Abby Gaines - The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero - The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero

The older woman’s brightly painted lips curved. “Gage, wasn’t it? I was hoping we’d have a chance to chat.”

“Really?” he said. “About what?”

“Oh, I just wanted to make sure that Megan was taking good care of you.”

“I have no complaints,” he assured her.

“Has she introduced you to my granddaughter, Camilla?” Vivian nodded in the direction of the attractive blonde who’d chatted him up while he was waiting in line, and whom he’d noticed had guzzled down her gin and tonic like it was water.

“No, but we met,” he told her.

“I was so pleased to see her here tonight,” she confided. “I was so worried that she wouldn’t want to come, since she just broke up with her boyfriend.”

She paused, as if to give him a chance to respond. Since he had no idea what kind of response was appropriate, he remained silent.

“He was a college professor,” the elderly woman continued. “It was a messy split, very unfortunate. But I’m sure she’ll find someone else.

“She’s a lovely girl—and smart. Graduated cum laude with a degree in art history from the Weinberg College of Arts & Sciences at Northwestern.”

He nodded politely. “Megan went to Northwestern, too, didn’t she?”

Vivian nodded, though her scowl warned that she didn’t appreciate the reminder.

Of course, she wouldn’t, because Gage knew that Megan had graduated summa cum laude with a master’s in science, which more than trumped Camilla’s accomplishment.

“Megan always had brains,” Vivian acknowledged, with more than a hint of reluctance. “That was apparent at an early age. And a good thing, too, because she was a homely child, and had no idea how to relate to other children her own age.”

Gage stared at her. “You do know that you’re talking about my date?”

She waved a hand. “As if anyone would believe a man like you could be seriously interested in Megan.”

“A man like me?”

“Handsome. Successful. Sophisticated.”

Rich.

Of course, she wasn’t crass enough to mention his financial status, but he’d seen the gleam in her eye when she’d caught his last name. A gleam that he’d seen in far too many eyes in his thirty-two years, but never in Megan’s. Whatever reasons she had for inviting him to be here tonight, it wasn’t because she had visions of landing a wealthy husband.

And as uncertain as he’d been about his reasons for agreeing to this “date” in the first place, he was enjoying being with Megan. Sure, she was more introverted than the women he usually dated, but once she’d started to open up, he found himself really enjoying her company.

She was kind and generous and insightful—and smart. He’d never concerned himself with a woman’s mind before. So long as his date was attractive and fun and knew that he wasn’t looking for anything long-term, she was his kind of woman.

Megan was different. She was attractive—a lot more so than he’d suspected. And it wasn’t just the mile-long legs or the unexpected curves put on display by the dress she was wearing. It was the capability of those slender shoulders, the strength in her delicate hands and the mystery of those stunning eyes.

“And Megan is beautiful, smart and talented,” he said, searching for—and finding her—across the room. “So why is it you think a man like me wouldn’t be interested in a woman like her?”

As if sensing his stare, Megan turned and caught his eye. Her lips curved, just a little, and something inside of him stirred, responded.

There was no longer any doubt in his mind that—if circumstances were different—she was a woman he could be interested in. But he had his eyes on a bigger prize and so he reminded himself that all he wanted from Megan was her cooperation with respect to his plan.

Okay, maybe that wasn’t all he wanted, but it was all he needed. And he wouldn’t let himself forget that.

“Now if you’ll excuse me,” Gage said, not caring whether she did or not, “I’d like to get back to my date.”

Megan and Gage found an empty table on the edge of the dance floor and settled in with their drinks. Paige came by to introduce her date when Ben finally arrived, and the four of them chatted for a while, but their conversation was continuously interrupted by friends and family who stopped by the table on the pretense of wanting to say hello to Megan.

But she knew the truth—they all wanted the scoop on Gage. And while she knew she’d brought this on herself by inviting him, she decided she’d rather be thought of as “poor lonely Megan” than attract this kind of unwanted attention.

But Gage was a good sport about it. And he had the grace to pretend he was oblivious when other women tried to flirt with him—while Megan was sitting right beside him. Of course, that only proved what she already knew, that no one believed he could be seriously interested in her.

So lost was she in these thoughts that she jolted when he put a hand on her arm.

“Do you want to dance?”

She hadn’t realized the band had begun to play until he asked, and as tempted as she was by the desire to be held in his arms, her desire to fade in the background was still stronger. “I’d rather not.”

“Why not?”

“I’m not a very good dancer.”

“Then think of it as practice.” He pushed back his chair. “Because you’ll have to dance at the wedding.”

“I really don’t—” From the corner of her eye, she saw her mother moving in their direction. With a resigned sigh, Megan took his proffered hand and rose to her feet.

He smiled. “You were saying?”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had a better offer,” she ad-libbed.

The sparkle in his eye told her that he knew exactly why she’d changed her mind, but he made no further comment.

Gage was a great dancer, which didn’t surprise Megan in the least. She imagined that anything Gage Richmond chose to do, he did well.

It made her wonder—if only for a moment—what it would be like to make love with him. No doubt he would be very, very good at that, but she quickly shoved that fantasy aside before it had a chance to go any further.

“Relax.” Gage murmured the word close to her ear. “Block out everything else but the sound of the music.”

His breath was warm on her cheek, his tone soothing. But Megan could barely hear the music over the pounding of her heart, the rush of the blood in her veins.

“I’m not very comfortable in crowds,” she said, because it was true and because it was easier to admit that than to reveal that every nerve ending in her body was on high alert because of him.

“Forget the crowd,” he told her. “There’s just you and me.”

If he was trying to get her to relax, that certainly wasn’t going to do it.

Conversation, she decided, would be safer than letting her imagination run wild.

“I got the memo about the staff meeting on Monday,” she said.

“No shoptalk on a date,” Gage chided gently.

She frowned. “Then what are we supposed to talk about?”

“Anything but work.”

Which was easy to say, but Megan didn’t really know how to talk about anything else. “So, how about those Yankees?”

Gage chuckled.

“What?”

“It’s the beginning of March.”

“So?”

“They’re still in spring training in Florida.”

“Oh.”

“And anyway, I’m a BoSox fan.”

“Really?”

“Five years at Harvard made an impression,” he told her. “Which makes baseball a taboo subject at family dinners.”

“Your dad and your brother are both Yankees fans?” she guessed.

“They are,” he agreed. “But neither of them are as devoted as my sister-in-law.”