In my Arms Tonight (NYC Singles Book 2) (18 page)

“What did you just say? You were pregnant?” Alex tapped her back and stopped midway.

Swiveling around, she looked apologetic. “Sorry. I lied to you that day.”

Shock freed the wineglass from his grasp and it splintered on the floor. Realization dawned on him in an instant.

“The twins are mine?”

He reeled back in numbing shock. Twelve years… the timing was so right. How had he not suspected this? He’d seen that photo, but they’d looked nothing like him. Even when she’d suggested that they could have been his, he’d missed the point.

He looked at her to say something, but Jane just kept walking. His anxiety somaticized into a headache.

“How could you have kept this from me? Jane! I’m talking to you.” Alex’s throat was as gritty as a sandbox.

“Don’t panic. I lied to you, but I didn’t lie about my children. They’re not yours. Only mine.” The forceful whisper was still below the level ears around them could perceive.

“Make up your mind. First they’re not mine, then they’re mine, now they’re not mine again. Just give me the fucking facts!” Alex was losing patience with this see-saw.

“Okay. Here are the facts.” Jane splayed her fingers over the richly paneled walls and scanned the vicinity for ears. “I lied to you before our wedding and that day at the office. And I’ve been lying to David all my life. I didn’t leave you because I was scared of you.”

The few seconds’ break gave him enough time to accept that. Instinctually, relief came, and on its heels annoyance. What had been bothering him for days had been nothing but a lie?

Jane swallowed so hard, the ball of spit protruded as it slunk down her throat. Her expression was shattered, her cheeks pale. “I left you because I found out that I was pregnant. He—the father of my boys—promised me he’d take care of me, and being the naïve, gullible, twenty-six-year-old fool that I was, I trusted him.”

“Back up a minute. You were cheating on me when we were together?” Maybe because it was in the past, the knowledge that she had cheated on him didn’t hurt him.

“Once. I cheated on you once.” Jane held up her index finger. “And that once destroyed my life.”

“Is this a lie or not?”

She gave an indignant frown. “Everything I’m saying now is the truth.”

“I think I’m going to be the judge of that from this point on.” Alex stamped a shoe on the ground to rid himself of unnecessary anger, then asked the obvious question. “And how can you be sure your children are his? We had plenty of sex, too.”

Though they’d been careful, even protected sex wasn’t a guarantee against pregnancy. While the chances of her getting pregnant after one sexual encounter with a stranger were slim at best, chances of condom failure were somewhat higher.

He wouldn’t be surprised if this was another falsehood. It did occur to him that Jane might be afraid that he’d try to claim her children legally, but he wasn’t going to. David, with all his overprotectiveness, was probably a better father than he could be, especially after so many lost years. If there was one thing he knew, it was the value of a stable home and parents.

“I need to know the truth, Jane. As long as you give me that, I’m not going to ask for anything else.”

Jane faced him, courage straightening her slouched posture.

“I’m telling you the truth. I knew they were his as soon as I found out I was pregnant. The timing was right,” Jane said. “But sometimes, I wished they were yours. Then at least I could’ve demanded that you take me back.”

Her eyebrows drooped. “For a long time, I was really unhappy with David and I wanted a way out of my marriage. So I tracked down the man I’d slept with and got a paternity test. They’re his. Without a doubt. I still have the test results, if you want to see them.”

Stupid as it was, after everything she’d done, Alex was going to assume that she was telling the truth. “But what about David? How did he not know anything when all this was happening behind his back?”

“Because I made sure to be discreet.” Panicked, Jane lost some of her elegance and one of her golden heels folded, putting her off balance. “He’d leave me in a heartbeat if he found out about my past. He married me because he pitied me for being your sad, dumped fiancée.”

“You’re crazy.” Alex avoided looking at her. He’d never met such a compulsive liar. It was almost horrifying now, the thought that he could’ve been married to her.

“You can never understand what it’s like to be pregnant and alone,” she cried. “David might not be what I wanted, but he’s given my boys a comfortable childhood and he’s given me a good life. I want to stay together for the sake of our children. My children.”

“That could be the most responsible thing you’ve said in your entire life,” Alex sneered.

“I’m sorry. I can never repair all the damage I did to you, but I wanted to come clean, at least.”

Alex didn’t have the heartlessness to push away her fragile fingers that groped his upper arm for support, so he took them in his and rubbed them with the back of his palm.

“Please keep this from David. My life depends on it. I know I’m living in an illusion, but I have no other choice. This is the choice I made.”

Never in his wildest dreams had Alex expected to feel bad for David, yet now he did. “You’ve been married to the guy for twelve years, Jane. Don’t you think he deserves the truth?”

Jane’s face grew distressed. “David won’t take it well. He’s very conservative. Very… judgmental. He’d be disgusted if he knew I’d cheated. I can’t afford to get divorced. My children adore their father. I don’t want to lose my security.”

“If he loves you, he’ll forgive you,” Alex said.

A bittersweet smile took Jane’s lips. “He doesn’t love me, Alex. Not the way you did.”

Despite her obvious sincerity, he felt nothing. He’d become really good at compartmentalizing the past. Once something was over, it was really over.

“Okay, I won’t,” he said. Although he didn’t feel kindly towards Jane, he had nothing to gain by destroying her peace.

“Thanks.” Her relief poured through her breathless words and fanned his face.

