The Last Man She Expected by Michelle Major

Author:Michelle Major
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Harlequin
Published: 2020-06-09T19:20:34+00:00

* * *

“You look like hell,” Mara said, whistling under her breath then grinning as Parker held up a hand.

“Are you trying to call all the dogs in the state to you with that piercing noise?”

He sat at the desk in the office he shared with Josh, staring absently at the plans in front of him. He didn’t glance up, and Mara wasn’t sure whether to feel sorry for his obvious distress or gloat that he’d chosen Seattle over her and now seemed worse for the wear because of it.

She chose gloating.

“Fun weekend?” She pulled out the chair from the smaller drafting desk, making sure to drag it across the concrete floor so it made a loud scraping sound.

Parker moaned and pressed his fingers to either temple.

“How was traffic coming out of the city this morning?”

“I came back last night,” he said tightly.

“You’re in recovery mode from Saturday night still? That must have been quite a party.” Mara’s sunny mood from the morning plummeted. She didn’t know why his weekend activities bothered her so much, but they did.

It was better, she’d tried to tell herself. She needed a bit of physical distance to help break the invisible thread of connection that linked them together. His life remained in the city, and she would never go back even if the opportunity presented itself. With time and distance she’d realized the person she’d become in her old life wasn’t who she wanted to be.

She’d tried to save her marriage after Evie’s birth had driven a wedge between her and Paul. It had felt strange to keep her devotion to her baby hidden, but she’d done her best to maintain two separate existences. The first was Mara the mom, her heart so full of love for her daughter it felt constantly on the verge of bursting.

The other role became increasingly more difficult. Paul had expected her to go back to work, putting in hours and remaining at his side for events and parties, just as she had before their daughter had come into the world.

Mara had hired a nanny, and ignored the pang in her chest each time she had to say goodbye to her baby. Lots of mothers worked. She could manage it. But it became more. Paul had become increasingly disinterested in her and Evie.

They’d never spoken about it, but Mara had quietly tried to manage what she assumed was the manifestation of his disenchantment with fatherhood.

Now she had feelings for another man who lived a different life than the one she wanted for herself and her daughter. Despite his kindness toward Evie, there was no doubt in Mara’s mind that she couldn’t be what he wanted in a woman, not for the long term anyway.

“I did laundry,” he muttered then reached into the desk and pulled out a bottle of aspirin. She watched as he shook two of the pills into his hand and swallowed without bothering with water to wash them down.

“You’ve got a two-day laundry hangover?” She snorted. “I was born at night, Parker.

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