Chapter 2

It was hard to feel good about being comfortable when you worked with a supermodel.

Okay, Gabriella wasn’t a real supermodel, but she certainly looked like one.

All the time.

Megan looked at her reflection in the mirror and sighed. Back home, she wouldn’t think twice about wearing a pair of black yoga pants and an oversized sweater to work. Occasionally, she’d even pair the ensemble with a pair of boots rather than sneakers.

Another sigh.

Her hair was pulled up in messy bun, and while some women could totally rock that look, Megan felt like she looked more like someone who was too lazy to do her hair.

Which…she was.

This was her third day at her new job, and the first two days she had put a bit of an effort into her appearance, but today it seemed like too much of a pain. And now she was regretting it because once she opened the restroom door and met up with Gabriella, she’d be feeling like a homeless person in comparison to her cousin’s wife.

Not that she was begrudging Gabriella anything. After all, if you had it, you should flaunt it, right? It was just…Megan wasn’t used to seeing a woman in her seventh month of pregnancy walking around looking quite like that. She looked at the tennis shoes on her feet and frowned. No doubt Gabriella would have on mile-high stilettos. How she managed to walk around in those things was still a mystery. And her wardrobe looked like something off a New York fashion week runway—and she was pregnant!

After another look in the mirror, Megan realized that her sweater made her look like she was pregnant.

And not in a fashionable way like Gabriella.

“Damn,” Megan murmured. It was blazingly obvious she was going to have to do something drastic like…gulp…go shopping. The thought was almost more than she could bear. With a little luck, maybe Gabriella and Summer would go with her. She’d bring it up later that day when she met her cousin for lunch.

Knowing there was nothing she could do about her choice of clothing at the moment, she made quick work of fixing her hair a bit and putting on some lip gloss. Feeling mildly appeased, she zipped up her purse and decided she couldn’t stay in the bathroom forever. She looked okay, but it was a far cry from what she knew was waiting for her on the other side of the door.

And it was only slightly better than how she had looked five minutes ago.

Pulling open the door, she stepped out into the massive reception area and made her way toward her office.

“Good morning,” Gabriella called out when Megan walked by her desk. “Coffee’s made, and there are blueberry muffins if you’re interested.”

“Blueberry, huh? What’s the occasion?” she asked even as she looked around for them.

Gabriella laughed softly. “I was never a cake person, but this baby craves it. So I try to compromise and at least make ones with real fruit to ease my guilt.”

Following Megan’s gaze, Gabriella pointed toward the platter of muffins.

Megan took one and bit into it, nearly groaning with pleasure. “You made these?”

With a nod, Gabriella replied, “This morning. Zach had an early meeting in Vancouver, and once I was awake, I realized what I wanted to eat. I swear, I never thought pregnancy cravings were real, but this baby of mine is proving me wrong.”

Pouring herself a cup of coffee, Megan smiled. “A friend of mine had her first baby last year. I remember going out with her and watching her order some strange things. We’d been friends for years, and I couldn’t remember her ever eating most of the stuff she ate during her pregnancy. And you know what? She hasn’t eaten any of it since.”

For a few minutes, they ate in companionable silence, and then Megan decided to broach the subject of her wardrobe instead of waiting for lunch—and Summer.

“So I have a favor to ask,” she began hesitantly.

“Okay.”

“And I feel weird because you’ve all done so much for me already. I mean, the job, Summer letting me live in her guesthouse, and now you making me yummy food… I should probably just say thank you and work my own crap out for myself, but…”

“Megan?”

“Hmm?”

“You’re rambling. What’s going on?”

She sighed. “I think I need a new wardrobe.”

Gabriella’s face lit up. “Really?”

Megan nodded.

“And when you say a new wardrobe, you mean everything, right?”

She nodded again. “And I figured I’d ask Summer to help out too. Maybe we could make a day of it on Saturday or something.”

Gracefully, Gabriella turned and put her coffee mug down before looking at Megan again. “I think that is the perfect plan. We’ll talk to Summer about it over lunch, and since it’s for you, Zach can’t possibly have a problem with it.”

“He’s been a bit of a—”

“Nervous Nelly?” Gabriella said with a grin. “Yes. If it wasn’t so incredibly sweet, it would be annoying. Don’t get me wrong, I love the attention, and I love how concerned he is, but there are times when I need to go off by myself and shop or get a pedicure, and he’s always right there with me.”

Megan laughed so hard she almost choked on her muffin. “Please tell me he just sits with you when you get a pedicure!”

Gabriella smiled as she shook her head. “In the beginning, I think he figured he’d sit and watch. Then he tried it. Now he comes with me because he enjoys it!” She laughed. “Please don’t tell him I said that! He’d die of embarrassment!”

With a zipping motion across her lips, Megan winked. “Well, whenever you need to escape without him, feel free to use me as an excuse. I have no problem covering for you.”

“You have no idea how much I appreciate that or how much I am going to take you up on your offer.”

They laughed as Megan finished her muffin and refreshed her coffee. With another word of thanks, she waved and made her way to her office, and before she knew it, she was up to her eyebrows in emails and phone messages from employees who were having issues with some of the new programs they were installing.

