Page 42 of Tempted By the Bosshole

He nods. By the candlelight glow, his expression looks softer, his features almost boyish. “When your father and I started our business together, we were in our twenties, both married with futures to think about. I knew he and your mom were having problems. I had no idea why.”

“There was another woman.”

“My wife.”

“Oh, god.” I should have seen that coming. I should have realized those two weren’t a new item. “I didn’t know.”

“Of course you didn’t.” He scoffs. “Hell, I didn’t know for longer than I want to admit. I was so busy working, to build a better future for us… Julia didn’t need my income. She made great money as an attorney, but it felt like my responsibility to provide, you know? I was so focused on the future that I didn’t see what was happening in front of me. Then, one day, I got a call from the bank that held the business account I shared with your dad. They said checks I’d written were bouncing. That seemed impossible, but after some digging—and trying for two days to reach your father—I realized he’d taken the money and skipped town.”

“That’s when he left Mom and me. He took all our money, too.” I sigh. “My poor mom dropped out of college to help him finish his education. She waitressed and cleaned houses and took whatever work she could find to pay bills. Dad promised she could finish school once he did, but she got pregnant, so…she decided to be a stay-at-home mom instead. After my father left, we had no means of support. Mom couldn’t find a good job since she hadn’t finished college and hadn’t worked in over a dozen years. We struggled and scraped. Years passed. Dad turned up again out of the blue, all apologies, and opened his wallet. He promised to pay for my college to make up for the way he stiffed Mom and me. He kept his word for the first three years. Then…he disappeared again.”

“This time with my wife.”

“Why didn’t she leave with him the first time?”

He shrugs. “A lot of reasons, but none of them about me or keeping our marriage intact, I suspect. Mostly, she didn’t want to ruin her image at her hoity-toity law firm. Julia was always ambitious, and making partner by the time she was forty was her goal.”

“Is that why you two never had kids?”

He laughs bitterly. “One of the reasons.”

I realize what Nathan isn’t saying. “My father was the other.”

He nods. “Since she was fucking another man, the last thing she wanted to do was get pregnant. But she had me fooled for years. She pretended to monitor her temperature. She bought ovulation kits and kept a journal of her cycle. Every month, she’d lure me into bed over a weekend and swear she was fertile. She acted so disappointed every time she failed to conceive. She even told me she’d sought specialists to find out what was wrong.”

“But she didn’t?”

“The night before our twelfth anniversary, I found out she was both fucking your dad and taking the pill—and had been all along.”

How horrible. Nathan married me for revenge. He’s trying to get me pregnant for revenge. I shouldn’t have an ounce of sympathy for his situation, but the betrayal he endured literally hurts my heart. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. You did nothing wrong.” He holds me closer. “You know they’re getting married next weekend, right?”

I freeze. “Dad and Julia? You’re sure?”

“You didn’t know?”

“I haven’t seen or spoken to my father in over a year. I broke into your house trying to find him. After he reneged on his promise to pay for my last year of college, I took out student loans. I was trying to find him, to talk to him… I could tell a woman lived there, but I had no idea you owned the house.”

“After the divorce, I let Julia stay. I couldn’t be where I had so many memories. She rents the place back from me. Doug moved in with her a few months back.”

“I’m so sorry. My life hasn’t been easy, but yours…”

“It’s at least half my fault. I was too myopic, too focused on getting ahead and providing, saving money for what I hoped would support the family we’d eventually have. I didn’t ask questions when I should have. I made excuses for her when I shouldn’t have. I just…stopped looking.”

“Nathan, you did what you were supposed to do. What a good husband would do. You tried to forge a future. You believed in her, trusted her, loved her.”

“I tried.” He shook his head. “It wasn’t enough.”

“If being with Eric taught me one thing, it’s that one person can’t love enough for both partners.”

He grips my chin and drags my face to his. Determination fills his dark eyes as he positions my body over his and thrusts deep inside me. “Don’t forget that. I meant it when I said I was never letting you go.”

Then he seizes my mouth, grips my ass, and drives himself inside me until I dissolve in his arms. Only then does he come inside me again and makes me forget everything but pleasure.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Nathan

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