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“Parents,” the uniformed attendant called out, “please make yourselves comfortable in the waiting lounge. The movie will only take forty-five minutes."
Meg's eyes widened in surprise and she turned to look at Drake. "That long? I hope she can sit still through it."
"I'm sure she will," Drake said with confidence. From what he'd seen of Jessie he had no doubt that she would adapt to her situation. "Don't worry. She'll be fine. Let's grab a seat by the windows."
Meg seemed to take his word for it because she relaxed visibly then walked ahead of him, heading for the seats along the plate glass windows. She plopped down onto the padded bench and patted the seat beside her. "We might as well relax," she said with a crooked smile. "We have a long wait."
For a moment Drake just stared at her as the brilliant smile lit up her face. Maybe it was just him. He was probably in a state of euphoria but as she smiled all he could think was, I want this woman in my life. What would it take to get her to marry him?
Whatever it took, he would do it. He'd been waiting ten years and three months now and this time he would not let go until the woman smiling at him became Mrs. Meg Duncan.
******
Why was he staring at her like that? Meg’s smile wavered as she tried to figure out the strange expression on Drake’s face. His body was here but with that faraway look in his eyes and that half smile she could see that his mind was miles away. Then, as if suddenly snapping out of a trance, he shook his head and began walking over to the bench where she was already sitting.
“Are you all right?” she asked as he sat down beside her.
“Perfect,” he replied, and she could not dispute it when she saw the pleased expression on his face. Whatever he’d been thinking about had certainly made him a happy man.
And, for what it was worth, she was happy, too. She was having a wonderful time with two people whose company she enjoyed – her beloved Jessie and now this man who was stealing her heart a little piece at a time. And there was nothing she could do to stop him.
Dressed in khaki slacks and a soft brown wool sweater he looked both casual and cultured at the same time. She loved the way his gray eyes sparkled as he laughed with Jessie. He seemed to have so much fun with her. Who would have known that the big-shot billionaire would actually take the time to make her daughter feel special? She’d listened to hours of narration about his life, had taken the notes and prepared the outline, but nothing he’d said had given her as authentic a picture of who he was as the hours he’d spent with her child. She was seeing a side to him which she was sure few knew existed.
As Drake slid back onto the seat all the way and crossed his arms, Meg looked down at her hands. Okay, so he was here beside her. Now what? Were they going to spend the next forty-five minutes just staring out the window? Her mind raced, trying to find a topic of conversation that would interest him. What did men like to talk about, outside of sports, cars and women? She knew very little about the first two, and for the third, she could hardly have a conversation with a man about women.
She cleared her throat then glanced over at him. “So…since we left college you’ve been pretty busy building your investment empire.”
He shrugged. “You know all the details. I’m counting on you to pump some excitement into the boring story of my life.”
She narrowed her gaze as she looked at him. “You became a billionaire in under ten years and you call that boring? I should be so lucky.”
“Hey, you can be a billionaire writer. Look at J. K. Rowling. I’ll be looking for your name on that list next.”
“Yeah, right,” she said with a laugh.
After that they fell silent again, with him staring at the people milling around in the lobby at the end of the hall and her alternating between staring at her hands and out the window.
Finally, she decided to be brave and ask him about that part of him he had not shared with her during the interviews. “Uhm…may I ask you a personal question, Drake?”
“Sure,” he said as he turned toward her. “Go ahead.”
“For a man as successful as you…and as handsome, why didn't you ever get married?” She could feel herself turn red even as the words left her mouth. She’d actually asked the question that had been on her mind all this time. Holy cow. What must he think of her? Miss Nosy Parker, he was probably saying in his mind.
She didn’t regret asking the question, though. Ten years was a long time for a man as attractive as he was to stay unattached. She was curious. But when she got his response it stopped her cold.
“I was.”
She gasped. “You was…I mean, you were? You were married?”
He nodded and gave her a smile that seemed full of regret. “Yes, a long time ago.”
“Did she…pass away?” He looked so sad that she had no doubt he’d lost someone he’d loved dearly. As unfair as it was the thought made her heart hurt. The green-eyed monster was rearing its ugly head.
“No, nothing like that.” He shook his head. “She lives on, and very comfortably I might add.”
“You’re divorced, then.”
He sighed. “A more accurate word is annulled.”
“What happened?”
He looked away then he tightened his lips. “The marriage lasted all of three days.” He sighed. “I was stupid. I started dating a woman I met at a business conference. Only two months into the relationship she announced she was pregnant.”
He'd spluttered when Claudia had given him the news and she’d laughed at his shock. “Those things happen sometimes, Drake,” she’d told him. Of course he knew that, but they’d used protection. But, then again, condoms weren’t one hundred percent protection. She’d insisted they get married within the next month. She wanted to be married before her pregnancy became obvious. He hadn’t objected.
As Meg watched Drake as he told his story she could see his face grow rigid and there was a bitter twist to his mouth. She could tell that what was to come would not be good.
“We left the next day for our honeymoon,” he said. “The south of France, her choice. I didn’t really care.”
“We booked the presidential suite in the grandest hotel, La Belle Provence. The day after we arrived I got out of bed fairly early and told her I was going for a jog to work off some of my jetlag and wake myself up. She just groaned and rolled over and went back to sleep.” Drake drew in a deep breath then exhaled slowly. “At least, that was what I thought.”
Meg frowned. That sounded ominous. She was dying to know what happened next but when he fell silent she did not push. He needed to tell his story in his own time.
“It wasn’t till I got down to the lobby that I realized I’d left my cell phone.” Drake was not looking at Meg now. He stared straight ahead as he spoke, looking as if he’d been transported back in time. “I was quiet, going back into the suite. I didn’t want to wake her. I’d just grabbed the phone from the coffee table when I thought I heard voices coming from the bedroom. I decided to check."
His jaw tightened and he spoke through clenched teeth as he said the next words. “She was on the phone, talking about how she’d ‘bagged’ me with a fake pregnancy. Said she was going to wait another week or two before telling me about the miscarriage. Of course, she was going to make that up, too.”
“Oh, my God.” Meg’s hand flew to her mouth. How could a woman be so devious?
“Apparently, it had all been a set-up. The whirlwind romance, the rushed marriage. She’d targeted me long before I even knew she existed. Based on the rest of the conversation it seemed the plan had been in place for over a year.”
Drake shook his head. “I got rid of her so fast she didn’t know what hit her.” Then he laughed and the sound was harsh and bitter. “That’s the last time I’ll let a woman make a fool out of me.” He snorted. “Pregnancy. I fell for the age-old trick.” He shook his head again then to Meg’s relief, he chuckled. “Let’s hope that now that I’m the ripe old age of thirty-four I won’t fall for a stupid trick like that again.”
She laughed with him but inside she was pained by what he’d gone through. The nerve of that woman, to try to trap him with a baby. In this case, a fake one. Some women would stop at nothing to trap a rich man into marriage.
Trying to lighten the mood, she decided to change the subject. “I started writing chapter one this week. It’s going great.”
As she’d expected, his face brightened. “Good. I’m looking forward to seeing your first draft.”
“We’re still a couple of months away from a full draft but I’m happy with the way it started off. It’s really flowing.”
“Great.”
“I’m depicting you like the urban version of the swashbuckling cowboy of the wild west.”
