She’d forgotten about Mary until she realized that the older woman was back behind the desk, watching their little show. “As long as those two miniature tornadoes are kept corralled, I think I’ll be safe,” Megan declared.
“I offered to lock them up,” Rafe said easily as he stood, towering over her once again.
She looked up at him, into those dark eyes. “I think taking sugar away from them might be a more reasonable solution. Someone should talk to their mother about their diets.”
There was a flash of something in those eyes, something she almost thought was pain. Then she realized it might be anger. There had been a lot of anger at their last encounter. “So, you’re an expert on kids, are you?”
“Not even close, but anyone can see that those two little boys need—”
Mary moved closer then, coming around to literally stand between them. “Oh, dear,” she murmured with narrowed eyes on Megan’s forehead. “I think you need ice.” She turned to Rafe. “Could you get some ice for Megan, please?”
Megan knew he didn’t want to do anything for her at that moment, but he turned and strode out of the room without a word. The door closed this time with a decidedly hard click. She glanced at the shut door, thankful he was gone, and not feeling any hope that he’d bring back ice.
She gently touched her forehead again and felt the tenderness of swelling. “Ouch,” she said, pulling back from the contact. “Is it bruised?”
The woman studied her, then shook her head. “Not yet, but it will be.”
“Well, he’s got a hard head.”
Mary smiled a bit at that. “Most men do.”
“I bump heads like that, and then those two kids...” She exhaled. “They’re dangerous.”
Mary cut her off in midsentence. “Megan, they’re his.”
She frowned, not understanding. “Excuse me?”
“The twins? Gabe and Greg?”
“Believe me, I haven’t forgotten who they are.”
“They are his boys. They’re Mr. Diaz’s sons.”
Megan wasn’t up to this, not after what she’d said to him about the boys. “Oh, no,” she muttered. “I didn’t know that.”
“Of course you didn’t,” Mary said matter-of-factly. “And you were a bit...stressed.”
She rested her head on the back support of the chair and stared up at the acoustical ceiling. Stressed? What a simple word for what Rafe did to her when she was around him. She remembered her idea about him having breakfast with a lot of little Rafes. Now she’d met two of them. And the wife and mother would be right there, too. “Does he have six more at home?” she asked.
“Just the two, I think,” Mary said.
Megan stared at the pattern on the acoustic tiles. “They’re enough,” she muttered.
“I’m sure he thinks so sometimes,” the woman said. “How about you—two kids too many?”
She sat up and watched Mary going around to sit behind the desk again. “Excuse me?”
“You know when you’re young and you decide, ‘I want two boys and two girls,’ and you plan your future?”
She was taken aback by that statement. She’d never planned for children, only for school and her career. “No, I never did,” she admitted. “I bet you had a houseful of kids, didn’t you?”
Surprisingly, there was no smile now, just a certain sadness in the woman’s expression. “I wanted them, but I didn’t get them. Now I have a center full of kids.” That brought the smile back. “A whole bunch of cute kids.”
Now that things were more settled, Megan realized the children probably were cute. The twins certainly could be, with huge brown eyes like their father’s, midnight-black hair in Buster Brown cuts, and... It was then she realized they both had their father’s dimple—one dimple. “As long as I don’t have to be around kids much, they’re cute, I guess.”
Mary laughed softly. “I assume that’s an engagement ring?” she asked, glancing at the diamond. “You’ll be getting married and having children of your own.”
That was a statement, not a question, and Megan wouldn’t tell the woman that she and Ryan had never talked about children. She’d assumed they wouldn’t be a priority, and maybe would never happen. “Perhaps later on, somewhere down the road, when Ryan and I are settled and things are in order,” she murmured. Megan wanted to change the subject. “Why do you suppose the twins went after me?”
Mary laughed ruefully at that. “Oh, honey, they weren’t after you, at least not the first time. Gabe was heading for me, and you just got in the way. And Greg, well, he’s very, very protective of his brother.”
“I’m not some monster,” she murmured, though she was sure most people in the center thought she was. “I’m just not good with children,” she admitted. “Especially those two little live wires. They are such a handful. I bet they pillage and plunder everywhere they go, and they...”
Her voice trailed off as she realized that Mary was looking past her at someone who had just opened the door and come into the room. Megan’s heart sank. She didn’t have to look to know that Rafe was back. She’d thought he’d left for good, but here he was, stepping in front of her and holding out a plastic bag of ice. She took it quickly, and chanced a look up at him.
He’d heard her. She knew it by the way his eyes were narrowed and his mouth set. She cleared her throat, and once again apologized to this man. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know they were yours, and I didn’t mean anything, but they just...they took me by surprise, and I thought my slacks were ruined.” She shrugged, implying she was way out of her depth being around the twins. “I’m not used to kids like that,” she said in a rush, and knew she’d said the wrong thing once again. One look at his expression made that crystal clear.
There was a nerve-wracking silence before he crouched down in front of her, took the bag of ice from her hand and pressed it to her forehead none too gently. She gasped from the sudden rush of cold on the tender spot, and reached up, her hand covering his on the ice bag before he jerked back so quickly that she lost her grip and the bag fell into her lap.
