The Reunion Read Online Free PDF Page A

most of their lives. Strange how the two of them had drifted apart. Well, maybe not so odd. Eddie had always struck Zach as lazy and living for the moment, whereas Dave had the sense to plan ahead.
    Zach paid for the drinks, returned to the table, and found Meghan alone. On the stage, a band tuned up. Glory once again flitted around the room like a bothersome mosquito. Tom talked to a friend a few tables away. Ditto for Jill and Ted. Dave stood on the far side of the room with a group of former football players. Suzanne had disappeared.
    “All alone?” he asked.
    “For the moment. Thanks. How are you enjoying the reunion so far?”
    Meghan’s fingers touched his as she took the glass. The action resulted in a clutching sensation in his gut. Desire, pure and simple.
    He pulled himself together. “Other than being with you, not very. Murder would not be my first choice of dinner conversation.”
    “I rather enjoyed it. My mind is already spinning possible plots from the information.”
    “Good Lord.” He sipped his amaretto. “Is some disgruntled cheerleader working her way through the squad settling old scores? Or is the ninety-seven pound weakling knocking off football players out of revenge?”
    She laughed. “Why not? And let’s not be sexist. The cheerleader could be male. Reunions can be very revealing.”
    “How?”
    “Think about it. The first is usually the tenth. Everybody is five or six years out of college and still climbing the corporate ladder. They have focus and are upwardly mobile.”
    “No time for envy or jealousy to surface.”
    “Exactly.” She sipped her wine. “The twentieth and twenty-fifth are a whole different story. Careers are set and goals may or may not have been achieved. Some men attend to show off how much money they have—or pretend to have—while women go to see if the homecoming queen has put on fifty pounds. Envy and jealousy are rampant. People show up at the fiftieth to see who’s still alive.”
    “Why are you here?”
    She grinned. “I’m a successful author and I dumped a ton of weight. A part of me wanted to show off, yet I still had to screw up my courage to walk through the doors. In my mind, I’m still the fat kid. What about you?”
    Zach toyed with the amaretto glass. “I’m not really sure. I was all set to drop the invitation into the shredder when something stopped me. I changed my looks—”
    “For the better,” Meghan interrupted with a smile.
    He chuckled. “Thanks. I’m successful beyond my wildest dreams. I guess maybe I wanted to crow a little, too. And to repeat, you weren’t that heavy in high school.”
    He liked how Meghan blushed at his words. The corners of her emerald eyes crinkled as she smiled.
    “Thank you, but that’s how I saw myself—as a float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. In those days self-esteem wasn’t one of my strong points.”
    He reached over and squeezed her hand. “Mine neither.”
    The band finished tuning up and swung into a slow song popular the year they graduated. Several couples hit the dance floor.
    “I’m not the most graceful guy in the world, but if I promise not to step on your toes, would you like to dance?”
    “I’ve got a flash for you. I’m not so hot either. Remember the chair? But I’m game if you are.”
    Zach draped his suit coat over the back of his chair, and led Meghan onto the floor, then held out his arms. She walked into them with a smile. He pulled her close and moved to the music. A tantalizing scent of something exotic wafted to his nostrils as the top of her head brushed his chin.
    A zing of God-knew-what zipped along his nerves. Those high school fantasies flooded his mind with adult images of naked bodies, rumpled sheets, and sounds of pleasure. He hardened slightly.
    Focus on dancing. If I don’t, I’ll embarrass myself and scare the shit out of Meghan.
    It didn’t work. Her breasts brushed his chest and his hands felt scorched from wherever he touched her.