The Wedding Pact Box Set - Denise Grover Swank Page 0,120

Blair said. “What about Mitch?”

“What about him?” she asked in genuine confusion. “Oh! You think—no! I didn’t cheat on Mitch.” Disgust washed over her face. “Is that really what you think of me?”

“There was that one time . . .” Blair’s voice trailed off.

“I was a kid—barely nineteen—and he told me that he and his girlfriend had broken up. He was cheating on his girlfriend, but I would never purposely cheat. Especially after Megan found that prick . . .” Her voice trailed off.

Megan grabbed Libby’s hand. “It’s okay, Libby. I’m over it. I’m thankful for it. Otherwise, I might be marrying said prick now.” She gave a shudder.

“There’s nothing between me and Noah. He just needed a friend last night.”

“A friend?” Blair asked, turning her attention to Libby. “That kind of guy doesn’t do friends.”

“Yeah, I know,” Libby said. “That’s what was so confusing. We stayed up almost all night talking.” She widened her eyes, as if sensing they were about to pounce on her. “What? It’s true. And he never once made a move on me. Honestly, I think he’s lonely.”

Blair stared at her, speechless for several seconds before shaking her head. “Lonely? Whatever. One McMillan man at a time.” She turned her gaze to Megan. “There are a few things you need to know. I can’t believe he didn’t tell you everything before I could get to you.”

“No, Blair,” Megan said, her tone brisk. “He told me to listen to what you had to say, then make up my own mind.”

Blair sighed. “He’s playing you, Megs.”

“No, Blair. He trusts my judgment. He said if I decide I don’t want to see him again, he’ll respect my choice.” She took a deep breath. “So tell me.”

Blair cast a glance toward the still-silent Libby.

“Libby can stay,” Megan said. “She’s part of this, too.”

“I think you should sit.” Megan obeyed and fought her rising nausea as Blair told her about the patent, Josh’s business, and how she wasn’t sure it was a coincidence that he’d sat next to her on the plane. And when she was finished, all three women sat in silence.

Megan stood and wandered over to the window, looking out at the flowering gardens. Parts of it made sense. She knew Josh’s company was in trouble. He’d told her that he had two choices—either his employees would lose their jobs, or he’d hurt someone he cared about.

She had thought that someone was Noah. Turns out it was her.

So why had he continued with this charade?

Because he hadn’t stolen the information he needed yet.

If he left, he couldn’t look for it. She felt like an idiot when she realized she’d given her father’s password to him, providing him with carte blanche to all of her father’s electronic files. What had she done?

She was going to throw up.

Then she thought about the man she’d gotten to know—a man who would never steal something for personal gain. He had too much integrity. It might not look that way, since he’d helped her for reasons that weren’t on the up and up, but she couldn’t ignore how he’d refused to have sex with her that first night. He’d wanted to—badly—but he’d stopped because he was afraid of hurting her.

But what about his feelings now? When she examined every minute they’d spent together, she kept coming up with the same answer. What he felt for her—what they felt for each other—was genuine.

“Why was he so upset with Noah?” she finally asked, turning to face Blair.

“How should I know?”

Megan stared at her, lifting her eyebrows. “Try again. I know you had a part in it.”

“Why would I interfere with their relationship?”

“Tell me.”

Blair released a sigh. “You know how much I love you, Megan. I may not say it often, but I figure actions speak louder than words. So I acted.”

“What did you do?” Her words were tightly controlled.

“I had a document prepared. After I presented my key evidence, I gave Josh an out. I found another investor to take the original one’s place—one of my divorce clients who received a very large settlement—but if he wanted my help, he had to promise to leave you and never speak to you again.”

Megan felt lightheaded. “You did what?”

“He refused to sign it. I know he wants that patent, but if he doesn’t have the money by next week, he’ll have to shut down. For all his whining about how devastating it would be to his employees if he had to shut his doors, he never even