack on.

“I’m driving you home,” Mason tells me as he steps out behind me. “Do you need to get Ellis?”

“No, Maggie drops him to me, and I’m running back. It’s part of my routine now.”

“Fantastic, my car is over here.” He walks off towards the Bentley and I roll my eyes at his back. “Don’t be all dramatic about it. I’m not going to chase you, Nina. It’s late and I want to see my son.”

“Next time, I’m picking a less assholey baby daddy,” I mummer to myself as I reluctantly follow him towards the Bentley.

“I heard that,” he calls.

I get in the car and settle into the leather, breathing in his scent. It’s like a Mason sensory overload in here. It reminds me of his penthouse, his shower, his bedroom, even silly things like his watch, the smells are all memories of times I’ve been somewhere and inhaled him in every sense of the word.

Goose bumps pebble along my arms and I shiver.

“You cold?”

I nod, rolling my lips. Why is everything ten times harder when it’s just the two of us alone? We bounced off each other in the gym. I ripped into him and him me, so why can I barely look at him now?

Mason turns on the heating then pulls out into traffic. “I’d prefer it if you’d use Vinny, you know this.”

“Why are you still pushing the driving thing? You know I like to run.”

“I do.” He pops a brow to make his comment hit a little harder and I snap.

“Can you stop that?” I huff.

“What?” He frowns, gripping the steering wheel tight.

“Every chance you get, you pass comment on how I always run or how you’re not my home anymore.” I mock his deep voice. “You take a dig at every chance and it’s wearing thin. Maybe I was wrong, maybe I shouldn’t have left. But calling each other out over our past every time we see each other isn’t going to fix a thing. You aren’t perfect either, Mason.”

“I’m sorry, did you just say you were wrong?” he admonishes.

I drop my head back to the seat. “That’s all you took from that, huh, that I’m in the wrong.”

“Nina, you do realise if you’d have stayed things would be very different now.”

“Would they though?” I close my eyes, blocking out the parts I can. “When were things ever good?”

“Are you serious?” he asks, and I can tell he is frowning.

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