What hurt even more was the realization that she’d once again let herself be fooled into believing that an attractive man might be interested in her, only to find out that he was just interested in what she could do for him.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said again. “Because there is no way I’m going to go along with such a ridiculous plan.”
“It’s not ridiculous.”
“You said it yourself—I’m the opposite of every woman you’ve ever dated. Which is exactly why no one would believe it,” she told him.
“My family believes it,” he reminded her.
“Only because you deliberately misled them.”
And she was furious that he’d done so—and frustrated that she hadn’t realized what he was doing. She’d suspected that he had ulterior motives for being with her, but she’d been so happy being with him that she didn’t bother to question his reasons.
“Remember my sister’s engagement party? You were supposed to be my date, but that didn’t stop my cousin from hitting on you.”
“When I think about your sister’s engagement party, that’s not what I remember,” he said, his gaze dropping deliberately to her mouth.
She wasn’t going to succumb to such a blatant effort to distract her. She refused to think about that kiss.
Okay, maybe she’d dreamed about it—frequently and in great detail. And maybe those dreams sometimes went beyond a kiss. But while she couldn’t control her subconscious mind while she was sleeping, she refused to let her wayward fantasies take hold while she was awake.
“Besides,” Gage continued. “My parents already think we’re together.”
“And whose fault is that?” she grumbled.
“Why is it necessary to assign blame?” he asked mildly.
She shook her head. “I still can’t believe they would believe you could be interested in me.”
“You’re a beautiful, intelligent woman, Meg.”
She couldn’t resist rolling her eyes at that, certain he was only flattering her in the hopes of persuading her to go along with his plan. Because she knew that letting her hair down and wearing contact lenses were hardly enough to transform her from science geek to desirable woman.
“You are,” he insisted. “And my parents like you.”
“So?”
“They’ve never liked any of the women I’ve dated before.”
“Then find someone they will like—someone other than me.”
“My mom will be extremely disappointed to learn that our relationship is over almost before it began.”
“There is no relationship,” she said firmly.
“I’m only asking for a six-month engagement,” he said, obviously having given the matter some thought.
She ignored him.
“A six-month engagement, especially to someone who is completely unlike any other woman I’ve ever dated, will convince everyone that I’ve mended my ways. After the six months, you can dump me and break my heart.”
“Then your parents would really like me.”
“They’ll accept that I did something to screw up the best relationship I ever had,” he told her. “It’s something of a pattern with me.”
“Why is that?” she couldn’t help but ask.
He lifted a shoulder. “If I wanted to be psychoanalyzed, I’d go to a shrink.”
But the casual gesture was at odds with the shadows she saw in his eyes.
“A fiancée would be expected to know your dating history,” she prompted.
“There’s nothing to know,” he insisted. “Except that I’ve never had a relationship that was serious or long-term.”
“Never?”
“Not in a very long time,” he amended.
“She must have hurt you deeply,” Megan said.
He shrugged again. “Or maybe I’m just a commitment phobe,” he said, obviously unwilling to share any details. “But, of course, everything changed when I met you. For the first time in my life, I could not just imagine but look forward to spending the rest of my life with one woman.”
It took her a moment, but she realized he was merely explaining the rationale that he would give to anyone else who asked why he wanted to marry Megan—if she agreed to go along with his engagement scam.
Which, of course, she wouldn’t.
She wouldn’t let herself be sucked into his plan, no matter how much she wanted to be with him.
For three days, Megan pushed all thoughts of Gage’s proposal from her mind—or tried to. Let him find some other willing woman if he was determined to see this crazy scheme through. Because she had no doubt that he would. Gage Richmond wasn’t a man who was ever without a woman if he wanted one.
Okay, so maybe it had given her ego a little boost—albeit a temporary one—that this time he’d wanted her. Then reality had come crashing back when she realized his interest was solely for the purpose of a role-playing exercise. And he was so oblivious to everything except his own goals that he didn’t even realize how insulting his offer was.
Slamming the car door, she started up the walk to her house. Ashley was already home, and she considered venting some of her frustration to her, but her sister had seemed more than a little preoccupied recently—no doubt with preparations for the wedding—and Megan was reluctant to dump anything else on her.
Going into the kitchen, she filled the kettle with water and set it on the stove to boil. There was a stack of mail on the counter, and she thumbed through it. Credit-card application. An offer for a free estimate on window replacement. A take-out menu for the local deli. Water bill. Telephone bill. And a thick square envelope with the logo of her old high school in the upper left-hand corner and her name and address neatly printed at the center.
She tore open the flap of that one. She thought it might be a request for financial support from the alumni association, but those usually came in a standard-size envelope with a preprinted label. This one had a textured card inside, embossed with elegant gold script urging her to “Remember When…”
It was an invitation to celebrate the tenth anniversary of her graduation and the one hundredth year of the school.
