The Tycoon's Temporary Baby(62)

His jaw tightened and his gaze drew dark. “It’s not supposed to come before my wife.”

“No. I’m your assistant. Before I was your wife, I was just the incredibly efficient, supremely organized, very best assistant you’ve ever had. That’s why you married me. Because it was best for FMJ.” She cupped his jaw in her hand and gently tilted his face down so he met her gaze. “I’m going to make this easy for you. Your loyalties lie with FMJ. With Ford and Matt. That’s where they’ve always been. That’s okay.”

“Stop it!” He barked the order, jerking away from her hand. “It’s not your decision to make.”

She felt her lips curving in a bittersweet smile. “You really think it matters to my uncle which of us capitulates? Hell, he’ll probably be glad it was me who broke.”

“Is that what you’re doing? You’re giving in to your uncle?” There was a sneer of scorn in his voice, but she knew the pain it hid.

“If I accept my uncle’s bargain for you, you get that government contract. FMJ wins.”

She kept her voice calm and reasonable, even though her emotions were tearing her apart.

“I am not—” he growled “—going to sacrifice our marriage just so FMJ can win some stupid government contract.”

“No. But I’m going to. You’re not the only one who loves this company. I believe in it. And I believe you’re going to continue to do great things with it, even if I’m not there. So don’t disappointment me, okay?”



“That’s it?” Jonathon asked, outrage pouring through him. “You’re just going to walk away?”

“It’s what I should have done to begin with.”

“No. I don’t believe that. I don’t believe you believe that.” She didn’t even look at him as she straightened her sopping-wet shirt. Didn’t even meet his gaze. And for the first time since this ridiculous conversation started, he considered the possibility that she was actually going to do it. That she was really going to walk out the door and leave him.

He grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face him. “If you really want to leave me, then fine. I can live with that. But don’t lie to me and tell me you’re doing it because it’s what’s best for FMJ. Don’t lie to yourself either.”

“Okay, you want the truth? Here it is—I know how important this deal is to you and I can’t let you throw it away. Not for me. If I did, you’d only end up resenting me someday. And I couldn’t stand that.”

Then he said the one thing he thought might make a difference. “Don’t forget, we’ve slept together. That annulment won’t be so easy to get now. And I’m not going to make it easy for you to walk away from me.”

She looked at him, meeting his gaze directly. There was some thing so sad in her eyes that his heart actually contracted a bit as she looked at him. Her lips curved into a smile that held no humor, but brimmed with warmth and sorrow. “It was never going to be easy to walk away from you. I knew that all along.”

And with that, she left the room, her clothes dripping water in her wake. For what must have been a full minute, he stared after her, shocked that she’d actually done it, even though she’d said she would.

Then he slung a dry towel around his waist and ran after her, following the drops of water like a little trail of breadcrumbs. He dashed through the family room, barely aware of the curious gazes that followed his half-naked progress through the house. Then he stopped and ran back to the guest room where he and Wendy had slept the previous night. Natalie sat alone on the bed, looking confused.

“Did she take Peyton?” he demanded.

“Yeah.” Natalie gave a confused shrug. “She ran in here, grabbed the baby and the suitcase and ran out. Where is she—”

He didn’t wait to hear the rest of her question, but dashed back through the house. He heard adult laughter and one of his nieces ask, “Mommy, why is he naked?”

He made it out onto the front lawn in time to see Wendy close the backseat door and then climb into the driver’s seat. The towel slipped as he ran for the car. Holding the drooping ends of the towel in one hand, he banged on the window with the other. But she didn’t stop or even slow down. And a second later, he was left standing on the street. In a towel.

And since she’d taken his car, he had no way to get home.

Scratch that. Since she’d left and was taking Peyton with her, he no longer had a home.





Nineteen




Jonathon stood there in the road for a long time, watching the corner around which his Lexus had just disappeared.