“If only they realized this is just the beginning,” she murmured as she went to work. No one liked change, and learning a new operating system was even more of a challenge than some people could handle. Megan thrived on learning new things; she had worked with Zach remotely over the past month to get him ready for the transition, and she knew she’d have to work equally as hard to put the employees’ minds at ease as she would to get the new system in place.

That was why she ended up working so many hours over the past few days.

“Hey! You ready for lunch?”

Megan turned to see Summer standing in the doorway. For a minute, she was confused. Ready for lunch? Glancing at the clock, she saw it was almost one.

She stood and stretched and then laughed when Summer hugged her. “Have I mentioned how happy I am that you’re here?”

Megan hugged her back. “About a hundred times, but I love hearing it.”

“I have to admit, there was a very real possibility of me not being here, but I’m glad Ethan and I compromised.”

Looking at her curiously, she asked, “You mean the whole moving to North Carolina thing?”

Summer nodded. “Originally, we were moving there full time. But after we got married and talked about it, it was obvious how much he loved it here—not just Portland but working with Zach. So the house in North Carolina is our vacation home now. Plus, I found I kind of like being with this branch of the family for a while.”

“It’s really just Zach—”

With a smile, Summer grabbed Megan into another hug. “And now you.”

That’s probably one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me, Megan thought.

“Come on—Gabs is waiting, and she’s cranky.”

“Uh-oh,” Megan said as she grabbed her purse. “How come?”

“She’s hungry and we’re keeping her waiting,” Summer said with a grin.

Together they walked to meet up with Gabriella, and as they rode down in the elevator, they talked about lunch options and eventually agreed on a small café around the corner from the office. Megan waited until they were seated and looking at menus to ask Summer about going shopping.

“Oh my God, yes!” Summer said with a huge smile. “I need a good shopping day!”

“Oh no,” Gabriella murmured.

“What? What did I say?” Summer asked.

Putting her menu down, Gabriella looked at her patiently. “You are probably the last person who needs a shopping day. The last time you went to the mall, what happened?”

Summer played with her silverware and adjusted the napkin on her lap. “I…shopped.”

“Really?”

Rather than respond to Gabriella, Summer looked at Megan. “I bought some dresses for Amber.”

Megan was confused. “And that’s wrong? Why?”

“She’s barely three months old, and she doesn’t need fourteen dresses,” Gabriella said with exasperation. “Summer, your daughter is beautiful. Stunning. She looks completely adorable in everything you dress her in.”

“But?” Summer prompted.

“But whenever you get within ten feet of a baby department, you tend to go a little crazy.”

“That won’t be a problem,” Megan said, trying to defuse the situation. “I promise we’ll pick places that don’t even have a baby department. If anything, I’m the baby,” she added quickly. “If you need to dress someone up, dress me! Seriously, I’m desperate. I normally wear yoga pants to work. It’s been two years since I bought a new bra. I’ve never once been to a Victoria’s Secret, and I wear old T-shirts to bed.”

As she let out a sigh of relief at her fashion confession, she missed the nervous glances exchanged between Gabriella and Summer.

“Two years?” Summer asked. “Really? How is that possible?”

Megan shrugged. “I don’t know…the one I have fits fine. I didn’t need another.”

“Everyone needs new lingerie,” Summer countered. “We’re girls. It’s what we do.”

“No one was seeing it except me, so…”

“Oh,” Summer said, and then it hit her. “Ooohhh…”

What was the point in denying the truth? “Yup. So now you know why I need help.”

“We’re here for you,” Gabriella said, reaching across the table and patting Megan’s hand.

“This is going to be an all-day event,” Summer said. “I can’t guarantee I’ll be able to stay away from home for that long—Amber will need to be nursed—”

“You can pump beforehand and bring the pump with you, right?” Gabriella asked. “Ethan won’t have any problem feeding her while you’re gone.”

“She’s fussy about taking the bottle,” Summer explained.

“It’s all right,” Gabriella said. “If we schedule and plan it right, we’ll stop for lunch, and you can run home while Megan and I eat, and then we’ll meet up again when you’re done.”

“That will work. And I’ll let Ethan know where we are, and if he needs to, he can bring Amber to me while we’re shopping.”

“Wait,” Megan said as unease crept its way up her spine. “How long do you think this is going to take? I figured we’d hit Macy’s or something and get everything there. We can be done by lunch.”

Gabriella and Summer looked at each other and started laughing.

Megan wasn’t sure whether she should be offended.

“Megs,” Summer began, “trust me. There is no such thing as getting everything in one place. If you’re going to do this, you’re going to want to do it right.”

“I don’t need that big of a wardrobe. I do have some outfits I can still use.”

The look both of them gave her said otherwise.

“Don’t worry,” Summer said soothingly. “We won’t go too crazy, but we will need to cover the basics—a couple pairs of nice pants, some skirts, maybe some dresses, shoes, underwear, and then a couple casual outfits and sleepwear.”

“I don’t mind the T-shirts,” Megan grumbled.

“And you’re going to want some fun outfits for when you start dating,” Gabriella said with a smile.

