by Jeannie Moon
The tears came faster, and Meg hated that she couldn’t control her emotions. She wrapped her arms around herself, and a moment later, Jason’s arms were around her, too. Pulling her in, he pressed her head against him and whispered into her hair. “Please don’t cry, Meg. Please.”
“Grace didn’t have to live this way. Why do I?”
“We’ll keep things as simple as possible. Are you going to keep working?”
She nodded. Sniffled. “I want to. If everyone at school doesn’t hate me.”
Curled against him, she felt calmer. His hand ran rhythmically up and down her spine, and his warmth took away the chill that had been with her for days. “No one’s going to hate you. I can’t think of anyone who hates you.”
“Your brother. Your parents. Grant.”
“Grant was your boyfriend?”
“Uh-huh. I liked him a lot.” More tears leaked out because she was sick that she might have hurt him, that she might have lost a good man for this “marriage.” “You’re not seeing anyone?”
“No one serious. Not like you.” His breathing was deep, his heartbeat steady. “We’ll be okay, you know. We always got along.”
“We’re different people, Jay. Going back isn’t an option.”
“True. We’ll have to move forward with what we have. Do our best to be friends and make a home for Molly.”
Meg leaned back and examined his face. He was so handsome, her heart did a little jump every time she looked at him. At first glance, he may have looked like your garden-variety pretty boy, but if you looked closely, there was nothing ordinary about Jason at all. His bone structure was regal, his skin perfect, and his hair soft, but it was when you looked in his eyes that you saw the fire. Inside him was a supercomputer, an intelligence that was logical, focused, and could best be described as a force of nature. It never stopped, and when he was growing up, Jason had had to learn to deal with all the noise in his head. It hadn’t been easy.
She remembered summer nights when they were teenagers that they would take off to an empty field on the estate. It was fairly secluded and overlooked the beach. They’d lie on their backs and count stars and talk about their dreams. For him, computers were like art. He saw machine language and circuitry like van Gogh saw paints. Meg loved listening to him on those quiet nights. The stars were overhead, the water lapped at the shore, and he shared himself with her. He knew about everything and he talked about what he could do to make the world better. He’d hold her on those nights, his strong arms wrapping around her and protecting her from an outside world that wanted to pull them apart. They were going to save the world together and love each other forever.
“What are you thinking?” he asked.
Meg couldn’t tell him, of course, but she could come up with a variation. Something that wasn’t quite the truth, but wasn’t a lie, either. “I was wondering why you aren’t married or at least involved with someone.”
It was his cue to release her and sit back in the chair. “The company’s gotten huge, and I work all the time, sometimes eighteen hours a day. There’s not a lot of time for anything else. It’s my whole life.”
“It’s a big enough company that you could delegate some things, couldn’t you?”
“I guess, but work is really what I’m all about. I never had time for anything more than casual relationships.”
Casual, Meg thought. As in, “these are women I sleep with.” Nice.
Clicking the pen, Meg started flipping through the second stack of papers and initialing in the appropriate spaces. There was one section on visitation with Molly, and it looked like after the divorce, he was leaving any visitation schedule to her discretion. “You don’t want something more formal when we have to decide on custody of Molly?”
“I figured I’d leave that up to you. I trust you.”
That was good, because with everything that had happened in the past, she was having a hard time trusting him, even though, at this point, Jason was all she had.
Meg finished signing the papers and set down the pen. It was done. “You’re sure they’re going to back off?”
“They won’t have a choice once the adoption gets started.”
“I don’t understand why they’d want a small child at this stage of their lives.”
Jason stood and held her coat while she slipped her arms in the sleeves. A paralegal gathered the papers, nodded, and left the room. “It’s not like they’d raise her,” he said. “She’d just be in the house.”
“So why do this? I mean, what’s the benefit . . .”
Then it hit her. It hit so hard, Meg had to hold the back of the chair to keep herself from falling. “Oh, my God. It’s about the money. They don’t want me to have the money.”
He hesitated, obviously disgusted at his parents. “Probably. I don’t know what’s going on. It could be more complicated than that.”
“Complicated? How?” The fact that his parents’ objection to her had to do with money made perfect sense. It always had to do with money.
“Something my brother said the other day got me wondering if my parents are as wealthy as they appear.”
“I don’t understand. How could they not have money? There’s so much of it.”
Jason held the door as they stepped into the hallway and walked toward the elevator. “My parents don’t have any money of their own. My mother hasn’t worked a day in her life, and my father is the CEO of the firm, but he doesn’t really work. He golfs. My brother runs the business, and I’ve gotten some hints that there are problems. Problems caused by my father.”
“Okay, so all the trust funds you guys have? I’m confused.”
“My grandfather started an investment firm and became a millionaire multiple times over. Then he branched out into private equity. The company is worth billions. He started setting up the trusts when my dad was born and then when we were born. He set up Molly’s when Grace was six months pregnant because he was dying. All he wanted was for us to be secure, but he still expected us to put in an honest day’s work. Josh, Grace, and I made our own money. I haven’t touched my trust since I left school.”
