Daddy by December (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (4 page)

He slid it over to her
and this time she made sure their hands didn’t touch.  That would be too much
to handle.  Right then, all she wanted to do was deal with the business at hand
and then get the heck out of that office.  In that space she was too close to
Drake for comfort.

He looked at the dates
she’d highlighted.  “So we start next week?”

She nodded.  “Monday
afternoon, before the week gets on the way.”

“What about this
week?”  he asked.  “I want to get started as soon as possible.”

She shook her head. 
“No can do.  I need this week to arrange my business so that once I get started
I can just focus.  I need to arrange for a babysitter for those days when I
need to be here.”

“You…have children?”  A
stricken look crossed his face then in a flash it was gone.

Meg frowned.  So what
if she had children?  Would that be an issue?  It certainly wouldn’t affect the
quality of her work.  “I have a five year old,” she said, her tone slightly
defensive.  “My daughter, Jessie.”

“Oh,” he said.  “That’s…nice.”

His words were
appropriate but Meg could see that her having a child had affected him in some
way.  His face had gone still and his voice quiet.  Now he seemed to be deep in
thought.

“Is that a problem?”

His eyes snapped back
to her face.  “Excuse me?”

“Is it a problem that I
have a child?  You don’t seem too happy about it.”

“No, not at all.”  He
had the grace to look ashamed.  “I guess I’m just getting used to the idea of
you having a family.”

Meg almost laughed.  It
had been ten years since she’d last seen or spoken to this man.  Did he expect
her to believe that she’d actually crossed his mind even once over those ten
years?

On the other hand, he’d
crossed her mind a lot.  She couldn’t count the number of nights she’d cried
herself to sleep, thinking about Drake and how he’d stolen her heart only to
then turn around and stomp it into the dust.  And now he had the audacity to
pretend as if he’d spent any time thinking about her.  As she thought about it
she felt the anger build inside.

She glared at him. 
“Well, I’m glad my daughter is not a concern for you.  I assure you, my
dealings with you will be quite professional so you have no need to worry about
Jessie getting in the way of your project.”

He frowned, seeming
perturbed.  “I wasn’t thinking that at all,” he said, his tone leaving her in
no doubt that he was annoyed.  “I have no question about your professionalism,
Mrs. Gracey.  I know you're the best.”

There he went again,
addressing her in that formal tone.  And, to her chagrin, instead of feeling
triumphant she only felt depressed
.  Get a grip, Meg.  You’re far too
emotional today.

He stood up, his brow
furrowed, his face cloudy with an emotion that looked like a cross between
anger and pain.  “I’m sure you’re not only a great writer but an excellent
mother as well.”  He shoved his fists deep into his pocket.  “Your husband is a
lucky man.”

Meg’s breath caught in
her throat.  She bit her lip and looked away.  “Was,” she whispered, the word
almost choking her.

Drake was turning away
when he froze.  She could see him from the corner of her eye.  “Was?”  His voice
was hoarse, almost harsh.  Slowly, he turned and looked down at her, his gray
eyes like molten steel.  “Are you divorced?”

Meg drew in a deep
breath and for a few seconds she said nothing. Then she exhaled and shook her
head.  “I almost wish that was it.”  Her voice came out quiet and calm, so
different from how she really felt.  “My husband is dead.”  She lifted her eyes
then, and she could see that her words had shocked him into silence.  Eyebrows
raised, he looked almost unbelieving but then he let out his breath and his
face turned somber as if he was genuinely sympathetic to her loss.  “I’m very
sorry to hear this.  I had no idea.”

She gave a dry,
mirthless laugh.  “I didn’t expect you to.  After all, you know nothing about
me.  We haven’t seen each other in over ten years.”

The instant the words
left her mouth Meg regretted it.  She sounded absolutely pathetic.  Now what if
the man thought she’d been pining for him?  She tightened her lips and glared
up at him.  He’d better not think that because it wasn’t true.