He stared at her hard, then said, “Do it yourself. It might help the swelling.” As he stood, he added, “But I don’t think it’s going to help your attitude at all.”
“What—?”
“Miss Gallagher, you really need to stop judging people, big or small, when you don’t know them at all.”
Before she could think of something to say, anything, he left, leaving the door open as he disappeared out into the hallway. Megan looked down at the ice bag in her lap and she clenched her hands, the broken earpiece almost cutting into her palm. “Ouch!” she yelped.
“Fathers are quite protective, you know,” Mary said from behind the desk.
Megan knew that. Or she should have. Her father had been so protective when she was growing up. “He sure is.”
“Well, everyone needs someone in this life that they know would go the limit for them, and children really need that more than anyone. Of course, you would probably do that for your Ryan. And I had my dear husband, who would have slain dragons for me.”
Megan didn’t see Ryan in the role of dragon slayer, but she wondered how far he’d go for her. Would he rush into a loft when he didn’t know if he’d be facing an armed intruder or a fat orange cat? Was Ryan a knight in shining armor? Or was Rafe? She stopped right there when a certain degree of jealousy came out of nowhere as she thought about Rafe protecting his wife. Megan pushed that aside, saying flippantly, “You’re a brave lady working here. I’ll stay in Legal.”
“Speaking of Legal,” Mary said. “I’m glad Mr. Lawrence sent you down.”
She was more than willing to concentrate on other things. “He told me that you had questions about the day care center incorporation, and asked me to come down to talk it over with you.”
“Two of them,” Megan murmured, then reached for her briefcase. “I’m here, so ask your questions.”
“It’s quite confusing, the fund-raising for the charity ball and the attempt to break the day care center’s legal ties with LynTech. I admit to not really having the understanding of the process that I should.”
The door behind Megan opened, and she turned quickly, a bit giddy with relief that Rafe wasn’t there. An older man with snow-white hair, looking very dapper in a well-cut navy suit, was walking into the office. She’d only seen him twice before, once when he’d come to the San Francisco offices and once at the ball, both times from a distance. This was Robert Lewis, the founder of LynTech.
When he saw Megan, he smiled and walked closer with his hand extended. “Hello there. Miss Gallagher, isn’t it?”
She had no idea how he knew her name, but she stood, tossed the broken earpiece onto the desk and, clutching the ice bag in her left hand, shook hands with him. “Hello, Mr. Lewis.”
“It’s good to have you on board,” he said, then frowned slightly at her forehead. “My, that looks like a nasty bump. I do hope you’re okay.”
“It’s okay, just a little mishap.”
“Good, good,” he said as he let her hand go and glanced past her at Mary. “Mary, I’m sorry to interrupt, but I needed to speak with you right away.”
The woman hesitated, and Megan thought she saw a slight flush on her cheeks. “Can’t it wait?” she asked.
Mr. Lewis shook his head. “Actually, no, it can’t. I only have ten minutes before I need to get to a meeting that might take the rest of the day. This is my only opportunity to get down here.” He glanced at Megan. “Would you be so kind as to give us a few minutes?”
Megan looked at Mary. “Go ahead,” the woman said, but didn’t look happy with the change in plans.
“Okay. I’ll be back in fifteen minutes, if that’s okay.”
“Perfect,” Mr. Lewis said, but he wasn’t looking at her, he was looking right at Mary.
Megan grabbed her briefcase and the bag of ice, then left quickly. As she turned to pull the door shut behind her, she saw the two people in the room. Mr. Lewis was going around the desk to where Mary was standing, shaking her head and ignoring the hand he held stretched toward her. “If this is about Ray, I don’t want to—” The door clicked shut and Mary’s words were cut off.
So Ellen had been right about Mr. Lewis and Mary Garner, Megan realized. Stranger things had happened, she thought as she walked out into the main room.
The chaos from moments ago had subsided and the children were gathered in two quiet groups. Older kids she’d seen before were gone, and only tiny children remained, ranging from infants, who were sleeping, to three- or four-year-olds. One group was focused on a TV cartoon, and the other group was sitting in a circle with the teenage girl she’d seen before, being read to out of a huge book with a blue train engine on the cover.
Megan spotted the twins in the second group, both of them listening with rapt attention to the story while they leaned against each other, connected in some nonphysical way that even she could sense. A twin thing, she mused, followed by the thought that, now that they were quiet and still, they looked shockingly angelic. That almost made her laugh. She knew it wasn’t the case.
She crossed the room, going past their group, and Gabe, the attacker, glanced up at her as if he sensed her presence. She found herself smiling hesitantly at him, and was stunned when the child smiled shyly back, the dimple deepening. In that instant, he was the spitting image of his father.
She had no idea why that expression made her feel slightly breathless as she kept going toward the exit to make her escape. Escape? That’s what it felt like, as if she was getting out through the double entry doors to the center to be able to breathe again and think clearly.