“Um…that won’t be necessary right away. I mean, I work a lot of hours and—”

“Maybe your last job was like that, but I can tell you right now Zach won’t allow you to live at the office,” Gabriella said.

“Neither will Ethan. They don’t believe in working their employees like that. And trust me—don’t argue with them about it. You won’t win,” Summer said.

So far, none of this was going like she’d planned—first the topic of shopping and now her work schedule. Megan picked up her menu and forced a smile. “Okay! What are we ordering?”

* * *

“I think you seriously need to just give up. You’ve gotten soft. Maybe think about taking up something like…badminton. Or knitting.”

Zach growled as he paced away and then back again, and all Alex could do was grin.

“It’s okay. It happens to everyone. You know…you’re old and out of shape. Maybe we should think about going for a stroll in the park where you won’t exert yourself so much.”

The words his friend was muttering were quite colorful as they bounced off the racquetball court walls. Even though Zach had done better, Alex was still kicking ass, and as much as he was enjoying it, he could tell Zach no longer was.

“Fine. No strolling in the park. How about you pick the next challenge?” he suggested.

That perked Zach up. “And you can’t complain?”

Alex laughed. There wasn’t an activity the two of them had ever done together that he hadn’t enjoyed. “Bring it.”

“Painting.”

“Not a…wait. What?”

Zach grinned. “We’re painting the nursery this weekend,” he explained. “And the guest room, bathroom, and hallway.”

“Isn’t it a little soon to be painting the nursery?”

“We’re going with a neutral color since Gabriella and I decided that we want to be surprised by the sex of the baby,” Zach explained. “Once we decided on that, we realized we were going to be seeing an influx of guests once the baby came, so we thought we’d spruce up the entire guest side of the house. I already recruited Ethan to come help me while Gabriella and Summer go shopping with Megan and…”

Everything in Alex stilled. “Um…Megan?”

“Oh, right. I didn’t tell you about that,” he said with a small laugh. “My cousin Megan just moved here from Albany. She’s staying with Summer and Ethan and is working for me now because we’re changing computer systems and she’s kind of an IT genius. We’re only a week in and…”

Zach’s words faded away as Alex tried to come to grips with the fact that Megan Montgomery was here in Portland. Minutes away. It had to be a sign, right? It had to be the reason why she was suddenly on his mind. The thought of seeing her, talking to her…touching her again, it had Alex’s blood pumping in a way that racquetball hadn’t.

“I’ll do it!” he suddenly blurted out, and Zach looked at him like he was crazy. Which he was. After all, Zach had been talking about computer systems, and here he was shouting out about painting. And there was no guarantee he would see her. Yet. But there was at least a chance.

“Um…okay. Great. Do you want to come over tomorrow morning?”

No. Tomorrow was too long. Hell, Alex wasn’t even sure how he was going to get through today!

“You know, it would save a lot of time and make the weekend more efficient if we prepped tonight. That is, if you’re ready. Maybe call Ethan and we can get a jump start on it.”

Not questioning Alex’s sudden enthusiasm, Zach agreed. “I had planned on doing some of that tonight—taking off switch-plate covers, taping the trim, that sort of thing.”

“How about I bring over a couple pizzas and help?” Alex quickly suggested.

This time Zach laughed. “Dude, you’re awfully excited about this. Painting a secret passion of yours?”

No. But your cousin is…

He laughed nervously. “No…no, it’s not that. I’ve been bored lately, and I had nothing planned for the weekend, and really, I am happy to lend a hand.”

Zach didn’t look like he believed him, but he didn’t push him about it. “Great. Well…um…actually, Ethan, Summer and Megan were already planning on coming over tonight, but the more the merrier, right? I was planning on burgers. Why don’t you bring the beer. And maybe ice cream for the girls. Gabriella’s been craving all things chocolate.”

“I don’t think that’s a pregnancy craving. That’s an all-day, everyday female thing.”

“Either way, grab the most chocolaty ice cream you can find—and maybe some butter pecan for the guys—and the beer, and I’ll grill. Deal?”

Alex shook Zach’s hand and did everything in his power to hide the goofy grin he felt tugging at his lips. “Deal.”

They left the court and went to the locker room to shower and change before they went their separate ways—Zach to work, Alex to his morning client. He was going to have all day to think—obsess, really—about what he was going to do and say later on when he and Megan were face-to-face.

He’d have to play it cool and then…wait. What if she didn’t remember him? What if—like he’d been fearing—their weekend together had meant more to him than it had to her?

“Don’t go there,” he murmured and then cursed. He was mildly disgusted with himself.

Why? Why after two years was he still thinking about this? About her? It was a weekend! Granted, it was a damn spectacular weekend, but still. He was a grown man who’d had more than his share of…well…great weekends. He’d been in relationships, and he’d been in love. Although right now he couldn’t conjure up the face of even one other woman.

Only Megan’s.