Cream-colored vellum and gold text?
If the reunion committee wanted to evoke memories of high school, the invitations should have been scribbled with a Bic pen on a sheet of lined paper torn out of a spiral-bound notebook. And even then Megan wouldn’t go. She had no intention of reliving the nightmare that had been high school.
She’d been twelve in her freshman year and by taking summer courses, she’d completed all of the requisite credits to graduate by the time she was fifteen. Her father had always been proud of her academic accomplishments, her mother had always worried that she did nothing but study, and they’d both encouraged her to take a break from school in the summer, to explore other interests.
Megan hadn’t seen any point in taking a break and she didn’t have any other interests. At least if she was busy reading and learning and studying, she had a reason for not doing normal teenage girl things like gossiping about boys and painting her toenails and staying up all night at slumber parties. And it was a better reason than the truth—that she was too much of an oddball to have many friends.
She stuffed the invitation back into the envelope and tossed it into the garbage.
If not for Ashley, Megan would have spent her childhood and teenage years completely alone. But her older sister was and always had been her best friend. It didn’t seem to matter to Ashley that Megan would cut open her dolls to examine what was inside rather than dress them in pretty clothes, or that she’d opted to read about organic chemistry over Sweet Valley High.
There had always been a bond between them, the special connection that exists between sisters despite their differences. And when Paige came to live with them in her sophomore year, Megan had gained another rare ally in the halls of Hill Park High School.
The sound of footsteps on the stairs pulled Megan back to the present. She noted the
yoga pants and t-shirt Ashley was wearing and said, “I thought you were going out tonight.”
“Trevor had a client emergency and had to cancel our dinner plans.”
“What kind of emergency does an accountant have to deal with?” She took two mugs out of the cupboard. “Did someone put a debit entry into the credit column?”
Her sister shrugged. “If it even was a real emergency.”
Megan’s smile slipped. “What do you mean?”
“I’ve been feeling tired and crampy and depressed and I think Trevor just didn’t want to be with me tonight.”
Megan knew she should bite her tongue, but she hated to see her sister uncomfortable and unhappy, and she knew Ashley was both.
“I wish you’d go back on the Pill,” she said gently. “At least until after the wedding.”
Ashley started to cry.
Megan rubbed a hand down her sister’s arm. “It was just a suggestion.”
“It was Trevor’s suggestion, too,” she admitted. “I thought he wanted to have a baby as much I do, but he says he can’t live with me like this.
“I think—” she drew in a breath “—I think there might not be a wedding.”
Megan refused to believe it. She knew that Trevor loved Ashley, though she also knew that her sister’s desire to have a child had put a strain on their relationship.
“Of course there will be a wedding. And, as an early present, I have some good news,” she said now, thinking her sister could use some. “Gage’s father has cleared it so that you can be put on the standby list for the trial.”
Ashley’s eyes widened. “Really?”
“Once that’s done, we can start you on the protocol, even if it has to be outside of the test group.”
Ashley twisted the engagement ring on her finger. “How soon will that be?”
“Within a couple of months. Maybe sooner.”
“Even that might be too late. Trevor might have given up on me by then.”
“I can’t imagine Trevor would give up on you without trying to work things out first.”
“He is trying,” Ashley said. “He thinks that I’m not, that I can’t think about anything but having a baby.”
“Is he wrong?” Megan asked gently, handing her sister a cup of tea.
“No.” Ashley sighed as she cradled the cup between her palms. “I thought loving Trevor and having him love me would be enough, but it’s not. I want a baby, and he’s insistent that we continue to use protection until after the wedding.”
Megan didn’t say anything. Having never experienced the euphoria of being in love—or the heartbreak that sometimes followed—she felt distinctly unqualified to offer any sort of advice on the topic. On the other hand, disappointment and disillusionment were subjects on which she could write theses.
“Don’t you understand, Meg? Don’t you want to get married and have a family someday?”
“Sure,” she agreed, although her dismal track record with men had stifled any dreams that might have moved in that direction. “Although right now I’d settle for a real date with someone who wants to be with me for me, without any ulterior motives.”
Ashley seemed startled by her comment. “What does that mean?”
Megan shook her head, already regretting the words she’d spoken. “Nothing.”
But her sister wasn’t prepared to let it go. “Are you talking about Gage?”
“Funny you should ask,” Megan muttered.
“What did he do?” Ashley demanded, automatically coming to her sister’s defense.
“He told his parents that we’re dating.”
“You are dating.”
“We’re not, really,” Megan insisted. “It’s an illusion he’s created. And do you know why he wanted me to meet his family? Because I’m the complete opposite of every other woman he’s ever dated.”
“He didn’t use those actual words?”
“Those exact words,” she assured her.
Ashley winced sympathetically.
