The Temporary Wife - By Jeannie Moon Page 0,30
and having Jason in this space made her wish Molly were already asleep.
Ack! No. No. No. She had to stop thinking about him and sex and sex with him. God, she was pathetic. Meg popped the last piece of black and white cookie in her mouth and sat on the edge of her bed.
She wasn’t expecting him to sit next to her. Jason took her hand in his and gave her a kiss. “Harper is not perfect. She is many things, including smart and beautiful, but so are you.” He stopped and licked his lips. “What were you just eating?”
“A cookie.” Crap, he was going to find her out.
“What kind of cookie?” Jason leaned in and kissed her again.
“A black and white.”
“Those are my favorite.”
“I know. I brought them home from the shower for you.”
He smiled. It was such a sweet smile. The bastard.
“Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me. I ate them.”
“All of them?”
“I was mad at you because of the Harper thing. So I ate the cookies.” There was still one left, but he wasn’t getting it. Now it was on principle.
“That was adult.” His smile was wide and inviting. Good Lord, he was gorgeous. “They’re all gone?”
“Pretty much.” Meg stood and walked to her dresser. Should she tell him there was one left? Tease him with it? Meg played with a lipstick and then, when he wasn’t looking at her, made her decision. She took off at a run for the kitchen, flying down the stairs and jumping past the last three steps, but Jason was right behind her. There was no way she was going to outrun him, but she had to eat the last cookie before he got to it. She was so pissed, she couldn’t let him win.
“Megan, don’t be a brat.”
She spun when she got to the kitchen door, glad she’d changed into her pajama pants and a T-shirt. “No cookie for you!”
She’d spread her arms out, gripping the door frame, and Jason did the same, clasping his hands over hers. He pressed into her, and Meg knew if he wanted that cookie she wasn’t going to stop him, but the game, the tease, was such fun.
“You are a troublemaker.”
“Maybe, but your assistant is a nasty bitch who hasn’t found her way out of middle school yet.”
“I think she’s done better than middle school. She has a Harvard MBA.”
Oh, yeah, it was fun . . . until now. Is he kidding? “I cannot believe you’re defending her.”
“I’m not. I’m sorry. I’m not defending her. I know she upset you, but that’s just the way she is.”
“Just the . . . Are you kidding me? Well, ‘the way she is’ is bitchy, and I don’t find that acceptable. So you can forget us becoming BFFs and having long giggly texting sessions about you, ’kay?”
“Meg . . .”
She broke away from him and slammed her hand against the refrigerator. “She said I looked like a stripper, Jason. A stripper!”
He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. “You heard that?”
“She didn’t even wait until I closed the door before she said it. What was it, the boobs, the hair? What?”
“She shouldn’t have said it. I’m sorry.”
“I can’t do this. I can’t marry you.”
“You have to. We’ve talked about this. Think about what Grace wanted. What you want.”
“But I can’t go through it again. I can’t be made to feel like the slutty girlfriend again.”
She felt him move up from behind, and his arms came around her, folding across her body. When he did this, it felt like he would love her forever. And Meg melted into it, because that’s what she wanted.
“I’m sorry about what she said,” he murmured into her hair. “I’m sorry.”
Meg held on to his arms and wished this were real. He was sorry, she knew that, but there was a sinking feeling inside Meg that, once again, she’d be good enough for Jason, but not good enough for the rest of his life.
Chapter 8
Meg heard the whirring of the engine pick up and drop down, indicating the gears had changed again. She was getting used to sitting in the passenger seat of the Mercedes, but tonight was different. Tonight, she was Jason’s wife. Examining the sparkling diamond band on her finger, the reality of the situation flooded her. She was a married woman, something she had wanted for as long as she could remember, but she wasn’t really happy. The promise of someone who would love her unconditionally and be with her