Forbidden Night With The Duke. Annie Claydon

she’d really loved had been the idea of being a duchess, and all that brought. How diminished he felt, every time someone looked straight through him and found only his title.

      He put the mugs on the table and sat down opposite her. Despite the warmth in there, Megan was still wrapped in her coat, as if she was leaving herself prepared for a quick exit. But her gaze never moved from his face. Frank, blue eyes which would have made confiding in her easy, if only he had the nerve to do it.

      She took a sip of her coffee. ‘I’m listening.’

       Chapter Two

      WOULD SHE EVEN be here if she hadn’t seen the burst of passion in his dark eyes? If thought and action hadn’t blended deliciously into one as he’d marched around to the front of her car, blocking her way. Megan didn’t want to think about it.

      But he was right. It was a surprise to find that Jaye even cared what she thought, but since he’d made it plain that he did, the least she could do was to listen. If it turned out that his reasons for treating his child like an optional extra were anything like her own father’s, then she’d leave.

      ‘I’m not going to pretend that I don’t know what this is about. I’m well aware that what happened between Sonia and me was a talking point at the hospital where you both worked.’

      ‘That you left three days before the wedding. And that she was pregnant.’ Megan tried to keep the accusatory tone from her voice. The facts spoke for themselves.

      ‘Yes. That story is...basically true.’

      Then what were they doing, sitting here talking about it? Megan swallowed down her exasperation.

      ‘What you do is entirely your business. But it’s my business who I choose to work for, and I want that to be someone who I feel I can trust.’

      ‘I admire that sentiment. Not everyone would stick to their principles and give up something they want in favour of something they think is right.’

      ‘I’m just being practical. If I’m going to be working abroad, I need to know that there’s a support network here that I can rely on. That’s non-negotiable for me.’

      It should be non-negotiable for anyone, but Megan felt it more keenly. When she’d been little, ‘Uncle’ Harry had visited once every two weeks, bearing expensive toys and presents. It hadn’t been until she’d been a teenager that she’d found out that he was really her father, and she’d spent the intervening years trying to distance herself from his brash attempts to have a say in her future. She wasn’t going to allow all that to count for nothing by putting herself in a position where a man just like Harry could tell her what to do.

      Jaye’s gaze caught hers. Dark, and almost tender. ‘The story was true, but it left out some important details. I wasn’t the father of Sonia’s child.’

      ‘But...’ Megan took a swig of her coffee and almost choked on it. ‘So you just walked away...?’

      ‘I’m sure you’re not naïve enough to imagine that there wasn’t any just about it. We had a few full and frank discussions.’ He hesitated, as if he might be about to elaborate, and then shook his head. ‘The only other thing you need to know is that I left because Sonia called off the wedding.’

      ‘I don’t...’ Megan covered her mouth with her hand. Actually, she did believe him.

      ‘You don’t think I’m telling you the truth?’ He shrugged. ‘I’m afraid I can’t help you with that. You’ll have to make up your own mind.’

      If he’d been lying he probably would have elaborated, or used his charm to convince her. But his face was impassive, making the sadness in his beautiful eyes even more compelling.

      ‘But you must have known what everyone at the hospital was saying. Didn’t you want to correct it?’ It would have been easy enough. A ten-minute call to one of the hospital bosses, who would have passed the information on to his secretary, with the hint that it could be tactfully fed to one or two other people. That was how rumours worked.

      ‘Yes, I knew exactly what Sonia’s friends were saying. And, no, I made no effort to correct it, even though I knew it was untrue.’

      Discretion maybe. Or maybe he just didn’t care what anyone else thought. Jaye had always seemed quite capable of that kind of arrogance. Or maybe humbled pride, that any woman could cheat on him.

      It didn’t matter. She wasn’t thinking of making Jaye her best friend, she was looking for a boss who she could trust.

      ‘I believed what I heard and...’ Megan felt herself redden at the thought. ‘I’m sorry. I should have known better than to trust second-hand gossip.’

      He shrugged her apology away. ‘What you heard was as much my responsibility as Sonia’s. What matters now is that you make your decision based on the facts.’ He smiled and Megan felt herself flush, heat zinging up her spine.

      He hadn’t given her a shred of proof, and precious little explanation, but she believed him. If those eyes were lying then she could kiss goodbye to everything she thought she knew about human nature.

      ‘I still have a decision to make?’ Megan heard herself whisper the words. If Jaye couldn’t forgive her behaviour, she wouldn’t blame him.

      He planted his forearms on the table, hands clasped together, and leaned towards her. Challenging, and yet intimate too. ‘Absolutely. I believe you’ll justify my confidence in you.’

      ‘Then...’ Megan’s head was spinning, and her heart was pumping fast. Both organs seemed to be vying for their say in the matter. ‘I like working for people who expect success. They generally put fewer limitations on their goals.’

      Jaye laughed suddenly. ‘I’m glad to hear that.’

      He clinked his mug against hers, and drank. A toast to an unexpected success, dragged from the jaws of failure. If nothing else, working for Jaye’s charity was going to be interesting, and even more of a challenge than Megan had thought.

      * * *

      If Jaye did nothing else in the next four days, at least he might manage to repair some of the damage. His and Sonia’s engagement might have been a disaster in the making, averted only at the very last minute, but there was no reason why Megan’s career should be damaged by the fallout.

      He hadn’t examined the potential consequences of letting the rumours persist, wanting only to disappear. Hurt and feeling that if he shrunk any more, he’d lose himself completely, he’d retreated to Sri Lanka. The clinic that his father had founded after the 2005 tsunami, and which Jaye had helped build, was a place of tranquillity and calm. A place to heal and find his balance.

      But it was a different balance. He’d tried dating again, but had found himself caught up in a fury of mistrust, unable to accept that his new partner’s motives for being with him could be any different from Sonia’s. In the end, he’d given up the struggle and had let her go, burying himself once more in the work that brought him peace and fulfilment.

      Jaye stared at the crackling logs in the fireplace. When Megan had believed him, it had felt as if a little piece of his heart had been repaired. Here, sitting in his apartment, with only the sound of the fire to keep him company, he knew that one piece would never be enough.

      He should get some sleep. Tomorrow was going to be a full day, and he needed to focus. Preferably on something other than Megan’s smile.

      * * *

      The conference was under way, and already it felt to Megan that she’d entered a self-sufficient bubble. One that brought people who’d worked in many different parts of the world together with those who were just starting out on their careers. It was almost impossible to find the time to meet and talk to everyone.

      But the one person she never seemed to talk to was