I stopped looking at myself in the mirror. My dark lavender dress, cut short just above the knee with a slight slit on the right thigh, hugged my curves tightly. It wasn’t often that I felt I looked perfect, but tonight was definitely one of those nights. What would Mason think? He had seen me dressed up and dressed down, and not dressed at all. But deep down I still wanted to impress him, to make him desire me. Nothing compared to the thrill of Mason wanting me.
The door swung open as Avery made her way into the room, her face flushed. “Something just isn’t right Harp.” Avery waited for my response.
“What’s up?”
“I don’t know, he just seems suspicious”
“He who? Asher?”
“No, Mason. There was this girl in there, a blonde, who was obviously trying to flirt with him, and you know what he did? Gave her a big smile and I swear he was trying to flirt right back.”
I rolled my eyes. “Avery, that’s his job. He has to make people feel comfortable.”
“I don’t trust him.”
I bit my lip, deciding to change the subject. “What was Asher like?”
“I didn’t
see
Asher,” she complained. “Mason did the introduction for us. I even asked both him and Natalie where he was. They both blew me off.”
“Maybe Asher couldn’t make it.”
She sat down on the bed in a huff, crossing her arms. “Just seems off to me.”
“What are you trying to get at?”
A knock on the door interrupted us. Hunter’s voice echoed through the door and I could feel my face flush, remembering our last embarrassing encounter at the pool the night I had slept with Mason. “Harper, we need you out downstairs.”
“Coming!” I yelled, and then turned to Avery. “Do you think you can handle everything yourself? I’m not sure I’ll have time to come back up.”
“That’s fine.” She paused, looking me up and down. “You look hot, girl. Just be careful, okay?”
I frowned at her as I opened the door, leaving her behind to find Mason waiting in the hallway. He had changed into his suit, complete with a tie. He looked a lot like he had the first night I had seen him, handsome and mysterious as ever. “You look absolutely beautiful.”
I grinned, feeling a bit timid for some reason as I fumbled for the right words. “I’ll try not to spill wine on you tonight.”
He chuckled. “I wouldn’t care if you did. Are you ready for this?”
“I think so.”
“You’ll be fine.”
His reassuring smile comforted me. I wanted to touch him, but didn’t dare as I glanced at the dark tinted camera mounted on the ceiling. I wondered if Asher was watching now.
“Harper,” he whispered in a low voice. “I need to tell you something, before this begins.” I froze, looking at him curiously. He seemed distant, withdrawn. His eyes traveled back over to me, his face serious. “Harper, I didn’t expect things to have gone the way they have, especially so quickly...”
“Yes?” My heart stopped. A thousand thoughts ran through my mind as I stared at him, hanging on his every word.
“I think we need to talk about—”
“We need to talk, now!” A flurry of cologne and testosterone dressed in a navy blue suit whirled past me, grabbing Mason by the arm.
“Henry, what’s up?” Mason asked, his voice much calmer than the bachelor’s.
I looked at Henry, only vaguely recognizing him. He was tall, with bleach blonde hair and a decent fashion sense.
“Come with me,” he ordered.
“Okay, one second. You go ahead.” Mason’s eyes lingered on me as Henry away, waiting impatiently down the hall. “Listen to me, Harper. I just want you to remember this afternoon, okay? No matter what.”
“What?”
Mason gave me a crooked smile as he walked away, drinking in the sight of me. “It will make sense later, just remember.”
The vineyard, the picnic, the wine. Every scent, sound, and sight came flooding back into my memory. I raced through the memories, trying to recall what I may have done wrong or what Mason may have said that I missed. Why the mystery? Why the need for a serious talk?
“Harper, come with me.” A voice behind me tore my eyes away from Mason as reality came in full force. “Are you ready to go?” Natalie’s bright purple hair bounced as he approached and quickly grabbed my hand, pulling me downstairs toward the main room.
I hesitated, feeling nervous now that Mason wasn’t near me, helping me learn the ins and outs of my new job. Natalie’s face was serious, all business. “Yeah,” I finally said as we approached the stairs. “What do you need me to do?”
We walked down the stairs, our heels clicking on the smooth, polished wood. “It’s pretty simple. I want you to be part of the social, make sure everything goes smoothly. Listen into Henry and the girls’ conversations; if they start lacking, you need to help. Talk about anything, the weather, politics—anything to help them connect. Got that?”
I nodded, tingles traveling up from my toes as my nerves increased. “Yes.”
“Otherwise you just need to observe, make sure everybody has everything, that sort of thing. We’ll be starting in about two minutes.”
“Got it.”
We had reached the foot of the stairs, where Henry and Mason were talking in a corner. Henry’s face had reddened a little as Mason spoke to him calmly. I tried to catch his eye, tried to figure out what was going on with him, but he was completely absorbed in his conversation. The girls milled about, holding glasses of champagne in their manicured hands as they spoke quietly to each other, casting glances over at the bachelor. Avery came down the stairs, giving me a grin. I gave her an inconspicuous thumbs up as she joined the other ladies. Maybe she’d find true love tonight.
“Ladies,” Mason’s voice echoed throughout the room.
I saw him on the stairs, his hands folded calmly in front of him as the girls and Henry gathered just at the bottom of the stairway.
“So tonight’s the night. As I mentioned to you each earlier, Henry has picked each of you and you will each get to spend some time alone with him this evening.” Mason paused as he observed the group for a moment, giving them his million-dollar smile. “Afterwards you will”
“Alright Asher, enough already, let’s get to the good part.” Henry chuckled from the middle of the group of girls.
I immediately searched the room and then realized exactly what I had heard. Mason’s eyes met mine and I felt my stomach sink. Avery’s gaze immediately turned in my direction, her mouth hung slightly open as our eyes met, briefly, until I turned my attention back toward Mason.
