Page 25 of Deal with Mr. Cruel

Truthfully, at times it was hard to feel any temptation with Mae. She was so up and down with her moods, Jonas had whiplash trying to keep up. In ways, she was the same Mae he remembered. Grumpy before coffee. Witty. Beautiful. But she was also different from the Mae he remembered. How could he expect her not to be? They weren’t the same people they used to be. They weren’t together.

He watched as she moved around glasses and listened to her huff.

“Need some help?” Jonas smirked.

She turned to him with groggy eyes. “Where the hell are the coffee mugs?”

Jonas pointed above his head. “I put them above the coffeemaker. It’s the logical choice.”

Mae rolled her eyes and tried pushing him aside, but Jonas didn’t budge. He took another sip of his coffee, smiling to himself.

“Are you always this annoying?” Mae asked, trying to reach the cabinet.

“Are you always this grumpy?”

She shot him a look.

“Okay, okay.” He put his hands up and slid away from the cabinet.

She reached up, grabbed a mug, and poured herself a generous serving of coffee. She took a sip and let out an appreciative sigh. She eyed Jonas out of the corner of her eye.

“How long have you been up?” she asked sleepily.

“About an hour now.”

“Ugh. Still an early bird. I don’t know how you do it.” She shook her head before taking another sip.

“I like the quiet of the morning. The city isn’t quite awake yet.” He looked out toward the clear views of the city.

She nodded and followed his gaze. “Itisbeautiful.”

Jonas couldn’t help thinking the same thing about her as she walked her cup of coffee to the window. Her hair fell in messy waves and her long legs moved gracefully. It wasn’t like he had forgotten her beauty. He still saw her every day at the office, but seeing her in suits was much different from seeing her first thing in the morning.

They weren’t sleeping in the same bed. Obviously. She mostly avoided going near him. But still, these mornings felt intimate. Familiar in a way. As grumpy as she was when she rolled out of bed, he enjoyed the company. It was a nice change from being alone. These little glimpses of her brought up a lot of memories, and it was hard for Jonas to push them away.

“It almost feels lonely,” Mae said softly, breaking Jonas out of his thoughts.

“Hmm?” He looked at her.

“Being up here in this big home, looking over a city full of people.” She didn’t meet his gaze.

“Sometimes.” Jonas said honestly.

They stood in silence, looking out over the city as the lights began to lose their luster with the sun rising. They watched the sky change from gray to purple to pink to blue. It was comfortable. It was like time stood still.

“Well, I better get ready for work,” Mae said, finishing the last sip of coffee. She walked back to the kitchen and placed her mug in the sink before heading down the hallway to the bathroom. He heard the door shut and the shower turn on.

Jonas let out a sigh as if he had been holding his breath. He walked to the kitchen and placed his mug next to hers. Something so simple as two mugs in the sink made him smile. What was wrong with him? Maybe he had misjudged how difficult this would be. He shook it off and headed to his room.

As he got ready for work, he gave himself an internal pep talk. He had to focus. The festival was this week. He and Wendy had been planning it for months. It was their largest charity event of the year, and it needed to be perfect. Plus, he was about to embark on a huge partnership with Nate. His dream partnership. The one thing that would separate him from who his father was. The one thing besides this marriage to Mae. Which, now that he thought of it, he made a mental note to go to his jeweler after work. He had to pick out their rings.

Jonas straightened out his suit before shutting his bedroom door behind him. He looked around the condo, but didn’t see Mae. He wasn’t about to look for her to say goodbye after he had walked in on her in the bathroom her first day here. He couldn’t shake the mental snapshot he took of her soaked in bubbles. Instead, Jonas headed out the front door, locking it behind him.

Downstairs, his driver waited by the curb. He opened the door for Jonas, handing him the morning paper. Jonas slid into the backseat and turned the pages of the paper distractedly. Soon, they were at the office. Jonas was always the first one there. He entered his office and tried to focus on the workday ahead. The day went by in a slow blur, and only sped up when he saw Mae. It almost felt like it was years back when they were keeping their relationship a secret. It was exciting.

In the late afternoon, Jonas checked his watch. It was one o’clock. He let out a sigh. He usually didn’t leave work early. In fact, it was quite the opposite. But today, his head just wasn’t here. Plus, there was a game tonight. No one would question it. He grabbed his briefcase and called his driver.

“Where to, Mr. Matthews?” his driver asked as he opened the car door.

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