breezes wash over her. The air was clean and fresh and let her think of how she was going to face their separate lives when they returned home.
Meg had lived a fantasy when she was a teenager, believing she and Jason were meant to be together. The days they’d spent on this vacation showed Meg that her teenage self had been right on some level, but on others, sixteen-year-old Meg couldn’t have been more wrong.
Jason may have been her soul mate, but he was not about forever, because he would never love her the way she loved him.
Never. And if Meg had learned anything, she knew she deserved better.
Leaning back and looking at the stars, Meg sighed. She was so full of shit.
She loved him. It was deeper and more perfect than anything she’d felt when she was a teenager, but she couldn’t have him. For whatever reason, Jason had decided that he couldn’t do relationships, that he wasn’t that type of guy. And while Meg’s heart was willing to take whatever Jason gave her, her brain said no. She couldn’t take that risk.
Jason, who was as kind and sweet as the boy she remembered, had also grown into an extraordinary man who was generous and ambitious. But there was no room in his life for her. Their marriage was a means to an end, and he was willing to protect her, help her, and do anything he needed to do to keep Molly with her, but only as long as he had to.
Then he would be gone, and Meg had to protect herself from that reality.
God, she hated being reasonable.
The quiet was broken by the door behind her opening and Jason’s sleepy voice calling her name. “Meg? What are you doing out here?”
She melted a little at the sight of him when he walked around her chair and stood before her. He looked warm and rumpled from sleep. He’d pulled on a pair of loose sweatpants, but he was bare-chested under the plush terry robe provided by the inn, and his muscles stood out in the soft glow from the lights around the grounds.
“I’m just thinking,” she said. “We’re heading home tomorrow, and the thought of facing the real world is a little depressing.”
“It doesn’t have to be depressing.” He pulled an ottoman toward her and straddled it, facing her. “We can still be together.”
“No, we can’t, and you know it.”
Her voice cracked when she said it, and he responded by reaching out and taking her hands in his. Jason drew a deep breath and stared at their linked hands, letting the silence of the night and the ocean surround them. Silence that spoke volumes.
He didn’t argue with her. And that he didn’t put up a fight at all proved once again to Meg that she was doing the right thing.
“Well,” he said, resigned, “since we only have a little time left, I intend to make the most of it.” He stood and pulled Meg to her feet, letting the blanket fall to the deck and exposing her almost naked body to the chilly air, shocking her system. Lifting her into his arms, he brought her back inside, and once he’d settled her into the soft mattress, Jason sat on the edge of the bed. His fingers gently pushed the hair away from her face as he gazed down at her, his blue eyes sparkling with light and desire. “You’re mine for two more days. No arguments.”
Meg felt a smile break across her face. There would be no arguments, and she showed him exactly how she felt about his plan when she pulled him down and kissed him. Meg knew that she would be his for a lot longer than two days. She’d be his forever, even if Jason didn’t realize it.
Chapter 11
Jason cursed as he tried for the third time to tie his bow tie. He hated black-tie functions, but he went because people kept telling him a man in his position was expected to set an example and support charities and causes in the community.
Jason was more than happy to give money to good causes. He did it all the time, and the charity benefit tonight was for a good cause. He didn’t see how his presence at some stuffy event was going to mean more than a fat check, but he did as his handlers said because if his support of some charity put the company in a good light, he was all for that.