by Ava Walsh
He closed his laptop, eyes distant. If anything, he was becoming too attached. There was no doubt that things would end with the marriage. Shortly after the retirement, the two of them would file for divorce under the terms of their post-nuptial agreement. He’d continue to pay for her dad’s care. In fact, Matt had set up a trust with several million dollars to pay for his care, with the remainder going to Brooke when her father died. She didn’t need to know that, though.
Not able to do any work the last week or so, Matt was at a standstill with the transition. He’d come to care about Brooke in his time with her. She could make him laugh, and she knew him so well. Sometimes, she knew what he was going to say before the words were out of his mouth. But what did any of that change? He never intended to get caught up in a relationship again.
Ill-advised as it had been, he’d loved his first wife and she’d used him for money, to finance her affair with the chauffeur. He’d promised himself to never become emotionally involved in a love affair again.
Brooke strolled into his office, carrying a tablet. “I need you to look over this. I think I’ve found the error but I wanted a second set of eyes.”
“Put that down and come here, wife.”
She placed the tablet on his desk and came around the side. “What is it?”
He took her hand and tugged her onto his lap before she could react. She clutched his jacket, trying not to tumble into the floor.
“You’re terrible, Matt. What if someone comes in here?” A smile teased her lips.
“Let me lock the door and have you on my desk.”
“No, absolutely not. Your assistant is right outside, she hears everything because I’ve been on the other side of that door and I heard you in here with women. And… because you make me noisy.”
He nibbled at her earlobe, whispering against her ear. “And how am I responsible for that?”
“Because you’re very good at what you do.” She put a prim look on her face and clasped her hands together. Her cheeks were flushed.
She wore a simple pink blouse with a white camisole underneath. He’d watched her get dressed this morning. Under her navy skirt, she wore silky white panties.
She would leave him with a better job, a new wardrobe (because he’d insisted on taking her shopping, especially for lingerie), and care for her father. He had no reason to feel bad for their upcoming parting, but something about it filled him with dread.
It also made him desperate to make love to her as often as possible before the split. It would be too confusing and unfair to her to continue their relationship once they were divorced. Matt didn’t want to hurt Brooke.
“Besides,” she went on, oblivious to his thoughts, “we don’t have any condoms here.”
Matt pulled open his middle desk drawer and lifted the pencil tray there. Underneath, five or six condoms were scattered about. “I always have condoms, gorgeous.”
He pushed his thoughts aside. He wouldn’t get bogged down in worrying about a future he couldn’t have, when he could have her now, in the present. “Up on the desk.”
Brooke seemed unable to resist him when he got commanding. She found her footing, stood, then hauled herself up on the desk. Her legs dangled on either side of him. He pushed her skirt up further, bunching it at her hips, to explore her creamy thighs. “Unbutton your shirt.”
She complied, her breathing heavy. He wanted to be inside of her, to feel her slick walls around his cock, to make her come and kiss her cries of pleasure away, so no one would hear them.
“The door isn’t locked, Matt.”
He hit the intercom on his phone. “Absolutely no one is to disturb us.”
“Yes, sir,” the disembodied voice of his new assistant responded.
“Now,” he stood between her legs, pushing his chair away. “What do you want?”
“I want you to…” She looked down, unable to meet his eyes.
“Say it, gorgeous. Tell me.”
“Fuck me.” She met his gaze and electricity arced between them.
“Yes,” he whispered. He grabbed her hips and pulled her close until her pelvis pressed against his erection. Quickly, he undid his pants and freed himself. He grabbed a condom and slid it over his dick.
When he pushed her panties aside and thrust into her, she cried out.
“You’re driving me crazy,” she said, words coming out in pants.
He sealed her mouth with a kiss and began to pump in and out of her. Aroused to the point of pain, he used his thumb to roughly circle her clit, pushing her harder toward her orgasm.
When she came, her moans were drowned out by his mouth and his own roar of pleasure.
She closed her eyes, still breathless. “I’m never going to be able to face your assistant again.”
***
The next day, Brooke waited until Matt got dressed to go for a run. When he left the bedroom, she sprung out of bed and went to retrieve the bag she’d hidden in the bathroom last night.
She opened the bag and pulled out the pregnancy test she bought yesterday. She had no idea how to tell Matt she was late, but she was pretty sure he’d freak out, especially considering they were two weeks away from getting a divorce.
Every day closer, her heart broke a little more. She was so in love with Matt. He’d been her first lover and she’d have been perfectly content if he were her last, but she knew he’d never settle down.
She put the cap on the end of the pregnancy test, put the box in the bag, then put it in the trash can. She pulled off a bunch of toilet paper and covered it up. There.
As she walked back into the bedroom, she stared at the stick. Just say “not pregnant” so I can forget this ever happened.
“What you got there?” Matt spoke up from the doorway.
Brooke jumped, just barely holding back a screech. Her hand flew to her racing heart. “I thought you left!”
“I forgot my phone.” He walked back into the bedroom and picked it up from the charging pad. He headed toward the door then froze before turning slowly back to her. “What’s in your hand?”