Knowing he had to get back on track, he walked in through the front doors and waved to Cindy at the reception desk. Then he made his way to the PT room to set up. His client today—Nathan Adams—was suffering from degenerative disc disease. He and Alex had been working together for months out of Nathan’s home. Three weeks ago, Nathan had been in a car accident and was now dealing with not only his preexisting issues but also the injury from the accident. Alex had scheduled them for a two-hour session rather than their usual one hour because he knew they were going to need to take things slowly. This was their first session since the accident, so Alex wanted to have time to talk with Nathan about how he was feeling before they got started with movement and exercises.

As he set up his station, Alex chatted with other therapists and found that being around like-minded people was enough to get him focused on the job rather than his personal life. He loved what he did—loved helping people—and the dream was to someday have a facility or practice of his own. While he was building his client list, it wasn’t enough to support him yet. After all, the goal was to get the patients well enough that they didn’t need him anymore. Working for others wasn’t an issue—not really. But there were times when Alex wished he could be his own boss, buy his own equipment, and try some new therapies the more traditional facilities tended to shy away from.

Someday, he thought.

The house he’d bought had a space over the detached garage that was currently set up as an apartment, but he’d considered transforming it into therapy space. It was basically a large studio apartment with a small kitchen area, but it had a massive full bathroom with a spa tub and separate shower. Alex knew with a few modifications he could turn it into the perfect space for clients. The only drawback? It was on the second floor. There was no way most patients would be able to get up there.

In the past several months, he’d tried to come up with ways to make it work—adding an elevator seemed the most logical option—but the cost to do so was a little more than he wanted to invest, and the change would mean losing space in both the garage and the apartment. And right now the garage was fully utilized for his second car and storage. The space had been a perk when he purchased the house, but now it sat vacant. Eventually he’d figure out what he wanted to do with it.

“Depressing thoughts for another time,” he murmured and decided to get his head focused on what he was here for. Therapy.

Placing a stack of towels on the table beside him, Alex looked up as Nathan was wheeled into the therapy room by one of the nurses. Damn. He looked rough. There was still a lot of bruising on the man’s face, and as he got closer, Alex could see him grimacing in pain. Today’s session, unfortunately, wasn’t going to ease anything.

There was going to be cursing and crying and probably a whole lot of begging for them to stop. Alex was sympathetic to it, he was, but he knew if they could get over these first few sessions, they’d start to see results, and the healing would begin.

He smiled broadly as he walked over and held out his hand.

“Nathan! It’s good to see you, buddy!” he said. “Are you ready to get started?”

* * *

“So then I was thinking how I could get from the pool to the house without anyone seeing me,” Summer was saying while laughing. “And Megan grabbed two cushions from the patio set, and we ran into the house!”

Megan wiped away tears as she laughed at the memory. “It was the last time either of us dared one another to go skinny-dipping!”

Zach was standing in the kitchen putting the meat on a platter while Gabriella stood beside him slicing tomatoes, and they were laughing too. “I’m glad I didn’t witness that,” he said. “Although I’m sure Ryder wishes he didn’t remember it!”

“No one was supposed to be up,” Summer argued lightly. “We thought we were so smart going out to the pool when everyone was asleep. We had no idea Ryder had snuck out and was trying to sneak back in!”

Beside her, Ethan leaned in and kissed her on the cheek and then bent to kiss baby Amber on the head. “Tell all these stories now while our daughter is too young to understand them. I don’t want you giving her any ideas.”

“Oh, stop,” Summer said, playfully swatting him away.

“Although,” Megan said with a grin, “Amber is going to have a new cousin soon. There’s no telling what kind of mayhem they’ll get into together. Especially if this new cousin is a girl.”

This is good, Megan thought to herself. It was a Friday night, and here she was laughing and hanging out with her cousins and their wives and feeling very relaxed. Happy. She’d survived her first week, and she hadn’t worked beyond five o’clock any of those days. Gabriella had made sure of it. Although now would be as good a time as any to talk about the things she needed to do starting next week.

“I think I need to look at cars,” she said.

“What’s the rush?” Summer asked. “You know you can borrow mine anytime.”

She smiled at her cousin. “And I appreciate that. But this is something I’m going to have to do eventually.”

“Well, of course it is,” Gabriella commented. “But you’ve only been here a week, and I guess we’re just making sure you’re not overwhelmed by all of us and looking for an excuse to not be with us.”

Megan laughed. “Guys, don’t be silly! That’s not it at all! I know I’m going to be living in Portland for a while, and I want to start making my own way. I appreciate the hospitality, and I love being here with you. But I’m a practical person, and I don’t like to feel like I’m not pulling my own weight. I don’t want to be a drain on anyone, and honestly, I feel bad enough about the timing of my move.”

“Why?” Zach asked.

With a sigh, Megan looked over at Summer and Ethan. “You guys just had a baby and have had people in your house ever since. I would think you’d be looking forward to having the place to yourself by now.”

Summer waved her off. “This is different. You’re living in the guesthouse, and you’re working. My mom wanted to stay in our guest room so she could help out when Amber woke up at night.”

“But she was here for a while, right?”

“Yes, she was,” Summer said with a small laugh before she turned and looked at Zach. “Do you remember how long Mom stayed when Amber was born?”

“Didn’t she leave like two weeks ago?” he asked.

