Tears stung Megan’s eyes. “Thank you.”
“Don’t thank me yet.” She hung the garment bag on the rack that held Megan’s wedding dress, spread out in all its bedazzled organza glory. Blair stopped in her tracks as she took in the sight of it, her mouth gaping. She pointed to the dress, then Megan, then back at the dress. “Really?”
Megan shrugged, over it all ready. “Knickers.”
Blair looked around. “Where is she anyway? I expected to find her here with a riding crop and a whistle to keep us malcontents in line.”
Libby snickered. “I haven’t heard her call us malcontents for years.”
“She’s not here. And after Gram asked me earlier today if Josh and I were into BDSM, I don’t want to hear another mention of whips or crops for a very long time.” Megan shuddered. “She’s at the hospital with a dislocated shoulder and a scratched cornea. She’ll be here soon.”
“You’re kidding?”
“I’m more interested in finding out how Gram knows about BDSM,” Libby said.
Megan rolled her eyes. “She says she read Fifty Shades of Grey.”
Libby burst out laughing. “That explains so much.”
“Tell me about it,” Megan grumbled, her nerves pinging with anxiety. She was ready to seal her fate.
Blair lifted her eyebrows. “What happened to your mother?”
Megan sighed. “It’s a long story, but I’m more interested in the story you have to tell me. I’m ready to hear it now.” When Blair blinked in surprise, Megan added, “I know you have something important to say. Josh told me that much, but not the details. You investigated him, didn’t you? After I expressly ordered you not to.”
All the fight left Blair, who looked more vulnerable than Megan had seen her in years. “What would you have me do, Megan? I wasn’t willing to stand by and watch you get hurt by one more jerk, especially when the last one still can’t seem to take no for an answer. I swear, if Jay makes one more annoying call . . .”
“What are you talking about?”
“That man’s been calling me nonstop since Friday morning. Finally, after your fiasco of a rehearsal dinner last night, I told him you were in Kansas City, which meant you couldn’t go out to dinner with him so he should stop calling me. To his credit, he seemed genuinely surprised to hear you were here. I said the only way you would even fathom going out with him was if he hopped on a plane, found you here in KC, and groveled at your feet. Thank God, that seemed to do the trick, and my phone has been mercifully silent ever since.”
“Why would you tell him that? I wouldn’t go out with him if he were the last man on earth. Especially after meeting Josh.”
“Yeah . . . well, you shouldn’t put Josh on a pedestal just yet.” She put a hand on her hip and cocked her head. “What did he tell you?”
“I told you. He didn’t tell me anything. I figured out you had something to do with it after he punched his brother—oh, God!” she said, realization hitting her. “I have no idea where Noah is or where he stayed last night.”
Libby’s mouth contorted. “I know the answer to both of those questions.”
Megan froze, narrowing her eyes. “How do you know?”
“You didn’t!” Blair gasped.
Libby’s back stiffened in defense. “What? He didn’t have anywhere to go, and he was really upset.”
“Libby!” 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.”