Peyton still lay on her belly on the floor.
Holy guacamole, indeed! She’d been a mother for less than four days and she’d already abandoned her daughter on the floor to make out with her boss. Maybe her family was right. Maybe she really was unfit to be Peyton’s mother.
Her gaze sought Jonathon. He’d crossed to the other side of the room so that Peyton lay between them like a landmine.
He ran a hand across his jaw, then shoved his hand deep in his pocket. She’d never seen him look quite so disconcerted. Though he still looked less shaken than she felt.
“Well,” he began, then swallowed visibly. “I think we can both agree that if I need to I can convince your family that I am more than your boss.”
“Yeah. I think so.” Then she paused for a beat while his words sank in. “That’s what this was about?” For a second, confusion swirled through her, muddling her thoughts even further. “You kissed me merely to make a point?”
“I—” He shrugged, apparently at a loss for words.
Indignation pushed past her embarrassment. “I was seconds away from dropping my panties to the floor and you were making a point?”
For an instant, his gaze fell to her feet as if imagining her panties lying there. He swallowed again as he dragged his gaze back to hers, then ran a hand down his face.
Well, at least she wasn’t the only one whose world had been rocked.
“It seemed a prudent move,” he said stiffly.
She nearly snorted her derision. Prudent? The kiss that had curled her toes all the way up to her kneecaps had seemed prudent to him?
“Oh, that is wrong in so many ways, I don’t even know where to start.”
He tried to interrupt her. “Actually—”
But she cut him off with a wag of her finger. “No, wait a second. I do know where to start. If you think offering to marry me for Peyton’s sake gives you an all-access pass to this—” she waved her hand in front of her body “—then you have another think coming.” He looked as if he might say something in protest, but she didn’t give him a chance. “And secondly, you have no business kissing me merely to make a point.”
And then—because she realized that was practically an invitation to kiss her for other reasons—she added, “In fact you have no business kissing me at all. If we’re going to do this pretend-marriage thing, we need to set some boundaries. And thirdly… well, I have no idea what thirdly is yet, but I’m sure it will come to me eventually.”
For a long moment, Jonathon merely stared at her, one eyebrow slightly arched, his lips curved to just hint at his amusement. “Are you done?”
She clamped her lips together, painfully aware of how cool and collected he seemed when she’d just been rambling like an idiot. A surefire sign that her emotional state was neither cool nor calm.
Maybe she was wrong about the kiss affecting him as much as it did her. And wouldn’t that just suck. Didn’t she have enough on her plate just now? This was so not the time for her to be nursing a crush on her boss. Or her husband.
When had her life gotten so complicated?
On the floor between them, Peyton wedged her tiny hands under her to push up onto her forearms. She let out an excited squeal of pride.
Right. This was when her life had gotten complicated. Approximately five days ago in her grandfather’s study when the lawyer dropped Bitsy’s will on her like a bomb.
Wendy let loose a sigh of frustration. “I’m sorry,” she said. “None of this is your fault. I shouldn’t take it out on you. I just—”
“I agree we need boundaries,” he said abruptly, cutting her off before she could bumble further into the apology. His tone was stiff, as if he was searching for the most diplomatic way to broach the subject. “Keeping sex out of this is a good idea. However, kissing you now seemed prudent because we will have to kiss again at some point.”
“We will?” she asked weakly, her gaze dropping to his mouth.
“Naturally.”
She felt a curious heat stirring deep inside at the idea. He was going to kiss her again. Soon? She hoped so. Even if it was a very bad idea, she hoped so.
“If we’re going to convince people we’re in love and getting married, people will expect certain displays of affection.”
“Oh, I hadn’t thought…” Obviously, there was a lot she hadn’t considered about this idea. She didn’t know whether or not to be thankful that Jonathon’s brain worked so much faster than her own. Was it a good thing he was around to consider things she hadn’t? Or was it merely annoying to always be one step behind?
“The people who know us best will be hardest to convince. Luckily Ford and Matt will both be out of town for another few weeks. We’ll have to get used to the idea ourselves before see them.”
“Ford and Matt? Surely we don’t need to lie to them?” Jonathon had been best friends with Ford and Matt since they were kids.
He leveled a steady gaze at her. There was no hesitation. No doubt. “Yes, we do. If your family decides to fight us on this, it could mean a court battle. I can’t ask either of them to lie for us.”
“Oh.” Feeling suddenly weak, she sank back to the edge of the desk.
Of course they couldn’t ask Ford and Matt to lie for them. In the five years she’d worked with FMJ, she’d served as executive assistant for all three men equally.
They worked so closely together they’d decided long ago it was easier to share one assistant among the three of them. Undoubtedly that was why they’d gone through so many assistants before she’d come along. Managing the schedules and needs of three such disparate men was no easy task. In short, she was a miracle worker.
If the thought of lying to them was this difficult for her, then how must Jonathon feel about the matter?
She propelled herself away from the desk and crossed to stand in front of him. Gazing up into his mossy-green eyes, she studied him. “This is a crazy and ridiculous plan. Are you sure you want to do this?”
His lips curved into a slight smile. His eyes lit with a reckless gleam as they crinkled at the corners, giving her the distinct impression that he was enjoying this. “Yeah. I’m sure. If there’s one thing I know, it’s how to make the strategic risk pay off.”
The resolve in his gaze was as clear as the doubt probably was in her own. Then she looked down at where Peyton lay on the floor. She scooped up the precious little girl and held her close. This moment felt profound. As though she and Jonathon were striking a bargain that was going to change all of their lives. It seemed only right that Peyton be a part of it as well. “Okay,” she said. “Let’s do this.”
Jonathon’s face broke into a full grin. He gave a brisk nod then spun on his heel, moving toward his office as he started barking orders, back into full boss mode.
“First off, email Ford and Matt and schedule
