Waking Up Married(62)
She couldn’t believe it, couldn’t understand why he would have tried so hard to give her a taste of something she wasn’t going to be able to keep.
Unless it was some sort of test. Connor ensuring she understood just exactly what she was committing to give up?
No, he wouldn’t be so cruel. She knew him, and he would never intentionally do something to hurt her that way.
Besides, the kind of connection between them couldn’t be faked. It wasn’t something to manufacture. And it hadn’t been one-sided.
So what was this?
Her eyes drifted across the car. Connor’s focus was fixed on the spreadsheets in front of him. His flawless features intense. And yet nothing like the way he’d looked at her.
Was it possible he’d been as deeply affected by the unexpected connection between them as she and it was just too much...too soon? He simply hadn’t had a chance to get comfortable with it and had forced a step back?
Maybe all he needed was time.
And maybe she was a self-deluding fool. But she’d told Connor once he was worth the risk, and having tasted how sweet it could be between them, she still believed that.
Yes, the idea of the man she married turning off his emotions so suddenly, so completely, was terrifying...but she couldn’t accept Connor was capable of such callous indifference.
Maybe all he needed was time to adjust. Time and a little space to get his head around what was happening with his heart. And then that undeniable connection would do the rest.
She could wait. For him...for them, she would be the wife he wanted, until he realized what it was he needed. Yes. They were worth it.
Megan turned toward the window, blinking back the tears that had come with her revelation and the certain soul-deep knowledge everything was going to be fine.
Suddenly she felt so much lighter.
Moments later, the car pulled up outside the gold hotel awning. Connor set his documents aside, touching a finger to the phone at his ear. “We’re at the hotel, so the rest of this is going to have to wait. You around tonight?”
His eyes flashed to hers, checking to see how she’d take the news he was scheduling a midnight meeting with one of his managers.
She offered an easy smile, then pulled a small compact from her beaded clutch and shifted her attention to a reflection she couldn’t care less about. Same glossy lips and matte-finished face.
The only change was her understanding of what had happened to her marriage through the past week...and how she intended to go on from there.
Together.
She could wait for Connor. Because they were worth it.
Connor let out a short cough a long minute later. “Yeah, sorry, still here. Tonight, then. Talk to you in a few hours.”
Returning the mirror to her bag, she smiled up at Connor, refusing to acknowledge the slight furrow in his brow or the way his eyes had narrowed on her.
Sensing something different, maybe?
A surge of confidence pushed through her veins at the reminder of their connection, the depth of their awareness. Everything was going to work out.
“Ready?” she asked as the door swung open and the chilly night air slipped around them.
Connor stepped from the car, leaning back in to take her hand. “Always.”
* * *
She was flawless.
By now Connor should have gotten used to how smoothly Megan fit into the fabric of his life.
She’d had the entire table eating out of her hand within minutes of their arrival. Her engaging smile and seemingly limitless font of information. The authenticity he’d found so appealing, a magnet to everyone around them.
Amazing.
He’d been concerned he’d blown it, letting things get too out of hand emotionally between them—worried there might not be any coming back from that point. But after a few days of testing this more accurate representation of the life they would have together, she’d decided. Tonight in the car...he’d seen it. Acceptance.
He’d been stunned and relieved. Hell, had he been relieved. Because he didn’t want to give her up. Didn’t want to lose her. Now he just needed to keep his head on straight so he didn’t screw this up.