Page 37 of The Work Wife

“Should we go?” she asked. It was the only weapon in her arsenal. They were the only family they had. She was important to him. Perched on the edge of the sofa, she leaned closer, waiting for his answer.

Her father narrowed his eyes on her, no doubt knowing what she was doing. She blinked and looked sad, but made sure not to overplay it.

“Let’s go get some dinner. I’m starved,” he said abruptly and lurched out of his chair for the door.

“The last meal,” Wes mumbled from behind her.

Her father didn’t even ask where they wanted to go for dinner. He started flinging questions at Weston as he parked and listened intently to the answers.

No doubt he would be verifying every one of them with someone from the FBI. No matter what he dug up on Weston, there was no way he’d ever find out their marriage was a sham. If she thought they would be spared once seated at the restaurant, she was wrong.

“What about kids?” her father asked, jarring her out of her peaceful moment.

“Daddy.”

“What? You’ve discussed it, I hope.” He looked between the two of them as Jamie stared at her hands. She could only guess Weston was doing the same thing. “How could you get married before you decided if you both wanted kids or not?” he snapped.

“It’s not important right now. We’re both focused on our jobs.”

“Jamie, you’re almost thirty.”

“I know how old I am.”

He put his hands up in front of him when she raised her voice.

“I’m not pressuring you on it. It would just make me feel better to know you’ve discussed it. That you’re taking this seriously.”

Seriously. She frowned. This wasn’t even real.

“When we’ve discussed it, you’ll be the first to know,” she answered. Weston blinked at her. She patted his leg under the table, hoping he would relax.

Nothing else was said about children until they were alone in her room getting ready for bed. Despite his initial threat to take the bed for himself, they decided they were more than capable of sharing it.

They were adults who had signed on to spend a lot of time with one another over the next few years. At some point they would end up in this position and it was better to just deal with it.

“It’s just sleeping,” she said with a shrug.

“With a friend,” Weston added, eyeing the small bed. It always seemed so big to her, but with Weston standing next to it, she wondered if there would be any room for her. He was a big guy.

Normally she appreciated his size. Especially when he was called upon to get something she couldn’t reach. But sharing a bed with him?

God, she was going to be sharing a bed with him.

Resigned not to make a big deal about it, she folded the blanket down.

“I know I went along with this plan fairly easily,” he said. She gaped at him. He thought it had been easy? “But know this, Jamie. I will not be coerced into having children to perpetuate this sham. It’s one thing if we want to continue this thing we have. It’s another to bring innocent children into the mix and lie to them. Do you understand?”

“Relax. I’m not suggesting we have kids. I would never do such a thing. Besides, in case you’ve forgotten, we would need to have sex in order to have a baby.”

“Jamie, I’m a man. It would be easy for you to persuade me into having sex if you put your mind to it.” He waved his hand in the air as if she was stupid for not knowing that. Maybe she was.

“Regardless, I’m not going to seduce you into impregnating me. That wouldn’t aid our goal to get invited on trips at work if I’m home on maternity leave.”

“I did not sign up to have kids.” He pointed at her, making it very clear how serious he was about this. She wanted to ask him why, but feared it would bring on another round of hysteria.

“Neither did I,” she reassured him. “Now let’s get ready for bed.”

He took a deep breath and calmed down.