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“Mrs. Gracey,” she corrected, and lifted her head to look straight into his striking gray eyes.
Drake Duncan froze. His grip on her hand tightened and his brows furrowed. “Meg…Donovan?”
Her heart leaped and, to her chagrin, she felt a slight trembling in her lip. She bit down on it. He had remembered. After all these years he still recognized the pathetic little junior who had thrown herself at him. She didn’t know whether to feel elated or dismayed. What she felt was nervous. Would he reject her because of their past encounter?
For the moment Meg could not speak. All she could do was nod.
Shock registered on his face. His brows raised and he sucked in a quick breath. There was an expression on his face that she could not read.
Oh, Lord. What had she done? In coming here had she just made the second biggest mistake of her life?
*****
Drake Duncan could not tear his eyes away. Meg Donovan. She was here, standing right in front of him, looking even more beautiful than when he had last held her in his arms. And his body had remembered her. Even before she’d lifted her face to his, before he’d had a good look at her, he’d known. The moment his hand touched hers an electric charge ran through him, so strong that he’d held her tight. It was either that or whip his hand away from the shock.
Meg, in living color, all five foot five inches of her. Where she used to have wild chestnut curls framing her pixie face, her hair was now swept up in a sleek ponytail that flowed, long and straight, down her back. Her hazel eyes were huge in her face and her lips, those full, soft lips he remembered, now trembled under his gaze. Everything around him disappeared and all he could see was that sweet, innocent girl he had fallen for so many years ago.
Get a grip, Drake. That was another lifetime. And she walked away, remember? In the microsecond it took for Drake to take things in he realized he was still holding her hand. He released her and shoved the offending hand deep in his pocket. But still, he did not look away.
Liz cleared her throat. “May I get you anything, Ms. Gracey? Coffee? Tea?”
It took that interruption for the spell to be broken. Drake stepped away and went to pull out the chair in front of his desk. He pasted a smile on his face and nodded to Meg. “Please, have a seat.”
Hesitantly, she took a step toward him. Then she paused and looked at Liz. “A cup of tea would be nice,” she said, smiling at the woman. “Thank you.” Then she took the two steps to the chair and gracefully sank down into it.
Drake released the back of Meg’s chair and walked around his desk. He took his time getting there. He needed those two seconds to gather his thoughts. Meg had hurtled back into his life, slamming him back against the wall of a reality he thought he’d buried years ago. He’d wanted Meg Donovan from the day he’d seen her at the podium, so small and yet so brave, speaking to a lecture hall of over a hundred of her peers. He’d wanted her even more when they danced at the pre-graduation party. And, after having one taste of her that night, he’d wanted her for life.
And, to his chagrin, none of that had changed. Seeing her again, holding her hand in his, had the feelings barreling into him as if not a day had passed. He wanted this woman just as much as he had from day one. But now there was a problem. A major one. Meg Donovan was married.
CHAPTER THREE
As Drake walked back to his chair Meg folded her hands in her lap and held her breath. Gracious, what had she gotten herself into? As she stared at his broad back her mouth went dry and she knew she hadn’t lost a single ounce of the attraction she’d felt for him. Oh Lord, she was in trouble.
Drake sat down and rested his crossed arms on the desk. “Thank you for coming,” he said, his voice deep and low and so sexy that she felt a blush creep up her neck. “Under the circumstances you didn’t have to, so I appreciate it.”
That brought her back to earth with a bump. ‘Under the circumstances’ he’d said. Meaning what? I used you then dumped you so I didn’t expect you to show up at my office? Was he rubbing it in? A wave of humiliation washed over her and her palms went damp. If she didn’t need the money so desperately she would get up and walk right out. But sadly, she did. She had to put aside her feelings and think of Jessie. She drew in a breath and let it out slowly, willing herself to stay calm.
Then she looked up and caught him staring at her with hooded eyes that made it impossible for her to read his expression. As her eyes darted up to his he blinked then cleared his throat.
“You have an impressive profile, Meg,” he began then said quickly, “I mean, Mrs. Gracey.”
Oh, so he was going to be formal, was he? She was very good at playing that game. And anyway, maybe it was for the best that they should remain formal. That way, she would never forget her position. She was Drake Duncan’s ghostwriter, nothing more, nothing less.
She gave him a slight nod. “Thank you.”
“Even before I knew who you were I thought you’d be the perfect person to write my memoir.” His face became more animated as if he was beginning to relax in her presence. “So many novels under your belt, one of them on the USA Today Best Seller List.”
She couldn’t help smiling at that one. “Oh, so you’ve been reading up on me.”
“Of course,” he said with a smile that brought a twinkle to his eyes and for a moment he looked just like the Drake Duncan she’d swooned over in college. The years fell away and the person she saw before her was the tall, muscled athlete that all the girls chased after.
Except that he was even more handsome now than he’d been ten years ago. There was a worldliness about him, a self-confidence and sophistication that hadn’t been there before. If he’d been a lady killer then she could just imagine what he was now, successful and super handsome and single. Yes, he was still single. He’d read up on her but she’d read up on him, too. And she knew he was one of the wealthiest eligible bachelors in Chicago.
But that meant nothing to her. She was here to do a job and she would do it to the best of her ability and then be on her way.
“I guess the project will take anywhere from three to six months,” he was saying, “but you’re the writer. You know best. I’m relying on you to work out an appropriate schedule.”
“No problem,” she said, her tone brisk. “Before I start writing anything I’ll have to do a series of detailed interviews then I’ll compile my notes and get started.” She pointed to the desk calendar. “If you just hand that to me I can set up the interview dates right now.”
He slid it over to her and this time she made sure their hands didn’t touch. That would be too much to handle. Right then, all she wanted to do was deal with the business at hand and then get the heck out of that office. In that space she was too close to Drake for comfort.
He looked at the dates she’d highlighted. “So we start next week?”
She nodded. “Monday afternoon, before the week gets on the way.”
“What about this week?” he asked. “I want to get started as soon as possible.”
She shook her head. “No can do. I need this week to arrange my business so that once I get started I can just focus. I need to arrange for a babysitter for those days when I need to be here.”
“You…have children?” A stricken look crossed his face then in a flash it was gone.
Meg frowned. So what if she had children? Would that be an issue? It certainly wouldn’t affect the quality of her work. “I have a five year old,” she said, her tone slightly defensive. “My daughter, Jessie.”
“Oh,” he said. “That’s…nice.”
His words were appropriate but Meg could see that her having a child had affected him in some way. His face had gone still and his voice quiet. Now he seemed to be deep in thought.
“Is that a problem?”
His eyes snapped back to her face. “Excuse me?”
“Is it a problem that I have a child? You don’t seem too happy about it.”
“No, not at all.” He had the grace to look ashamed. “I guess I’m just getting used to the idea of you having a family.”
Meg almost laughed. It had been ten years since she’d last seen or spoken to this man. Did he expect her to believe that she’d actually crossed his mind even once over those ten years?
On the other hand, he’d crossed her mind a lot. She couldn’t count the number of nights she’d cried herself to sleep, thinking about Drake and how he’d stolen her heart only to then turn around and stomp it into the dust. And now he had the audacity to pretend as if he’d spent any time thinking about her. As she thought about it she felt the anger build inside.
She glared at him. “Well, I’m glad my daughter is not a concern for you. I assure you, my dealings with you will be quite professional so you have no need to worry about Jessie getting in the way of your project.”
