He sighed, running a hand through his close cropped hair. "Believe me, Sasha. I would love to spend Christmas with you. More than anything. But it's one of the few times each year that I get to see my parents and the rest of my family, so I've got to go to Wisconsin. And I'd invite you to come along, except that Lindsey is already kicking up a fuss about my taking Hayley and Casey with me. If she knew you were coming too, I think a small war might break out."
She shook her head. "No. Don't make things worse, Matthew. You deserve to see your family and have your children along with you, spend some quality time together. Besides, I think bringing your new girlfriend along with you at the holidays isn't really, well, proper. Especially under the circumstances."
He frowned, giving her a sideways glance. "What circumstances would those be?"
Sasha shrugged. "You are still legally married. And I'm just afraid that your parents and the rest of your family would consider it in bad taste for you to bring another woman along when your divorce is still up in the air."
"Sasha." He took her hand in his, bringing it to his lips while he drove with the other hand. His voice was gentle, tender even, as he asked, "Is that what you think? Does it bother you that technically I'm still bound to Lindsey by a piece of paper? Because I'll swear to you once more that the only thing that binds me to her is that pesky legality. In every other way that matters, she is no longer my wife and hasn't been for some time."
She entwined her fingers with his, resting their clasped hands on her lap. "I know that," she replied somberly. "And I know that your relationship with me has no bearing on your marriage. But can you honestly say that other people will view the situation in the same way? That your family wouldn't think it's morally wrong to bring another woman into their home before your divorce is officially legal?"
Matthew chuckled. "My family is a bunch of scientists and college professors and engineers. Everyone is very forward thinking and progressive, and not a single one of them would judge you or think of you as the other woman. On the contrary, they'd welcome you into their homes with open arms. Especially since their relationship with Lindsey has always been more than a little strained. After I started my own company and made a whole lot of money, she'd resent pretty much anything I tried to do for my family - giving them gifts, offering to buy my parents a new home, treating them to a nice vacation. Even when we all went out to dinner, she'd complain afterwards that my family was taking advantage of me by letting me pick up the bill or that my father should at least have paid the tip. The fact that we had more money than we could spend in five lifetimes never mattered to her. She's greedy and selfish and my family actually welcomed the news that I was divorcing her. So, no. My family would be very, very happy if I were to bring you home with me to meet them."
His words filled Sasha with an unexpected warmth, and she beamed at him gratefully. "Thank you for saying that," she murmured. "And I would love to meet your family at some point. But this first Christmas after you filed for divorce probably isn't the ideal time."
He sighed. "Yeah, I suppose not. But mostly because it would only make Lindsey fight me even harder than she already is about having the kids for a week. She was actually shocked when I told her she wouldn't be coming along with us this year, and needed to make other plans. Unbelievable."
Sasha frowned. "Doesn't she have family of her own to spend Christmas with?"
"Nope. Oh, she's got a mother and a sister, but they've all been on the outs with each other for as long as I've known Lindsey. I'm not sure she even knows where they live any longer. I've offered to pay for her and a friend to spend the week at a very expensive resort down in Mexico, an offer she's currently thinking about."
"What do the kids want to do?" asked Sasha tentatively.
"Casey wants to go back to Wisconsin, of course. He gets along great with my family, and loves to hang out with my brother's kids. Hayley - well, who really knows what she wants nowadays? All she seems to care about is texting with her friends, finding a good party to attend every weekend, and spending a whole lot of money. Wonder who she picked up that habit from." He released her hand in order to downshift the Tesla Model X that he was driving this evening. "But when push comes to shove, I'm betting she'll go with us to Wisconsin. Especially since she'd really put a cramp in Lindsey's style if she announced she was going to Mexico with her."