A Clandestine Corporate Affair(15)

You’re giving him too much power, she warned herself.

Not just that, but what in God’s name had possessed her to touch him? She hadn’t done it consciously. Until he’d asked her to let go, she hadn’t even realized her hand was on his arm. She wanted to find his flaws, but not in bed. Besides, she knew for a fact that sexually, he was about as perfect as a man could be. So perfect that it made her blind to everything else. As evidenced by the fact that when he dumped her it seemed to come out of the clear blue with no warning. They hadn’t even had so much as a disagreement. As far as she knew, everything was fantastic, them bam, it was over. Apparently there had been some problem that she wasn’t seeing.

All the more reason not to sleep with him.

Her cell phone rang, and she pulled it out of her pocket to check the display, half-hoping it was Nathan calling to cancel for tomorrow. It was Beth. Ana was supposed to call her when Nathan left, but apparently Beth was impatient.

“Is he gone yet?” she said when Ana answered.

“He left a few minutes ago.”

“So, what did he decide? Does he want to be Max’s daddy?” Beth had been convinced from the time Ana learned she was pregnant that Nathan would want the baby and would slip easily into the role of being a father. She obviously didn’t know Nathan as well as she thought she did.

“He wants a trial period.”

“What?” she shrieked. “What the heck for?”

“Lots of reasons. But the gist of it is that he wants what’s best for Max.”

“Max needs his father. That’s what’s best for him.”

“Well, Nathan doesn’t see it that way. He’s not convinced he’ll be a good father. And he’s concerned about the reaction at work.”

“So, are you going to let him do it?” she asked.

“What else can I do? I can’t force him to want to be Max’s daddy.”

“But he is Max’s daddy. He needs to be there for his son.”

“I get the feeling there’s more to it than he’s letting on. He said something about having made mistakes in the past.”

“What kind of mistakes?”

“I’m not sure. It was very cryptic. I thought maybe you would know what he was talking about. Maybe something that happened in college?”

“Nothing comes to mind. The only major mistake I’ve seen him make is leaving you.”

She twisted the lock, engaged the deadbolt then switched off the porch light. “I think he almost kissed me.”

Beth made a sound of indignation. “Are you serious?”

“Yeah.” She walked into the living room and grabbed the two empty wineglasses. “We were at the front door saying goodbye and he was looking at me.”

“Looking, or looking?”

“Looking.” She carried the glasses into the kitchen and set them next to the sink. “Then he leaned.”

“He’s got a lot of nerve. Does he think having a kid together is an open invitation back into your pants?”

Yeah, about that…she grabbed the bottle of wine and poured herself a second glass. “I sort of…touched him.”

“What? Where?”

“His arm. Actually, just the sleeve of his jacket.”

“Oh.” Beth sounded disappointed, like maybe she thought it would be something more scandalous, like his fly.

Ana took a sip of wine, noticing the lip balm mark on the empty glass. That must be her glass, meaning she was drinking out of Nathan’s glass. The idea of putting her lips on the rim where his had been sent a warm shiver down her spine.

Ugh! She was hopeless. She dumped it down the sink and set the glass down.

“I probably shouldn’t have invited him to stay for a glass of wine either,” she told Beth.

“Maybe this is a stupid question, but did you want him to kiss you?”

“No.” She paused, then blew out a frustrated breath. “And yes. I still have all these feelings for him. But damn it, he already eviscerated my heart once. I would be a moron to go back for seconds.”

“You know I’ll stand by whatever you decide to do, hon, and this probably goes without saying, but be careful. Don’t jump into anything without thinking it through first. Okay?”

“I won’t, I promise.” At least, she would try. “The problem is, when I’m close to him, it’s like my brain ceases to function. Like…animal magnetism or something. It’s been that way since the day I met him.”