by Cat Schield
“Well, this is a surprise,” he said, setting aside the document he had been reading.
“I came by to see if you’d like to take me to lunch.”
Before he could get to his feet, Megan skirted the coffee table and lowered herself onto his lap. Encircling his neck with her arms, she drew his head to her, depositing a lingering kiss on his mouth. His fingers closed over her waist and thigh as he met the exploratory thrust of her tongue with matching passion.
Megan was breathing hard by the time she lifted her lips from his. Although his hand had only walked partway up her thigh, heat pounded through her in anticipation of where his fingers might go next.
“I don’t suppose we dare lock the door so I could have my way with you,” she said, only half joking.
They were both flushed, and Megan recognized the sensual cant of Will’s lips as she’d seen it often over the last few days right before he swept her into his arms and carried her to the bedroom.
“As much as I’d love to take you up on that tempting offer—” His fingers drifted over her belly and curved as they pressed between her thighs, wrenching a gasp from her. Sighing, Will gave his head a reluctant shake while his eyes flickered toward the open door and his assistant’s desk beyond “—it’s probably not the best idea since I’m trying hard to restore my reputation after Lowell’s antics. As it is, my return has proved confusing for any number of people as my behavior has returned to normal.”
“And normal doesn’t include a midday tryst in your office.” Megan gave his tie a sharp tug as she returned the knot to center. “Even if the woman involved is your wife.”
Will looked pained. “It would be one thing if it were generally known that Lowell had been impersonating me for over a year, but most of my employees are suffering a case of whiplash.”
“I imagine they are.” Megan deposited a kiss on Will’s cheek before gazing around. “I think my office is bigger than yours,” she teased, hoping to see him smile again. “Although your desk is much more grand than mine.”
“It belonged to my great-grandfather.” Six feet long with beautifully patterned veneers and carved, scrolling columns, the desk lent an atmosphere of gravitas to a room dominated by Impressionistic landscapes, white walls and cream carpet.
“I have to say, this isn’t exactly what I pictured for your office.”
Will looked surprised. “You sound like you haven’t been here before.”
“I haven’t.” Megan tunneled her fingers through Will’s thick, dark hair. “This is my first visit.”
“How is that possible? You were married to Rich for almost a year.”
Megan glanced away from his keen green eyes, trying to summon the words to explain how she’d stayed married to a man who’d kept so much of himself and his life away from her. Her gaze fell on the document Will had set aside when she’d entered.
“What is that?” she asked, pointing to the pages. She leaned forward to get a better look and gasped as the text became clear. “These look like settlement clauses.” She leaped off his lap and snatched up the document, giving it a more thorough read. When she reached the end, she flipped back to the beginning. Heart clenched in dismay, she gripped the paper hard enough to crease it. “Why are you preparing divorce paperwork?”
“My lawyer has been working on our situation for a while now.”
Her throat tightened painfully. “How long?”
“Since I came back and found out we were married.” He held out his hands in a soothing manner that had no possible chance of calming her anxiety. “Look, it’s just in case...”
Megan couldn’t believe what she was hearing. So all those nights while they’d made love and slept entwined in each other’s arms, he’d been making plans to divorce her?
“In case of what?”
A muscle bunched in Will’s jaw before he answered. “When everything is said and done and Lowell is caught, we no longer have to stay married.”
Although Megan could tell Will wasn’t happy to be discussing the dissolution of their marriage, his actions in having legal paperwork drawn up showed that he’d been thinking about severing ties.
“We haven’t talked about this in weeks,” she reminded him, barely able to speak past her raw throat. “Not since I moved in with you.”
“I know.” He rubbed his eyes. “I want you to know that this time with you has been fantastic.”
Nothing in his manner or tone told Megan he spoke anything except the truth, and waves of betrayal buffeted her. “If that’s true, then why...?”
He made a grab for the legal document, but missed as she swept it beyond his reach. “We’ve been existing in a vacuum, hiding out at the Ace in the Hole, ignoring this situation we find ourselves in.”
Each one of his words lashed at her heart. “That’s all this is? A situation we find ourselves in?”
“No, of course not. I care about you.”
“I care about you, too.” Suddenly it became hard for Megan to breathe. She couldn’t seem to get any air into her lungs, and as darkness swallowed her vision, she felt as if she was smothering. “So why can’t we go on like we are?”
“What are we?” Will’s voice took on an edge. “Husband and wife? You didn’t choose me.”
It was a backhanded way of saying he had not chosen her. “So we’re going to get divorced?”
“I don’t know.” But in his eyes she could see he did know. “It kind of makes sense that we should.”
“I can’t believe this is happening.” Megan’s heart twisted, making her lungs seize. How had she let herself be fooled into falling in love with Will Sanders a second time?
He got to his feet and took the document out of her hand, dropping it on the coffee table before taking her upper arms in a firm grip. “Look, we don’t need to talk about this right now. Let’s just get through the next few days and then we can consider our options.”
