“Good morning, Declan,” Claire smiled warmly, “How are you?” He was so busy trying to piece together where he knew the woman at her side, that he barely uttered a reply. From the look on the blonde’s face, he knew he wasn’t imaging things. He knew her from somewhere and she damn sure seemed to know him. “Let me introduce you to my good friend. Declan Stone, this is Julie Nelson, Julie this is Declan.”
Julie continued to stare at him as if in shock before finally uttering, “Declan?” He was still wracking his brain trying to make the connection that Julie had obviously already made. The only thing he was sure of was that he had had sex with her. He wasn’t proud of it, but one-night stands had been the norm for him when he was in the military. Pretty much anytime he had returned home, he had found a hotel room and a willing body to share it with, at least for a few hours. Even though she didn’t look like the type to indulge in quick hook-ups, he had to figure that was how they knew each other.
He finally just decided to throw a general reply out there and hope it was enough to save her feelings. Asking how they knew each other was probably not a great thing. “It’s nice to see you,” he said.
When Claire gave them both a confused look and asked if they knew each other, he stayed silent, hoping Julie would answer. “Yeah,” she murmured quietly, “we met briefly several years ago.” Well, that answered that question. She had pretty much admitted what he thought to be true. Giving him a nervous look that made him start to sweat, she asked, “Do you have time for cup or coffee or something?”
Well hell, despite himself, he was intrigued. He had no interest in her sexually, but he was damned curious about the desperation he saw in her eyes. Just what was going on here? Was he wrong about how they knew each other? She wasn’t acting like a woman trying to entice him, she just looked scared. Claire’s head was going back and forth between them with her mouth hung open as if in shock. She seemed to be at a loss for words and he knew just how that felt. “I’ve got some conference calls that I can’t miss this morning, but if you’re free around noon, I can meet you at Meg’s Sandwich Shoppe around the corner.”
Julie nodded eagerly looking strangely relieved. “Thank you, that would be great. I’ll be there.” Declan was relieved when Claire turned toward Jason’s office and Julie followed along with her. What. In. The. Hell! He walked toward his own office determined to remember just who she was. Something was off there and he planned to find out what it was exactly.
Ella felt the dreamy glow that she had lost to her hectic morning of work return when Declan came striding toward her desk with her promised cup of coffee. He was so sexy. Just looking at him made her want to start panting. “Good morning again, Ellie,” he rasped in that deep voice that sent shivers down her spine.
Looking around to make sure they were alone for the moment, she whispered, “Good morning yourself, handsome. How is your day going?”
“Strange,” he replied, but waved away her concern when she started to ask why.
Giving him a smile of encouragement, she asked, “Rough morning?”
“Just the usual. How about you?”
She was pretty sure by his distracted manner that there was something he wasn’t saying, but she decided to leave it for now. All of the magazines said that once she had a man, she shouldn’t nag him or try to change him. She was determined to adhere to that advice. She liked him just the way he was, and things were too new between them for her to push when he so obviously didn’t want to talk about whatever had thrown his day off. “Do you want to grab some lunch today?” she offered.
Was it her imagination or was he actually fidgeting? “Ur . . . no, I can’t today, Ellie. I’ve got a lunch meeting. How about dinner this evening though?” Why did she feel like he had just thrown her a consolation prize with his dinner offer? She didn’t know what had gotten into him since she left his place this morning, but he was acting weird. Surely he wasn’t already regretting sleeping with her?
She gave him a smile of apology when her phone started ringing. With a light brush against her arm and another distracted smile, he was gone.
Jason Danvers looked up as his office door burst open and his wife walked in. Even though she no longer worked as his assistant, she had agreed to relieve Jean for the week so that she could visit her daughter in Ohio. He looked forward to having her here, but he also knew his concentration would be out the window. Whenever Claire was near, she had his complete attention. He looked longingly at the plush sofa in the corner of his office and wished he didn’t have a meeting scheduled in ten minutes. “Hey, baby, has Julie gone?” Claire had met Julie Nelson when she was working for Partiez Plus. He still couldn’t believe his somewhat shy wife used to jump out of cakes at bachelor parties. He only liked to see those moves in private now. Julie had worked there part-time as a bartender while putting herself through nursing school. She had quit a few months after Claire had left, saying it wasn’t the same without her friend.
Not bothering with the chair in front of his desk, she walked straight to him and settled in his lap. Formality was a thing of the past with them. “Yeah, she just left. I witnessed the strangest encounter in the hallway on the way here though and I can’t figure out what’s going on.”
Pushing the hair back from her face, Jason kissed the tip of her nose and asked, “Who was Suzy torturing?”
Claire elbowed him lightly laughing. “It wasn’t Suzy this time. She only tortures the people in maintenance, by the way. It was between Julie and Declan.”
“He’s never been the most talkative person so it’s not unexpected that he wouldn’t stick around long for small talk, babe.”
Waving him off, she said, “No, it’s not that. It was the fact that he did stick around. They know each other somehow. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he seemed to be trying to piece something together. She asked to meet him later and he agreed. Does that sound like Declan to you?”
Jason raised an eyebrow in surprise. “No, it definitely doesn’t. Isn’t he involved with Ella now?”
“From the look on her face this morning, I would say they are very involved. I don’t think Julie asked him to get together to hit on him though. I didn’t get that vibe. Besides, she’s engaged to Graham and is the happiest I have ever seen her. I think there’s something else going on there. I asked her how she knew him before she left and she mumbled something about going to school with him which was obviously a lie.”
Sighing, Jason said, “Well, I hope Ella doesn’t get hurt. This is why so many companies have policies against dating in the workplace, but that would be a bit pot and kettle of me wouldn’t it?”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Claire laughed softly. “Yep, it sure would. If I hadn’t been your assistant, we might have never met.”
Jason stroked the curve of his wife’s beautiful face and said, “I’d have found you, never doubt that. It would just have taken longer.” As he pulled her into a kiss, he idly wondered which meeting that afternoon he could cancel. Once you had children, you never missed an opportunity for some alone time with your wife. “Could you cancel my one o’clock?”
Chapter Twelve
Declan walked around the corner from the office to meet Julie for lunch. Other than being sure he had slept with her, he was no closer to remembering exactly where and when. There had been far too many occasions when he had drank too much with the guys, and then found a willing woman to chase away a few hours with. It hadn’t been any time in recent memory though. It was sheer curiosity that had brought him here to meet her.
He should have gone with his first inclination and blown her off. Ella’s polite manner seemed to be rubbing off on him. Remembering the strange looks she had been shooting him earlier, he knew she had picked up on his preoccupation. He felt guilty like he was cheating on her, which was absurd. He had no interest in the woman he was meeting and he had made no promises to Ella. Even as he thought it, though, he knew that with a woman like Ella, the first time he had slept with her had been a promise of sorts. He would just get this over with and move on. He sincerely hoped that Claire didn’t mention anything to her.
As he walked in the door and scanned the tables, he saw Julie tentatively wave to him from a back table in
