MASON AND SAGE

Prologue

Strangely enough, time both slows to a crawl and speeds by faster than light as you're waiting for life as you know it to end. By the time my fiancé pulled into the driveway, three hours after I'd seen him with her, I'd proven why women were the ultimate multitaskers. In those 180 minutes, while my heart was shattering and my dreams were crumbling into dust, I'd called my supervisor, accepted the travel physician assistant's assignment that would take me to the other side of the country, packed all of my clothing into two suitcases and a duffle bag, put them in my trunk with my purse, and backed my car into the neighbor's driveway. Since she was away on vacation, she wouldn't care, especially because I was going to be gone within minutes of Mason arriving home. I'd considered just leaving the bastard a note, but I wanted – needed – him to look me in the eye and see how he'd destroyed me. The beautiful ring he'd given me when he'd proposed was tucked safely in a pocket in my purse. Knowing he'd paid an exorbitant amount for it, I knew I could pawn it for a tidy sum of money that I'd donate to a local women's shelter in his name.

Not one light was on in the house, so I saw the instant his headlights turned into our driveway. I'd been sitting in the dark for the last ten minutes, letting the stillness cocoon me, breathing deeply, beating the hurt back (unsuccessfully, I must admit), mopping up my tears, and wondering how we had come to this. I'd known about Eva. When we'd discussed our exes, he'd been upfront that they'd had a chaotic, intense, on-again-off-again relationship for years. When I'd asked him why he was willing to put up with such a rollercoaster, he'd said, "There was just something that drew us together, but that was before I knew what a real relationship could be like."

Since he'd spoken of her in the past tense, promising that he had no lingering feelings for her, I'd let it go. After all, I was the woman in his life, I had his love, I had the ring on my finger. I knew that she occasionally came into town, but he always told me when she tried to get in touch with him and that he always refused to meet her. I didn't even mention that he should maybe block her number, lose her contact and not text her at all, even to refuse a meet up. I tried to focus on the fact that he wasn't meeting her. Until tonight, apparently.

And, boy, how he'd met her tonight. He and the guys were getting together to mourn the devastating death of one of their fellow Marines, someone he'd served with during his time with her. I'd discovered his phone that he'd forgotten at home, and I'd also seen a text come through from her while I held it in my hands: I'm worried about you, Mase. I'm coming to the bar to make sure you're OK. Up until I'd seen that text, I'd been debating taking his phone to him – he'd been insistent that he just needed time with his friends tonight – but her text decided me. I'd be taking his phone to him at the bar. And we all knew how that had gone.

He came into the house quietly, assuming I was asleep upstairs, and turned to lock the door and throw the deadbolt. He rested his forehead against the door, hands clenched in fists on either side of his head, his body sagging in the dim glow from the street light. That alone told me his state of mind. He was a Marine through and through and held his body as such. Mason never slouched or relaxed that steel spine, unless we were cuddled on the couch together. Semper fi, I thought sadly of the Marine motto – always faithful. Oh, the irony. He was still slumped against the door. Was he thinking about how to end our engagement? Was he feeling any guilt? Was he trying to think about what lies he needed to tell me? Was he planning on how soon he could see her again?

After a few minutes, he pushed away from the door with a heavy exhale, toed his shoes off, and turned to head upstairs.

"Late night," I said quietly as I turned on the table lamp. 

He startled and faced me. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"Couldn't sleep. Had a lot on my mind," I said softly. "So, how were the guys? Where'd you end up?"