pulled off his tie before reaching into his pocket and taking out his cell. His movements were smooth and graceful, which was unusual for a man who was so big. He pressed some buttons on the phone and smiled at her. “Hi, Mrs. Rossi, it’s Jason. We wanted to say good night to Molly.” There was a pause. “The event was very nice, and Meg was a hit.” Another pause, and he smiled at her. “She looked gorgeous, but you knew that. I’ll show you a picture when I see you. Thank you.”
The small talk with her mother was new, but Jason had been doing more to win over her family since her mother’s birthday. When they’d gone there on Halloween, her mother had commented on how well they were getting along and how wonderful he was with Molly.
“He’s different,” her mother had said.
And he was.
“Hey, Molly girl! How’s Grandma Meryl’s house? Good . . . Uh-huh . . . Right . . . English muffins—gotcha.” He shot a knowing grin at Meg. “Oh, you want to talk to Mommy?”
Meg stopped in her tracks. Mommy?
Jason passed the phone into her trembling hand. “Did she really ask for Mommy?”
“She did,” he said, right before he touched his lips to her temple. “She’s making a transition.”
Meg nodded, shaken, because as much as she wanted Molly to accept the fact that she was going to be her mother, she never wanted Molly to lose Grace. She took the phone. “Hi, honey. Are you having fun? Yes . . . I had a very nice time . . . There were a lot of people there, uh-huh . . . You’re going to bed now? Okay, sweetie. I love you, too . . . Night.”
Meg dropped into a chair when the call ended, and Jason knelt before her. “You okay?”
“That was so strange. Why do I feel like I’m betraying Grace? God, Jason, I don’t want her to forget her mother.”
“She won’t, because we’ll keep Grace and Mark alive for her. She’ll always know they are part of her life and we will be, too.”
“I know this is normal and I loved hearing it, but it also felt wrong somehow.”
“Don’t do this to yourself. As I told you, I know why Grace picked you. You have such a capacity for love, Meg. I wish I hadn’t been too stupid to see it when we were younger, but I see it now. Your heart is so big, so full. Molly is lucky to have you.”
Meg reached out and locked her arms around Jason’s neck. “She’s lucky to have both of us. I thought I could do this alone, but she needs you, too. And it’s not only about custody. She needs you.” Keeping her arms firmly around him, Meg leaned in and kissed him. “I need you.”
He didn’t say anything, not at first, but Jason took her hands from around his neck, stood, and brought her with him. Once she was standing, now without her heels, she had to look up to see that he was gazing at her with so much feeling, so much emotion, she almost believed he felt the same way she did.
“Meg, I don’t want to let you down. I’m afraid that I will, but I want to give you everything, absolutely everything.”
His mouth covered hers, and he started to turn her toward the bedroom. It was a dance . . . a true and beautiful dance that had Meg hoping he was finally learning to trust his feelings.
“Have faith, Jason.”
“I have faith in you,” he said. “Just not in myself.”
“Then I’ll have enough for both of us.”
***
It had been too long since he’d been with her like this, and the anticipation of making love to her was building to an explosive point. Jason took in the floral scent of her hair, felt the curve of her back, and relished how her body pressed into his so tenderly. She reached up and wound her arms around his neck and rested her head on his chest. They moved slowly, as if there were really music, and eventually she looked up. Her eyes were softer now, more liquid.
“What?” he asked.
Her hand came around and stroked his jaw. There was so much he wanted to say to her—how much she meant to him, how much he needed her—but it would all have to wait. He lowered his mouth and captured hers in a slow, deep kiss. Soon their tongues were winding in another dance,