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Megan nodded.
“I didn’t even know the two of you had been involved!”
“It wasn’t a long relationship.” Though it had left its permanent mark. “It ended badly, and once it did, I was reluctant for a long time to share the details with anyone.”
Now, though, she decided to fill in Anna on her past relationship and recent conversations with Stephen. Once she was done, she said, “He’s threatened to go public. And he demanded I marry him.”
“I can’t believe you didn’t tell him about Jade,” Anna said. “Not that I’m passing judgment. It’s just that I think I’d have found it hard to keep it secret.”
And that was why, Megan thought, she hadn’t confided in her closest friend about the details of Jade’s paternity. She knew Anna would be working at Garrison, Inc. headquarters, and she didn’t want to burden her friend with an explosive secret about the boss’s brother.
Of course, she’d been tripped up by not having confided in Anna.
Anna looked thoughtful now that she seemed to have recovered from the initial shock. “I knew there was something between you and Stephen. I got some hints from Stephen’s reaction when I mentioned you at dinner once. You also seemed to have a funny reaction at my wedding when he was heading our way.”
“Actually, Stephen discovered I was back in Miami when you mentioned it to him,” Megan said.
Anna’s brow furrowed. “Oh, Megan, I’m so sorry! I didn’t know how it would cause problems! All I wanted to do was send some business your way.”
“Thanks.” She reached out and patted Anna’s hand soothingly. “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 go with an expletive.
Parker eyed him. “You know, I should have known the minute I hired Megan four years ago that you’d find her irresistible. Of course, a redhead with flashing green eyes would send you down for the count.”
“Yeah, well, I’m up again, and I intend to win this match. Why the hell didn’t you tell me Anna and Megan were friends?”
His brother shrugged. “I had no idea myself until recently. It never came up. In fact, the first time I saw Megan again was at the wedding.”
“You haven’t reacted to my news with the same suspicion it’s been greeted with in other quarters,” Stephen observed.
“Well, I did hire Megan, and I am married to Anna.”
Just then a knock sounded, and both brothers turned to look at the door.
“Come in,” Parker called.
Brandon walked in. “Good morning.” He shut the door behind him. “I’m glad to see you’re both here.”
Stephen and Parker stood, and the men all shook hands.
Brandon took the other chair facing Parker.
“So what do we have, Brandon?” Stephen asked, as he and Parker sat back down.
“Cassie Garrison is still refusing to deal,” Brandon stated matter-of-factly.
Stephen suppressed a snort of disgust.
At the reading of his father’s will two months ago, he, along with the rest of the family, had discovered John Garrison had fathered a daughter during an extramarital affair with Ava Sinclair, a local he’d met in the Bahamas.
On top of it all, it turned out that the daughter was Cassie Sinclair, the manager of the Garrison Grand-Bahamas hotel, and that she, along with the five legitimate Garrison siblings, had inherited shares in the family business.
Stephen’s lips twisted. Cassie Sinclair now chose to go by the name Cassie Sinclair Garrison.
Something had to be done.
So far, Cassie had resisted Parker’s overtures and refused to turn over her shares in the Garrison empire.
“She apparently just wants to be left alone to run the Garrison Grand-Bahamas,” Brandon said.
“No dice,” Parker responded.
Brandon sighed. “I’m not getting anywhere by phone. Frankly, our best option is if I go down there and try to negotiate in person for a deal to buy her out.”
Parker laced his fingers together. “I have no problem with that plan.” Parker glanced over at Stephen for his assent before looking back at Brandon. “We’re willing to pay—within reason.”
Brandon named what he’d offered as a reasonable price for Cassie’s shares, and Stephen’s hand flexed on his armrest.
“You lowballed her first?” Stephen heard himself ask.
“Of course,” Brandon said.
Stephen trusted Brandon like a brother. The Washingtons—Brandon and his father before him—had been the family legal advisors for years. Still, it was vitally important they get this problem with Cassie wrapped up soon and to their satisfaction. They couldn’t let the future of the Garrison empire rest with an unknown quantity—a potential loose cannon.
“And if she still refuses to sell after I approach her in person?” Brandon asked, voicing the question on all their minds.
“Everyone has their price,” Parker said grimly. “We’ll have to think about how much more we’re willing to offer.”
Stephen arched a brow. “Or we can borrow a page from the world of celebrity.” He looked over at Brandon. “When you get down there, why don’t you first see if you can dig up some dirt on Cassie’s past? It’ll give us some leverage to force her hand.”
Parker nodded thoughtfully. “With stakes like this, I’ll take any ammunition I can get.”
When Megan walked into Stephen’s office at Garrison, Inc., she had some design plans in hand. But more importantly, she had a decision.
Stephen stepped around his desk and strode toward her.
“I’ve drawn up some preliminary plans,” she said. “You can take a look at them at your leisure, and then we can discuss them. Anything can be changed, of course.”
