Tempted by Her Innocent Kiss (Pregnancy & Passion #3)(47)

Devon’s lips thinned but he acknowledged Eric’s ultimatum with a tight nod.

With another dark look, Eric stalked out of the door.

Devon stared out his window in brooding silence after Eric’s abrupt departure. Then he stared down at his phone, suddenly afraid to make the call he’d planned just minutes before.

It also occurred to him that she hadn’t called him at work in weeks. Not once. No more silly Tinker Bell chimes that amused his coworkers to no end. Not even a mushy text message like she’d done so often before.

He hadn’t given it much thought. Things had been so busy after the wedding, with William wanting to move into retirement and the new resort going up, as well as the endless planning sessions for the future.

He’d honestly just forged ahead, hoping that with time, Ashley would get over her initial upset and see that things really hadn’t changed that much between them. But a sick feeling settled into his stomach as he realized—truly realized—that everything had changed. And most notably, she had changed.

A ping sounded, signaling the intercom, and Devon raised his head irritably. Now his secretary wanted to talk to him? Giving him a heads-up on Eric’s arrival would have been nice. But he forgot all about his irritation when he heard what she had to say.

“Mr. Carter, your wife is here to see you.”

Adrenaline surged in his veins.

“Send her in,” Devon demanded, rising from his seat.

Ashley hadn’t ever set foot in his office. Not even when they were dating. She’d called him. Texted him. Sent him sweet emails. But she’d never actually come into his building.

He was striding across the room, fully intending to meet her, when the door opened and she hesitantly walked in. He stopped abruptly, taken aback by the starkness of her features. She was pale, her face was drawn and her eyes were heavy and dull.

An uneasy feeling crept up his spine as she stared back at him.

“Are you busy?” she asked in a soft voice. “Have I come at a bad time?”

“Of course not. Come, have a seat. Would you like something to drink?”

He was suddenly nervous and he hated that feeling. Somehow she’d managed to completely upend his confidence. Much like she’d upended his life.

She shook her head but took a seat on the small sofa in the small sitting area of his office. “I needed to talk to you, Devon.”

It was only natural that any man hearing those words from his wife would dread what followed. But coming from Ashley, they seemed so…final.

“All right,” he said quietly. He took a seat across from her and studied the tiredness in her eyes. Those rich, vibrant eyes looked…bleak. Without hope. That was what he’d been reaching for. What had eluded him about the way she looked. He caught his breath, suddenly filled with an impending sense of doom. She looked…hopeless, and Ashley was nothing if not eternally optimistic. Had he ever considered such a thing a flaw? He was ashamed to say he had. Now he just wanted it back.

“I’m pregnant,” she said baldly. There was no emotion. No accompanying excitement. No flash of joy. Frankly, he was bewildered by her reaction.

“That’s wonderful,” he said huskily.

But her expression said it was anything but wonderful. She looked as though she was battling tears.

“I can’t do this anymore,” she said in a choked voice.

Alarm blistered up his spine and rammed into the base of his skull. “What do you mean?”

She rose and it was all he could do not to tie her to the damn sofa because he had a sudden sense that she was slipping away from him in more ways than one.

Her hands shook but she exerted admirable control over her emotions as she courageously faced him down.

“This marriage. You asked how long it would take to determine whether it would work. The truth is, it was never going to work. It’s taken me this long to realize it, but I deserve more. We both do. You deserve to find a woman you can love and that you won’t be manipulated into marrying. I deserve a man who adores me and wants to be married to me. Someone who won’t try to change me. Someone who accepts me, faults and all. Someone who loves flighty, impulsive Ashley and isn’t embarrassed by her.”

Tears clouded her eyes and her voice grew thick with emotion. “I thought… I thought I could make you love me, Dev. It was a mistake from the beginning to even try. It was a hard lesson for me to learn but I can’t be someone I’m not even if it meant you’d eventually love the new me. Because it wouldn’t be Ashley you loved. It would be someone I made up and all the while the real Ashley would be standing there, unloved. I can’t do that to myself. And I can’t do it to my child. I want to be a woman and a mother I can be proud of first. Before anyone else. I have to love and be at peace with myself, and you know what? I am. I liked me just fine. Was I perfect? No, but I was happy in my own skin and my family and friends accept that person. Someday there’ll be a man who’ll accept me, too. Until then, I’d rather be alone and true to myself than with someone who places conditions on his ability to love and accept me.”

So stunned was he by her declaration that he stood while she walked quietly toward the door. When he realized she’d already slipped by him, he whirled around, calling her name, the lump in his throat so huge that it came out as a mere croak.

But the door had already closed quietly behind her, leaving him standing there so numb…and broken.