“Options?” Megan echoed dully, wondering why she’d let Will into her heart these last few weeks. Given what she’d learned today, it was pretty obvious that he planned to extricate himself from their relationship as soon as he could. “Are there really any options?”
“Once things get back to normal, we can make decisions then.”
“Sure.” The smile Megan offered up came from pain and disappointment, not joy, but Will didn’t seem to notice because he smiled back in reassurance. “I guess I better get going.”
“You don’t want to do lunch?”
“I guess I’m not as hungry as I thought I was.”
Megan sidestepped, and Will’s hands fell away from her arms. As she was turning away, her eyes began to burn. She absolutely, positively, would not cry until she’d reached the privacy of her car.
“I’ll see you later at the ranch,” Will said as she passed the threshold.
To Megan’s relief, she navigated Spark Energy Solutions’ halls and reached the front door without bursting into tears and making a huge fool of herself. Nor did she start to cry when she reached the safety of her car. Instead, the emotions rising in her were first humiliation and then anger. At Will. And at herself.
Was he right? Had they been existing in a cocoon, isolated from reality? Maybe for him. In her case, Will had become her reality and the way she felt around him was her strength. Now to discover it had all been a lie...
Megan drove through the streets of Royal with no destination in mind. She’d set aside a couple of hours to go to lunch with Will and the thought of returning to work while consumed with heartache held no appeal. Nor could she claim any appetite. Maybe what she needed was a little retail therapy. She would go buy a baby gift for Abigail who was due in the coming month.
Abigail had briefly worked at Spark Energy Solutions as imposter Will’s assistant and had been seduced by him. The brief affair had led to her getting pregnant. As with Jillian Nor
ris, in the aftermath of being taken advantage of by Rich, Abigail had found true love. The new man in her life: trauma surgeon Vaughn Chambers.
Leaving her car near Main Street, Megan strolled past several shops, letting herself be distracted by the window displays. She loved how this historic section of downtown Royal housed trendy boutiques beside antique stores and service shops, and wondered why she’d never thought to open a Royals Shoes store here.
She was a few doors down from the baby/children’s boutique, where she loved to shop for Savannah, when she suddenly realized she was no longer alone on the sidewalk. All the hair on her arms rose as a shadow fell across her.
“Miss me?” came a familiar voice near her ear as her purse was jerked from her grasp.
The rough action spun Megan around and she tensed as she stared at the man who’d accosted her. Rich Lowell. “Not for a second,” she snapped, making a wild grab at her bag.
Lowell easily swung it beyond her reach and sneered at her. “Too busy playing wife?” he asked. “It figures that you’d fall into bed with Sanders since he’s the one you’ve wanted all along.” Rich took a step nearer, his eyes narrowing. “It must drive him crazy that I got there first. Every time he makes love to you, I bet he remembers that you belonged to me before you ever climbed into bed with him. Every kiss reminds him I was there first. When you call his name as you come it reminds him that I was your husband the whole time he was gone. He can’t touch you and not think of my hands on you.”
Rich’s words pummeled Megan, driving to the heart of her insecurities regarding her relationship with Will. She dug her fingernails into her palm, refusing to answer, unwilling to give Rich the satisfaction of seeing her angry or upset.
“You might have had my body, but I was never yours.” Although her last encounter with this man had ended with her getting away, Megan wasn’t confident that would happen this time, but that didn’t stop her bold words. Nor was she about to let him see her fear even when he seized her arm in a biting grip. “I never loved you,” she went on brazenly. “I loved who you were pretending to be—Will Sanders. And after we were married, you showed the bastard you really were.”
“You loved me,” Rich growled, his fingers tightening further as he forced her along the street and into an alley between two buildings.
“It doesn’t matter how I felt once,” she said, scrambling for a way out of this predicament. “You killed my brother and I despise you.”
He jerked her to him and put his arm around her.
Megan resisted as best she could, twisting her body right and left, but his strength outmatched hers. Still, she fought until he shoved her against the alley wall. She hit it with enough force to drive the breath from her lungs. Before she could recover, he yanked her hair, dragging her head back until her face was tilted to his. Seconds later his mouth came down on hers, his breath stinking of whiskey and cigarettes. He bit at her lower lip, causing her to cry out, then plunged his tongue deep into her mouth. Out of breath, with panic starting to rise, Megan fought his hold, but he was too strong.
Still, she struggled, kicking at his shins and pounding his arm, but to no avail. When at long last he lifted his lips from hers, his cruel smile sent a wave of terror through her. The authorities had returned her gun, but it was in her purse and Rich had taken that from her. She had only her wits to use against him.
“You’re mine,” he snarled. “I’m going to make you remember that.”
His ominous words shredded Megan’s bravado. “What are you planning to do to me?” she demanded in a breathless rush, her imagination taking her to terrible places.
“We’re going on a little trip.”
The last thing she needed to do was to let him get her into a car. “What sort of trip?”
“I have something to pick up and then we are heading south to Mexico.”
Anxiety tightened Megan’s stomach into knots. Will had talked about the likelihood that Rich would take refuge in Mexico. It would be easy for him to disappear, and her with him. She couldn’t let that happen.
