Updated Mar 22, 2026 • ~3 min read
Chapter 11: Secret Dating
MAREN
Week eighteen.
We’re having a girl.
A daughter.
The knowledge changes everything.
Makes it more real.
More urgent.
And Jasper has been… perfect.
He texts every morning.
*”How are you and baby girl feeling?”*
Sends me articles about pregnancy.
Books about fatherhood.
Lists of potential baby names.
It’s sweet.
Overwhelming.
Everything I didn’t know I needed.
***
We’re still meeting secretly.
But it’s different now.
Not just stolen moments and desperate sex.
We’re… dating.
Really dating.
Dinner at his apartment.
Where he cooks for me.
(Badly, but the effort counts.)
Movie nights on his couch.
His hand on my growing bump.
Feeling the baby move.
Talking about the future.
Names. Nurseries. Parenting styles.
Normal couple things.
Except we’re not a normal couple.
We’re Ross and King.
Secret lovers.
Having a secret baby.
While competing for the same $50 million account.
Nothing about this is normal.
***
“I told Emmett,” Jasper says one night.
We’re at his place.
Tangled together post-sex.
“How did he react?”
“He was… supportive. Shocked. But supportive.”
“Did you tell him about the merger idea?”
“Yeah. He thinks it could work. If we present it right.”
I’ve been thinking about the merger too.
Ross-King Agency.
Combined forces.
End the feud.
Start fresh.
It’s insane.
But also… genius.
“I told Sienna. About us.”
Jasper sits up.
“What did she say?”
“That I’m insane. But that she supports me.”
“Good. We need allies.”
“We need a miracle.”
He pulls me close.
“We’ll make our own miracle.”
I want to believe him.
***
JASPER
I’m falling deeper every day.
Maren isn’t just the mother of my child.
She’s… everything.
Smart. Funny. Vulnerable. Strong.
She challenges me.
Calls me out.
Makes me want to be better.
And watching her body change with our daughter?
It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
“I love you.”
The words slip out.
We’re on my couch.
Her head on my chest.
My hand on her bump.
She freezes.
“What?”
“I love you. I’m in love with you.”
Silence.
Long and terrifying.
Then:
“You can’t love me.”
“Too late.”
“Jasper, we’re enemies—”
“No. Our families are enemies. We’re just two people who found each other. And fell in love.”
She sits up.
Looks at me.
Eyes searching.
“You really mean that.”
“Every word.”
“This is insane.”
“The best things usually are.”
More silence.
Then:
“I love you too.”
My heart stops.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah. I’ve been trying not to. But I do. I love you.”
I kiss her.
Deep. Claiming.
“Say it again.”
“I love you, Jasper King.”
“And I love you, Maren Ross.”
It should feel wrong.
Forbidden.
But it feels perfect.
Like coming home.
END OF CHAPTER 11
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