Total pages in book: 114
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 105756 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 529(@200wpm)___ 423(@250wpm)___ 353(@300wpm)
He pressed his lips together, his expression vaguely uncomfortable. “At our parents’ funeral after you and your sister left, your mother approached me at the bar.”
I closed my eyes and suppressed a mortified groan. “She didn’t.”
“She did.”
“And what happened?” My stomach turned just imagining the scene. I mean, I’d never actually felt threatened by Mam’s attempts to steal my boyfriends’ attention, merely awkward and embarrassed, but with Jonathan, it was different, especially since this all happened prior to us being together. If he were about to tell me something transpired between them, I felt like I might be sick.
His voice was apologetic, which told me he didn’t enjoy relaying the information. “She made it clear she was willing to spend the night with me, but you should know I didn’t entertain it even for a second. I was very direct with her that I wasn’t interested.”
Just like that, my fear and tension dissolved. If Jonathan had indulged in a grief-induced one-night stand with my mother, I wasn’t sure I could ever look at him the same way again.
“So, now, we really can’t tell her we’re together. It’ll be even worse because you’ve already rejected her. I’m not sure what tactic she’d employ in a situation like that.”
Jonathan’s eyes found mine. “To be honest, I think half the reason she came onto me at the funeral was because she saw how I looked at you. I wanted you from the moment you stepped into my office, but that day, how you spoke about my mother, you were already getting under my skin.”
My heart pounded as I leaned in, inhaling his scent. “Really?”
“Really.”
“I wanted you, too,” I confessed. “I mean, I found you infuriating, of course, but I was still very much attracted to you.”
Jonathan chuckled deeply. “Good to know.”
“Anyway, you could be onto something with Mam. Like I said, she needs to be the most attractive woman in the room. If your attention was on me and not her, she’d feel this stupid urge to prove she can have you.” I paused a moment to stroke his jaw, and he seemed to melt under my touch. It was hard to believe I had such an effect on him. “I can’t believe you were attracted to me when we first met. You acted like I was an irritating annoyance that you wanted gone as soon as possible.”
“I hate that I acted that way. You just looked so much like your father. As far as I was concerned, his looks and charm were what drew my mother in, the very thing that stuck a wedge between us, and I resented that I was bewitched by your beauty just as she had been by your father’s.”
“He had his troubles, but he wasn’t the terrible man you thought he was,” I said quietly.
“Yes, I know that now. After sorting through my mother’s affairs, I’ve discovered that they signed a prenuptial agreement. Mam’s solicitor informed me it was at your dad’s behest. He wanted to ensure that if anything happened to Mam, he wouldn’t inherit a single cent.”
“I never knew that,” I breathed. “But it does sound like something he’d do. After he got sober, Dad dealt with a lot of guilt for his past behaviour. He felt like his life going forward was to make up for his misdeeds, and he didn’t feel he deserved nice things. When he and Leonora got together, I suspect he struggled with letting himself be loved, and ensuring he never financially benefitted from the marriage was one way of making it so he didn’t get anything he felt undeserving of.”
“I fucking wish I could’ve looked past my own issues and just given him a chance,” Jonathan said, his voice rough. “It’s a regret I’ll take to my grave.” His hands sank into my hair as he moved closer. “But I’m glad she met him, even if it did drive us apart, because if she hadn’t, I’d never have found you.”
His words had my heart pounding, stomach whirling. I didn’t know what to say, so I simply let him kiss me, our limbs tangling as we lost ourselves to desire once more.
21.
Jonathan
Ada and I barely left her bed all weekend. On Sunday afternoon, I was determined to take her on a date, even though all I really wanted to do was sink myself inside her lush body until we both blacked out from exhaustion. In the end, we managed to drag ourselves to the nearby cinema to see a movie.
I couldn’t believe she’d agreed to give us a chance. Monday morning, I glided into the office on a high, feeling like the luckiest bastard in the whole world. I had never, I repeat, never, been in such a good mood after spending the weekend with a woman. Even my employees noticed. Therese shot me a suspicious look when I smiled at her and greeted, “Good morning!”