Page 56 of The Omega's Secret Baby
“Well, let me tell you again. I married her because I thought that was what I had to do for my family. My parents would never have let me move out and start working as a bachelor. My mother was paranoid that I—”
“That you could meet an omega?” I cut him off. “That you could fall in love with an omega and then break that omega’s heart when you married someone else? Oh wait, I bet she wasn’t worried about that last part.”
“Eli… You know how sorry I am about all that happened in the past. But it’s in the past. I thought we agreed that we both screwed up.”
“I know.” I exhaled and let myself fall on the couch. “I’ve just had a rough day. And I don’t like the idea of you being with her while I’m missing you.”
“She won’t be here for long. I promise. I miss you too.”
“That’s good to know.” Slowly, my heart rate returned to normal. Maybe his ex-wife being there really wasn’t a big deal. I had to trust him, right?
“So you had a rough day after I left?”
“Well, you know the situation you left me in.”
“Yeah, do you still think it was a good idea to make me leave?”
“Oh, I stand by that.” I brushed some hair back from my face, thinking about the conversation I’d had with our son. And what he’d said about not needing another dad. I knew he would probably change his mind with some gentle nudging, but for now, that was what he thought.
“Jake still mad at us?”
“I got him to talk to me, but he really is going to need some time to process all this. Right now he’s not ecstatic at the idea of having another parent. But you have to understand what a big and sudden change this is for him.”
“I know,” he said, but he couldn’t hideallof his exasperation from his voice. “Well, if he needs time, he can have it. I’ll be stuck here for a few weeks at least.”
“I’ll get him to give you a chance when you come back,” I promised. How exactly I was going to do that, I didn’t know yet, but I would try.
I wanted us to be a family.
24
Matthew
Danielle came strollinginto the living room almost as soon as I was done talking to Eli. It had been a long call, and I wondered whether she’d been waiting for me to finish.
“I’m sorry,” she said. “But I couldn’t help but overhear some parts of your conversation. Is it really okay for me to be here?”
Oh, had she heard me assure Eli that I’d never loved her? Inwardly, I cringed. She must have known that our marriage had never been one based on love, and I’d never told her that I loved her, but I hadn’t told her that Ididn’teither. “Of course it’s okay for you to be here,” I said to soften the blow. “I’m sorry for what I said about… us.”
“Oh, don’t be.” She waved me off and sat on the couch with me, a respectable distance between us. “No offense, but you never made me feel you were head over heels for me. One reason we got divorced, remember?” She held up her hand to me to show where her ring had been and now wasn’t.
“I know. But I didn’t want to be unnecessarily cruel.”
“Please. I fancied you for a while. You’re pleasing to look at.” She winked at me. “But I never loved you either.”
“That’s surprisingly good to hear.” Maybe I should get her to call Eli and tell him that too. “You know, I’d suggest that we stay friends, but I don’t think my boyfriend would appreciate that.”
She laughed. “I see you’ve already moved on. That’s good.”
“To be honest… I was dating him before we…” I let the sentence hang, and I wasn’t sure why I was mentioning any of this to her at all, but I’d had a long day, and it was good to have someone to talk to. There might never have been romantic love between me and Danielle, but I liked her as a person. I trusted her. The number one reason I’d stayed married to her for as long as I had. Aside from my family’s expectations and my own screwed up sense of morals, anyway.
“Did you see him while you were married to me?” Danielle asked, one eyebrow slightly arched in that elegant way she had about herself.
I shook my head. “Never while we were married. I can promise you that much. But… up until shortly before our marriage, yes. I was with him.”
“I see.” She tilted her head a little. “He’s not the type your parents would have approved of, I assume?”
I gave her a smile because she got that right. “He’s an omega.”