“No, more like a month, but she was here for almost two! And don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the help, and I loved how she had time to bond with Amber, and it gave me time to sleep, but…oh my God! It was glorious when we had our first night of it being just the three of us. Right?” she asked Ethan.

He nodded vigorously. “Your mother is a perfectly delightful woman, but there is something to be said for being able to walk around in my boxers in my own home.” Then he chuckled. “I learned that lesson fast. You do not want your mother-in-law seeing you with morning wood.”

“Dude,” Zach murmured but then started to laugh. “I can sympathize, and yet…I almost wish I could have seen the look on your face!”

“It wasn’t so much the look as the scream he let out,” Summer said playfully. “Mom was mortified, of course, but later on she gave a nod of approval.”

“What?” Ethan cried.

“Baby, you have an amazing body,” Summer cooed as she leaned over and kissed him. “There’s no shame in it.”

“There is when your mother-in-law thinks that,” Ethan grumbled. “It’s just…wrong. And gross. And now I’ll never walk out of the bedroom in my boxers again.”

The look on Summer’s face showed how much she didn’t believe that statement for one minute.

“Anyway,” Summer went on, “it was great having Mom here—and Aunt Monica and Aunt Eliza—but they were a little exhausting at times.”

Zach laughed. “I have to admit, I was a little surprised how the aunts came and stayed for as long as they did. Nothing against you, Summer,” he quickly corrected, “but I would have thought they would have waited to come when you had the christening and then stayed for a long weekend with everyone.”

“I think it was an excuse for them to get away for a bit. There were several days when I didn’t see them at all,” Summer said.

“They did come over and spend a lot of time with us,” Gabriella said. “They both were so curious to talk to Zach about how he was feeling and about the physical therapy he did after the accident that we finally referred them to Alex.”

Megan choked on her drink and began to cough. Zach was immediately at her side, patting her gently on the back. “You okay?” he asked.

Slowly, she nodded and did her best to catch her breath. “Yeah…um…sorry. It went down the wrong way.”

“You sure?” he asked, and Megan nodded again. He rubbed her back for a moment before returning to his prep work.

“Anyway,” Gabriella went on, “we never found out why they had so many questions or were so curious about the whole thing, but they spent a lot of time talking to Alex.” She paused. “Come to think of it, we never asked him what it was all about.”

“You can ask him tonight,” Zach said. “He should be here any minute.”

And just like that, Megan started choking again. This time Ethan came over and patted her on the back until she caught her breath.

He carefully moved her glass away. “Maybe wait a while before you try that again,” he teased. Everyone laughed, and Megan did her best to join in, but inside she felt like she was going to be sick.

“I’m good,” she said after a moment.

“You didn’t mention Alex was coming,” Gabriella said as she began putting a salad together.

“I asked him if he could come help us paint this weekend, and he said yes and even volunteered to help out tonight.”

“Well, that was nice of him,” Summer said, placing Amber on her shoulder and rubbing her back.

“He’s bringing beer and dessert,” Zach said with a grin. Then he looked at Ethan. “And I thought we could shoot some hoops before dinner since the rest of the night will be a snooze fest of unscrewing switch plates and taping trim.”

“Yes!” Ethan said with relief. “I was hoping there was going to be something else to do!”

“Hey, you volunteered,” Zach reminded him.

“I know, but that’s because I’m a nice guy and a good friend. Doesn’t mean I wasn’t going to be bored out of my mind,” he clarified.

“Megan, did you meet Alex at our wedding?” Gabriella asked.

Immediately, she felt her cheeks warm and knew she was minutes away from a panic attack. “Um…I don’t think so,” she said and then quickly excused herself. It wasn’t until she was in the bathroom that she finally allowed herself to breathe. She knew she was going to see Alex eventually; she just wasn’t expecting it to be quite so soon. Looking down at herself, she groaned. Sure, he couldn’t come over after she’d gone shopping?

It was impossible to do anything about what she was wearing, and as she glanced at her reflection in the mirror, she cursed the fact that she hadn’t even had the good sense to bring a little lip gloss or anything with her. Closing her eyes, she silently counted to ten and forced herself to leave the bathroom.

The doorbell rang as she was walking by the front door, so when Zach asked her to get it, how could she say no? Letting out a slow breath, Megan reached a shaky hand toward the door and pulled it open.

And basically forgot how to breathe.

Yeah, he was everything she remembered and so much more—sandy-brown hair, tall, lean build, and muscles that made her want to reach out and touch them.

Or lick them. Whatever.

He was wearing dark sunglasses, so she had no idea if he was as surprised to see her as she was to see him, but he smiled as he softly said, “Hey, Megan.”

And just like that she was practically a puddle on the floor.

“Hey,” she said and wanted to curse how breathless she sounded. Stepping aside, she motioned for him to come in.

“Thanks.”

Her cheeks heated, and she couldn’t make herself look directly at him. “Everyone’s in the kitchen.” And when she walked past him, she could almost feel him. Swallowing hard, she led the way to where everyone was and quickly took her seat. Then she took a minute to congratulate herself on not acting like an idiot in front of him.

“Alex!” Gabriella said with a smile as she walked over and hugged him. “Thanks for coming over.”

