Page 11 of Harry

“I can relate.” He had come up behind her. “I’m still in love with my wife.”

She turned to face him, a quizzical expression on her face.

“She cheated on me, not once, but several times.”

“I’m so sorry.”

He shrugged, the pain evident on his face. “The first time and the time after that, I forgave her and decided that I had a part to play in that.”

“How do you figure?”

He smiled at her question. “I work a lot and do a lot of traveling.”

“I don’t condone cheating, not for any reason.”

“Neither do I. But when you love someone, you make concessions. And I loved her. Still do. But I could not live with the lies and duplicity anymore. I decided that in order to maintain my sanity, we had to go our separate ways. You are a beautiful woman my dear and this is not something I’m just saying. What I need right now is a friend.”

“Just a friend?”

“Just a friend,” he confirmed, “and if in the future you decide to be something else, I am here.”

She considered it. She could not tell him of her condition yet, of course, not until she found the courage to tell Harry, but if it’s just friendship he requires, she had nothing against it.

Holding out a hand, she smiled. “To friendship then.”

*****

“We can’t keep doing this. I have a ton of paperwork. The auction…”

“Hold our calls,” Michael dismissed her assistant and waited until she closed the door.

“Micheal, I really do not have time…”

“I just cleared some for you!” He sat on the edge of her desk and stared at her.

“What?”

“You know what. Why are you complicating your life any further than it already is?”

She shuffled papers and looked anywhere except at him. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You know exactly what I’m referring to.” His impatient tone had her jerking her chin up.

“If you’re referring to David, it’s just lunch and we’re just friends.”

“I’m your friend,” he jabbed a finger in his chest. “A friend without benefits. I am not going to buy you lunch or dinner and expect to see you naked.”

“You’ve seen me naked.” She tried to tease, but it fell flat when he simply stared at her.

“There is nothing going on. I told him that firmly.”

“Did you also tell him that you are carrying twins for one of the most powerful men in the world? A man who’s heir to a vast fortune? No? I didn’t think so. Because if you had, I guarantee he would run the other way.”

“There’s no law that says I cannot have friends,” she sniffed.

“None whatsoever.” They both ignored the ringing of the phone. “But there’s a law that says you have to tell a guy that he’s going to be a daddy. And if there isn’t one, there sure as hell should be.” His expression softened at the acute misery one her face. “When are you going to tell him?”

“When the babies are old enough to start kindergarten. I’ll just pop on over to whichever place he’s living and ask him if he wouldn’t mind babysitting.” Leaning back, she closed her eyes wearily. She had wondered why she felt so damned tired.

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