But when she looked up
at him there was not a hint of gloating on his face.  Instead, his expression
was one of concern, even pity.  It was clear that he’d been moved by her news.

“Sorry,” she said,
wishing she could take back the rash words that had tumbled out of her mouth. 
As far as she was concerned, she’d made a poor impression on her first meeting
with Drake.  The best thing she could do right then was leave.  She would
regroup and come back another day, fresh and strong.

She got up and held out
her hand to Drake.  “Thank you for choosing me for your project,” she said. 
“I’ll do my best to give you a memoir worthy of your name.”

He nodded and took her
hand in his.  “I look forward to it,” he said softly.

They exchanged polite
smiles, the smiles of strangers, and then he walked her to the door.

******

“Go, horsey, go.”

Drake groaned under the
harsh treatment of his diminutive jockey.  He was on all fours, his
three-year-old nephew straddling his back with his chubby legs, and he was being
whipped soundly with a long ruler.

“Faster, horsey,
faster.”  The little boy bounced up and down on his uncle’s back but that only
made the horsey slow from an already lumbering pace to almost a complete stop.

“Unca,” the boy wailed,
“I want horsey to move.”  He grabbed the collar of his uncle’s shirt and jerked
back and forth. The horse didn’t even budge.  Frustrated, he opened his mouth
wide and yelled, “Mommy, Unca’s not playin’ nice.”

“Horsey,” came the female
voice from the kitchen, “what are you out there doing to my boy?”

Drake gave a soft
chuckle.  “Not a thing,” he said.  “Horsey's just tired.  He’s not as young as
he used to be.”

The truth was, today
Drake was too distracted to focus all his attention on little Andrew.  The boy
had been riding him for the last twenty minutes and normally he would’ve been
rearing up on hind legs, forcing Andy to cling on for dear life as he burst
into peals of laughter, but today all he’d done was take him on a rather boring
journey from the sofa to the fireplace to the front door and back again.  Right
now Andrew was none too pleased at his horsey that had suddenly grown super old
and cranky.  But Drake couldn’t help it.  Meg Donovan – sorry, Gracey – had
been on his mind since they shook hands and she walked out of his office.

First, he’d been
devastated to find out that she was married.  Then he’d felt guilty that,
married or not, he wanted her so bad he could almost taste her.  And then she
told him her husband was dead.  And what had he felt then?  Swine that he was,
his first reaction had been relief.  Even before he’d felt sympathy for her
loss his heart had leaped inside his chest at the thought that he actually had
a chance.  How could he be so callous?

But on the other hand,
how could he help it?  Like a miracle, the woman he’d fallen for ten years ago
had walked into his office and back into his life.  Just like that.  And just
like that, his senses had gone haywire all over again.  Shoot, he’d been
twenty-three then, and yet at his ripe old age of thirty-three he was still
bowled over by the sheer beauty of her.

Ten years ago she’d
been a shy junior but now she was a sophisticated woman - independent,
competent and talented.  How many writers could say they’d hit a best seller list? 
And, although under sad circumstances, she was available.  At least he thought
she was.  His mood grew serious as he thought about it.  He really hoped she
was.

“Andy, horsey needs to
get some water, okay?”  Drake looked over his shoulder at the now pouting
Andrew.  “Let’s take a break.”

“Aaw.”  Andrew didn’t
hide his disappointment, pouting even more and folding his arms across his
little chest.  His face turned stubborn and Drake knew what that meant.  He’d
have a fight getting him off his back.

“Now come on, Andrew. 
Slide off.”  Drake sat back on his haunches but the boy wrapped his stout arms
around his uncle’s neck and refused to let go.  Drake ended up having to pry
his arms loose to get him to slide down to the floor.  That set off a round of wailing
that could be heard a mile away.  Andrew ran off to his mother, finally leaving
Drake in peace.

Now alone, his mind was
free to wander back to that night he would never forget.

