Last Summer(83)

Ella’s mouth flattens to a grim line. She rapidly clicks through images. Even if they didn’t need the time apart, there’s no way Ella’s passing up this assignment. It could be the pinnacle of her career.

Ella lands on a recent headshot. She’d be lying if she said she wasn’t attracted to Nathan. His ice-blue eyes stare back at her. “He looks like you,” she remarks to her husband.

“You think so?”

Damien comes to stand behind Ella. He drops a hand on her shoulder and leans forward to peer at the monitor.

Ella clicks to the next photo. Nathan decked out in a three-piece suit at a charity auction several years back. “You could pass as brothers.”

Damien makes a contemplative noise in the back of his throat and straightens.

“What?” she asks.

He doesn’t share his thoughts, not right away. His finger strokes the side of his nose as he studies Nathan’s image. Ella turns back to the screen and clicks through more pictures.

“Are you still off birth control?”

A sharp intake of breath fills Ella’s lungs. She doesn’t have to ask why he wants to know. She knows how her husband thinks, what he’s thinking. The meaning of his question is clear.

He wants Nathan Donovan to donate his sperm.

Shocked, her mouth falls open. “You aren’t seriously . . . you want me to ask him . . . ?” But even as she sputters to get out the question, the idea takes root in her head. And it’s damn brilliant.

They can avoid the hassle of searching for a perfect match through sperm banks because Nathan already is one. Not only does he resemble her husband, but he’s intelligent and athletic. An entrepreneur. Traits someone like Damien can admire and respect. Traits that could have come from her husband.

But doubt sets in. “I can’t ask him to donate his sperm. Nathan just lost his son. He’ll never go for it.”

“Then don’t ask him.”

Ella twists around and looks up at him, appalled. “You can’t be serious. You aren’t suggesting . . . ?” She can’t finish the sentence. Because her husband of three years has just suggested that she sleep with another man.

“He doesn’t have to know. No one will ever know your baby isn’t mine if we don’t tell them.”

Ella’s hands shake. She clasps them in her lap. Charming interview subjects into bed isn’t new to her. She did it with Damien when she thought she’d still write his story. But she hasn’t done it since, and none of the men she’d slept with beforehand had been an official assignment at the time. She could put her job at risk. Her marriage.

There’s also another obstacle. A big one.

“He’s married,” Ella points out, even though, surprisingly, she isn’t finding herself completely opposed to sleeping with Nathan. It’s an odd sensation for sure. Nathan isn’t the first man she’s been attracted to since marrying Damien. But to sleep with him? She’d be cheating on Damien, wouldn’t she?

But is it really cheating if Damien suggested it and they get the baby they both want?

Damien points at the image on the monitor. “Caption here says he’s separated. His wife left him last summer.”

“Doesn’t mean he’ll sleep with me.”

Damien snorts his objection. He grasps Ella’s hands. She pictures an infant in those hands, can almost smell her downy head and hear her soft coos. Or his. She’d be happy either way. A certain thrill from what they’re planning buzzes through her. She wants a baby in her arms. Her baby.

Damien sits on the desk and lifts her to her feet, fitting her between his legs. He kisses her solidly on the mouth. “I don’t make many mistakes,” he murmurs against her lips. “But my biggest mistake is not telling you the truth about me. I should have told you before we married, and I’ll regret that I didn’t until the day I die. I’m sorry, Ella.”

“I know,” she whispers. She senses the honesty of his words.

He kisses her again and Ella feels the kiss—his love, his regret, his shame—to the tips of her fingers and down to her toes. Relief floods her because their love is strong. Grace’s parents didn’t have this love. Her parents didn’t have their kind of love.

Damien lifts his head and clasps Ella’s face. “Let me tell you something about a man like Nathan Donovan. He’s hurting. He’s lonely. You’ll be a ray of sunshine in his life. Just like you were for me. I was also heartbroken and lonely when we met. Make him care for you, like you did with me. The guy won’t be able to keep his hands off you. I couldn’t.”

Ella chews her bottom lip.

“We’re a team, Ella. In this and everything else. No matter what, we’ll always be a team,” Damien negotiates. “You’re doing this for us, Ella. I’ll never hold it against you.”

She slowly shakes her head.

“What?” He taps her lip.

“I’m just thinking.” She frowns, looks inward. “I’ll have to do more than make him think I care for him. I’m meeting him for an interview. It’s business. He’ll want to keep it professional unless . . .” She plays with the top button on her husband’s shirt.

“Unless what?” Damien prods.

“Nathan needs to believe I’ve fallen in love with him. I’m going to have to do everything I can to make him fall for me. I also have to check my cycle. I may need to stay longer. Five days might not be enough.”