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“Don’t look at me like that.” He wasn’t going to feel guilty about this. Alison had known exactly what he’d wanted. Fuck, he’d put it all on paper for her.
“I don’t want to look at you at all.” She stood.
“Oh, no. You’re not running away mad. We’re going to talk about this.”
“There’s nothing to talk about. You tricked me. Manipulated me.”
“I didn’t do either of those things. I didn’t tie you up and force you to stay.” Although tying her to his bed had been a frequent fantasy of his.
“You threatened to fire me.”
“So? You would’ve found another job. You’re smart, talented, dedicated, personable. You could’ve worked anywhere but you wanted this job.”
Her face tightened and he could see her mind scrambling for an answer.
“So, tell me. How did I manipulate you?”
“Yes, I wanted to work here but not every minute of every day. You made me feel like I had to.”
“You did. If you’d put in a forty-hour work week, I would’ve fired you.”
“Why? Was that some kind of test because a mother needs to always be there? Let me tell you a secret. Work isn’t a child.”
“Stop being emotional.”
“Sorry. Being used does that to me.”
“I didn’t use you. I made you offers, and you accepted them. I offered you a job. You took it. I told you you’d be working long hours and you accepted that.”
“You never said anything about staying here all night. Working almost 24/7. Weekends. Holidays.”
“You could’ve declined.” He’d done nothing wrong. He’d paid her well, worked her hard and had chosen her to be the mother of his child. She should be thanking him, not berating him.
“I tried.”
“Not hard enough.”
“The one time I did you—”
“I made you a better offer.”
Her jaw was so tight a muscle twitched in her cheek.
“Admit it. I didn’t trick you into doing anything. It was all there in black and white. You read the contracts—the one when I hired you to work here and the one before we married.”
“You pretended to work.”
“Because I wanted to get to know you better.” He softened his voice, appealing to her feminine side. “I wanted to spend time with you.”
“Only because you wanted someone to have your child.”
“Not only.” So much for thinking she’d be like any other woman. “I knew you were smart, but I wanted to know what kind of person you were. I wanted my child to have a shot at better genes than I could give him...or her. I wanted the woman I chose to be kind and funny and love life. I don’t want my child to be exactly like me.”
“You didn’t have to lie and say you were working.”
“Didn’t I? I asked you once if you wanted to grab dinner and—”
“You did?”
“Yes, I did.” Another perfect hit. He’d asked her out and she didn’t even remember. “A few weeks after you started working here. I went out of my way and got reservations to that Mexican fusion restaurant you’d been talking about for weeks.”
“Oh. Right. I had plans. You could’ve tried again.”
“I did. I asked you out on New Year’s Eve and you asked me to get more tickets so you could bring friends.”
“That was supposed to be a date?” Her complete shock was another direct hit to his ego.
“What did you think? It was New Year’s Eve. The only other holiday more known for dates is Valentine’s Day but I wasn’t trying that one. You would’ve probably had me invite every single person you knew.”
“Don’t try and make this my fault. You were already making me work all the time. I even worked Christmas Eve.”
“We had a deadline and I liked having you around, although right now, I have no idea why.”
“You liked knowing my uterus wouldn’t be housing any sperm.”
“That too.” He shifted closer. “I helped your friend move. What guy would do that unless he was trying to impress a woman?”
“You said you wanted to make sure I got back to work as soon as possible.”
“Because you treated me like a friend. You didn’t even see me as a man on our wedding night.”
“That has nothing to do with this.”
“It has everything to do—”
“No. You didn’t have to trick me and lie to me about working.”
“Fuck, Alison. How else was I supposed to keep you with me? Asking you out hadn’t worked. This was the only thing that did.”
“That’s not an excuse.”
“No, it isn’t; it’s the truth.”
“Well, unlike you I actually have work to do.” She grabbed her laptop and walked back to her office.