his hands down. “Like this,” she said, and tied it in a perfect bow.
“Thank you. You’re good at that.” He checked himself in the mirror and fixed his cufflinks in the French cuffs.
“I do know a few things. What’s tonight’s event?”
“Some fund-raiser.”
“Oh.”
His phone rang, and he saw it was a business associate. Meg didn’t hesitate and left the room so he could take the call. He felt horrible. He didn’t want to go out, but it was expected of him. Jason thought about Meg, his wife, whom he was leaving at home . . . again.
***
Meg left his room and Jason took the phone call. She hated that she was so suspicious, wondering if it was Harper or another woman he might have been escorting that evening. He never wore his wedding ring, and Meg knew he never thought about how much a simple gesture like that would mean to her.
But Meg had to get the romantic fantasies out of her head. What happened on their fake honeymoon was nothing more than mutual gratification. Both of them scratching an itch. Which was why her jealousy, her hurt feelings, were bothering her so much. She wasn’t supposed to care, but she did.
She did, because Meg couldn’t help herself where Jason was concerned. She never could, which was why she let him hurt her for so long fourteen years ago. She’d known he was hiding her from his friends, but she’d let it go on because she had loved him so much, didn’t want to risk losing him. She had sacrificed her self-respect and her body for a boy who didn’t respect her.
She wouldn’t do the same thing now. She wouldn’t let herself be used.
“Meg?” She heard Jason’s voice and thought he was calling to her. When he continued talking, she realized that he was still on his call, but hearing her name made Meg stop to listen. “No, she’s not coming tonight . . . Yes, she’s anxious to meet everyone, too, but she works, so weeknights are hard . . . She’s a teacher . . . Yeah, I know, I’ve tried to get her to quit, but she won’t, she loves it . . . I know. She makes nothing, but I guess it’s not about money . . . Thanks, Joe, we’d love to have drinks another time.”
He was hiding her again. She would have loved to go to the benefit, but obviously Jason was keeping her away from his friends and associates. She guessed it had something to do with the comment Harper made about her looking like a stripper. Jason said he didn’t feel that way, but this was one instance where actions spoke louder than words.
Maybe he was worried she was getting too involved, which she was, but he was in it as much as she was. None of this made sense, until she factored in the Harpy, the stripper comment, and the fact that Jason didn’t want a commitment. He’d been happy to play the new husband and have sex when she was the only woman around, but back in civilization, Meg ceased to exist.
She went into Molly’s room and pulled pajamas and underwear out of the drawer, thinking the whole time what a mess she’d made of her life. She had a lot of things—a big house, a cottage in Martha’s Vineyard, money—but she didn’t have anyone who really loved her, and she might never have that.
Thinking about how she’d behaved, how she lived, made Meg ashamed of herself.
Molly came running into the room with her towel, and Meg refocused her attention on the little girl who needed her. That’s what this was all about. Not Meg and her hopes for a happily-ever-after. It was about giving Molly a future.
“I’m heading out.”
Jason stood at the door of Molly’s room, looking handsome and sophisticated in his tux, and her heart broke. But she couldn’t let it show. Not this time. She let her pride go when she was young; this time that was the only thing she had to hang on to.
“Have a good time,” Meg said as she helped Molly wiggle out of her shirt and jeans.
“Night, Mol,” he said.
“Night, Uncle Jason.” Molly didn’t look back as she ran into the bathroom.
“She’s got a lot of energy,” he said, grinning.
Meg felt her chin drop. There were so many things sitting on the tip of her tongue, and she knew shooting venom in his direction wouldn’t do anything, but she couldn’t let the comment