Daddy by December (The BAD BOY BILLIONAIRES Series) (6 page)

“I can tell you all
about it,” he said, “if you’ll agree to have dinner with me.”

“Have din…” She stared
at him, wide-eyed, then turned her suspicious gaze on her daughter.  “Did you
have something to do with this?”

Jessie turned her baby
blues up to her mother and shook her head.  “Unh-unh.”

“She didn’t,” Drake
said with a chuckle.  “It was all my idea.”

“See?” Jessie piped
up.  “I told you.”

Meg looked back at
Drake.  “I don’t know…” she began.

“Just say yes,” Drake
said then he gave her a teasing grin.  “Remember, I have information I’m sure
you want.”

Meg sucked in her
breath then shook her head and exhaled.  “You drive a hard bargain, Drake
Duncan.  All right, I’ll do it, but just this one time.”

One time is all I need.
 
Drake gave a nod of triumph.  “That’s settled then.  Now leave Jessie to have
her snack.  We can squeeze in another half hour before I have to head out for
my meeting.”  Meg nodded and picked up her notepad.

As Drake turned to go
back to his desk his eyes caught Jessie’s.  She’d just taken a huge bite of her
chocolate cookie and she gave him a wide, cookie-crumb smile.

He couldn’t say for sure,
but it certainly looked like little Jessie was on his side.  Thank God for
that.  Where Meg Donovan-Gracey was concerned, he needed all the help he could
get.

CHAPTER
FIVE

The black one, the red
one or the gold one?  Heavens, the decisions a girl had to make.

It was Saturday night,
a whole five days since Drake had asked her out, and she was in a pickle.  It
wasn’t her dress she was worried about although she still hadn’t made up her
mind which one to wear.  It was the whole idea of going out with him that was
driving her crazy.  She’d agreed to go out with a man she’d hated – no, that
was too strong a word – held a grudge against for the past ten years and all
he’d done was ask her out and she’d given in.

Of course, there had
been the issue of the information he’d promised to give her.  What in the world
had he and Jessie been talking about?  She was dying of curiosity.  Jessie
tended to be a very vocal child and would say anything in front of practically
anybody.  She shuddered to think of what she’d said to Drake.  But, she’d been
asking herself for the past five days, was that the only reason she’d accepted
his invitation?  She sincerely hoped that was it.  In her heart, though, she
knew better.  Her heart, that treacherous part of her, still had a very soft
spot for this man she’d adored in her younger, immature days.

But goodness, she was
older now and far more experienced.  She’d even been married to a man she’d
loved and admired.  So why did her heart pound at the thought of going out with
a man who had hurt her so badly?  She gave a deep sigh.  Obviously she had
learned very little over the years, least of all how to protect her heart.

The babysitter came at
six-thirty and at seven o’clock on the dot she heard the doorbell ring.

“I’ll get it,” Jessie
yelled and before Meg or Amelia could stop her she was racing down the hallway
toward the front door.

Meg grabbed her purse. 
“You have my cell phone number?”

“As always,” Amelia
said with a roll of her eyes.

“Good.  I’ll only be a
couple of hours, okay.”

“No rush.”  Amelia
pointed to her bag on the floor.  “I have my laptop.”

“And call me in case of
emer-”

“Mrs. Gracey, go.”  The
teenager took her by the arm and turned her toward the door.  “I’ve been
babysitting Jessie for two years now.  I know what I’m doing.”

“Okay, okay.  I’m
going.”

“Thank you.”  Amelia
said, laughing at her.

Feeling just a little
bit on the nervous side, Meg followed Jessie’s path and there,  standing in the
doorway stood Drake, heart-stoppingly handsome in dark-gray suit, his shirt
open at the collar.  Goodness, he was almost Brad Pitt handsome, with his dark
blond hair just touching the collar of his shirt.

“Bye, Drake,” Jessie
said with a wave of her hand then turned and ran back the way she had come. 

“Mr. Duncan to you,
missy,” Meg called after her but she’d already disappeared into the den where
Amelia was waiting for her.