He held up a grocery bag. “And I come bearing gifts! I heard I couldn’t go wrong with anything chocolate, so I found chocolate-chocolate-chip ice cream with brownies in it. I hope that will work.”

Gabriella looked at him before glancing over at Megan and Summer. “Will that work?” she asked with a laugh. “I may have to leave my husband for you! Thank you!” She kissed him on the cheek and immediately put the bag in the freezer. “What else was in there?”

“I bought some butter pecan and some cookie-dough ice cream in case the guys wanted some,” he teased. Turning, Alex shook hands with Zach and Ethan and then came over to kiss Summer on the cheek. “Good to see you, Summer.”

“Hey, Alex,” Summer said with a smile.

He crouched beside her and smiled at Amber. “Look how she’s grown,” he said softly, reaching out to touch the baby’s hand. “Hey, Princess. How are you?”

And right then and there, Megan’s ovaries nearly exploded.

Taking off his sunglasses, Alex smiled at the baby and made a couple funny faces before he straightened and took the beer Zach was offering him. “Thanks.”

“Zach and I were trying to remember, Alex, if you and Megan had met at our wedding,” Gabriella said. “Megan said she didn’t remember, but I feel like I remember seeing you guys dance.”

Megan averted her eyes, but she could feel Alex staring at her, and she didn’t want to give anything away. So she busied herself with smoothing her sweater and pulling imaginary lint from her pants.

“We might have,” Alex said casually, “but it was a long time ago, so…who’s to say.”

“Well, then let me reintroduce you,” Gabriella said, oblivious to how awkward the moment was. “Alex, this is Zach’s cousin Megan. Megan, this is our friend Alex.”

With no other choice, Megan looked up, smiled at him, and offered a shy hello, and when he returned her smile, she was grateful to be sitting. Without the sunglasses, he was lethal.

Stepping forward, Alex held out his hand to her. He was close enough that only she could see the amusement in his eyes. “It’s a pleasure to meet you, Megan,” he said, and to the casual observer, it was a simple and pleasant greeting. To Megan, it was like a caress.

Swallowing hard, she put her hand in his. “Thanks,” she said quietly. “It’s nice to meet you too.”

If his hand lingered a little long, no one seemed to notice.

But Megan did.

And just when she was about to sigh dreamily, Zach spoke up.

“C’mon, we’ve got about thirty minutes until the grill is ready, so let’s go shoot some hoops!”

Alex let go of Megan’s hand, but his gaze stayed on hers for a heartbeat longer. Then as if they hadn’t just shared a moment, he turned and clapped his hands together. “Let’s go! I’m looking forward to beating you at something else today!”

Zach kissed Gabriella.

Ethan kissed Summer and Amber.

Alex gave Megan a sly wink as he walked out the door.

* * *

He played basketball and won.

He joked with Ethan and Zach as they grilled dinner.

And he made pleasant conversation with Gabriella and Summer.

As expected, Alex ended up sitting next to Megan, and when his knee brushed hers under the table, he heard her soft intake of breath.

He’d missed that sound.

All through dinner, conversation flowed, and while Megan was polite to him, she also wouldn’t look directly at him. At first, he was amused, but now her avoidance was starting to piss him off.

“So, Megan,” he began, “Zach mentioned how you moved here from Albany. That’s a pretty drastic move for a job.”

This time she did glance at him and offered a small—but forced—smile. “My contract with my previous employer ended, and I was trying to find something new. So when my father and uncle mentioned that Zach’s office was looking to change over its computer system, it seemed like the perfect opportunity.”

Alex nodded. “So it was the job that brought you here then. Nothing else?”

She looked at him with mild irritation. “Well, the thought of working with family was certainly a perk.”

“All the Montgomery offices are going to change over to this system, but we’re doing it first because I was smart enough to snag my favorite cousin,” Zach said.

Everyone laughed, and Alex saw the blush on Megan’s face.

“I have to admit, the obvious choice was to go to San Diego and be with Christian, but so far I’m pleased with my decision,” she said.

“Who’s Christian?” Alex asked with a little more aggression than he had intended.

“Megan’s brother,” Zach said around a mouthful of hamburger. “He’s running the San Diego office my brother Ryder used to run.”

“And what happened to Ryder? Where is he?” Alex asked, confused by the sheer number of Montgomery family members and where they were all located.

“Ryder is in North Carolina,” Ethan answered. “He went there for a bit of a sabbatical and ran into an ex-girlfriend, and they reconnected and got married. She has a business there, so Ryder decided to relocate.”

Nodding, Alex turned toward Megan. “Any other siblings?”

“I have another brother—Carter. He’s a chef,” she replied.

“Wow! A Montgomery who isn’t in the finance empire?” Alex asked with amusement. “How did that go over?”

Zach was the one to respond. “I think everyone would have been a lot more upset if Carter wasn’t a genius in the kitchen. He’s got restaurants in LA, Vegas, and New Orleans, and he’s looking to expand in the next couple years. After the success of the first place, no one brought up his straying from the family business again.”