He’d been a senior,
just a day away from graduation, when he’d finally struck up the courage to ask
Meg Donovan to the graduation dance.  He’d been admiring her for weeks but somehow
he’d felt hesitant.  She seemed so innocent yet so…aloof.  She was like an exotic
flower in a garden of daisies.  How could anyone dare pluck a flower like
that?  Still, he’d asked her out and, lucky son-of-a-gun that he was, she’d
accepted. They’d danced into the wee hours of the morning and then, unwilling
to let the night end, he’d walked her back to her dorm room.  He was surprised
and grateful when she’d invited him in but he’d tried his darnedest to be a
gentleman, hiding the bulge in his pants and playing all casual and cool like there
was nothing amiss.

He did a pretty good
job of it.  For a while.  The trouble started when he drifted off and woke up
to find the angel in his arms.  She was lying on top of him and, dazed as he
was, there was no way he could resist.  Well, that was what he told himself.  He'd
wanted her so badly, he just didn’t want to fight it.

And so when she’d
kissed him he’d kissed back and then he’d kept going, tasting her and caressing
her, savoring her sweetness until he wanted nothing else but to possess her
fully.

And she’d been so
willing, so eager.  What sane man would have said no?

They made sweet music
that night and when he found out this would be her first time he’d been gentle,
coaxing her and bringing her to her peak of ecstasy.  She’d cried out and his
heart swelled with love at the sound of his name on her lips.  Strangely,
though, after that she'd been very quiet but he'd put it down to the fact that
this was all so new to her.

Drake’s heart pounded
as he recalled what happened next.  He’d gone to meet his family for an early
graduation breakfast celebration then before he knew it, it was time to head
off to the graduation.  He’d had to rush to make it for the procession.  After
the ceremony his college buddies whisked him off to yet another celebration and
then another, only releasing him in the wee hours just before the sun came up. 
Exhausted, he crashed on the bed and did not budge again until the sun was high
in the sky.

Immediately, he thought
of Meg and feeling lightheaded and eager, he showered and dressed and hurried
to her dorm room.  But when he got there she was gone.

“Where is she?”  he
practically shouted at her sleepy-looking roommate.

“Already left,” she
said with a shrug.

“Left?  For where?”  he
demanded, a sinking feeling creeping up inside him.

“Went home,” the
roommate said with another shrug.  “And if you’re the guy she went dancing with
last night, she never wants to see you again.”

“What?”  Drake could
not believe his ears.

The roommate finally
seemed to be waking up.  She straightened and now she was glaring at him.  “She
said he took her dancing but then he showed his true colors and she didn't want
to have anything to do with him again.  Wouldn’t touch him with a long stick.” 
The girl had a smug expression on her face, almost as if she was enjoying being
the bearer of bad news.

Drake stared back at
her, confused.  Showed his true colors?  What the hell did that mean?  And she
never wanted to see him again?  Just like that, she had thrown him out of her
life.

Dazed, he turned away
from the door.  Was that all he’d been to her?  One night of pleasure and that
was it?  But she’d been a virgin, for God’s sake. Virgins didn’t do one-night
stands, did they?

Confused, deflated and
defeated he dragged his way back to his dorm room.  She wouldn’t touch him with
a long stick.  That was what she’d said.  Well, she wouldn’t need that stick. 
He got the point.  He would stay out of her way and out of her life.

And so he had.  He’d
moved on with his life, gone through relationship after relationship, but he’d
never again found that magical moment he’d shared with Meg Donovan.  In vain
he’d kept looking, losing hope that he’d ever again find that special
connection – until now.

Meg Donovan was back in
his life and this time he would not let her escape.

CHAPTER
FOUR

“Oh, no.”  Meg put her
finger to her mouth and began to nibble her nails.  She was in big trouble.

There she’d gone and
made that big speech about being professional and her child not getting in the
way and then today, on her way to her second interview with Drake, she’d
received a call from the babysitter – she was down with the flu and couldn’t
help her out.