Now Meg was completely
alone with Drake, not dressed in business suit and sensible pumps like she’d
been for their two previous meetings but in elegant wear that reminded her that
she was a woman.  And he was a man.  Going out on a date.  Not exactly what she
wanted to remember right now.

“Shall we go?”  Drake
gave her a polite nod then waited for her to step past him.  His eyes had a
special twinkle to them and she could see that he liked what he saw.  He didn’t
say anything but somehow he didn’t need to.  The eyes said it all.

Drake had chosen a
restaurant which was only fifteen minutes drive away from Meg’s home, the Phancy
Pheasant, one of her favorites.  How had he known?  It was an elegant place and
the food could only be described as exquisite.  And it was pricey.  Meg’s
visits to the restaurant had been rare but she’d enjoyed it immensely each
time.  After Greg’s death she hadn’t been back at all.

As they entered the
lobby the memories, so bittersweet, came rushing back and Meg had to blink
rapidly to clear the mist from her eyes.

“Are you all right?” 
Drake dipped his head to peer down at her.

“I’m…I’m fine,” she
said in a choked whisper.  Then, determined not to break down in from of him
she sniffed, straightened her back and stepped ahead of him toward the hostess
who was coming forward to greet them.  To Meg’s relief she was able to regain
control of her emotions and, just to make sure Drake didn’t bug her with any more
questions, she gave him her brightest smile.  She was glad when he smiled back
and seemed to relax.  Danger averted.  Thank goodness.

After the appetizer
they had a meal of the restaurant’s signature dish, pheasant in wine on wild
rice followed by chocolate mint and pistachio ice cream.  Meg was dying to
start questioning Drake about his conversation with Jessie but, not wanting to
be rude, she bided her time, waiting for him to bring up the subject.

It was while they were
sipping after-dinner tea that he finally did.  Drake gave her a slow smile then
he rested his cup on the saucer and leaned back in his chair.  “I think I’ve
held you in suspense long enough,” he said with a wicked smile.  “I’m ready to
put you out of your misery if you’ll promise me one thing.”

Meg sat back in her
chair and folded her arms across her chest.  “Oh, no, you don’t.  Don’t you
dare tack on anything else.  We had an arrangement.  I go out to dinner with
you and you fill me in on everything you and Jessie talked about.  That’s it.” 

Drake chuckled. 
“You’re right.  Thought I could squeeze in something else along the way but you
caught me.”

Now it was Meg’s turn
to give him a wicked smile of her own.  “Now start talking.  I'm all ears.”

“Okay, Meg.  I hope you
can handle this.”  Drake sat forward, leaning toward her, and rested his arms
on the table.

This sounded serious.
Meg
held her breath.

“Jessie told me about
her father and how he died.  She also told me about her wish to have a daddy.” 
Drake’s eyes so intensely gray, searched hers.  It was as if he wanted to gauge
her reaction.  “She tells me she doesn’t really remember her dad but she seems
to yearn for what she never had.  She wants a complete family, Meg – mommy,
daddy and baby.”

Meg stared at Drake, at
his brows now furrowed, his face serious.  Strangely, he seemed genuinely
concerned.  “I know, Drake,” she said, her voice almost a whisper, “But, her dad,
we lost him...”  her voice cracked and she drew in a breath, “...we lost him
when she was just a baby.  All I can do is show her pictures and videos and let
her know how much he loved her.”

Slowly, Drake nodded. 
“You’re doing the right thing, to tell her all you can about her dad.  But
she’s asking for more, Meg.  She wants a daddy, one who can be here with her."

“But…but…” She was
stuttering now.  For him to even mention that was useless.  “What can I do
about that?  It’s not like I can just pick one up off the supermarket shelf
simply because my daughter wants one.  A man is not a toy.”

“True," Drake said,
as he tented his fingers and stared across at her.  “What if I told you I have
the perfect solution to your problem?”

Her brows furrowed and
she looked at him with suspicion.  “Which is?”

“Marry me and give
Jessie the daddy she wants.”

Meg jerked forward, her
body spasming in a fit of coughs.  She’d half expected a surprise but certainly
not anything like this.  The man must have gone totally insane.  She took the
glass he held out to her and took several quick sips of water.  “What are you
saying?”  she finally squeaked.