“You’ll never make it,” she cautioned. “There’s a huge manhunt underway for you.”
“You don’t think I know that?” He laughed, and the sound grated along her nerves.
Despite her fear, Megan kept her voice from trembling. “It will be that much worse if they think you’ve taken me with you.”
“That’s where you’re wrong. Why do you think I need you to come along?” A mirthless smile formed on his lips. “You are going to tell everyone that I’m Will Sanders, the love of your life.”
“And when we get to Mexico? You’ll let me go?”
“Sure.” Rich caught her face in his powerful fingers and squeezed. “Right after I make sure Will won’t ever want to touch you again.”
Seeing that he meant what he said, Megan was even more convinced she couldn’t go anywhere with him. But how could she stop him? She had to tip someone off.
“I’m supposed to be having lunch with Dani in fifteen minutes,” she lied, quickly formulating a plan. “If I don’t meet her, she’ll know something’s wrong and contact the authorities. Sheriff Battle and the FBI will come looking for me and you won’t be able to get away.”
Rich stared at her for a long moment while Megan held her expression as earnestly as possible, praying he wouldn’t suspect she was lying.
“So text her and let her know you can’t make lunch.”
Megan shook her head, pretending to resist. If he had to force her to contact Dani, he might miss that she was trying to trick him. She never saw the blow coming, but suddenly there was a blinding pain in her cheek and the coppery tang of blood in her mouth. While she regained her balance, Rich rummaged through her purse until he found her phone and then handed it to her.
“Send the text and be quick about it. And make sure you show me the message before you send it.”
Megan unlocked the phone and, while her cheek throbbed, formulated what she could say to Dani that would alert her without the text arousing Rich’s suspicions.
Can’t make lunch. Call with K Cole about fall line is happening now. Text you later.
“Let me see.”
Megan showed Rich the text, holding her breath while he read the message. “Is it okay?”
“Who’s K Cole? And what’s this ‘fall line’ you’re talking about?”
“Kenneth Cole, the world-famous fashion designer,” Megan replied coolly, masking her nerves beneath impatience. “He’s interested in collaborating with me next year. It will be huge for my company.”
“Delete the ‘text you later’ line. You won’t be texting or calling anybody.”
Praying that her friend would understand and contact Cole and Will, Megan sent the text. As soon as it was gone, Rich snatched the phone from her hand, dropped it to the pavement and crushed it with his heel.
“Hey,” she complained, feeling as if her lifeline had been cut. “You didn’t have to do that. I could’ve just turned it off.”
“They can track you with the phone. This way nobody will know where you are.”
“You’ve bought us a couple hours at the most,” she said. “My assistant will be expecting me to return after lunch.”
Rich gave her a rough shove toward the end of the alley away from the main downtown street. “Then I guess we’d better get going.”
Eleven
Will paced in front of the large desk in his office, the argument with Megan playing over and over in his head. The arrival of the divorce papers this morning had thrown him for a loop. So much had happened since Megan had moved into the Ace in the Hole that had compromised his original intention to divorce her. But while he’d reviewed the legal documents, he’d recalled the conversation he’d overheard between her and Lucy. Megan had made it pretty clear that once Lowell was apprehended she wanted to move on with her life. Wi
ll figured that meant ending her marriage to him.
While reviewing the settlement, he’d grown more and more depressed. Was he really prepared to just let her go? It’s what she claimed she wanted, but the emotions that had developed between them these last few weeks seemed to contradict that. Surely there was a way for them to start over. Or just start.
So, why hadn’t he told her that he wanted them to stay together once this business with Lowell was through?
His cell phone rang and he glanced to where it sat beside his keyboard. Cole Sullivan’s face filled the screen. Frowning, Will leaned over and picked up the phone, queuing the answer button.
“Hey, Cole. What’s up?”
“Dani just called me. She got a really odd text from Megan and now Megan’s not responding to text or answering her phone.”
“What sort of odd text?” Wills gut twisted. “What did it say?”
“Something about not making lunch and that she was taking a meeting with K Cole about her fall line.”
Will recalled that she’d come to SES to have lunch with him. “Was she having lunch with Dani?”
“No, and I’m wondering if the Cole she’s referring to is me. But what’s the part about her fall line?”
“I saw her sketches for next year. She was planning to feature a lot of gold in the designs.” A part of Will applauded Megan’s cleverness even as the ramifications electrified him. He was out of his chair and grabbing his keys before Cole arrived at his own conclusion.
“Gold like Lowell’s stash at the cabin.”
“He’s got her and is planning to make a run for his gold.”
Cole cursed. “I’ll call Sheriff Battle. The cabin is under surveillance.”
“While you do that, I’m going up there.”
“That’s a bad idea. Why don’t you let the sheriff and the FBI take care of this?”
“Given how slowly they’ve mobilized in the past, I’m not going to sit around and let Lowell get away again. That’s my girl he’s got. I’m heading out to rescue her.”
