Read Online A Clandestine Corporate Affair by Michelle Celmer - Free Book Online

right there on the kitchen counter. It wouldn’t have been the first time.
    Her look must have said it all, because Beth folded her arms, cocked one hip and said, “Forget Max. You’re the one who needs supervised visits.”
    â€œNo, because it’s not going to happen again. We just decided that it would complicate things too much.”
    â€œHe says that now—”
    â€œNo, he means it. I think that was just his polite way of saying he’s not interested.”
    Beth’s brow furrowed. “Then why put the moves on you?”
    â€œHe didn’t.”
    Beth looked confused, then her eyes went wide. “ You seduced him? ”
    â€œI tried.” Ana shrugged. “I guess that lean the other day wasn’t a lean after all.”
    And the hug had been nothing more than a friendly gesture. He didn’t want her eighteen months ago, and he didn’t want her now.
    â€œOh, sweetie,” Beth said, pulling her into her arms for a hug. She was getting that a lot today.
    â€œI’m so stupid.”
    â€œNo you’re not.” She held Ana at arm’s length. “He’s the stupid one for letting you go in the first place. He doesn’t deserve you.”
    â€œYet I still love him.” She wished she could turn her feelings off like a spigot, the way her father did. She wished that she were stronger. And she wished this wouldn’t hurt so much. “I’m pathetic.”
    â€œYou just want to be happy, and you want your son to have what you missed out on. A complete, cohesive family. There’s nothing pathetic about that.”
    Max might never have a mommy and daddy who loved each other, but it was possible that he would at least have two parents who loved him. If that was the best she could do for her son, she could live with that.

Six
    N athan sat in his office Tuesday afternoon, browsing on his phone the photos Ana had emailed him of his visit Sunday. Though he had spent a couple hours with Max Thursday, and nearly the entire day at Ana’s on Sunday, it didn’t really hit home the bond that had begun to form between him and Max until he saw pictures of the two of them together. He hadn’t realized how alike they looked. Not just features, but expressions and mannerisms. And he hadn’t noticed the adoration in Max’s eyes when he gazed up at him. The kid was really taking to him, and Nathan couldn’t deny the tug of parental affection.
    Ana, on the other hand, seemed as though she could take Nathan or leave him. He had hoped they might get a chance to talk about what had happened Thursday night, but she’d made herself pretty scarce. Other than snapping a few pictures, she’d spent most of her time in the spare bedroom with her scrapbooking paraphernalia, updatingMax’s baby book. A few times when he did try to start a conversation she’d given him the brush-off. Apparently she’d had no trouble whatsoever forgetting that kiss.
    He had known that hugging her was probably a bad idea, that he was tempting fate, but she had looked so confused and miserable that he hadn’t been able to stop himself. He knew the instant her body was pressed to his, and her arms wrapped around him, that he had to kiss her, but then she’d slipped her arms around his neck and kissed him first. If Beth hadn’t shown up, he didn’t doubt for a second that they would have wound up in bed together. And it would have been a huge mistake, because as he suspected at the time, Ana was only reacting to the highly emotional situation. When he gave her an out, she gladly took it.
    Oh, well, easy come, easy go.
    He wasn’t sure what kind of game she was playing with him. He just wished he could shut his feelings off so easily.
    Nathan tried to get himself invited to stay for dinner Sunday, but Ana wasn’t biting. She said they had plans for the evening, although she didn’t say what they were. He had hoped