Free Intimate Secrets: 10 (Touched By You) by Emily Jane Trent

at the accounts the other day. I have the new income from my fall line, and I met with our accountant too.”
    Tanner had no reaction.
    “There is a lot of money that has been moved to another account, one that is out of the country. You didn’t mention anything about it. It has me mystified.”
    Tanner’s shoulders relaxed, the opposite of what she’d anticipated. “Oh, I didn’t think you’d notice that.”
    Natalie’s pulse sped. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
    Tanner reached out and held her hand between both of his. His soft blue eyes melted her heart. “I didn’t want you to know until I got all the legal papers done. But now that you’ve found out…”
    Natalie’s heart sank. She’d misunderstood the look in his eyes; this was worse than she’d thought. Pulling her hand back, she hugged her body, reluctant to hear the rest.
    “You are mad at me?” Tanner looked aghast. “The money concerned you?”
    Natalie shook her head. “No, it’s not the money.”
    “What then?”
    “Go ahead, tell me about the legal papers.”
    “I want to know what you thought first.”
    Natalie could hardly keep from fainting. This couldn’t be happening. Her life was ending, without warning. She knew that as a wife she had little experience. But she’d thought she had more time. There was no way to tell Tanner what she knew, or at least suspected, because her throat locked up. No words would come out.
    Her eyes watered and she clenched her jaw. Seeing Natalie’s reaction prodded Tanner to clarify.
    “All right, something alarmed you. I can’t imagine. There’s no way you could have guessed what I intend.”
    Natalie looked down at the carpet as if it held answers for her.
    “It’s not a subject we’ve talked about.” Tanner stopped talking and reached out to touch her jaw. “Please look at me.”
    Natalie looked into his blue eyes, and could only see concern. If he weren’t so darn handsome, and if Natalie didn’t love him so much, this would be a lot easier.
    “We never talked about having a family…not really.”
    “What?” Natalie couldn’t follow the sudden shift of subject.
    “I’ve been thinking about it. I guess I should have talked with you, but lately you’ve seemed to be struggling with other issues. I didn’t think it was the right time.”
    Natalie didn’t know what to say.
    “I know we aren’t ready to have a baby.”
    The mention of the word squeezed Natalie’s heart. The one time she’d thought she was pregnant had been a false alarm. She would never forget the feeling; how it was when she thought she might be carrying Tanner’s baby.
    Natalie’s voice came out shaky, but at least she could talk. “What does that have to do with what we were talking about? And…you want to have a baby?’
    Tanner smiled. “Of course, when we are ready. Don’t you want a family?”
    “Yes, but that doesn’t explain the money.”
    “It does, actually. You know me, I’m a control freak. I was planning ahead. I’d always want our children to be secure, so I set up a trust fund. It’s outside the scope of our finances. I bank in many countries of the world; partly for business reasons and also so I don’t depend on the economy of one country. Thus, I moved the funds outside the country. I set up the trust so our children would always be taken care of, no matter what.”
    “The children we don’t have…you set up a trust fund for them.”
    “Yes, and there’s a legal procedure. The paperwork is almost done and then I was going to tell you. I had planned to bring up the subject of a family…at the right time.”
    “You did?”
    “Yes, why do you look so surprised? Am I so cold that you think I don’t want a family?”
    Looking at him, Natalie saw him as anything but cold. The idea that he’d been considering a family was news to her. But it was good to hear him say it.
    “Tanner, I’m sorry. I just…didn’t know. You aren’t cold. I never thought that.”
    “What,