Undercover Father (14 page)

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

F
OR
THE
REST
of the day, Megan didn’t see Rafe. She went to LynTech and was sent down to the center to work on tax forms for the money made at the ball. She waited, expecting Rafe to come into Mary’s office at any moment, but time moved with aching slowness, and he didn’t appear. Around noon, Mary came in and said, “How’s it going?”

“Almost done.” She sat back in the chair and stretched her arms to ease the tension in her shoulders. “Are Greg and Gabe in today?”

“Yes, they are, and Greg is doing fine,” Mary said, crossing to the desk to pick up her purse. “Now, I need to leave for a little while.” She glanced at the wall clock. “I’ll be back around one.”

Megan had tried to sound casual asking about the boys, and really tried to ask the next question in a casual manner. “Who brought the boys in?”

Mary looked up at her. “Oh, their babysitter.”

“Not Rafe...Mr. Diaz?”

“No, he wasn’t here. He probably had to get right to work.” Mary started for the door. “See you soon,” she said, and left.

Megan sat there for a while, then decided to do what she wanted to do instead of acting mature and controlled. She went out into the main room, where she spotted the twins. They were huddled over something on the floor, both of them intent on the object of their fascination. She went closer, trying to absorb the fact that she was so happy to see the two of them. Then Gabe turned, as if he sensed her there, and smiled, the smile that exposed the dimple...just like his dad’s.

In a blur, Gabe was on his feet and he ran right at her, but this time she welcomed the contact, and the feeling of his tiny arms hugging her around her knees. “Megan!”

She crouched near him, ruffling his dark hair. “Hey, buddy boy, how are you doing?”

“We rode horses and did stuff, and had a good time,” Gabe said. Then Greg stood up, hesitated, then came over to look up at her.

“Yeah, we did cowboy stuff and I didn’t fall.” He had a small Band-Aid on his forehead, but he looked as if he’d had a great victory. “I was real careful and I never falled.”

“Wow, that’s great,” she said, wondering where on earth Rafe had taken them to do all of this. “I don’t know if I could stay on a horse without falling.”

Greg came closer. “When we go next time to Mamaw’s, you come, too, and you can ride.”

“Yeah.” Gabe touched her shoulder. “I won’t let you fall.”

Megan’s eyes burned suddenly, and she instinctively hugged both boys to her. She loved their dad, and shockingly, she knew she loved them, too. It didn’t make sense, not when she’d spent most of her life convinced that she didn’t even like kids that much.

She must have let the hug last too long, because both boys started to squirm and she reluctantly let them go. She blinked rapidly, then said, “So, what are you two doing over here?”

Gabe looked bashful, and Greg shrugged. “Nothin’.”

“Really?”

“Huh, nothin’,” Gabe echoed, moving to block her view.

She stood and looked behind them. The rat. “Charlie, huh?”

“Yeah,” Gabe whispered. “Don’t get scared or nothing. He’s just hungry, and we’re going to feed him.”

She smiled down at them. “Don’t worry, I won’t get scared. He’s in his cage and you two know how to handle him.”

“Daddy said we shouldn’t never do that again with Charlie.”

Daddy.
“I’ll thank him when I see him,” she murmured.

“He’s working,” Greg said. “He’s real busy today.”

So he was here. “You go ahead and take care of Charlie.”

The boys went back to the rat, and she looked around the center, fighting the urge to head out and find Rafe.

But she waited as long as she could and then knew she couldn’t wait until six when he picked up the boys. She needed to see him, alone. She left the office, skirting the kids on her way through the play area. Gabe spotted her and waved. She waved back and smiled, then left to find Rafe.

Ten minutes later, Megan was no closer to finding him than when she’d started. That was when she spotted the other guard, Brad, by the elevators, hitting the up button. “Excuse me?” she called to him.

He turned, saw her, then smiled and tapped the bill of his cap. “Yes, ma’am. What can I do for you?”

“I was looking for Rafe Diaz, one of the guards?”

“Oh, sure,” he said, his smile shifting as his eyes flicked over her. “Sure.”

He was making her uncomfortable, but she tried to be polite. “Do you know where he is?”

“On rounds. Could be anywhere. I can call him on the radio if it’s an emergency?”

