But she supposed it could wait.
A long look around snowed her a disorder she couldn't comprehend. How could anyone work, or hope to concentrate, in such a mess?
She was tempted to organize, but turned her back on the chaos and walked to the filing cabinets. She'd take what she needed and leave the rest. Then she would, casually, wander around back, to the shop.
When she heard the door open, she turned, ready with a smile. It faded a tittle when she saw a stranger in the doorway.
May I help you?
The man stepped fully inside and shut the door behind him. When he smiled, something jittered inside Megan's brain.
Hello, Megan.
For an instant, time froze, and then it rewound. Slow motion for five years, six, then back a decade, to a time when she'd been young and careless and ready to believe in love at first sight.
Baxter,
she whispered. How odd, she thought dully, that she hadn't recognized him. He'd hardly changed in ten years. He was as handsome, as smooth and polished, as he'd been when she first saw him. A trim, Savile Row-suited Prince Charming with lies on his lips.
Baxter smiled down at Megan. For days he'd been trying to catch her alone.
Frustration had pushed him to approach her here and now. Because he was a man concerned with his image, he'd checked the office thoroughly before he stepped through the door. It was easy to see she was alone in the small space. There were things he intended to settle with her once and for all. Calmly, of course, he thought as she stared at him. Reasonably. Privately.
Pretty as ever, aren't you?
It pleased him to see her eyes go blank with shock. The advantage was with him, as he preferred it. After all, he'd been planning this reunion for several weeks now.
The years have improved your looks, Megan. You've lost that charming baby fat, and you've become almost elegant. My compliments.
When he stepped closer, she didn't move, couldn't make her legs or her brain respond. Not even when he lifted a finger and trailed it down her cheek, under her chin, to tip it up in an old habit she'd made herself forget.
You were always a beauty, Megan, with that wide-eyed innocence that makes a man want to corrupt.
She shuddered. He smiled.
What are you doing here?
Kevin
was all she could think. Thank God Kevin wasn't with her.
Funny, I was going to ask you the same. Just what are you doing here, Megan?
I live here.
She hated hearing the hesitancy in her voice, like the throb of an old
scar.
I work here.
Tired of Oklahoma, were you? Wanted a change of scene?
He leaned closer, until
she backed into the filing cabinet. Bribery, he knew, wouldn't work with her. Not with the O'Riley money behind her. Intimidation was the next logical choice.
Don't
take me for a fool, Megan. It would be a terrible, costly mistake.
When her back hit the filing cabinet, she realized she was cringing, and her shock melted away, her spine stiffening. She wasn't a child now, she reminded herself, but a woman. Aware, responsible.
It's none of your business why I moved here.
Oh, but it is.
His voice was silky, quiet, reasonable.
I prefer you in Oklahoma,
Megan. Working at your nice, steady job, in the midst of your loving family. I really much prefer it.
His eyes were so cold, she thought with dull wonder. Odd, she'd never seen that, didn't remember that.
Your preferences mean nothing to me, Baxter.
Did you think I wouldn't find out that you'd thrown your lot in with my ex-wife and her family?
he continued, in that same reasonable tone.
That I haven't kept tabs on
you over the years?
With an effort, she steadied her breathing, but when she tried to shift away, he blocked her. She wasn't afraid, yet, but the temper she'd worked so hard to erase from her character was beginning to bubble up toward the surface.
I never gave a thought to what you'd find out. And no, I wasn't aware you were keeping tabs. Why should you? Neither Kevin nor I ever meant anything to you.
You've waited a long time to make your move.
Baxter paused, struggling to
control the fury that had clawed its way into his throat. He'd worked too hard, done too much, to see some old, forgotten mistake rear up and slap him down.
Clever of