“Yes Henry, I’m getting to that” Mason faked a smile as his eyes met mine. For the first time, I saw his face flush, almost embarrassed at what had just happened.
My heart had stopped. I couldn’t breathe. Mason
Asher
. Asher. The creep behind the cameras. The owner of this magnificent mansion, the mysterious man behind all of this. I heard his voice drone on, but I couldn’t listen. My mind raced as my heart beat out of my chest. A sickening feeling filled my stomach.
He had connections, I had thought. Perks of working at the mansion. Everything that had gone on, everything that he had done with me, he had told me it was nothing. Never once had he mentioned that this was all his, Even worse, I had been suspicious of him from the start, but his words had seduced me. I had wanted to believe him so much that I had disregarded the truth right in front of my eyes, just as I had in every other relationship I had gone through.
He had lied to me and I had fell for it willingly. Just so he could get what he wanted. Just like Jake had done and almost every man I’d been with. Angry, hurt tears filled my eyes and I quickly wiped them away so the small crowd didn’t notice. He had acted so much more righteous than Jake, but was he really any better? How many times had he told me to trust him, to trust that he would never hurt me in this way? If he had known anything about me, anything at all, he would have known how much I hated lies, how much I needed honesty and truth.
And, the worst question was still yet to be answered: What else had he lied about?
Suddenly everyone was moving. I blinked the tears out of my eyes. I wouldn’t let him see me cry.
Hell
no. Avery caught my eye, trying to keep her attention on Henry while she mouthed,
Are you okay?
I mouthed
yes
, not wanting to spoil her evening.
“Harper, I can ex–”
I turned to see
him
standing beside me. A pitiful, remorseful look in his eyes. He knew exactly what he had done. “You bastard.”
He frowned, cocking his head a little at the tone of my voice. “What’s wrong?”
I could immediately tell he was trying to play it all off. It reminded me of Jake and when he
accidently
called me by his ex’s name. “You’re Asher.”
He shrugged. “Mason Asher. I’m still the same person you’ve come to know.”
“Yeah, sure. You outright lied about who you really are.” I could feel my face begin to redden with anger.
He stepped closer and lowered his voice, but he didn’t touch me. “Harper, that’s not true. I just wanted you to know me for who I am, before you knew about the money and all of this,” Mason opened his arms and motioned around the room. “I’m still the same person.”
“Do you think I’m an idiot?” I barked, sobs attempting to bubble through. I wouldn’t let them. “You lied, you intentionally deceived me. How could I ever trust you again, after this? How do I know our whole relationship—or whatever the
fuck
this is—is even real? You’ve been in control since day one and you didn’t even have the decency to”
“Harper, settle down, you’re making a scene,” he interrupted me, his tone calm.
“Fuck you. I’m leaving.” As I walked away, I could already feel hot tears beginning to seep through the corners of my eyes. I made my way up the stairs to grab what things I had brought and make a quick exit.
“Harper...” My words were no use as I watched as she took off upstairs quickly.
I could feel Natalie’s eyes burning a hole into me, and I didn’t dare meet her gaze and see the classic
I told you so
look. Thankfully, most of the main group didn’t notice the outburst and scene that had been made and were happily engaging in small talk with Henry. Avery glanced over at me, daggers in her eyes. I couldn’t blame her for feeling upset with me, but Harper’s opinion was what mattered the most.
Henry caught my eye, and gave me a nervous smile. I hadn’t given him the attention he needed to prepare for this event. He appeared to be a fish out of water and I knew he needed my assistance, but I just couldn’t focus. I was floundering myself.
“That didn’t go so well.” Natalie didn’t look smug or calculated. She looked at me worriedly, twisting up her mouth a little in the way she always did when she was stressed.
“You think?” I let out a short, clipped laugh, though right now I definitely didn’t feel like laughing. “I think Henry needs some help.”
As I moved to walk over to him, Natalie held me back with a firm hand. “I’ll take care of things here. Go after her, Asher. You’ll regret it if you don’t.”
I took a deep breath, giving her a grateful nod. She was right. As hard as it was going to be, I needed to face Harper and talk to her privately. To get her to understand why I had done what I did.
I walked up the stairs, trying not to appear to be hurrying even though my heart told me to run. I opened the door to the room, already thinking about what I was going to say. Harper had already packed up most of her things. I shut the door behind me. She didn’t—wouldn’t—look at me. “Harper, listen. I’m sorry.”
“I really thought you were different.” She slammed one of her bags down to the bed, already moving to collect another one.
“I omitted some things about my life, but they weren’t the important parts. Who I am, my personality, that’s what’s important Harper.” I stood, waiting for her to accept my reasoning.
“That’s beside the point. You better leave, Mason—
Asher
,” she spat the name. “I don’t want to
make a scene
.”
“I’m sorry about that, too. I know you’re upset, but can’t you just hear me out?”
“You lied to me! I’ve dated liar after liar and as it turns out, you’re just as bad as the rest. I just have no judgment skills when it comes to men, apparently.” She threw her hands up in frustration before bending down to pick up her bags. “So much for you being genuine and sincere. You know, for a second there, I thought you might actually care about me.”
She brushed past me. I could smell her perfume and had to resist the urge to grab her, to stop her from walking out the door. She paused, looking straight up into my eyes as tears of anger filled hers, a tear escaping out of the corner of one eye. “To think I actually thought I was falling in love with you. I’m a complete idiot.”
I stood there, stunned into silence. She broke eye contact, walking past me toward the door. “Wait,” I managed, as she turned the doorknob. “Harper...”
She gave me one, last, utterly crushed look and left. I stood there alone and empty.