“Do you want to quit?”
“Do you want me to?” she flashed back.
He paused, all too aware of the dragons surrounding them.
“I want what you want, Claire. Whatever you want. When I married you, I promised to spend my life seeing to your happiness, but you have to decide what that means.”
“That makes me sound like a selfish princess.”
“It makes you sound like a woman whose husband adores her because you showed him how to love someone besides himself.” He waited, judging her mood before he pushed ahead. “I love working with you. I value you and what you do, but we’re lucky. If you want to stay home and take care of Bella, you can do it. If I never make another dime, we could live comfortably for the rest of our lives. I will support you no matter what you decide.”
“But that’s it exactly,” she said, pressing the heel of her hand against her forehead. “When you say it like that, how could I choose anything other than staying home with Bella? It feels selfish.”
“Why is it selfish for you to work, but it’s not selfish for me?”
“It just isn’t, Masters.”
“Bullshit. If it’s true for you, it’s true for me. How many years have you spent proving yourself to asshole contractors before they realized you’re not only as good as the men, but in most cases, you’re a hell of a lot better? What makes you assume that doesn’t work in the other direction?”
The noise she made made it clear she thought he was full of shit and for the first time since he’d woken up and found her gone, he started to get angry. When she’d found out she was pregnant, she’d run off, assuming he couldn’t handle it. This was just another example of her underestimating him.
“You run a multibillion dollar company,” she said, looking at him as though the rest should be obvious.
“Which means I can hire people to do the things I need to have done, including covering things at work so I can take care of my daughter.”
“What are you saying, Masters?” She went very still beside him.
“What I’ve been trying to say for weeks now. When you were nursing, it made sense for most of the baby stuff to fall to you, but now that you’re done we can figure it out together. She’s not a problem to solve and you’re not the only one with choices to make. I’ve worked damn hard to make sure you understand that I know your career isn’t any less important than mine. You’re not alone in this, Claire, and it pisses me off that you’d try to close me off. We’re a team. We build things together. Our buildings. Our family. Our love.”
He let the words hang in the air between them. And then he stood and started back across the rocks toward the house. He’d said everything he needed to. It was up to her to decide whether she believed him or not.
––––––––
CLAIRE PULLED LUKE’S jacket tighter, not because it was cold—the sun had already moved high enough in the sky to warm the rocks she sat on. She liked feeling him around her, smelling him on her skin. The man she married never ceased to surprise her. Every time she thought she had him figured out, he turned around and knocked her on her ass.
She couldn’t argue with anything he’d said. She wanted to because to admit he was right meant she’d been operating under false assumptions, trying to control everything around her when it wasn’t hers to control. She’d taken the picture she’d grown up with and tried to shove her life in it, crying like a child when it chafed instead of fit. Luke saw a different picture. One that included the two of them side by side, figuring things out together. Building things together.
Careful to keep her footing, she pushed herself to standing and headed back to the beach house to tell her husband one more time that he was right.
She found him at the kitchen island, studying something on his laptop. He looked up and for a moment she could have sworn the expression on his face was hopeful.
“I’m sorry,” she said, closing the distance between them. “You were right.”
He reached for her, tugging her into his arms until she landed against his chest with awumpf. Sliding his hand up her back, he grabbed a fistful of her hair, just hard enough to make her gasp, and then he kissed her, and she lost the thoughts she’d been holding onto so tightly.
“Elaborate,” he said, when he broke the kiss and she was finally able to catch her breath again.
“I’m not sure it’s a good idea to feed your ego.” She smiled up into the eyes of the man who owned her—body and soul.
“Too late. You already said it. I heard you.” He kissed her again, gently dragging her bottom lip between his teeth before pulling back to meet her gaze. “Tell me what you mean, Claire.” His voice turned serious.
“I was so caught up in trying to figure out how to do everything by myself, I forgot I didn’t have to. That I shouldn’t.” She cupped his face, loving the sandpaper-rough feeling of his jaw against her hand. Luke turned his head and pressed a kiss to the center of her palm, but he waited, not speaking, clearly intending her to say more. “I still don’t know how any of this is going to work. I... we,” she caught herself, “both want Bella to have the best we can give her. I’m not sure how to balance her needs with two careers, but I know I’m not the only one trying to figure it out any more.”
“I have some ideas,” he said, turning his laptop to face them.
She settled deeper in his arms, looked at the image on the screen and laughed.
“Colin is going to have a fit.” She searched his gaze to see whether he was serious. It was a big change, but if they did it, it could benefit more than just their family.
“It’ll be good for him.” His assistant could use a push every now and then.
Claire wrapped her arms around Luke’s neck and pulled him down for a kiss. “I like the way you think, Masters,” she said, her lips a breath away from his. “And I love you.”