“It’s nothing. Go for your run and we’ll talk when you get back.” Brooke put her hand behind her back. It made her feel like a child hiding a misdeed, but her options were limited. She supposed she could go back in the bathroom and lock the door. In fact, that was a good plan. She turned toward the bathroom.
“Don’t you dare.” He crossed to her and snatched the pregnancy test she’d been hiding. “Why didn’t you tell me?” he shouted.
“There’s nothing to tell, yet. I’m just late, and this is what you do when you’re very sexually active and your period doesn’t come. At least, I assume it is. I’ve never had to do this before!”
This was exactly what she had wanted to avoid. She crossed her arms and stood her ground.
“How could you let this happen, Brooke?”
“Me? You’re serious?” She poked a finger in her chest. “How is this any more my fault than yours? You at least had experience.”
“And I always used a condom. I’ve never knocked anyone up before.”
“Obviously, I know that, Matt. I’m not one of your one-night-stands. We’re in a relationship.”
“We’re not in a relationship.”
Hands fisted at her sides, she thought her head might explode with rage that he was denying the truth of their pairing. “We’ve been sleeping together, exclusively, for months and we’re married!” Her voice rose at the end so that she screamed the word “married” to him.
The thing was, they were great friends, they worked well together, and she’d hoped their relationship was going somewhere. It was obvious now that she was the only one of them who had felt that way.
“We’re not really married, Brooke.” His face was bright red.
“We really are, actually. Give me the damn test so I can see if it’s positive or negative.” She snatched it back and looked at it. A digital “not pregnant” was displayed on the screen. She tossed it ba
ck at him, and it bounced off his chest. “You’re safe again, Matt. I’m not pregnant.”
“Well, thank God for that.”
“Oh, I agree.” Brooke tore open the closet door, grabbed her sturdy purple suitcase, and began tossing her clothes in it on the floor.
Matt had never wanted her as anything more than a plaything and she was done being that for him. She was going back to her apartment tonight and she’d never let him touch her again.
It took everything in her not to cry in front of him, but she just held onto how furious she was, how heartless his words were, and kept yanking down her clothes and dropping them in the suitcase.
***
Matt watched Brooke pack up her clothes with a sinking feeling in his gut. They were supposed to have two more weeks, damn it. “What are you doing?”
“I’m leaving. Going back home.”
“You can’t do that. You agreed to stay married until after my father’s retirement.”
“And I’ll do what I agreed—stay married on paper until the retirement. But I’m not staying here with you for another minute.” She latched her suitcase and dragged it into the bedroom behind her. Half the clothes he’d bought her still hung on hangers in their shared closet.
He held his hands out in front of him. “Let’s just calm down. I think we can agree that the pregnancy test made us both emotional. But we don’t want to make any snap decisions here.”
What was he going to do if she left? He’d known, in a very abstract way, that she’d be gone from his house, and his bed, in two weeks, but that hadn’t seemed real. Not like this.
“I think I need to make some decisions for myself for a change. You’ve been driving this relationship, and yes, it is a relationship—was a relationship, since the beginning and I’m not letting you tell me what to do anymore.” She walked back to the closet and shut the door in his face when he tried to follow.
“Brooke, what are you doing in there? I just want us to talk, face-to-face.” He pounded on the wooden door, growing more desperate by the second.
“I’m changing my clothes!” she responded through the closed door.
He took a second to try to get a handle on himself. This was spinning wildly out of control, like a car wreck, and he had no idea how to stop it. “You can change while we talk.”
“You are never seeing me naked again.”
Was she crying? He’d made her cry and the thought made him regret his every word since coming back into the bedroom.
“Okay, I understand that you’re upset. But will you please just talk to me before you do anything?”
She opened the door, wearing jeans and a lacy white blouse. She looked stunning, even with her hair back in a simple ponytail and no makeup. Every time he looked at her, if he were being honest, she knocked the breath from him.
Her eyes were red and tears left streaks down her face.
“Why are you crying?”
“Why would you even ask that question? What the hell is the matter with you? You’re so damn emotionally crippled. Poor you, your wife broke your heart. Get over it.”
Matt recoiled from her words. She’d never spoken to him so harshly the entire time he’d known her. “Excuse me?”
“Oh, you heard me.” She made her way into the bathroom and began tossing her toiletries into a smaller bag. “I’m so stupid. I fell in love with you, like the biggest idiot on Earth. Who knows more than I do what a player you are? Well, I guess you scammed this girl, too.”
“I never scammed you.” He walked into the bathroom and took her hand, stopping her packing. “I care about you. We’ve got two more weeks.”
She jerked away from him and zipped up her bag. “Exactly the wrong thing to say, Matt. We have no more time because I’m not giving you another minute to break my heart.”
Before he knew what was happening, she’d grabbed her purse and, rolling the suitcase behind her, walked to the bedroom door. “I’m going to have the driver take me home. I’ll send him back after I get there. Whatever else I’ve left here, you can keep. Donate it to charity, give it to your next girlfriend—I don’t care.”