“But you’ll have to do me a favor.” If she wanted him to keep a secret, he wasn’t doing it for free. He was no longer the unconditionally loving man he’d once been. “I want you to find out who was behind that video. I know it’s out of your area of expertise, but I want it done. Hire a detective. Do what you have to do. I can’t spend any time on it, but it bothers me.”

Jane had no choice but to agree. “I’ll let you know when I find something.” Then her eyes traced a line back to where they’d started from. “We should go back. David will be worried.”

They made their way back in silence. Some part of him was sad that this was the way things were, but the larger part of him was overjoyed to close this chapter of his life. It had dragged too long.

Now there were no more dangling threads in his life. He could focus on the future.

“I’m sorry, Alex. I’m sorry I didn’t marry you that day. I’ve regretted it every day of my life,” Jane said, overcome by a sudden burst of emotion as the band started playing a romantic song.

“I’m glad you didn’t. I think I can do much better than you.” Alex picked a crudité from the table he passed.

Jane allowed a faint smile to fall on her lips. “I think you can, too.”

“Suit and tie? This is not the exclusive world premiere of the movie, you know.” Kat had amusement written all over her face when she opened the door to him. “Maybe I should’ve mentioned that movie nights at my place are not usually black-tie events.”

Sticking an arm out, she poked his chest. Alex tried not to react to the obviously friendly gesture, but it was impossible. Kat touching him anywhere, no matter how innocently, made him respond.

“I came straight from a fundraising dinner. Didn’t have time to stop for an outfit change.” The cold, air-conditioned air inside sucked away the droplets of sweat clinging to the corners of his forehead. Alex tugged his tie away from his throat and popped the top two buttons of his shirt open.

Ahead of him, Kat’s gaze raked over his bare skin, crawling down to his fly, where she fixated a few seconds too long. He released another two buttons, giving her a view of his tattoos, and was working on the third when she made him stop by tapping his hand.

“Not yet. We still have a movie to watch.”

His shoes left his feet. “We could watch it later.”

“We won’t be in the mood to watch it later.” Swiveling, she carried on to her couch and he trailed behind her and slumped on the couch.

“So what’re we seeing?” Alex asked, stretching his legs out and tossing his coat onto the armchair to his right.

“Anything you want. You pick. I’ll order pizza.” Hopping over her coffee table, Kat ducked to the phone on the other side of her living room. “One with veggies okay for you?”

“Anything.” Since he’d already had dinner, he was in no mood to eat more.

Skipping back to the couch, she occupied a spot mere inches away from him, her back sinking into the cushioned backrest.

“
Mission: Impossible 5?
Didn’t think you watched stuff like that,” Kat said.

“My tastes are more diverse than you think.”

Paramount’s logo blinked on the screen and the opening credits flashed. Kat snuggled up to him, touching her head to his chest and looping her arm around his.

Between the opening credits and the first line of dialogue, she peeled all his buttons off, eased his shirt from his body, and put her head on his lap. Best part was she’d done it so distractedly she probably wasn’t even aware of it.

She was blissfully engrossed in Tom Cruise’s smile, her attention stolen by the action on screen. However, the awareness of her lips a fingertip away from his dick did not help his attention at all. Her cheek rolled against his stomach. The sharp surge of awareness in his groin made him almost jerk up.

Tangling his fingers in her hair, he led her head up to the hollow of his collarbone. “Stay there, darling.”

Without protesting, she adjusted herself against his bare skin and put her lips on his collarbone. The ends of her curls tickled his abs as she moved.

“Do you want me to turn up the air conditioning?” Kat touched a drop of sweat trickling down his neck. “Your skin’s hot.”

Oh, he was coming down with something much worse, slowly approaching the point where he really needed a physical release. Alex wondered how much of
Mission: Impossible 5
was still ahead of them. Way too much, likely.

Cupping her ass, he elevated her body to his lap. “Kat, let’s just turn this thing off and make love. I can’t hold it anymore.”

“No. I want to find out what happens next.” She tightened the corner of her mouth with resolve. A glint of stubbornness glimmered in her eye.

Alex stretched his legs. “Zoning out in front of the television is something you can do anytime. You can’t make love to me anytime.”

Drawing her waist into the ring of his arm, Alex gave her his best smoldering look, then trailed over her clothes, down her stomach, until he was circling her pubic bone.

“Patience, Alex.” Crawling away, Kat telegraphed him a disapproving look. “The pizza delivery could be here any minute.”

“Doesn’t that make it all the more exciting? A race against time.
Mission: Impossible
.”

Her lip curved. “Let’s finish one
Mission: Impossible
first.”

Despite her verbal reluctance, color was starting to spread through her cheeks.

She turned away, but he spotted her kneading her breasts covertly, ache and sexual haze apparent in her tense manner.

“You okay?”

“Mmmm.”

Squeezing her thighs together tightly, she became still. He could only guess what was going on between her legs. So he let her body do all the work for him, catalyzing the process by murmuring sweet nothings against the nape of her neck.

“Imagine how explosive it’ll be when I make you come,” he cooed when a car exploded on screen.

“Alex!” Kat’s cheeks were tight and red, like the skin of an overripe cherry, her thighs practically conjoined by now.

Then a hot scene with Rebecca Ferguson in a pool wearing a bikini rolled by.