Sitting up, he tugged the pillow from under Savannah’s head, turned it vertically and layered it with a second pillow against the headboard. Then he leaned back and drew Savannah under his arm, against his chest. “There,” he said, satisfied with the position.
She ran a hand over the contours of his chest. His muscles were solid without being bunchy. His skin had a tawny hue that made the sprinkling of hair look almost golden. He was beautifully male, and she felt suddenly and strangely possessive. “Jared?”
“Yes?”
“Tell me.”
“You don’t have to have Elise in your bed.”
She tipped her head back against his arm and looked up at him. “I don’t have to have you either, but I want you, and she’s part of who you are.”
“She’s part of my past.”
“And your past is what makes you you. I’m curious.”
Put as innocently as that, he wasn’t sure he could argue. Savannah had just given of herself with an honesty he had never run across before. He owed her.
“Elise was a driven woman, a typical type-A personality.”
“Like me.”
“No. Elise wasdriven.She came from a family of lawyers. Her father was one, two uncles, three brothers. She was determined to be the lawyer to outdo all of them.”
“Was she?”
“She was a fine lawyer, but I think she’s still working on the outdoing part. She picked litigation to be different—the others do corporate work—and she had enough style and determination and sheer nerve to develop an extraordinary practice. She had her eye on Congress. Last thing I heard, she had her organization in place and was about to announce.”
“Sounds like she was a busy lady. Where did she find the time for marriage?”
“She didn’t.”
Savannah studied the glittering lights in his eyes. “But she married you.”
“And I married her. It was a mutual mistake, which is why we’re no longer married.”
She considered that for a minute. “You don’t sound upset.”
He shrugged with his face. “It’s over.”
“Were you upset at the time?”
“At the time I was relieved. Elise is exhausting to be with.”
“Didn’t you know that when you married her?”
“Yes. But it worked two ways. At the time, I saw myself as an up-and-coming real-estate tycoon. Elise was a stunning woman; she was as good for my image as I was for hers. But over five years of marriage, that was pretty much all we were to each other—images—and by the time it ended, I’d realized that I didn’t want to be a tycoon at all.”
“What did you want?”
“Quieter things. More private things. I wanted to have kids. Elise couldn’t bear the thought. She actually became pregnant, but she had an abortion.”
“Without consulting you?”
“There was no need. I wasn’t the father.”
His words ended in an abrupt silence. Searching his face for remnants of anger or pain, Savannah found none. But the beat of his heart had quickened beneath her hand, telling her that despite his outward complacence over the demise of his marriage, Jared had been hurt by his wife’s betrayal.
“I’d have your baby,” she said.
