All he had to do was accept Jonas and he would have an heir. He’d have a boy he could raise and teach. Did it really matter who had created him as long as Justice raised him?
A small voice in his mind whispered yes, it matters. And his pride stirred and did battle with his desires. He couldn’t ask her to be his wife again. That was done. Maggie and he might be finished, but they could have something different, he thought now. Something less than a marriage, less than lovers and more than friendship. It could work.
He could have Maggie and a son if he was willing to bend.
The question was, could he?
When the study door opened behind him, Justice didn’t even have to turn around to know she was there. Watching him. He felt the power of her gaze and waited for her to approach. Her steps were muffled against the thick rugs spread across the wood floor, but he heard her anyway. That sure, confident step was purely Maggie.
She stopped directly behind him, and he could have sworn he felt the heat of her body reaching out for his.
“I won’t lose my son, Justice,” she said, and though her voice was quiet, there was a ring of steel in her tone.
He admired that. Hell, he’d always admired Maggie. Justice turned around to face her, and his gaze swept her up and down, noting the faded jeans, the cream-colored sweater and the wild tangle of her fiery hair. Her blue eyes were calm and fixed on him, but her chin was lifted into fighting mode and he knew she was ready to draw a line in the sand.
So he cut her off before she could.
“You don’t have to,” he said and saw the brief flash of confusion on her face. “I’ve been thinking about this since this morning, and an idea just came to me.”
She tipped her head to one side to watch him warily. “What kind of idea?”
He leaned back against the window jamb, folded his arms across his chest and said, “I want you to move back to the ranch. You and Jonas.”
“You mean once the test results are in.”
“No,” he said. “I mean now.”
She shook her head as if she didn’t quite understand what he was saying. And hell, who could blame her.
“But you don’t even believe that Jonas is yours yet.”
“Doesn’t matter,” he said and actually felt the ring of truth in that statement resonate in his soul. He’d made up his mind. Jonas would be his. Biologically or legally. “I can adopt him legally. Either way, he’ll still be my son.”
“I see,” she said, though he was guessing she really didn’t, since her features were carefully blank. “So, you want me to move back in as your wife?”
Step carefully, King, he told himself.
“No,” he said quietly, “we’re divorced and that’s probably best. Maggie, we were always too combustible for our own good. I know our marriage is over. But there’s no reason you can’t move in here anyway. We can raise Jonas together and have a platonic relationship.”
Her jaw dropped.
He smiled. It wasn’t easy to surprise Maggie King.
“Platonic?” She repeated the word as if she couldn’t quite believe he’d actually said it. “Whatever we have together, Justice, it’s never been platonic.”
“Doesn’t mean it can’t be,” he countered. God knew, he wouldn’t enjoy it much, but if that’s what it took to have her and the baby in his world, then that’s what he’d do. “We could have a good life, Maggie. We’d be close…friends.”
“We’ll never be just friends, Justice,” she told him. “Don’t you get that? There’s too much between us. Too much passion to be stoppered up in a jar and set on a shelf somewhere to make things easier for you.”
“You’re taking this all the wrong way, Maggie. That’s not what I’m trying to do.”
“Isn’t it?” She pushed both hands through her hair and growled briefly under her breath as if she were trying to get hold of her temper. “You’ve decided Jonas will be your son whether he is or not. You’ve decided that I can be your friend and live here at the ranch. But you’re not saying anything about trying for something more, because Justice King doesn’t make mistakes.”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“Don’t you think I know what you’re doing?” She laughed then, hard and fast. “God, I know you even better than you know yourself. You won’t ask me to live with you as your wife again because that would mean you made a mistake when you let me leave you. And you don’t make mistakes, do you, Justice?”
He just stared at her. How was a man supposed to unravel the wild logic women came up with? “How the hell did you twist this around like that?”
“Because I know you.” She laughed shortly and shook her head while she waved one finger at him. “You don’t want platonic, Justice, any more than I do. You just figure that’s the easiest way to get me to agree. Then, once I’m living here at the ranch, you can change things. You’ve probably got it all planned out in your mind. I can just see it,” she continued, wiggling her fingers in wide circles that got smaller and smaller. “You’ll work it around to the arrangement that will suit you best. And what suits you, Justice, is me in your bed. You want me. You want our bodies tangled together. You want hot breath and soul-stealing kisses.”
He took a long, slow breath and then swallowed hard. Figured Maggie would make this more difficult than it had to be. Figured she would see right through his “platonic” offer, too. The woman always had been way too smart. “Of course I want you—that’s obvious enough—but it doesn’t mean we can’t live as friends.”
“Oh, of course it does. It would be impossible. You and I, Justice, were never meant for platonic.” Then she went up on her toes, wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him in for a long, deep kiss that held as much fury as passion.
Justice would have sworn he felt heat swamp him from the top of his head to the bottoms of his feet. She was fire and light and heat and seduction. His arms snaked around her middle, held on tight and pressed her to him, aligning her body to his. He was tight and hard for her in an instant and knew she was making her point all too well.
Then the kiss was over and she was looking up into his eyes. “Deny that, if you can. We’re not friends. We’re lovers.” Her arms dropped from around his neck. “Or we were. Now, I’m not sure what we are anymore. The only thing I’m sure of is, I won’t lose my son.”