Page 33 of A Christmas Negotiation

Typical guy. “We don’t have to do anything, but don’t you want to make sure she’s okay? That the babies are okay?” She tore back the comforter and tiptoed over to the closet door, turning on the light. She wasn’t too worried about scaring Cat or the babies—it was plenty dark in their little corner. “Don’t you want to see how many there are? Or what they look like?”

“Oh. Uh. Sure.” He sat up in bed and flipped on the light on his bedside table, pushing his sexy bedhead hair off his face. “I’m coming.”

Isabel tiptoed into the closet and pulled back Jeremy’s shirts, peeking down into the box. Suckling Cat’s belly were two tiny kittens; both appeared to be orange, although their fur was still matted. A third, with orange, gray and white patches, was blindly wandering around the box, crawling on its belly and mewing. Cat looked completely spent, asleep on her side.

“I thought they would be cuter,” Jeremy said, peering over Isabel’s shoulder. “Kittens are supposed to be cute.”

Isabel shook her head and looked back at him. “Not at first. Not really. They’ll be plenty cute in a few days.”

“I’ll have to trust you on that one.”

He consulted his Apple watch. “It’s nearly seven thirty, which seems way too early a time to be up on a Sunday morning, but I guess we’re up, huh? Should I go make coffee?”

“That would be great. Bring me a cup?” She made herself at home on the floor, right next to the box.

“Are we spending our whole day in the closet?”

“I just want to sit here a little while. Make sure they’re doing okay before we leave Cat to it.”

He leaned down and pecked the top of her head. “I will not begrudge you your kitten time.”

Isabel turned her attention to the box, watching as the stray kitten finally found her way to Cat’s belly. It had been a long time since she’d been around this scene. She’d been a teenager the last time their family had newborn kittens in the house. Even all these years later, witnessing this made her feel connected to her mom. She pressed her hand to her lower belly, wondering what her body would ultimately tell her. She’d have been lying if she said she didn’t desperately want a baby and to become a mom. But she wanted it all—true love and a partner. She would do this on her own, but it wasn’t what her heart desired.

Jeremy returned and handed her a cup of coffee. “Good?” he asked, distracted by his iPad.

“Yes. Perfect.” It was prepared exactly the way she liked it, with a splash of cream and one sugar.

“Good. Because here’s where I have to ruin your day. There’s a story in the paper this morning. Apparently somebody found love letters written to Victoria Eden by Mr. Summers’s father. And the papers decided to publish them.”

Isabel felt all of the blood drain from her face.No no no.She scrambled to standing and took the tablet from Jeremy when he offered it to her. There in black and white were the letters she and Mindy had discovered that afternoon in her grandmother’s apartment. They had agreed to hide them away. They had agreed that no good came of anyone seeing them.

“How did you find out about this?” She felt her entire body go tight, fearing the answer.

“Summers, of course. Nothing gets past that guy. He texted me a link and asked me to call him, but I wanted to talk to you first. What the hell, Isabel? I thought we had a deal. I thought we were putting this whole thing to rest.”

“Wedohave a deal.” She hated seeing the expression on his face—the sheer disappointment was excruciating. Meanwhile, her mind was racing, wondering how this could have possibly happened. “Why are you looking at me like that? I didn’t do this.”

“Your clients must have done it. There’s no other explanation.” He took the tablet from her hand and stalked out of the closet.

She followed him back into his room. “But that doesn’t make any sense. Why would they do this? Especially when I specifically asked Mindy not to?”

The look on Jeremy’s face when he turned around told her what a grave error she’d made. She’d grown so comfortable with him that she’d let down her guard. He didn’t know about the letters. She’d never said a peep about them, not even after he’d called to let her know that the promissory note had been authenticated. “Please tell me you didn’t plan this. Please tell me this isn’t a trademark Isabel Blackwell move.”

That stung like no other thing he could have said. “Jeremy, no. I didn’t plan this. I don’t know what to tell you, but I didn’t have anything to do with this story.”

“Did you know about the letters?”

A sigh left her lips involuntarily and he stormed out of the room. “Jeremy, wait!” She ran out into the hall after him, grabbing his arm just as he reached the top of the landing. “Please let me explain. Yes, I knew about the letters. Mindy and I found them right before the promissory note was authenticated.”

“But you still waited for me to call you and tell you about the authentication. Even when you knew at that point that it was all real? The affair between Mr. Summers’s father and Victoria Eden was real?”

“Of course I waited. You would have done the same thing in my situation.”

He closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, not saying a thing.

“You would have. You know it.”

“Of course I would have, Isabel. My first duty is to my client. Which only illustrates how far you and I have crossed the line together. And now I have feelings for you and what in the hell am I supposed to do about that?”