The Temporary Wife - By Jeannie Moon Page 0,78

thought about his gorgeous wife. He was so damn lucky, he hoped he could muster up enough sense not to run her off. He really didn’t think he could live without her, and that realization, that epiphany, was what had set him off the night before.

Their history was one thing, but it was the here and now that threatened what they wanted to build. Mistakes were only a problem when a person kept making the same ones over and over. Jason was done making the same mistakes with Meg. He glanced over; Harper was sitting in a large armchair, working on her laptop, intent on something that was flashing on her screen. He needed her to understand that things couldn’t stay the same between them. Meg had changed everything.

“I love her, Harper.” Just saying it to another person made it more real. “I think I always have.”

Everything in the room went very still, and Jason didn’t know what he should expect. Rage? Acceptance? The remains of her coffee over his head? Anything could happen, but she had to know; they had to stop pretending.

Harper closed her laptop and looked at him with an expression he could only describe as blank. There was nothing, and that made him more uncomfortable than her temper.

“Do you want me to congratulate you?”

“No, I want you to understand. She’s been integral to my life since I was a kid and they moved onto the estate. My first best friend, my first love, she’s my first everything. I won’t lose her again.”

There was more silence from Harper’s side of the room, and when she finally said something, it was the last thing he expected to hear. “Then I guess you need to grow a major pair and let her know that you want her in your life. That you aren’t just looking to get laid or for some arm candy, but that she’s your partner. Forever.”

“That sounds like a country song.” He chuckled, but Harper wasn’t laughing.

“You need to commit to her, Jay. Granted, she’s not the kind of woman I would have envisioned with you, but I’m starting to see that I don’t know you nearly as well as I thought I did.”

“I never meant to lead you on. The sex between us—”

“Was just sex. I don’t want to marry you, and I’m not wounded. Well . . .” She thought for a second. “Maybe a little bit. You should have told me the truth about her so I could have stepped back. She fucking hates me, and with good reason.”

There was a beeping that had both of them turning their attention to one of the large screens on the wall. They’d been monitoring the bank’s systems all day, and they still had no idea about the origins of the attacks. Jason punched a few keys and shut it down before any damage could be done.

“I’m missing something,” he said. “Goddamnit! What am I missing? I feel like someone’s just messing with us to see what he can do.”

“It’s probably something obvious.” Meg’s voice was soft, sweet, and sexy, and he was never so glad to see her. Just knowing she was there, in his corner, helped quiet the noise in his head.

“Probably, but what?”

Harper stepped forward, and Jason watched his wife take up position behind his chair, making sure his assistant was kept out.

“We’ve looked at every angle. The security techs have closed the circle, but we’re still getting attacks.”

“I wish I could help, but the closest I’ve been to any kind of circle was today at story time.”

Harper made a little sound in her throat, and Jason hoped Meg didn’t catch the derisiveness. The look Meg shot in her direction told him she did.

“Of course, I’m only a lowly kindergarten teacher, but pretty much everything has more than one side, right?”

“Pretty much.” Jason didn’t know where this line of reasoning was headed.

“So if it’s not coming from one side, maybe it’s coming from another.”

Harper folded her arms and cocked her hip. “You think the attacks are coming from the inside? Everyone who works with the servers has top security clearance. Their credentials are impeccable, and access is restricted. The only person who has access to everything is the president of the bank.”

“What was it that Sherlock Holmes said? ‘There is nothing more deceptive than an obvious fact.’”

Jason gazed up at Meg and knew she could have decided to spend her life running some Fortune 500 company or curing cancer. The woman was brilliant.

“I’m