* * *
RAFE SAW MEGAN FROM the corner of his eye as she left the center. She was almost out of his peripheral vision, but he knew it was her. Then he glanced away from Brad, another security guard, and looked right at her as she stepped into the elevators. She still had the bag of ice in one hand and her briefcase in the other. As angry as he’d felt at her opinions about the boys, he still had a sneaking suspicion that she was just plain out of her depth with children.
“Hey, she’s off-limits,” Brad said, getting Rafe’s attention.
He looked back at the other guard. “What are you talking about?”
“Miss Ice Princess? The blonde? She’s the one from the ball, isn’t she? The one you escorted up to Mr. Lawrence?”
“Yes, she is.”
“Too bad. She’s up there with the big boys, the ones who have the money and the flash.”
Rafe wouldn’t tell Brad he was right about that, but he didn’t like the whole tone of this conversation. “She’s an attorney in Legal.”
“Yeah, I know. I’ve seen her around this week, but she looks right through me.” He frowned in distaste. “And she’ll do the same to you. You can bet on it.”
Rafe had been trying to gather a list of people who were in the building at odd hours, when the company records might be accessed a bit more easily. And since Brad worked those hours, Rafe was thinking he might have some ideas about that. But the man was annoying, to say the least. “She works here, just like we do.”
Brad laughed at that, quieting a bit when a couple of businessmen gave him a sharp look as they left the building. “Yeah, yeah,” he said in a half whisper. “Sure she does. And if you asked her out, she’d accept because we all work in the same building?”
Megan was a snob. She acted superior and probably wouldn’t give anyone she thought was beneath her the time of day. But Rafe wouldn’t concede that fact to Brad. “Sure, why not?”
“You think you can melt the ice princess?”
Rafe swallowed his distaste, but kept up the banter. “If she weren’t engaged, why not?” he repeated.
“Engaged or not, if you can do it, you’re on,” Brad said, and extended his hand to him. “Ten bucks?”
“Ten dollars?”
“Okay, make it twenty.” His hand was still shoved toward Rafe. “Or maybe you don’t have it in you? Maybe I should make it more and let you watch?”
At any other time, Rafe would have punched the man’s lights out, but all he did was stare at him while he thought of this lug making passes at Megan. That did it. He put his hand in Brad’s. “Fifty.”
The man hesitated, his face infused with a touch of color. Rafe didn’t miss the way he swallowed before agreeing. “You’re on. How long?”
Megan would be out of here soon. “Why not. Two weeks. Deal?”
“Okay,” Brad said, then looked at the clipboard in his hand. “I really came down here to tell you you’ve got to do two graveyards this week.”
“I can’t do graveyard.”
“Tell that to the boss. We all have to do it on rotation.” He made a dismissive motion to the cavernous entryway where they stood. “Glitz and glitter has to be protected, you know. Keep the money where it is.”
“It doesn’t matter what we’re protecting, does it, as long as we get paid?”
“Yeah, that’s the thing. Getting paid.” Brad lowered his voice. “The big suits are all upstairs. Seems there’s been something going on, but even if we wear the guns, we’re not being included.”
“They’ll let us know what we need to know,” Rafe said, and made a mental note to check on the person who did the screenings for Dagget Security here in Houston.
“You’d better get up to Security,” Brad said, tapping his wristwatch. “They watch your ticket and you don’t want to get written up for inactivity.”
He was right about that policy, and Rafe didn’t want to draw any unne
cessary attention to himself. “Sure,” he said, and headed back into the building. He veered off at the day care center, went inside and stayed just out of sight of the main room to check on the boys. They were quietly listening as a teenager read to them. The whole explosion with Megan seemed to have blown over. He backed out and headed for the elevators.
The rest of the day was gone before he knew it, and he hadn’t even stopped for lunch. He’d thought he’d go to the center and eat with the boys, as Mary had suggested, but he never made it. Instead, when he’d gone up to Security, his supervisor had assigned him to the belowground parking garage and that structure’s exit, asking him to keep a log of whomever came and went, and the times. He didn’t have a clue why they’d want that. It was nothing he’d suggested to Zane, and not company policy, but it couldn’t hurt.
As soon as he went into the garage, he saw Megan’s car, and for the rest of the day he was very aware of it being there, and never moving. At five o’clock Rafe closed out his shift, signed off at the gate, then headed across the garage to go up and clock out. He glanced to his right and saw that Megan’s car was still there, two stalls over from his SUV. She hadn’t been down all day.
He pulled the door open to go into the building and came face-to-face with her as if his thoughts had conjured her up. Megan had slightly mussed hair, no lipstick and a new earpiece for the phone peeking out of her breast pocket. She had an armful of files, along with her briefcase, and her blue eyes were totally unreadable.
She slipped past him without a word, and he remembered what Brad had said earlier, about her looking through him. Rafe should have gone in the opposite direction and closed the door on her, but he didn’t. He found himself turning toward her as she headed for her car. “Miss Gallagher?” he called.
* * *
MEGAN HADN’T KNOWN what to say when she saw Rafe in front of her, so she had walked right past without a word. She was halfway to her car when he called her name. She stopped, considered ignoring him, but didn’t.
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