Hell, what had he done?
“I can’t believe a son of mine would try to buy his way into a promotion, let alone use a lovely woman to get there.” Jeff shook his head, before fixing Matt with a steely stare, reinforcing he hadn’t just lost Kara, he’d lost any hope of gaining his father’s respect also.“What the hell are you playing at?”
Matt couldn’t speak as Kara turned to face him again. The sight of tears trickling down her cheeks hit him like a fist to his gut: swift, sharp, agonising. It took his breath away.
He sat there, riveted by two pairs of eyes, one a murderous blue so like his own and the other a luminous green that clearly showed hurt in its depths. There was only one way out of this. Like she’d said, it was time for the truth. The whole truth.
He stood and approached his father. “Dad, I’m sorry. I know how this looks but I have my reasons.”
His father held his hands up. “Stop right there, Son. What you’ve done is inexcusable, reasons or not. What were you thinking? Paying Kara to be your girlfriend, all for the damn partnership?”
Matt shook his head. “Not just for that,” he murmured.
“What?” his father barked.
It was now or never. Matt had to lay everything on the line if he was to salvage anything out of this mess.
“It wasn’t just about being made partner, Dad. It’s about you and me, about you recognising me as your son, about you approving of me.” He paused for a second, afraid that if he didn’t reveal his feelings now, he never would. “All I’ve ever wanted is for you to approve of me, to pay me some attention, to recognise my achievements...” he trailed off, the look of horror on his father’s face more than a match for the look of shock on Kara’s, both gut-wrenching.
“But I do approve of you, Son. I’ve always been proud of you.”
“No, Dad. You occasionally talk to me about business but when’s the last time you really took notice of me, other than to berate me about my private life?”
His father was silent, staring at him like he was an alien life form.
Matt continued. “Ever since Mum left, I’ve felt like an outsider, like I was a burden to you. Your wives were more important than me. You want to know why being made partner was so damn important to me? Because I was fool enough to think it might bring us closer. Stupid, huh?” He sank into the nearest chair and dropped his head in his hands, totally drained.
“Son?” His father laid a hand on his slumped shoulder.
“Leave it alone, Dad. I need to talk to Kara now. Alone.”
The grip on his shoulder tightened. “I’m sorry for making you feel second best, Son. That was never my intention. I only wanted what’s best for you and that meant building my business to provide you with a stable future. As for your mother, there isn’t a day that goes by I don’t berate myself for chasing away the best thing that ever happened to me...” the words choked off and Matt finally looked up.
His father’s eyes glistened. For the first time in his life, he saw his father moved to tears and it shocked him more than anything else could have.
“Dad, I—”
“No, let me finish. I admit I haven’t been the best father in the world, but throwing myself into the business was the only way I knew how to cope. Spending time with you was out of the question, as you’re so much like her. Every time you looked up at me, I saw her eyes, her pain. It would break my heart all over again.”
He ran his hands through his peppery hair. “Poor excuse, I know, but it’s how I felt. By the time you were grown up, it was too late. The divide was there between us and I never had the guts to broach it. Can you forgive me?”
Matt stood and opened his arms. For the first time since he was six years old, his father hugged him. Not just a pat on the back or a ruffling of his hair but a real bear hug. A weight lifted from his shoulders as he swallowed, trying to dislodge the lump of emotion stuck in his throat.
“There’s nothing to forgive, Dad. We’re both lousy communicators, that’s all.”
He’d almost fooled himself into believing everything was all right, until he looked over his father’s shoulder and saw Kara staring at him. Then the weight descended again and this time, it was ten times heavier.
His father must’ve sensed the tightening of his shoulders and he pulled back. “We can talk later, Son. Right now, there’s a young lady here who deserves your apology more than me.”
He watched his dad give Kara a peck on the cheek. “Don’t let him off too easy. He deserves everything he gets.”
With a fond smile at them both, he left the office.
Kara stared at Matt in stunned amazement. She couldn’t believe he hadn’t thought enough of their friendship to tell her all that stuff about his father. So much for hoping he might fall in love with her and reciprocate her feelings. Over all the dates, the dinners and lately, the mornings spent cuddled together in bed, he hadn’t whispered one word of the truth to her. It hurt more than anything he could have said to her.
All she’d been to him was a means to an end. So the deal included sex? No worries for Matt.