“Apparently his reputation could be an impediment to his promotion within the company, and he actually proposed a mock engagement to convince the world that he’s changed his ways.”
Megan thumped her sister on the back when she started to choke on her tea.
“Does this mock engagement include a real diamond?” Ashley asked, when she could speak again.
Megan had to laugh. “We didn’t get that far in the negotiations.”
“Why not?”
“Because I told him no way, no how would I go along with his scheme.”
“I think you should reconsider.”
Megan stared at her sister. “You’re kidding.”
Ashley shook her head. “Don’t you see? You’re in control here. This guy needs you.”
“But I don’t need him.”
“But you want him,” Ashley guessed.
Megan felt her cheeks flush.
The problem with having a sister who knew her so well was that Ashley knew when Megan was lying—as she would be lying if she denied having certain X-rated fantasies about her boss’s son.
“Do you remember how everyone looked at you differently at my engagement party because you were with Gage?”
Though Megan couldn’t guess where her sister was going with this, she nodded.
“Imagine that same scene, but a lot bigger. Maybe a thousand people.”
Megan shuddered at the thought. “You know I hate crowds.”
“But you can block everyone else out, because you have Gage by your side and his ring on your finger.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The Hill Park High School reunion.”
“I am not going to the reunion.”
“Why not?”
“For the same reason I never went to any social functions in high school. I was ‘Roarke the Dork’—a certified geek and perennial outcast—and I have no desire to be reminded of that.”
“You’re not a geek anymore. And this is the perfect opportunity to show everyone the beautiful successful woman you are now.”
“I appreciate the vote of confidence, but I’m still not going.”
“Do you remember Tara Gallagher?”
“As if I could ever forget,” she muttered.
The perky cheerleader was the complete opposite of Megan in every way and she’d been the bane of her existence during all of her days at Hill Park.
“Tara’s head of the reunion committee.”
“Which is just one more reason not to go, as if I didn’t have enough reasons already.”
Ashley shook her head. “You’re not looking at the big picture. Forget all the nasty little things that Tara did to you in high school and imagine the look on her face when you walk into the room with the man recently voted one of America’s one hundred most desirable bachelors.”
“Did he really make the list again?”
“Moved up twelve spots from last year,” Ashley confirmed. “Tara wouldn’t be able to stand seeing him with you.”
“Oh…that is tempting.”
“And then there are all the pitiful jocks who scorned you because you were so much smarter than them.”
Megan’s little bubble burst. “Are you trying to convince me to go or not?”
“One thing you need to remember about men,” Ashley told her. “They always want what they can’t have.”
Megan let herself consider the possibility for a minute, then shook her head. “If I went along with Gage’s plan just so I have some spectacular arm candy for the reunion, then I’d be using him in the same way he’s trying to use me.”
“Think of it as a win-win situation,” Ashley said.
Megan couldn’t deny that she was tempted. But if she let herself get caught up in Gage’s plan, she might get caught up in Gage, too—and end up with her heart broken.
And that was a chance she wasn’t willing to take.
Chapter Nine
Gage accepted that he might hav
e pushed Megan too far and too fast, but time was slipping away. Even more so since that damned list had been printed again. Sure he’d got a kick out of being named one of the country’s most desirable bachelors when he’d first made the list four years earlier, but his continued rise on the list only seemed to underline his father’s concerns. If he was going to ensure that it was his name stenciled on the door of the V.P. office when Dean Garrison retired, he needed to set his plan in motion fast.
He considered, briefly, the possibility of finding another woman to play the role of his fiancée, but he really couldn’t think of anyone else he would want to spend six months of his life with. It was a sad commentary on the character of the women he’d previously dated—and his own taste—that he couldn’t imagine a relationship lasting any longer than six weeks. Megan was the only woman he could imagine being with for such an extended period of time without being bored to death.
In fact, the more time he spent with Megan, the more fascinated he was by her. She was smart and fun, compassionate and witty. They never seemed to run out of things to talk about and even when they weren’t talking, the silence was never awkward or uncomfortable.
Okay, the attraction was a complication that he hadn’t anticipated, and it did worry him a little. A fake engagement would only succeed if they both remembered that it was fake, and he knew that wouldn’t be easy when the attraction between them was so real. But he was sure he could handle it. He only had to remember what was at stake: the V.P. office.
And because the stakes were so high, he couldn’t give up.
So when he and Megan were the last ones in the lab Thursday night, he said, “You know I never seriously thought about marriage before my father started in on me about why I haven’t been moving up in the company.”
“And you’re seriously thinking about marriage now?” she challenged.
“No,” he admitted. “But I’ve started thinking about why I never wanted to settle down, and I realized that it’s probably because I don’t like to fail.”
“No one likes to fail,” she said reasonably.
“That’s why I’ve never dated anyone for more than a few months—because I don’t want to set up any expectations.”
The Engagement Project Page 10