“I remember your grandfather. He was a nice man.”
“I don’t know where the hell my father came from. He’s not happy unless someone else is miserable.”
Without knowing what made her do it, she reached for his hand, and Jason held on as they stepped into the elevator. The words were just words, but the tone, the sentiment behind them, made her sad for him. Jason was close to his siblings, Grace especially. He must have been feeling her loss in ways Meg couldn’t understand.
“Meggie.” God, he hadn’t called her that since she was sixteen. Her insides went all soft just hearing it carried in his deep baritone. “I’m not cut out for marriage, not a real one. I work too much, and the way I live my life isn’t conducive to raising a family. I know that. But I will do my best so this isn’t hard for you.”
She dropped his hand and turned toward him, but the warmth lingered. “That’s such bullshit.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m going to talk to you like an old friend, Jason, so take this the way it’s intended. You decide the kind of life you’re going to lead. No one else. If you want a family, you’ll have one. You’re the smartest person I know. You’d make it work.”
“Do you think I’m making up my crazy hours?” He wasn’t angry, but once again she’d challenged him, and Jason didn’t like to be challenged. Meg was glad. He needed his buttons pushed.
“No, I don’t think you’re making anything up, but I think you’re hiding behind work to avoid having a life.”
Chapter 5
The house in Cold Spring Harbor was set on three acres of mostly treed land, and Meg was amazed how much she loved it. It was large, built in the 1930s, and Jason called it a farmhouse. Well, Meg had never seen a farmhouse like this. It had six bedrooms and seven bathrooms, and a gourmet kitchen that was bigger than the whole main level of her little Cap
e. But the best part of the house was the sunroom. It was bright and airy and had two sets of French doors, one leading to the rear patio and garden and the other leading to the side porch. To say the house had charm was not enough.
Gwyneth, the interior designer Jason had hired, was fantastic. She was larger than life, with flaming orange hair and a British accent. There was nothing pretentious or snotty about her. For her, good design meant making a house a home, and Meg appreciated the way she helped her through the process of choosing colors and fabrics.
Meg was excited, in some way, to see the house come together, and Gwyneth promised to have sketches to her in a couple of days. Jason had stayed out of the decision making, except when picking colors and fabrics for his bedroom and his office.
Separate bedrooms. It made her think of the Regency romances she loved to read where the just-married couple, often thrown together by necessity, occupied separate bedrooms. Of course the hero and heroine were wildly attracted to each other and found a way to make the marriage work and lived happily ever after. Meg just didn’t see that happening for her.
After meeting Gwyneth, they had dinner with her mother and sister, who were shocked when they walked into the restaurant and saw Jason sitting with Meg at the table. To say dinner was difficult would be an understatement. Meg couldn’t shake the feeling that she was betraying her family. Jason was the enemy.
Although her sister had been too young to completely understand, she could see the hurt in her mother’s eyes. Meg had to face her past with Jason eventually. Face all the pain there. Admit to herself that the man currently saving her hadn’t stood by her, changing her whole family’s life.
And here he was,taking control of her life. Meg listened as he gave their cover story, and from the looks on their faces, neither Mom nor Caroline bought it.
Now they were sitting in the car on the way to the Campbells’.
This was going to be even worse.
Jason reached across the console and took her hand. “I’ll be right here. If you want, let me do the talking.”
“I feel like you do that whether I want you to or not.”
“What? Talking?” He was genuinely shocked. He had done most of the talking with her mother and sister, but mainly because Meg was so upset about the way they sprung this on them, she didn’t know what to say. “I didn’t mean anything by it. I’m sorry.”
Of course he didn’t. She was being bitchy because she hated the loss of control.
“No, I’m sorry. I’m nervous. I shouldn’t take it out on you.” They pulled into the long driveway, and he didn’t say a word until they pulled up to the main house and Meg’s stomach dropped. Suddenly, she was freezing, and her heart was racing. Jason must have seen the panic on her face, because he took her hand again.
“Are you going to be okay?”
She shook her head frantically. No words came out.
“If it’s any consolation, I still get a horrible pain in my stomach anytime I have to deal with my parents. You’re in the same boat as any family member right now.”
“This isn’t funny,” she squeaked out. “Not at all.”
He reached across her to the glove box and popped it open. “I have something in here that might make it a little better.”
“What? Xanax? Valium?”
He laughed and pulled out a small blue box tied with a white bow. It was the little blue box she always dreamed of getting from the man she was going to marry.
“Is that . . .” Meg found herself looking into Jason’s smiling blue eyes.
“I was going to give it to you later, but I think you could use it now.”
Meg was still frozen, staring at him. “You didn’t have to do this. A simple wedding band would have been fine.”
“You’re going to be my wife; you’ll have diamonds.” Meg opened her mouth, and Jason rested his index finger on her lips. “No. This is my manhood here. It’s my right to give you as many jewels and luxuries as I can afford. People will expect it, and I won’t lie, I find buying things for you very enjoyable.” She still couldn’t move. “Take it, Megan. Open it.”
