Some Like It Perfect (A Temporary Engagement) by Megan Bryce Read Free Book Online

brought to the company. How she made his life easier, how she made the bottom line better. Why she deserved the promotion, the raise. And reminded him that if he couldn’t keep her happy, there were other places, other bosses, that would.
    So, why couldn’t she do the same in her personal life?
    Because she didn’t believe it. She didn’t know how she made life easier for Paul. She didn’t know if she made life better for him.
    And she didn’t know that there would be anyone else who could keep her happy if Paul didn’t.
    They’d been dating exclusively for months. It was time to take it to the next step.
    She couldn’t wait for him to decide they were ready. She was going to tell him.
    She pushed at her stomach, hoping she could do it without losing her lunch. She hoped she could do it without hearing him say he disagreed.

    She carried a bag of sandwiches across Paul’s floor and smiled at the workers burning the midnight oil. There were a few desks with cobwebs on the side, one with a giant spider trying to climb out of a drawer, but no one had dressed up for Halloween. No one had dressed up in her office either and Justine knew she wouldn’t get any trick-or-treaters.
    There weren’t any children in her building. None that she knew of, at least.
    She knocked on Paul’s door and pushed it open.
    She smiled and he smiled back, and she felt guilt that she’d thought about getting pregnant accidentally on purpose to keep him. She felt guilt that the idea was still swimming in the back of her mind, whispering to her how easy it would be.
    So easy. Just have a little accident. Just be a little forgetful. And she could have the family she’d been waiting for. She’d waited so long.
    Paul stood, walking around the desk to kiss her. He took the bag, peeking inside. “Thanks, honey. You know you don’t have to do this.”
    He put the bag down on his desk and pulled her against him.
    She went to him smiling, all the while wanting to scream at him. See, see! Don’t you want this? Why don’t you want this!
    Justine took a deep breath. “I know. But you’ve been so busy.” She ran her hand down his lapel. “Your suits are starting to swim on you.”
    He laughed, digging into the bag with one hand. “If only that were true. But all this time sitting, along with all the muffins they keep around this place, and I know that you are just being kind.”
    She took the bag from him, pulling out napkins and laying them out on the desk as plates.
    She’d wait until he was full and happy, she had learned a thing or two about men in the last eighteen years, and then bring up moving in together.
    He took a big bite of sandwich and she blurted, “I think we should move in together.”
    He froze, his cheeks full of meatballs, and she squeezed her eyes shut. “I mean, I like you. I think we should think about moving in together.”
    She heard him chew slowly and gulp. She kept her eyes closed.
    “Honey, I like you, too. I don’t know if now is the time to move in together, though. I’m so busy I can hardly think.”
    She opened her eyes and he wasn’t looking at her as if he wanted to run screaming.
    She said, “I know you’re busy. We hardly get to see each other and I thought maybe this would help with that. There would be some time together, even if it was just sleeping in the same bed.”
    He smiled and touched her wrist. “I could get behind sleeping in the same bed.”
    “What if we just moved in together on the weekends? We can alternate between your place and mine. We can trade keys.”
    “Is that okay with Delia? You do have a roommate to think about.”
    “I already asked her.”
    His nodded slowly, walking around the desk to sit in his chair, and her stomach knotted again.
    He said, “Can we talk about this in a few weeks?”
    She nodded. She took a small bite of chip and her mouth opened again. “I’m thirty-six.”
    Paul blinked. “Okay.”
    “You don’t know what that means, do you?”
    He shook