smitten â¦?â
A mortified flush mounted Meganâs cheeksâwhen he said it, it sounded even more off the wall. âI didnât say that.â
âBut thatâs what you came here for?â
âItâs not as crazy as it sounds.â
âDid I say it was crazy? Iâm just wonderingâ¦what was going to be in it for him?â
CHAPTER THREE
M EGAN frowned. âIn itâ¦?â
âAs in what would he get out of it?â Luc looked into her bewildered face and laughed. âYou thought heâd do it out of the goodness of his heart.â His mobile lips lifted cynically at the corners. âYou really never have met Lucas Patrick, have you?â
âAnd unlike you Iâd prefer not to bad-mouth him in his absence.â
For some reason her angry reproach caused him to laugh. It was a deep, warm, uninhibited sound that made Meganâs pulse rate quicken. âJust bad-mouth his booksâ¦?â
She wrenched her appreciative stare from the mesh of fine lines around his smiling grey eyes and frowned. âDonât put words in my mouth,â she warned him.
The stern warning brought Lucâs attention to her lips; she was attempting to compress them into a thin, disapproving line. As he contemplated the soft, cushiony contours it took considerable self-discipline to prevent his thoughts diverting into a carnal direction.
âAnd Iâm sure Mr Patrick has survived worse than anything I might say about him. And actually,â she added, âI happen to think that heâs quite a talented writer.â
âBut you were willing to overlook his dubious literary talent in the interests of a quiet life?â he questioned.
The soft charge brought a guilty flush to her cheeks. She squared her shoulders and sighed. âAll right, I admit it was a pretty daft idea, but as the man isnât here itâs fairly academic, isnât it?â
âMaybeâ¦â
âThereâs no maybe about it,â she rebutted morosely.
âWould I be right in assuming that nobody at this house party, including your mother, has ever met Lucas Patrickâ¦?â
âWell, no, since Uncle Mal wonât be coming I donât supposeâ¦but I donât see what that has to do with anything, Mrâ¦what is your name anyhow?â The weirdness of discussing such personal things with a total stranger whose name she didnât even know suddenly struck Megan forcibly.
A slow, wolfish grin split the nameless strangerâs lean, dark face, revealing a set of white even teeth and causing her stomach to flip. Not only had she lost all control over what came out of her mouth, she had lost control of her nervous system as well!
âTo cut down on confusion, perhaps itâs better if you just call me Lucasâ¦?â he suggested smoothly.
âWhatâ¦? Meganâs impatient expression vanished as her eyes snapped open to their fullest extent. God, he couldnât be saying what she thought he was⦠could he â¦?
She scanned his face with suspicion. âWhat are you suggesting?â
âIâm suggesting that you need a face to fit your fantasy lover.â He adopted an expression of enquiry. âIs there anything wrong with this one?â His fluid gesture indicated his own lean face.
Megan looked at the golden toned skin stretched across the perfect arrangement of strong angles and intriguing hollows and went perfectly pale.
âYouâre insane.â Despite her attitude of total conviction, there was a small voice in her head that said it could just workâ¦
âIâm assuming you werenât expecting Lucas Patrick to actually marry youâ¦?â
âDonât be absurd,â she breathed faintly. Like a hypnotised rabbit, she couldnât take her eyes off his face. That voice in her head was getting louder.
âDid you have a time factor in mindâ¦?â When shelooked back at