“You hardly know Noah.”
“So I pegged him wrong?”
Libby paused a beat, then laughed. “No. You have him exactly right. But before you say anything else, I’ll just say our friendship is based on an alliance.”
“What alliance?”
“The goal of keeping you and Josh together.”
“I’m not pinning any hopes on a future just yet.”
“Why?”
“Look, today I’m just living for the moment. That’s the gift I was granted. I admit that I want more with him, but there are just too many variables in play for me to count on anything. And at the risk of beating a dead horse, we can’t forget how my mother’s going to react to all of this. You remember the mess with my Aunt Heather.”
Libby sighed. “Damn. I forgot about her. You’re in deep shit.”
“I know,” Megan said in defeat. “But it doesn’t matter. Josh has been wonderful all morning—even sticking up for me with Knickers—but he just took a call from Noah, and now he’s acting cold and distant. I can’t help thinking Noah said something to make Josh have second thoughts about me.”
“Impossible. Noah wants you two together.”
“That’s weird, don’t you think? Noah doesn’t seem like the type of guy to play matchmaker.”
“It’s his kid brother, and he knows you make him happy. That’s all it is. Quit being so suspicious, or you’ll start to sound like Blair.”
“Very funny.”
“He likes you, Megan, and you like him, too. I see the way you look at him. I’ve never seen you so taken with a guy, and Noah says the same is true of Josh.”
“It’s all just happening so fast, Libs. What am I supposed to do?”
“Just go with it for now. Fate put you together in the first place. It will keep you together. The fortune teller said so.”
Libby had always been the dreamer, while Blair was invariably the voice of reason. Both qualities were constantly at war in Megan. She wasn’t so certain fate would work everything out—and she definitely didn’t believe some fake fortune teller—but this one time she really hoped Libby was right.
“Go have fun with him. Just enjoy the ride, Megs. Stop stressing. It’ll all work out.”
“Well, fate only has until tonight.”
“Don’t throw this away,” Libby said, taking an uncharacteristically serious tone. “If you do, I have a feeling you’ll regret it for the rest of your life.”
That’s exactly what Megan was afraid of.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Josh signed the check and left the restaurant, then started to pace the sidewalk as he waited for Megan. Noah’s phone call had left him conflicted. He played it over again in his head, hoping for a better resolution.
Josh had told Noah about Bart’s password and the suspicious email while they were in the dressing rooms at the tux shop. He’d no sooner picked up Noah’s phone call than his brother said, “She’s right. The password works on everything . . . everything but his personal email account. Is there any way you can quiz her to see if she knows of any alternate passwords?”
“No. That one was a fluke, and even if I could work it into a normal conversation, I suspect she wouldn’t know. She said it was the password he used for everything . . . so we’re screwed.”
“Slow down there,” Noah laughed. “We may have struck out there, but that doesn’t mean I came up empty-handed.”
It turned out that Noah had already made more progress in two hours at Bart Vandemeer’s office than Josh had made in a day. “Don’t ever become a detective, Joshy,” Noah chuckled. “You couldn’t investigate your way out of a paper bag.”
“Hey, I got the password.”
Noah just laughed. “Which you already admitted was a lucky fluke.”
“Who did you screw to get what you needed?” Josh asked dryly.
“While I’m flattered you think I could seduce someone so quickly during a weekday, and in an office to boot, that’s not how I did it.”
“So how did you do it?”
“Flattery and asking the right questions.”
“That’s great. Gloat all you want. What I really want to know is what you’ve found.”
“I think you might be right about Bart Vandemeer being a part of this.”
Josh’s heart sank. He had hoped to be wrong, even though the email seemed like pretty substantial evidence. “Why would you say that?”
“The bookkeeper let it slip that Bart has been siphoning money off the company. Thousands of dollars.”
“That’s no surprise. Nicole Vandemeer spent fifty-six grand on a wedding Megan didn’t even want.”
“Down boy. You nearly jumped down Nicole’s throat at the tuxedo rental store.”
“She deserved it.”
“Well, cool your outrage. You need to stay in that woman’s good graces.”
“Why?” Noah didn’t answer and an anxious ball formed in the pit of Josh’s stomach. “Noah? Why do I need to stay in the woman’s good graces?”
“You can’t break up with Vandemeer’s daughter tonight.”
A disarming mixture of relief and dismay washed through him. “Why not?”
“Because the partner’s son, Drew Peterman, is showing up for the wedding tomorrow. I saw a photo of him in the partner’s office with his fiancée.”
“Is that supposed to mean something? Do I really care who’s on the guest list?” Josh was still trying to decide whether postponing his inevitable breakup was a good thing or not.
“Peterman’s fiancée is the woman I slept with the night the plans disappeared.”
“Holy shit.”
“Exactly.” Noah sounded smug, not that Josh could blame him. It was a monumental find. Of course, Noah was the one who’d lost the plans to Drew Peterman’s fiancée in the first place.
“If Drew Peterman stole the plans, how does Bart Vandemeer come into play?”
“Bart’s been taking so much money from the company that the firm needs this patent to survive just like we do.”
“Shit. That’s the proof we need.” This should have made him happy, but all it did was make him nauseated.
“Yep. It’s shitty as hell, but it’s their firm or ours, and they didn’t play fair, so which one do you pick, Joshy?”
“You know damn well which one I pick.”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Noah murmured. “But all of this is to say that we need to be around tomorrow. I’m going to corner the fiancée and get her to admit she stole the plans.”
“How in God’s name do you propose to do that?”
“I have my ways. Now you need to use yours. Convince Vandemeer’s daughter to keep the charade going.”
“We’re getting a marriage license this afternoon, Noah.”
“I heard.”
“I’m pretty damn sure you have to provide ID to apply. Megan’s mother is going to be there.”
“Take care of it.”