to miss since I was out for the honeymoon, and if you need anything I’m a call or text away.”
“Uncle Jason, I have the books I want.”
Meg looked and saw the two books Jason promised her had turned into six. “That’s a big pile.”
He grinned. “I bet she doesn’t last through one.”
“You have fun.”
“I intend to.”
***
Meg started out of the room, but turned and stood by the doorway, watching as Jason folded his frame into Molly’s bed. He rested his back against the headboard and settled her into the crook of his arm. It was a picture full of contradictions, and she wished she had a camera.
He’d shed his tie and rolled up the sleeves of his light blue shirt, and his dark gray trousers hugged his thighs—physically, he was testosterone personified. That is, until you saw the doll across his lap, or heard him do silly character voices, or check a child’s forehead for fever.
He was big and handsome and brilliant, but he also had a soft side that turned Meg’s heart to mush. Watching him like this with Molly made her see that this was not the guy she knew fourteen years ago. He’d grown up and become a man, and a thought niggled through Meg’s brain that what she was feeling wasn’t the same as it had been before. These feelings were new ones, grown-up ones. Meg was falling for the man Jason had become.
Jason looked up and caught her watching them. He stopped for a second, met her eyes, and that’s when Meg saw it: a curious longing, something he wanted to say but couldn’t. Just as quickly, it was gone. Not a word passed between them, and he went back to reading Lilly’s Purple Plastic Purse to Molly.
It was a perfect moment. One perfect moment of understanding that would have to stay with her..
Chapter 14
Jason was making himself a cup of coffee, a bad habit this late at night, when Owen came in the back door. It was almost nine o’clock, and his friend looked like he still had hours of energy. He had his messenger bag over his shoulder, which meant he had things to go over with Jason. It was another night of work.
Since Meg’s meltdown a couple of weeks ago, he’d been thinking about what she’d said, and she was right: Nothing had really changed for him. His friends and business associates came and went, but Meg didn’t see anyone, and he hadn’t thought about it much because he didn’t know anything about her life before they were married.
“Hey,” Owen said. Grabbing a mug from the cupboard, he popped a coffee pod in the brewer and pressed the button. “I swear I could mainline caffeine and it wouldn’t do a goddamn thing.”
“That’s because you’re as hyperactive as a six-year-old boy with a sugar high,” Jason said. “Why are you here?”
Owen froze and looked up. “I was going to go over the quarterlies with you before the divisional meetings next week. Bad time?”
“I was going to watch TV with Meg for a while, but I guess we can do this.”
“TV? Really? You don’t watch TV.”
“Meg’s favorite show is on tonight. She’s feeling a little disconnected, so I thought I’d keep her company, you know?”
Owen stirred a ridiculous amount of sugar into his coffee and narrowed his eyes at Jason. “You want to talk about it, dude? ’Cause this is not like you.”
Jason drew a deep breath. Meg’s words had been on an endless loop in his head, and talking to Owen about it had to be better than feeling like he couldn’t do anything.
“She came home from work one day and she was a fucking mess. Apparently, her ex-boyfriend told her he loved her, and Meg started thinking about everything that’s gone south since she married me.”
“Thinking is never good. Could you take her to bed and make her stop thinking?”
Jason thought about that, but sex wasn’t the answer. Getting to know her, spending time with her, was. So that’s what he was trying to do. It took him a second to see that Owen was grinning like a drunk frat boy.
“It’s not funny. Her friends have stopped talking to her pretty much, her family is rarely around—we were with them a couple of nights ago, but it’s tense. She doesn’t go out anywhere, and I’m always working. She’s all alone and taking care of a five-year-old.”
“But Meg went into the marriage knowing your life is controlled chaos, right?” Owen folded his arms