Battle. I think he’d intended to stay for lunch until I got an invitation. Then he suddenly didn’t have time. He was just this side of rude.”
“Rude? To you? Why?”
Megan shrugged. “I have no idea.”
“As good as the sisters cook, missing lunch is no more than he deserved.”
“True.” Emma’s diamond solitaire sparkled on her left ring finger, catching Megan’s eye. “It’s getting close to the big day.”
Emma nodded. “I can hardly wait.”
“I bet.” Megan knew firsthand the excitement that came with planning a wedding. And she knew the disappointment that came when the wedding was called off and the couple didn’t become a family. She really hoped Emma and Daniel managed to pull it off. They were good people and deserved to be happy.
Emma glanced at the clock and shut down her computer. “I need to get going. It’s time for me to pick up the girls.”
Emma had initially been hired by Daniel as a nanny for his three daughters. Once he realized how organized she was, he’d asked her to become his temporary office manager, working from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. Somewhere in there, they’d fallen in love. Emma kept the same hours so she could be available for her soon-to-be stepdaughters.
“See you tomorrow,” Megan said, walking to her office at the back of the building. The office was so different from the one she’d had at her New York firm. That one had been outfitted with expensive furniture. Original artwork had hung on the walls. This one was simply decorated and had a homey feel to it. While her New York office had been designed to impress clients, this office was designed to make her clients feel comfortable.
Megan updated her case files to reflect her meeting with the sisters and then put a reminder on her calendar to follow up with them. That simple task had her once more thinking about Cade Battle and the way he looked with his shirt off. He was definitely well built. There was something about him that appealed to her on a basic level. She quickly slammed the door on that thought reminding herself that he didn’t like her. After returning calls to other clients, she turned off her computer and headed for the Main Street Grille.
It was only a couple of blocks from the office, so she decided to walk and return for her car after she’d gotten her order.
As expected, the Grille was doing brisk business. The food, burgers and sandwiches for lunch with typical pub offerings added to the dinner menu was anything but typical. The burgers were juicy and flavorful. The corned beef on a Kaiser roll and pastrami on rye tasted as good as the sandwiches she’d bought at her favorite deli in New York.
She looked around. The tables and booths were filled with families enjoying a night out together and a yearning grew within her. Two children near her laughed, the sound mingling with boisterous conversation. Someone bumped into her and she looked around.
“Sorry,” a man’s voice said.
Megan looked up and into Cade’s face and her silly heart skipped a beat. His eyes swept over her and her skin began to tingle as if he’d actually touched her. She’d never had such a strong reaction to a man and the intensity of the feeling surprised her.
“I didn’t see you standing there,” Cade said. A hint of something she didn’t recognize flashed in his eyes for a moment only to be replaced by coolness and indifference. He stepped away from her. Disappointment settled in her stomach.
“Don’t worry about it,” she said. “It’s crowded in here.”
He nodded then looked around as if searching for someone. Clearly he was uninclined to continue the conversation.
“Do you come here a lot?” Megan asked. It seemed foolish to be standing there and not talk. After all, they might not be friends, but they weren’t strangers any longer.
“Often enough.”
That was vague. What, did he think she would stalk him by hanging around here on a regular basis hoping to see him? That wasn’t likely. Megan refused to chase a man, no matter how handsome he was or how much faster her heart beat when he was around.
Although Megan liked the food, she didn’t dine here often. She rented a house in the historic part of town about a twenty-minute walk from the office. Although small, the house had a very nice kitchen. Most days she cooked dinner for herself and her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Crockett. The older woman had mentioned having a hankering for a steak and fries from the Grille, so Megan had decided to grab the food here today. She considered letting Cade know he was safe from her, but decided against it. Instead she marched to the counter and gave her to go order. Once placed, she stood by the front window and waited for it, refusing to look at him again. The seconds seemed to crawl until her order was ready. When her name was called, she ran to the counter and grabbed the brown bag and headed home.
* * *
Cade watched as Megan Jennings took her bag and left. Though he told himself not to stare, he couldn’t keep his eyes from focusing on her curvy backside as she strode from the restaurant. After their brief encounter, she hadn’t looked in his direction once, choosing to look out the window instead. Not that he wanted her attention. He didn’t.
The last thing he wanted was to have Megan Jennings anywhere near his life. She was a city woman through and through and he didn’t need that kind of trouble. When he decided to have a relationship again, it was going to be with a nice country girl. Someone who loved the farm life as much as he did. So why was his mind suddenly filled with thoughts of Megan?
“Who’s the girl?”
“Nobody,” Cade said, turning to his brother. Chase must have arrived while Cade had been distracted by Megan. “Let’s grab a table.”
“It didn’t look like nobody,” Chase said as he slid into the booth.
“Nobody important,” Cade clarified.
Chase laughed. “Really?”
“Yes. I only met her today. So whatever you’re thinking, forget about it.”
“What I was thinking is that it looks to me like a city girl has gotten your attention. Not that I have a problem with that.”
“You’re not the one who was burned.”
“True. But from the way you were staring, it doesn’t look as if you’ve learned your lesson.”
Cade didn’t bother telling his brother just how wrong he was. Cade had learned his lesson good and well. He’d never let a girl like Megan near his heart again. “Forget about her. I’m sure you didn’t come all the way to Spring Forest to harass me. Let’s eat.”
* * *
Megan arrived at home and changed out of her work clothes into a pair of green cotton shorts and a coordinating floral top. Green had been her mother’s favorite color and Megan wore something in that color every day to honor her mother’s memory. Some days Megan missed her family so much her heart actually ached. Wearing green helped her feel closer to her mother.
Megan grabbed the bag containing dinner then walked across the street to her neighbor’s house. Mrs. Crockett had been widowed
