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Oh God, he’s here! He’s actually here! What the hell am I doing?
Yup, she was crazy. Absolutely, out of her mind, padded room crazy.
But it was too late to lock herself away and throw away the key, because the man she’d been falling in love with for the last six months was standing on the other side of the door, waiting for her response to his knock.
Her mouth, which was obviously not connected to her brain, opened, and called, “Come in!”
Dammit! She wasn’t ready! Was she? The room she’d chosen was a small conference room. There were no windows, so without the light on, it was perfectly pitch black inside. There was a single conference table, six chairs, and nothing else. The added bonus of the room was that there were two doors, one that opened from the corridor where AJ was standing, and another leading to the junior executive offices, which were locked down at night. She’d planned for this. She’d wanted the chance to be with AJ…but she also wanted an escape route just in case something went wrong. If the ‘wrong’ did happen, she could hurry herself right out the other door, locking it behind her. He’d never know who she was…and she’d be safe. To wallow in unrequited love’s misery forever.
This is your only chance! Take it!
Not that she had a choice, since the door was opening, casting a beam of light across the conference room table to her left. She’d positioned herself in the corner, knowing the light from the corridor would follow AJ in, and wanting to remain hidden for as long as she could. The dark was her friend.
She watched, her heart hammering, as AJ large frame slipped through the opening. Slowly, he closed the door behind him, the door latch clicking into place.
Only the sound of their breathing—fast and ragged—could be heard.
Finally, after long, pounding seconds, he spoke. “Hello? Why’s it dark in here?” he asked, his deep voice carrying through the dark and right into her pussy.
Crazy. She was crazy. But she was also desperate! She couldn’t live her life watching and wondering. She’d done that for far too long. She was done with being the invisible nobody everyone ignored—especially the man she’d fallen in love with.
“You’re speaking,” she rasped, her faux accent in place. Yes, she realized that fooling him by playing a part wasn’t going to make the big reveal any easier, but she convinced herself that she just needed some time to speak with him in person without him knowing who she really was. They’d chat face to face—even though they couldn’t see one another—he’d fall in love with her, and once the lights came on, he wouldn’t care that she was his plump, plain, shy office manager. “You aren’t supposed to speak.”
He chuckled. “So I am. I’m not sorry, though. Does that mean you won’t speak with me? That you’ll stay hiding in the dark?”
“I’m only in the dark because I am not quite ready to…officially meet,” she replied weakly. Lord, she was treading on dangerous grounds. All he had to do was reach over and hit the light switch—her plans would be blasted to smithereens, and he’d probably laugh in her face…right after he ripped her a new one for fooling him. Then, he’d probably fire her.
She sucked in a breath, panic rushing through her.
After her rescue and then their make out session on her loveseat, Maeve had been emboldened to finally take the next step. To come out from behind the screen and make the next move. Their kiss had been molten, setting them both on fire. But he’d stopped them.
Because he wanted to remain faithful to Swan.
To her. Maeve. His obvious frustration and guilt were unnecessary because the two women he was caught between were the same person.
Her first feeling was immense guilt. It was her fault he was so torn up. But she could alleviate his guilt with a simple sentence.
I am Swan.
When she’d realized that, she’d nearly admitted she was Swan right then and there, but she knew dumping that on him in that heated moment would have caused a chain reaction and blown up in both their faces. No. She needed the time to figure out how to slowly and carefully reveal herself as Swan. And AJ needed time to come down from the lust and vexation he was feeling. He’d been tense as a fully drawn bowstring, and Maeve knew that revealing the truth right then would have made him snap.
She loved him. She didn’t want to hurt him.
Yeah, like lying to him for the last four months hasn’t been hurting him.The man was a twisted knot thanks to Swan’s emails and Maeve’s actions—kissing him and practically begging him to fuck her. But how was she supposed to know that AJ would actually be attracted to her as Maeve? For months, he’d looked through her, and for years before that, she’d been the ugly, fat, nobody everyone sneered at. What were the chances that a man as gorgeous and sexually experienced as AJ, a man surrounded by gorgeous women in bikinis—it was a small beach town after all—would actually feel anything for her other than friendliness. She was still stunned by the fact that he’d been the one to kiss her first. AJ desired her. Fat and all.
Because of her actions, however, AJ was confused, and a man of action like AJ, thrived on clarity.
It was time to make things perfectly clear. Well, as clear as they could be in a dark conference room. She told herself that she just needed one final step before the big reveal to ease herself into it. Because once it was out there, once AJ knew for certain that mousy, chubby Maeve was the enigmatic Swan, there was no taking it back. He could either bypass anger and go right to ecstatic, or he could feel betrayed, slighted, and hate her forever.
Either way, tonight was the beginning of the end of her charade. If she didn’t puke first.
A heavy sigh filled the silence left by her retreat into her thoughts.
“So, we’re to meet in the dark? How does that work? I want to see you. I want to touch you. This isn’t what I was expecting when I got your note.” Irritation and disappointment colored his words, and she felt the mood in the room shift. If she didn’t do something soon, he’d leave, and that would be the end of everything.
Dragging in a quiet breath, she made sure her faux accent was in place then admitted, “I’m scared. I have no idea what I am doing. I know you want to see me, and I want you to…just not yet.”
“What is it? What are you hiding from me? Are you scared that I won’t like what I see?”