And then she was gone, her heels clicking down the tile hallway. Matt dropped down onto the bed, head in his hands. What had he just done?
He hadn’t prepared himself to give her up yet and she obviously wasn’t coming back.
How could she be so mad about something that hadn’t even happened? She wasn’t pregnant—didn’t that make all the rest irrelevant?
A horrible thought occurred to him and he tried to banish it as soon as it appeared. What if she’d tried to become pregnant to trap him into staying married to her? Despite what he’d given her monetarily, she would have a better, easier life if they stayed married.
But how could she have done that? He’d been in charge of the birth control they used—condoms—every time. There was no way she could, or would, have sabotaged it.
He was being a fool, coming up with conspiracy theories so he didn’t have to deal with the fact he had lost her. And he didn’t know what to do, how to live his life without her.
Chapter Six
Brooke sat in her messy apartment, trying to figure out what to do next. She didn’t believe that she could work with Matt anymore. It was ironic because she’d been insistent that she keep her job, but she couldn’t imagine having to see him every day when all she wanted was to be with him.
She had to get over him. It was the only way to move on with her life. And she wasn’t going to spend any more time searching for the perfect man. As awful as their fight was, Matt was her soul mate. She’d found him too late after he’d lived with heartbreak, and he wasn’t able to open his heart to love.
Or maybe he’d just never felt more for her than lust. She had no way to know. It’s not like he ever talked about his feelings.
She pulled out her laptop and typed up a letter of resignation. Because of the position Matt had promoted her to, she’d have to take it to Matt’s father, but she would do whatever it took to get away.
Seeing Matt every day would only reopen the wound, refresh the pain of losing him again and again. She couldn’t do it.
She went into her old bedroom. She was so glad she’d moved for the duration of her “marriage.” There were no memories of Matt here, nothing but the new clothes and lingerie to remind her of how she’d spent the last three months.
When she got into the shower, she let go of the brave face she’d been trying to force herself to wear and had a good cry. She needed to look at this without regret. She’d wanted to wait for a man she could love, who would make her happy and Matt had been that man. He just didn’t want more, and she’d have to be an adult and live with that choice.
After she’d applied her makeup and admonished herself not to cry anymore, she pulled her hair up into a bun and put on a black skirt and blouse. She was in mourning, even if no one else knew. She’d lost the love of her life.
She walked out to the parking lot and got into her old, beat-up car. It was a good thing she hadn’t upgraded. She’d need a new job as soon as possible and she didn’t need some big car payment hanging over her head.
At the office, she parked in her old spot. The nameplate had been changed to Mrs. Brooke Cross. She closed her eyes, wondering why Matt had done something like that when it was just a temporary change. She hadn’t even used her parking space since they’d married—she’d rode to work with him in his chauffeured car.
She looked in the mirror. “Okay, toughen up. No crying. Just go in, hand in the letter of resignation, and get out. No problem.”
Inside her office building, people called out to her and she forced a smile and waved. What had she been thinking? She’d forever be Matt’s second ex-wife if she’d stayed here. She couldn’t face it.
“I need to see Mr. Cross,” she said to Richard’s assistant. Once she and Matt were married, her father-in-law had insisted she call him by his first name. He’d forever be Mr. Cross to her, though, espe
cially since this marriage was nothing more than a sham.
“He asks that you come right in, Mrs. Cross.” The assistant put down the receiver of the phone and gave her a big smile.
Ugh, she wished people would just call her Brooke. Being called Mrs. Cross was salt in her wound.
Brooke let herself into Richard’s office and crossed to his desk. He was on the phone, so she took a seat and waited, spreading the letter of resignation out on her lap.
Finally, he hung up. “So sorry to keep you waiting, Brooke. You know how it can be. I was talking to some shareholders in Tokyo.”
“Of course. I completely understand, sir.”
“What have I told you about this ‘sir’ business? We’re family now.”
“Right, sorry. I just wanted to give this to you personally.” She handed the letter across the desk and Richard took it, quirking an eyebrow at her as he read it.
“So, you’ve decided to quit. Well, I advocated for that from the beginning. Please tell me it’s because you and Matt have decided to start a family right away.”
Brooke took a shaky breath. “You should really discuss that with Matt. I just think this is for the best.”
“All right, then. I understand. Matt does know you’re doing this, right? He’s been a strong proponent of you staying on to work with him as he takes over the company.”
“No, I’m afraid he doesn’t. I made this choice on my own. I believe he’ll respect it and I have no doubt that he’ll do a wonderful job leading this company into the future.” She kept her face stoic, her words a monotone.
If Richard were too kind to her, she worried she’d break down all over again, and that would be breaking her agreement with Matt. “If you don’t mind, I think I’m going to go visit my father today. Work has kept me very busy and I haven’t had the time to visit as often as I’d have liked.” Work and her affair with Matt, honestly. Still, she’d been out to see her father at least two or three times a week since he’d moved.
While she focused on finding a new job, she’d spend more time with her dad. That would help her remember why she’d put herself in this position to begin with.