It was an emergency, but not one he’d consider critical. “Oh, no, it’s not. I’ll just wait until later.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said as the elevator dinged softly and the doors opened. “Going up?” he asked.

There was no way she was going to get into the elevator with this man. “No, I’m not,” she said, and turned to head down the hallway. She didn’t look back, but went to the stairwell door and stepped inside, then headed up.

She got to the second-floor door, started to push it open, but stopped when she heard a familiar voice: Rafe’s. “What are you talking about?” he asked. He was here, and she almost stepped out into the corridor, but stopped dead when someone else spoke.

“Yeah, she’s hunting for you, looking kind of panicky, actually. I told her I’d call you on the radio, but she passed.” Megan peeked out just far enough to see Rafe in his uniform, and all she could see of Brad were his hands gesticulating as he spoke. “Yeah, she’s got it good for you, guy.”

Megan flushed at his words. Was she that transparent? Even to someone like Brad? “Well, I’ll check on her later,” Rafe said.

He started to turn in her direction, but Brad grabbed his upper arm. Rafe turned, pulling back from the contact. “Hey, I owe you, buddy,” Brad said.

“No, no, you don’t,” Rafe said.

“Oh, but I do.” The hand went out of sight, then reappeared in her line of vision, holding money. “Here’s twenty. I’ll get the rest to you on payday.”

“No,” Rafe said, not taking it.

“Yeah, I make good on my bets. Don’t bet unless you can afford to lose, I always say, although I thought I had a sure bet. I didn’t think you had it in you to get her to melt down, but boy, you got her more than melted.” He laughed, an ugly sound that seemed to echo in the stairwell. “She’s crazy for you. I can tell. Imagine, someone like her with someone like one of us. Who would have thought?”

A bet? It had all been a bet? Megan felt as if a fist had been driven into her stomach.

“Hey, forget about it,” Rafe said. There was no outrage, no denial. “Keep your money.”

Brad stuffed the bills into Rafe’s breast pocket, much the way Rafe had pushed the hundred-dollar bill into hers. “No way, man. Good job. You’ve made me proud. Just knowing you got her, someone as snobby as she is, as cold and uppity... Man, you’re good.”

Megan backed up blindly, letting the door click shut. And if the railing hadn’t been there, she would have gone tumbling down the stairs. It was all a bet? The ache in her middle made her nauseous. A bet. He’d done it to prove he could? Nothing he’d said or done was real. Nothing. She blindly reached for the railing, and somehow made it down to the ground floor.

When she touched the door, she couldn’t open it. She leaned back against the cold walls and slowly sank down until she was crouched, her arms around her legs, her forehead pressed to her knees. And Megan Gallagher cried as if her heart would break. But in fact, it was already broken.

* * *

R
AFE
GOT
RID
of Brad as quickly as he could, then went to call Zane. He knew what was going on now, and he needed Zane there when he took action. They agreed to meet in Zane’s private offices in an hour. Rafe knew what he’d do with that hour. Brad, as disgusting as the encounter with him had been, had only reminded him how much he needed to see Megan. With everything in place now, he had time. He had an hour, and he was going to take it.

He’d tried to go and see her today at the center, but hadn’t been able to get down there until now. He rode down in the elevator, got out at the main floor and crossed to the brightly colored doors. He’d see her, talk a bit, then make a date for tonight, when he would tell her the truth—about who he was, and that no matter what his name was, or what he did for a living, he loved her.

He went inside the center, thankful that the kids were napping and all was quiet. He nodded to the teenager sitting with the sleeping children, then went past them all, past the cartoon tree, into the back hall to the office.

He approached the open door, stopping before going inside when he saw Megan at the desk. Rafe felt like a teenager with a crush, the way his heart raced at the sight of her bent over an open ledger. Quietly he went inside, needing to touch her, but not daring to just yet. “Megan?” he said softly, and her head snapped up.

Her blue eyes were on him, but there was no warmth in them. They looked almost afraid, then they narrowed and she sat back. “Rafe,” she said.

He felt awkward and didn’t know where to start. “We need to talk.” That sounded reasonable.

“Talk?” she asked, sitting back in her chair. “No, we don’t, and I’ve got work to do.” With that she stood and came around the desk, as if she was leaving. He stopped her by taking her upper arm. He was struck at how delicate she felt in his grasp and how badly he wanted to hold on to her. He drew back and she turned, looking up at him, her eyes softly blurred as if she’d been crying.