“I’m saying, I want you
to marry me.”

Now he was making her
mad.  “Drake, we only just met.  What’s it been?  Three weeks?”

“I’ve known you for
over ten years, Meg.  I know you well enough to say without any doubt that I
want you back in my life.”

“Listen, Drake, you’ve
taken this joke far enough.”  She picked up her napkin from her lap and dropped
it on the table.  “Either you drop this line of conversation or you take me
home right now.”

“Meg, please.”  He held
a hand up.  “I’m sorry.  I didn’t mean to upset you.  I just…” he shook his
head and heaved a sigh, “...I just hoped I could make things right, get back to
the place and time when you willingly gave me your all.”

Now why did he have to
go and bring that up? He was digging up memories that were best forgotten.  “I
was young and stupid,” she said through clenched teeth.  “I’m a mature woman
now and I know better.”

“But a mature woman who
still needs a man in her life.”

Exasperated, Meg
slapped her hands down on top of the linen-covered table.  She glared at
Drake.  “Aren’t you forgetting something?”  Her voice rose to a slightly higher
pitch as the anger climbed inside her.  "You dumped me after taking my 'all',
as you so elegantly put it."  She drew in a shaky breath then looked around. 
Thank God nobody seemed to have heard that.  Now she could truly appreciate the
table that had been chosen for them – away from the others, secluded and out of
earshot.  Thank heavens for that.

“Drake Duncan, I’ve
been waiting to say this for ten years.”  Meg leaned forward and spoke in a
whisper that vibrated with her rage.  “You used me and you left me and I’ll
never forgive you.”

There, she’d said it. 
All these years she’d wanted to get that off her chest and she’d finally gotten
the chance.  Now it was Drake Duncan’s turn to explain himself.  Not that it
mattered anymore.  There was nothing he could say that would erase her utter
devastation at his callous rejection nor the years of hurt that followed.  It
was only when she met Greg – God rest his soul – so understanding, so patient
and so different from Drake that she’d begun to heal.

Now, with those
difficult years behind her, she could face Drake Duncan.  She tilted her chin
up and stared him straight in the eyes, expecting him to drop his gaze and duck
his head in shame.

But he did not. 
Instead, on Drake’s face was a look of confusion that she couldn’t fathom.  “What
the devil are you talking about?  You were the one who disappeared on me.”

Meg gasped.  The nerve
of him, to lie right to her face.  “I did not.  I sat there in my dorm room
your entire graduation night and you didn’t even have the decency to come by
and tell me you didn’t want to be with me.  You didn’t come and you didn’t
call.  And even when I was leaving to catch my train the next morning there was
no sign of you.”  She gave an angry snort.  “Now I know why they call some men
dogs.  You represented that pack very well.”

Drake put his hand up
and raked his fingers through his hair.  When he looked at her again it was
with a pained expression.  “Meg, I have an explanation and an apology.”

“Too late for that. 
You can’t weasel-”

“No, hear me out.” 
There was a firmness in his tone that made her stop and listen.  “I did come
back to see you but I admit, I was late.  I got caught up in all the graduation
celebrations and family gatherings.  I didn’t get a chance to come back until
next day.  By that time you had gone.”

Her eyes narrowed as
her heart went rigid.  “Why should I believe you?  You’d probably say anything
right now just to get on my good side.”

“If you don’t believe
me, ask your roommate.  She was the one who told me you’d already left.”

Meg frowned.  The story
was getting weirder by the second.  “She did?  But I called and spoke to her
and she never mentioned that you’d come.”

“Well, I did.  You can
call and ask her now if you want.”

“No, I…I don’t keep in
touch with her anymore.  I haven’t spoken to her in years…” Her voice trailed
off as the thought raced through her mind.  Was he innocent of all she’d
accused him of?  But then, there were other ways to get in touch with her,
weren’t there?  If he’d really wanted to find her he would have.  With today’s
technology there was no excuse.  “So why didn’t you track me down?”  she
demanded.  “You could have, but you didn’t want to.”