“I know you had the best intentions.”
“And you know,” Anna went on, “you can help Stephen. The Jefferieses are pressing hard, helped along by what Parker thinks is a corporate spy within the Garrison organization.” Her lips twisted. “For a while, Parker—and, I guess, Stephen, as well—thought I was the spy.”
“Yes, you explained it to me.” She withdrew her hand and waved it around vaguely. “But now look at you. You’re the glowing newlywed.”
Anna laughed self-consciously, then murmured, “Parker…”
“Believe me, I’m very familiar with the charms of the Garrison men.” Megan nodded her head toward the front room. “I have a daughter to prove it.”
“But you don’t regret Jade, do you?”
“No, of course not. She’s wonderful. But now I have Stephen to deal with.”
“All the Garrison men are alike,” Anna observed obliquely. “What are you going to do?”
Megan sighed. “I’m not sure. Any suggestions?”
“Why don’t you agree to marry him?”
“Are you serious? I can’t!”
Obviously, Anna’s eyes were clouded by love, Megan thought.
“Why not?”
Two simple words, and yet they dredged up a wealth of emotion, Megan thought. She was dangerously weak where Stephen was concerned, despite everything.
She’d seen that herself since he’d walked into her life again. It had been the same old feeling of excitement and overwhelming awareness—as if she couldn’t stop arguing with him, and the only way to deal with it was to give in to the itch to jump his bones.
“He’s a cheat,” she contented herself with saying.
“Are you sure?” Anna pressed.
“You mean, am I sure I saw a woman with disheveled clothing emerging from Stephen’s yacht, claiming to have seen more of him than his famous cleft chin?” Megan asked sarcastically. “Then, yes, I’m sure.”
Anna cocked her head. “Well, even if he did cheat, that was four years ago. Now you have a child together. Think about Jade.”
In fact, she had been thinking about Jade. Until now, Jade hadn’t had a father in her life—though her own parents and family had been around in Indianapolis to shower her with love.
“You know,” Anna went on, “being married to Stephen might not be so bad. It would take away some worries. Jade would grow up with everything money has to offer. You wouldn’t have to worry about arriving at some complicated arrangement with Stephen for him to see her.”
Yes, she thought, but she didn’t know if she could take living under the same roof with Stephen. Sharing his bed…
Just being in the same room with him made her tense, jittery, and acutely aware of herself as a woman.
And she definitely couldn’t risk her heart again. She’d cried for days, heartsick, when she’d discovered his betrayal four years ago.
At the time, she hadn’t told him she was pregnant because she was sure a marriage between them would have been a disaster: he’d have cheated—he’d already proven himself capable of it—and she’d have wound up divorcing him to save herself.
There was no way she could marry him.
No way…no way…no way…
Unless…unless, of course, she could marry him without risking her heart again.
She paused.
Now, there might be a way out of her dilemma….
Six
Stephen stepped out of the elevators at Garrison, Inc., and the receptionist gave him a wide smile.
“Hi, Sheila.”
“Hello, sugar.” Sheila batted her eyelashes at him, and purred, “Come to make my day?”
He laughed. “I wish I could, honey, but duty calls.”
Sheila pretended to pout.
The blue-eyed, blond, ex-Playboy bunny was his type, but this time, he knew his heart wasn’t in their customary banter.
Damn Megan.
“Parker in his office?” he asked.
Sheila nodded.
“Thanks,” he said, then walked down the hall.
He greeted Mario, who was pushing a mail cart and had been with the company since John Garrison’s day, then a human resources person named Roberta, who was a recent hire.
All the while, he keenly observed every employee he passed. Someone in the firmament at Garrison, Inc. was passing along information to the Jefferies brothers, and until they discovered who it was, he and Parker and every other executive had to be careful about what they said and did within range of others.
Just last month, someone had accessed Parker’s office computer and forwarded an e-mail they’d planted to Jordan Jefferies.
At his brother’s partially closed office door, he rapped with his knuckles.
When he strode in, Parker said, “I hear congratulations are in order.”
Closing the door, Stephen made for one of the leather chairs positioned before his brother’s desk. “Thanks, but save it for after the wedding.”
He was here because he and Parker had a Monday-morning appointment scheduled with Brandon Washington, the Garrison family lawyer. Brandon was always punctual, so Stephen knew he’d be here soon.
He caught his brother’s raised eyebrows as he settled into his chair. “Somehow I knew the news would reach you one way or another.”
Parker leaned back in his mesh swivel chair and tapped his fingertips together. “Maybe not the way you expected. Anna.”
That caught his attention. “Anna?”
“I guess it’s all right to disclose this now, since I also discovered you’ve been letting the news be known yourself.” His brother paused. “Anna was over at Megan’s place yesterday afternoon, and they had a little powwow.”
Stephen felt his nostrils flare. “Tell me the wife encouraged Megan to do the sane thing.”
Parker chuckled. “Define sane.”
“Stuff it, Parker.”
“Whoa, whoa, go easy here. I just discovered I’m an uncle.”
Stephen let
