Jason saw from the look on her face that that was the question that had been weighing on her all this time—would he stay? Would he be there when times got hard, when they were challenged, as they were going to be, by both their families?
Would he stay?
He rested his hand on her cheek and made sure her eyes were on his. “I’m not going anywhere.”
There were a few seconds of quiet, complete quiet, where she kept focused on him. Then, without a word, Meg took the hand he had on her face and held it tight. Then she kissed him.
Jason didn’t realize he was holding his breath until he exhaled, and Meg beamed at him. It was the sweetest, most beautiful thing he’d seen all day, because it said she believed him. “I had to do something or you were going to pass out.”
He kissed her again, and only stopped because someone tapped him on the shoulder.
“Not saying hello to your family, darling?” His mother looked exquisite, as always, everything as smooth and glistening as a sheet of ice. Jason leaned in and kissed her cheek, never letting go of Meg’s hand.
“Megan,” his mother said as she reached out and fingered the sleeve of her gown. “You look lovely. What an exquisite dress.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Campbell. We’re so happy you and Mr. Campbell could come.”
She sniffed in that dismissive way she did with the staff on the estate and glared at Meg. “Not that we’ve ever been invited to anything here, still, it would have been nice if we’d been invited by my son’s wife and not one of his underlings.”
Jason watched Harper parch at the use of the word underlings at the same time Meg choked out a laugh. It was certainly time Harper got a little dose of her own medicine. She’d been rude, pretentious, and intrusive since the wedding. She was his friend and he cared about her, but Meg was his wife, and Harper needed a reality check. His mother was appeased for the moment and relaxed a little more when one of the waiters brought her a dirty martini.
She downed half the drink while his father was glad-handing some hedge fund guy. They didn’t relate to each other. Didn’t talk at all, and this was what Jason was afraid of. He didn’t want to be like them.
But watching Meg, he realized that he could choose not to hurt her. He could choose the way they lived and loved. He could decide.
“You certainly clean up nicely, Megan, but next time no oversight with us, or I will be annoyed, and you do not want me annoyed.”
His mother walked away before Jason could respond, and he looked down at Meg, who, for some reason, was smiling.
“Are you all right?” he asked.
“Fine. She was nicer than I expected.”
“Nicer?” Jason couldn’t imagine how anything his mother said could have been construed as nice.
Meg took both his hands and kissed him. “She expected me to call her. To act like a wife. She’s a complete bitch, to be sure, but she’s accepted that I’m in your life.”
That’s when Jason saw the full scope of his mistake all those years ago. If he’d just stuck by her, if he hadn’t been such a coward, they would have been okay. He didn’t know if they would have stayed together, but he wouldn’t have hurt her so badly, he wouldn’t have abandoned her when she most needed him.
Meg was the braver of the two of them . . . he saw that now. She was the one willing to take a chance, put her faith in people, and see the good in things even when there didn’t seem to be any.
Jason looked across the room at his parents, and his father waved him over. The familiar dread that usually hit when he had to deal with them didn’t come this time, and he glanced down and saw that his hands were still tangled with Meg’s. The rings he had given her never left her finger, and he thought about that. Thought what it meant to be tied to someone—to commit. He rarely wore his wedding ring, hadn’t thought it was important, but that was going to change. Right now.
He grasped Meg’s hand and pulled her back to his bedroom.
“Impatient?” she asked, the smile on her face saying she was ready if he was.
“Don’t start; just looking at you makes me hot.” He opened the wooden jewelry box on