A Clandestine Corporate Affair(36)

“Adam is resigning in early spring at the latest. He plans to be gone before their baby is born. I’m assuming the new CEO will be announced at least a month prior.”

“So, we’re talking another three or four months of sneaking around?”

“Worst case, yes. But it could be sooner.” He touched her cheek, smoothed back the fiery strands resting there. “After that, I don’t care who knows.”

She still looked wary, so he pulled out the big guns. “I think we owe it to Max to at least give it a try, Ana. Don’t you?”

Whatever fight she’d had left in her, whatever doubts she still harbored, dissolved in front of his eyes. “I guess if we’re doing it for Max…,” she said, sliding her arms up around his neck. “As long as you promise not to hurt me again.”

“I promise,” he said. As he kissed her, lifted her off her feet and carried her to her bedroom, it was a promise he intended on keeping.





Ten





Ana woke the next morning to the shrill of her cell phone ringing on the bedside table. That was her father’s ring tone. She pried her eyes open to check the time on the digital clock—9:05 a.m.

Oh hell. She was supposed to be at his house five minutes ago for breakfast. She had completely forgotten to set her alarm.

She grabbed her phone and flipped it open. “Hey, Dad.”

“Where are you?” he snapped. “Did you forget that we had plans this morning?”

“I’m sorry. I forgot to set my alarm and I overslept.”

“In other words, you were out clubbing last night, and you couldn’t be bothered to drag yourself out of bed at a decent hour so I could see my grandson.”

He made it sound as if she’d slept half the day away. It was 9:00 freaking a.m. To this day he refused to even entertain the possibility that she wasn’t the irresponsible party girl she’d been before she had Max. And how did he know that she’d gone out last night? She’d tried to keep a low profile, and she hadn’t seen anyone who looked like the media following her. Or was he just assuming that because it was the weekend, she would be out?

Defending herself was a waste of time. He wouldn’t believe her anyway. “If I get up now and get ready, we can be there in an hour.”

“Don’t bother. It’s clear where your priorities lie. And here I was beginning to believe that you’d finally grown up. Thank God your mother isn’t here to see this.”

She didn’t bother to point out that if her mother were still alive, her life would have been completely different. Both their lives.

Instead, she was going to apologize again, and do a little groveling—for Max’s sake—but he hung up on her before she got the chance.

Talk about needing to grow up. She mumbled a derogatory term she wished she had the guts to say to his face, then dropped the phone back on the bedside table.

“I take it your dad is pissed off.”

Ana nearly jumped out of her skin at the rumble of Nathan’s voice beside her. She had just assumed she was alone.

She rolled to face him. He lay on his back, eyes still closed, bare-chested and beautiful. Excitement, and joy, and hope bubbled up from somewhere deep inside of her. In all the time they had been seeing each other, he had never once spent the night. Even if they stayed up making love until 4:00 a.m., he always went home. So this could only mean one thing. He actually meant what he’d said last night. He wanted to make this work.

Until that very instant she hadn’t been one hundred percent sure. It wouldn’t be the first time a man lied to her to get what he wanted. Even though, as far as she knew, Nathan had never lied to her about anything. And though he hadn’t told her he loved her, or said anything even remotely resembling a marriage proposal, maybe it was just a matter of time now.

“He was pissed enough to hang up on me,” she told him. “And he accuses me of needing to grow up. If I did something like that to him, he would freeze me out for months. Maybe even years.”

“So let him.”

“The only reason I try to keep things civilized is for Max. And maybe I feel a little sorry for my dad. It’s pathetic, really, the way he shuts people out. He’s been that way ever since my mom died.”

Nathan opened his eyes and looked over at her. “That’s no excuse.”

No, but he was still her father. Although now, with Nathan planning to claim Max as his son, they didn’t need her father to be the man in Max’s life. Maybe it would be best if she cut all ties, at least for a while. Maybe it would be the wake-up call he needed to see that it was no longer acceptable to treat her this way. “You’re right. It isn’t. Maybe it’s time he learns that.”