A Clandestine Corporate Affair(46)

“No.”

“Would you like to stay for dinner?”

He glanced over at Nathan. “If it’s not an imposition.”

Did he suddenly see Nathan as the man of the house, or was he just afraid of making the wrong move?

“Why don’t you take Max while I finish dinner and Nathan showers,” Ana said. He removed his coat and took Max from her, carrying him into the living room. Ana gestured Nathan down the hall, and he followed her into her bedroom. She closed the door and leaned into him, wrapping her arms around his waist, burying her face against his chest.

“You okay?” he asked, rubbing her back.

“After what he said to me, am I crazy for inviting him to stay?”

“If he meant it, maybe, but I don’t think he did. I think he probably felt threatened and was lashing out without thinking. Men like him are used to being in control. Take that control away and they say and do stupid things.”

“I guess that makes sense.” She lifted her head and gazed up at him. “Thanks for defending me.”

“You defended me first. Did you really mean what you said?”

“What part?”

He touched her cheek. “When you said that I’m the man you love.”

“I did mean it.” She rose up on her toes to kiss him, whispered against his lips, “I love you, Nathan.”

Those four words made his whole holiday. The ultimate Christmas gift. Women had said it before, but it hadn’t meant half as much coming from anyone else. No one knew him, or understood him, the way Ana did. “I love you, Ana.”

Her lips curved into a smile. “I better get back into the kitchen before I burn dinner.”

“I’ll be in to help you in a minute.”

She gave him another quick kiss, then left him alone. While he was in the shower he could swear he heard the doorbell, but he couldn’t imagine who else could possibly stop by. Maybe it was the driver, or he could have been hearing one of Max’s new toys.

He shaved, and dressed in a polo and slacks, then headed out to help Ana. The second he stepped into the living room he saw that there was in fact someone else there and was incredulous when he realized the man sitting on the floor playing with Max was his brother, Jordan.

In that instant this went from one of the best Christmases of his life, to the holiday from hell.

Jordan saw Nathan standing there and rose to his feet. “Hey, big brother. Merry Christmas.”

“What the hell are you doing here?” Nathan asked.

“He came by when you were in the shower,” Ana said, walking into the living room, wiping her hands on her apron. That part was pretty obvious. Unless Ana had been hiding him in a closet all morning.

Ana’s father was sitting on the couch, looking amused by the entire situation.

“Is there something wrong with wanting to spend Christmas with my brother? And my nephew?” Jordan asked.

Nathan shot a look Ana’s way.

“I didn’t say a word,” she said. “He already knew.”

Nathan looked at Jordan questioningly.

“You’ve been acting weird for weeks,” Jordan said. “Then you give me that lame excuse about the cruise. You insult my intelligence, Nathan.”

They needed to have a word. Several, in fact. But he wasn’t going to do this in front of Ana and her father. And especially not Max.

“Why don’t we step outside,” Nathan said.

Jordan scoffed. “It’s cold and raining.”

“Don’t be a sissy,” Nathan shot back, realizing, when the false cheer slipped from Jordan’s face, that he sounded just like their father. Somehow his family always managed to bring out the worst in him.

Jordan walked to the door and grabbed his coat. Nathan pulled his own coat on and followed him out onto the porch. It was cold and damp and the sky was spitting down icy rain.

“Isn’t this cozy,” Jordan said, dropping all pretense of holiday cheer. “You spending the holiday with Ana Birch and her daddy. I guess now we know who to blame for the sabotage.”

“Jordan, do you really think I could do that?”

“You can’t deny this looks pretty damned suspicious.”

“Not that it’s any of your business, or I feel I need to justify my actions in any way, but her father wasn’t supposed to be here. He just showed up, which I’m sure you can understand. Besides, I wasn’t even seeing Ana when it happened. I didn’t even know I had a son until a few weeks ago. I broke up with her before she knew she was pregnant.”