Chapter 10
It had been a long couple of weeks. Grant was doing as much of his business as possible from home. He went into the office when it called for, but he was mostly keeping to himself.
Partly, he did not want to deal with Phillip. He really, really wanted to fire the other man. After all, he had slept with the boss’s wife. On the other hand, a call to his human resources director had squashed that thought. It would be retaliation, and Phillip could sue the company. His performance ratings were too high, he was entirely too well thought of, there was just nothing that they could fire him for. The director of HR sympathized, and even suggested that if Grant could catch something, they could look into it. But right now, there was simply nothing.
The other reason that Grant was staying so close to home was because he was distracted. His only thoughts were on Kelly. He had really fallen hard for her—and their night together had only strengthened that.
He had been disappointed when he had awoken to find her gone. But when he had seen her text message, he had understood. She did have to go. While the night had been fun, it had added to the confusion. He had spent a lot of time trying to sort it out. At the end of the day, he had come to only one conclusion.
He had fallen in love with Kelly.
He had tried to tell himself that it was not true. A married man did not fall in love with a college girl. But his feelings told him that it was true.
Now he had to come up with the proper reason and time to tell her. He had kept in touch with her the last few weeks. She seemed to be fine, and upbeat. He hoped that she would not take his confession too out of line. He could not just drop this on her. He had to be careful.
For one thing, he was still married. While that was probably the easiest thing to handle, the second thing was the baby. The baby was his and Monica’s biological child. He was not prepared to give it away—and he knew that Monica was not. So if he was going to end their marriage, he would also have to put together a custody agreement. He would need to call a lawyer, because this was going to get messy.
But in the end, did it matter? It would get him with Kelly. The two of them could make their own family. She would get to be a part of the baby’s life. The idea of being with this beautiful woman that he had come to love made him giddy. He felt like he had not felt in years. Grant really could not believe the twist of fate that life had dealt him.
Grant had just finished sending a last email. He shut down his laptop, and reached for his phone. He had decided to text Kelly—just to check in, of course. Depending on how their conversation went, maybe he would ask her to come over so that they could talk. He knew that he probably would not. This was not the best time or place to get into a deep discussion with her. But it was a nice thought to have. He would do it…someday, very soon.
He had just pulled up Kelly’s window when the doorbell rang. Frowning, Grant looked up. He wondered just who that could be. He was not expecting anyone.
Grant headed into the front hallway. He pulled open the front door and was surprised to see Monica standing on the other side.
“Monica.” He took a step back. He figured that she was here to pick up something that she had left.
“Hi, Grant.” Monica gave him a soft smile. “How are you?”
“Um…I’m fine.” He shrugged. “Is something wrong?”
“Ah…no. No, not at all.” Monica glanced past him into the house. “May I come in?”
“Of course.” He stepped aside. “It is your house.”
“I guess so.” Monica chuckled as she stepped inside. Grant pushed the door closed, and then turned to face her.
“So, are you here to pick up something?”
“Oh, no.” Monica turned to face him. “No. I actually….” She gave him a faint smile. “I’m here because I want to make things right between us.”
Grant was momentarily stunned. He had not expected that at all.
“Um, you what?” Monica smiled at him hesitantly.
“I…I want to come home, Grant. I know that I made a mistake, and it wasn’t right, but I want to put us back together.”
He sensed a catch in this plan, and wondered just what it was.
“Okay,” Grant answered cautiously. “And what else?”
“What do you mean?” Monica asked. “I’m your wife. Shouldn’t I want to be at home with my husband? And our baby?”
“Well, yes, but you also shouldn’t want to sleep with my business partners,” Grant told her flatly. Monica sighed.
“Look, Grant, I didn’t want you to find out like that.”
“So it wasn’t the first time?” He had not asked before, and now he wanted to know.
“No.” Monica shook her head. “It wasn’t. He and I….” She paused. “He and I started to fool around a bit after the Christmas party last year.”
Grant had not expected that either.
“Well, I didn’t know.”
“You didn’t.” Monica took a deep breath. “That was my point. But Grant, you need to understand.”
“Understand what?” Grant pressed her.
“You need to understand that I want to get back together, but not necessarily for the reasons you’re thinking. While I’ll always care about you, I want to make a life for our baby. It needs both of its parents, and it needs us together.”
“I suppose.” Monica looked surprised at his words. Had she really expected that he would do nothing but jump back into her arms?
“You suppose?” Monica asked. “You don’t want to get back together? Are you really that angry?”
“No.” He was not angry. He had come to accept that he had been out of real love with Monica for a while now, and it was only natural that he would find it in another woman. “But things are different now.”
“Different how?” Monica took a step closer to him. “Grant, we’re a family. We’re going to have a baby. Things can’t change between us. This is us.”
“Not anymore,” Grant told her gently. “Monica, I’m sorry. But I have feelings for someone else now.”
That stunned her. Monica’s eyes widened. She recoiled instantly from him. Any look of sympathy or affection on her face was replaced with a growing anger.
“What? Who? Who is she?” He could hear the anger rising in her tone. Grant did not feel as bad as he thought that he probably should.
“It’s Kelly,” he told her honestly. “She came over here a few weeks after you left and…she spent the night.” He might as well tell her everything. Besides, had he not been the one to catch her cheating in the first place?
“What?” Monica snapped. Now the anger had risen to her eyes. “Grant, you cannot be serious. You’re one of the richest men in this country and you’re falling for a broke, little, college girl who has to carry other people’s babies just to earn money?”
“Yes,” Grant answered flatly. “Yes, I have. And I will tell you, Monica, that I have feelings for Kelly that I have never had for you.”
She looked as though someone had poured ice water on her. Grant was glad to get it out into the open. It made him feel that much better about the entire situation.
“What is actually wrong with you?” Monica growled. “Have you lost your damn mind?”
“Maybe I have!” Grant snapped back. “But what can you expect after I caught my wife in my bed with one of my coworkers!”
Glaring at him, Monica shook her head.
“Well, I clearly made a mistake coming here!”
“Apparently you did!” Grant told her. “Because I won’t be reconciling with you for anyone sake—including the baby’s!”
“You,” Monica turned for the front door, “are making a terrible mistake. But if you want to throw your life away, that’s just fine with me!”
“I can assure you that it is no mistake.” Grant followed after her.
“Oh, it is.” Monica yanked the door open. “It is. You will be hearing from my lawyer.”
“I’ll save you the trouble.” Grant told her. “I will call mine right now and get the divorce proceedings in place.”
“Fine.” Monica smiled coldly at him. “You go right ahead and you do that—but don’t you even think that you’re getting that baby! It belongs to ME!”
Monica spun on her heel, storming out of the door and slamming it shut behind her. He heard the sound of her high heels clattering down the walk. Grant shook his head. He had a suspicion that he was about to find himself in the fight of his life.