“We have to talk...about last night.”

“What about it?” she asked in a low voice.

This couldn’t be happening. “Last night...” Then he thought he understood. “I had to go. There was an emergency.”

“No problem,” she murmured tightly.

“Megan, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Last night was last night. This is now.” She crossed her arms and didn’t blink. “What difference does any of it make?” She looked pale and her expression was pinched at the mouth. “It was nothing. Just a...” She shrugged, gave a vague, fluttery gesture with one hand. “Nothing.”

Frustration and pain drove him to take her by her shoulders, but she didn’t fight him. She didn’t scream or push him away. She just stood there, looking right at him, her expression bleak. “Nothing?” he breathed.

“Nothing,” she echoed.

Then he finally understood, and bitterness rose harshly in his throat. “Oh, sure,” he said, and let her go. He could barely stand to look at her as the realization sunk in. “I understand. I should have understood long before last night, but...” He pushed his hands in his pockets as an ache formed in his middle, and he had to force himself not to hunch protectively. What a fool he’d been, misreading everything because he was so needy.

“But what?” she breathed.

“I thought you were different. That you had a heart, a soul.” He shook his head. “My mistake.”

“I guess we both misread the situation,” she said. “But thankfully we didn’t get too involved.”

She could speak for herself on that one. The last time he’d felt pain like this, he’d been grieving. Now it was mingled with anger and disgust and a sense of complete loss. “Yeah, thankfully. Who needs a cold, manipulative, self-serving—”

She stared at him, her eyes overly bright, then she hit him. Her hand struck his face, and he didn’t move. Fire radiated in his cheek, but he didn’t touch it. She pulled her hand back, staring at it in horror, as if it had functioned on its own. Then her cell phone rang, and they both froze, waiting to see what she would do.

She didn’t answer it. Instead, she turned from him and left the room.

She was gone and he was alone. He sank down on the pink plastic chair, buried his head in his hands and tried to blot out everything. But nothing stopped the pain radiating through him, or the way he’d let himself care so much. He wouldn’t make that mistake again. Ever.

* * *

M
EGAN
DIDN
’
T
THINK
anything could hurt worse than when she’d heard Rafe talking to Brad. She’d been wrong. Seeing him that last time had been worse. She worked the rest of the day on the nineteenth floor, and by the time she went back down to the center at five-thirty, she’d spent most of the afternoon in the ladies’ room near Legal, crying. She’d given up trying to breathe correctly, or thinking she could concentrate on anything. She was leaving.

All she had to do was pick up the paperwork she’d left in Mary’s office, then she was gone. She’d leave it on Mr. Lawrence’s desk, then head to the loft. From there, she was going back to San Francisco. She’d pack, make sure the cat had food, then get on a plane and go home. Simple.
Just do it.

She went into the center, skirting around the few kids watching a video on TV, but never made it out before Gabe spotted her. He scrambled to his feet and ran toward her, tangling his arms around her legs and smiling up at her with that dimple. She swallowed hard and crouched in front of him as Greg ran over in turn.

“We want to go riding horses, and Mary says we can’t,” Greg said. “You talk to her. You tell her we ride all the time.”

“Sweetheart, I can’t tell her anything. It’s up to your daddy to talk to her about things like that.”

Gabe moved closer and put his arm around Megan’s neck. The action only made her pain more unbearable. She had to leave their dad, and now them. The fact was she loved all of them, no matter what, but she couldn’t be here. “You talk to Daddy,” Gabe said.

She closed her eyes. “Honey, you have to do that.”

“Oh, okay.” Gabe sighed. “But he’s real busy.
Real
busy,” he said with emphasis and a roll of his huge dark eyes. “He’s always real busy.”

“Well, I’m busy right now, too.” She took a breath. “But I just wanted to say that I’m sure happy we met.”

“Me, too,” Greg said.

“Yeah, me, too,” Gabe echoed.

She stood, her legs shaky, and tried to smile at them. “You two go and watch the movie. I’ve got to get some things from the office.”

Greg ran off, but Gabe hesitated for a minute. “You sad, Megan?” he asked, studying her intently.