Megan laughed. “Carter’s lucky the whole chef-restaurateur thing worked out because my parents thought he was crazy. Even after the first place succeeded, they still thought it was a phase,” she said. “When he started appearing on the morning talk shows and showing up in the tabloids as a ‘celebrity chef,’ they finally accepted his choice of careers.”

“Oh my gosh,” Summer interjected. “Ethan and I went to Carter’s place in New Orleans last year while we were on vacation, and I don’t think I’ve ever had a meal like that.”

“He knew we were coming in,” Ethan explained, “and when we arrived, the servers were instructed not to give us a menu. Carter prepared a special meal for us, and it was …it was…I’m telling you, it was spectacular.”

“I still don’t know where he got his talent,” Megan said. “My mother was never creative in the kitchen. I mean, she always cooked perfectly fine meals for us, but nothing on the scale of what Carter does.”

“What about you?” Alex asked. “Do you cook like your brother?”

Megan’s eyes went wide, and then she laughed out loud. “Oh God no,” she said. “I am not someone who cooks. I know the basics, but I end up getting takeout or microwave meals way more than I should.”

“You can’t be that bad at cooking,” Summer said. “I remember staying with you one summer during college, and we didn’t eat out all that much.”

“Sandwiches and salads,” Megan said. “I make a mean sandwich, and I am practically a gourmet with salads, but if it has to be cooked? I can’t do it.”

“Oh, come on,” Gabriella said. “You have to be exaggerating.”

Megan gave her a look. “Are you willing to test that theory and let me make dinner one night?”

“Um…maybe we could…I mean…I’m sure we could try…” Gabriella stammered.

“What my wife is trying to say,” Zach interrupted, “is she takes her meals very seriously these days, and maybe sometime after the baby comes and if she wants to lose weight, she’ll consider it.”

Megan laughed at her cousin’s attempt at patting her on the head. “Oh, I can guarantee you’ll lose weight, Gabs, if it’s up to me to prepare meals. No worries. I’m your girl.”

Conversation veered away from her brother and cooking skills and moved on to the plans for what they wanted to accomplish tonight and what they were going to try to finish the next day.

“We can move some of the furniture tonight too,” Zach said. “I think between the three of us we can get it all done.”

“We can help,” Summer volunteered. “Well, I mean, Megan and I can. Amber’s asleep, and if we all lend a hand, you’ll get done faster and then we can have dessert!”

“Oh, sweetie,” Gabriella said, “we are having dessert even if the guys aren’t done. I’m already thinking of the ice cream Alex brought. All of the ice cream.”

“But Megan and I can do stuff like take pictures down or strip the bedding in the guest room…you know, nothing major.”

“I don’t mind helping,” Megan said.

“If you’re sure,” Zach said.

Everyone was in agreement, and once dinner was completed, Summer and Gabriella started cleaning up the kitchen while Megan went to help with the little stuff so the guys could start moving furniture. Alex waited a minute to see how everyone was going to disperse, and when he watched Megan walk in one direction and Zach and Ethan in another, he saw his opportunity and grabbed it.

“Why don’t I start moving stuff out of the guest room while you get the tools and whatnot?” he suggested.

“Good plan,” Zach said. “Megan can take down the pictures and put any of the knickknacks into drawers. And if you can get some of the stuff moved—we’re going to try to put as much as we can in the office—I’ll get Ethan started on taking stuff down in the bathroom, and I’ll do the nursery.”

With a nod of agreement, everyone sprang into action, and as Alex headed toward the guest room, he had to remember to breathe. He didn’t miss the fact that she had practically dashed from the dinner table—no doubt to get away from him—but she couldn’t avoid him forever.

Hell, he wasn’t even going to let her avoid him for another five minutes.

“Hey,” he said softly as he ducked his head into the room. Her big brown eyes went wide at the sight of him, and those soft pink lips parted as she gasped.

“Oh! I…I didn’t think anyone was ready to start in here yet. I thought I’d…um…” But her words died away.

Smiling, Alex stepped into the room and explained the plan he and Zach had come up with.

“So…we’re supposed to start moving stuff into the office?” she asked.

Nodding, he looked around. The room was large with a queen-size bed, two nightstands, and a dresser. There was a flat-screen television mounted on the wall along with several pictures. Megan was moving some things into the dresser drawers and was doing her best to keep her back to him. Alex chuckled.

“What? What’s so funny?” she asked, still not turning around.

“You’re going to have to look at me eventually, you know,” he said casually and was pleasantly surprised when she did. She looked a little flushed and embarrassed, but at least she was looking at him.

“So you’ve been here a week already. How are you enjoying Portland?”

She returned her attention to her task. “I haven’t gone out sightseeing or anything yet. This whole week has been spent getting settled in at work. Summer’s been great with pointing out things on our way to work and all, but—”

“And you’re staying in the guesthouse?”

“For now. I was relieved to have a place to stay right away. It takes some of the pressure off so I can focus on work.”

Work. Yeah. That was a sore spot with him where she was concerned, and right now, he was kind of glad she wasn’t looking at him because he was certain his displeasure was written all over his face.

“I’ll start looking for a place of my own in the next couple of weeks, but it’s nice to not have to think about it yet. As it is, I have to buy a car.”

