Page 45 of Dirty Secret

"You're right, Heidi. I was the idiot. I begged my dad to let Jackie help with Brighton & Sonsafter we had Kat. She was complaining she wasn't meant to be a stay-at-home-mom, and I thought if she had a job it would help her. My father, after much begging, let Jackie do the bills. Then she convinced her father to have his friends, who happened to have money, have Brighton & Sonstake care of their plumbing."

"I think I can see where this is going. You used your wife to steal from her father's friends?"

Max straightened in his chair. "No. Not at all. I know, because of how I was going to overcharge you when we first met, it's easier to believe that I played a part in this scheme. But this was all Jackie. I had no idea she was doing that until it was too late. It was the reason I divorced her."

"It's easier to blame someone who isn't here to defend herself. This is the woman you married. There had to be some good qualities to her."

I had been used in the past by men, but I wasn't a moron. He married Jackie and then when caught in a lie, used her to make himself look good. I didn't buy it.

"At first. I was young, just turned twenty-one, when I met her. She thought I had money because I bragged, like an idiot, that my dad owned his own business. I wanted to impress the beautiful girl that smiled at me."

Max's gaze grew distant as if remembering the moment, before he continued, "Then she got pregnant and I wanted to do right, so I married her. But I found out later, after she realized my dad's business didn't make as much money as she would have liked, that I made a mistake marrying her. Don't get me wrong, I could never regret having Kat in my life, but I didn't need to marry Jackie. I really believed that if we worked on the marriage, we would thrive together. Then I realized she was making up charges on bills to get the money she felt she was owed. Those were her exact words. In her mind, my father didn't pay her enough. She was used to a certain lifestyle after all. And when her father found out about the bogus charges, she begged me not to tell him."

"You lied for her. You took the blame because you loved her."

"Not because I loved her. My feelings for Jackie had begun to die once I saw what she was really like. I did it to save my father from the ultimate blame and a potential lawsuit. And to get Jackie to divorce me. Everyone was happy with that arrangement. Jackie wanted rid of me. Her father was happy we were divorcing, so he convinced his friends not to sue, and my dad, who knew the truth, was glad to have her out of our life."

Felipe was right. I had let my father get to me. He saw my weakness, Max, and took advantage of it.

Motioning to get up, we both stood. I encircled him in my arms, inhaling his spicy scent as if I couldn't get enough.

"I'm sorry I believed Mr. Willis over you. I should have known . . . if my dad had him at the party, it was all a play to trick me. Can you ever forgive a fool?"

"I love you, Heidi, there's nothing to forgive."

My breath caught, and I leaned back to look up at his caring azure eyes.

"Yes, about that love thing. I admit it caught me by surprise at the party when you told me."

He cupped my chin. "I know you may not feel it, but I've felt it for a while. I never said it so you would say it back. I only wish to be honest with you."

"I love you, too." Rising to my tiptoes I leaned toward his ears. "You came to fix my pipes, but you stole my heart."

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