Hard To Love by Sabrina Ross Page A

damsel in
distress?” She bellowed linking her arm with his. She barely even
glanced at me.
“No, just talking to a friend.” His eyes found mine and he
winked. My heart pattered. “This is Lauren Miller.”
“I remember,” she said with a frown. “We should get going.
Mom is waiting.” She turned to walk away. I bit down on the
insides of my lips and looked down at the ground. My mother was
right about Mason. He was still a playboy. His body turned to face
me, but I didn’t look up at him.
“Sorry about that.” He said.
“Oh, don’t apologize. I should have known.” I said and got to
my feet.
His lips slowly parted. “What does that mean?” he scoffed. As
I made an attempt to walk past him, he blocked my path.
“Please, Mason, don’t act as if you don’t know what I mean.” I
shook my head and walked into the pharmacy, tracking my mother
down. When I found her, she was standing by the window,
watching us. She gave me a sympathetic smile.
“Don’t do that again,” I grumbled and turned to find Mason
staring at me through the glass, his eyes wide and his jaw clenched
tight. To avoid his stare, I quickly turned away and pulled my
mother towards the door. I knew what she had been up to when
she dashed into the pharmacy, leaving Mason and I alone, because
she had already been there.
“Was that his girlfriend?” she asked, nodding in their direction.
I looked up, watching him get in a red 2013 Ferrari. Definitely not
the car he drove the other day. He stopped, turned and stared in
my direction over the hood of his car.
“Where else do you have to go?” I asked, avoiding her question.
In reality it stung a little but I also didn’t want to know who that
was because I was not going to get tangled in the mess that was
Mason.
    Later that afternoon, Cassie called and asked me to join her for
a late dinner with Charlie and his friends. With a slight hesitation,
I agreed to join them. To be fair my hesitation was more based on
the fact that I really didn’t want to run into Mason again. After all
they were family and it was inevitable that if I was with Cassie
Mason was close by.
    I quickly changed into something a little more suitable, putting
half my hair up in a clip to keep it from my face.
“How do I look, Mom?” I asked, walking down the stairs to the
main floor.
“Terrific, honey,” she said with a smile. “Where are you
headed?”
“Cassie is taking me to dinner at the country club.”
“Oh, back into the old habits, huh?” she grinned.
“I guess,” I said, leaning on the door frame. “It’s where Cassie
goes.”
“I know. I remember,” she said and turned to leave. I stood
there with my hands on my hips, confused by her tone.
“You used to be a member, Mom. I don’t understand why you
turn your nose down at it now. Being part of the club isn’t a bad
thing.”
“You’ve been there lately. You tell me.” She shrugged and
disappeared around the corner.
Then the doorbell rang.
When I answered the door, Cassie stepped through, hugging me
right away. Then she looked me over and nodded.
“Very cute. Love today’s outfit,” she said.
“Thanks,” I replied, grabbing my purse off the counter.
This time I had thrown on a pair of sleek black cigarette pants
on; a cream sleeveless blouse, tucked in; and these cute red patentleather pumps. When we got outside, I spotted Charlie leaning on
the hood of his black Porsche Panamera GTS. As we approached
him, I noticed two others sitting in the back seat. I held in a sigh,
hating that I was the fifth wheel, but climbed in next to the couple
and smiled anyway. When she said friends, I didn’t think couples.
“Lauren,” I introduced myself.
“Carson, and this is Olivia,” Carson said as he shook my hand.
“Nice to meet you,” Olivia said, following suit. The fake smile
on my face stretched wide.
    The country club was busy. We stopped behind a line of cars,
and everyone piled out. Charlie handed his keys