She took the box, which was heavy for its size, and pulled the end of the ribbon, all while Jason kept a close eye on what she was doing. Inside the blue box was a black velvet case, which Meg took out, held, and then opened.
Her heart stopped. On the dark field sat the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. If she’d picked it out herself it couldn’t have been more perfect. It was a cushion cut diamond surrounded by tiny beadlike diamonds and set in a delicate diamond-encrusted band. It was dazzling, but not gaudy or tacky, and Meg felt herself smile, because no matter what the circumstances of their marriage, Jason was trying to give her the dream.
“I guess you like it?” He took the box and grasped the ring between his fingers.
“It’s beautiful.”
“There were bigger diamonds, but I thought this one suited you best.”
“You picked it out?” She was shocked he didn’t just send one of his people to do it.
“Yes, I did.” He paused before he confessed the rest to her. “I went to four jewelers before I found this particular ring. Something about it reminds me of you.” He reached toward her and grinned. “Give me your left hand.”
Meg extended her trembling left hand, and Jason’s larger one encircled it.
“Megan Rossi,” he whispered against her ear, “will you marry me?”
She sighed and watched as he slid the ring onto her finger, fulfilling one of her most romantic fantasies. All she could do was nod, touched by the effort he put into this, that he tried to make it special.
That he asked her to marry him.
Meg didn’t know what made her do it, but she touched his face with her fingertips, loving the warmth of his skin, and gently kissed his lips. “Thank you.”
***
How the hell had she done that?
With that one kiss, everything in Jason came back to life, everything that died when he lost her. Meg was still staring up at him, not moving, and it appeared there was nothing to lose, so Jason leaned in and kissed her again.
That was all it took for the heat, that had been building for weeks, to flare between them. His fingers pushed into her hair right before she grabbed a handful of his shirt and pulled him closer, all while his mouth took hers in an erotic dance.
There was warmth and softness and the scent of her perfume mingled with the taste of chocolate, and he remembered how she always tasted like this. Smelled like this. His response to her was visceral, raw, and when he felt the tip of her tongue touch his lips, he flashed back to feelings he had in the past. She was his. Always. And as he continued to kiss her, Jason wondered what it was about this woman and her kisses that made him forget about everyone else. There was no one else who could take him out at the knees with a touch or a word, and certainly no one he wanted to kiss like this. No one who could make him feel so much.
Fortunately, for the next year, it didn’t look like he’d have to. When Meg pulled away and their eyes locked, they both knew they were in trouble. There was no way to contain this, no way they were going to be able to keep their hands to themselves. So the question of sex was now right out in the open.
“Oh, God,” she whispered. “That’s going to be a problem.”
Jason skimmed his lips over her cheek and kissed the soft skin by the corner of her mouth. “A problem?”
“Wasn’t there something suggesting we keep things platonic and not have sex in that second agreement? That it would complicate things?”
“Yeah. I think it’s a stupid idea. My lawyer came up with it, but it will be up to you.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah,” he said.
“That kiss didn’t feel platonic.” Meg was still breathing hard. Jason was just hard.
“Nope. Not at all.”
“We’re in deep trouble then,” she said on a shaky breath.
He couldn’t disagree with her. This
crazy attraction between them was going to be a problem if the plan was to keep things platonic. He wanted her, no doubt about it, but his rational mind shifted back to the moment and told him they had to get out of the car. “We’d better go inside. I just saw the curtain in the dining room move.”
She dropped her head until her forehead touched his shoulder. “Do we have to?”
“Come on.” He got out and made his way to the other side of the car, where Meg was still frozen. He opened the door and squatted down in front of her, taking both her hands in his. “It’s like dealing with any bully: Try not to show fear. It only gives the bully more power.”
“Okay. I’m ready.” She stood and stepped away from the Mercedes.
She didn’t look ready. She looked like she was going to face a firing squad. He leaned in and touched his lips to her hair. “I’ll be right here. It won’t be like last time.”
Meg looked up, and he didn’t know if he had made a mistake saying that or not. Until she threw her arms around his neck and kissed him again. She pressed her body into his and threaded her hands through his hair, and Jason found himself lost in the suppleness of her body and mouth. He pulled her closer, loving how she fit against him, loving the feel of her curves under his hands, loving her sweet taste.
Heaven. Jason had gone to heaven.
When Meg finally pulled away, she glanced over his shoulder toward the house. What was that all about?
“That should have everyone talking.” Meg licked her lips and grasped his hand. “Your wicked aunt Nancy was at the window.”
A chuckle escaped, and he had to love that she was willing to stir the pot. Aunt Nancy was a meaner version of his mother and deserved to be called wicked, if not a lot more. She’d never married, lived off his family’s money and fake lawsuits she’d drummed up, and was as nasty as a rabid dog.
Jason thought she might just need to get laid, but he couldn’t imagine any man being that desperate.
But Meg was smiling. She was going to be okay, at least for tonight. He knew the stress would get to her, that she might break at points, but she wasn’t going to show any weakness here.