He looked at her oddly when she turned around to start moving other items into drawers. “Didn’t you bring anything with you from New York? I know it wouldn’t have been easy to drive cross-country, but it seems like you must have sold everything in order to move here.”

“I did,” she said as she closed a drawer. “The cost of moving all my furniture and keeping it in storage until I found a place wasn’t cost-effective. I figured I would start fresh when I got here.”

Nodding, he slid his hands into his pockets and waited to see if she would offer up any other information about herself without him prompting her.

But patience wasn’t his strong suit right now.

“So, how have you been?” he asked, stepping closer to her.

“Good.”

He chuckled softly. “Good,” he said. “Me too.”

She nodded and then moved to unplug the lamps. When she went to turn away from him, he placed a hand on her arm to stop her. She turned to him, and he saw every emotion she was feeling right there in her eyes. His heart melted a little, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Hey,” he said softly.

That one word seemed to do the trick because she visibly relaxed.

“I was surprised when Zach told me you’d moved here,” he said quietly, his hand still on her. He wanted to skim it down her arm and take her hand in his, but he knew it was too soon for that. “I wish you had called and let me know.”

Megan took a step away, and he instantly missed the feel of her.

“Alex,” she began, “it’s been two years. I…it would have been weird to reach out to you after all that time.”

“Why?”

“Seriously? What if you were involved with someone? And why would I even assume you’d want to see me? After the way things ended—”

“Do you?” he interrupted, fairly blurting out the question.

She looked at him curiously. “Do I what?”

“Do you want to see me?”

Her brows furrowed. “I’m seeing you right now, Alex.”

He laughed. “I know, but…did you want to see me? Did you think about looking me up when you got settled?”

Her hesitation wasn’t encouraging.

“Alex…”

Then he stepped forward and reached for her hand. “Okay, it wasn’t fair of me to put you on the spot like that. But I want you to know I’m happy you’re here. I…I think about you a lot.” His eyes met hers, and he saw confusion in those dark-brown depths. “I mean it. I hated the way things ended between us.”

“I did too. But geography wasn’t on our side, and then my job, and…I don’t know… I don’t expect you to feel obligated to make something more of it than it was.”

Okay, that wasn’t what he was expecting, and this time it was he who stepped away. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

Megan sighed. “Look, I’m sure this is awkward for you because Zach’s a good friend and I’m his cousin. No one knows about us, so there’s nothing that says we have to do anything now—you’re off the hook. Zach will never know, so we’re free to be…acquaintances or something.”

Was she for real? Did she really have no idea that was the last thing he was looking for? Hell, he’d practically lived his life in limbo for the past two years because he couldn’t get her out of his mind! And now she was saying it didn’t mean anything? “Megan, I—”

“Hey, man,” Zach said as he walked into the room. “I grabbed a screwdriver and a drill for you. I think you’ll need them to take the television bracket from the wall.” Without any indication that he felt the tension in the room, he grinned. “Let me know when you’re ready to start moving furniture, and we’ll come in.” Then he looked at Megan. “Don’t worry about helping with all of this. Seriously. The girls are in the kitchen, and I saw my wife pulling ice cream from the freezer.”

Megan smiled—a real smile. Not the forced ones she’d been throwing his way all night. “It’s fine, Zach. I may not be strong enough to move the furniture, but I can at least help with some of the smaller stuff.”

Walking over, he hugged her and gave her a loud, smacking kiss on her head before he left the room.

When they were alone again, Alex knew it wouldn’t last too long. Things needed to be done, and he wasn’t going to get the answers he wanted from her tonight. With a sigh of resignation, he said, “I’m going to work on the TV. If you could take those pictures and put them in the office, that would be great.”

Nodding, Megan turned and immediately took one painting from the wall and then the other. They worked in silence for a few minutes, and then he needed her help. The television wasn’t large, and he had carefully started to take it from the wall, but a second set of hands was required to disconnect the wires. “Can you give me a hand with the cords?”

She was right there and did what was needed. She was so close he could smell her perfume, and he had to fight the urge to inhale deeply. “Thanks,” he murmured and quickly stepped away and took the television to Zach’s office. And that’s where he stayed for a moment to catch his breath and try to regain some focus.

“This is crazy,” he mumbled. Leaning against the desk, Alex took a couple of deep breaths, let them out, and forced himself to clear his mind. He was pinching the bridge of his nose and trying to push away visions of Megan when Ethan stepped into the room.

“Don’t tell me you’re taking a break already!” he teased. “Dude, even Megan’s moved more stuff than you.”

It was the perfect way to break the tension, and Alex laughed. “Yeah, well…if I hadn’t won the game against the two of you earlier, I’d have a lot more energy.”

Ethan clapped him on the shoulder. “Nice try. But I’m on to you now, and I’ll be making sure you pull your weight so we can get this done in one weekend.”

“Don’t worry about me, old man,” Alex teased. “If anything, I’ll be checking up on the two of you to make sure you don’t hurt yourselves.”

They both laughed hard at that.

Alex spotted Megan walking toward the kitchen, and he knew that for now, the only thing he had to focus on was moving furniture.