Suddenly Love (2 page)

“The price we pay,” Alex said on a laugh. “Maybe she’ll be a beauty.”

Trevor raised an eyebrow. “I’m not about to get us slapped with a sexual harassment suit by coming on to the reporter.”

“You know what your problem is?” Alex asked.

“Wasn’t aware I had one.” Trevor folded his arms across his chest. “Care to enlighten me?”

“You’re all work and no play. You don’t want to end up old and alone, not when the alternative is so much better.” Alex ran a hand through his thick black hair and eyed Trevor with a knowing look that meant he wouldn’t drop the subject easily. The man was always after Trevor to look harder at the women he dated, give them more than a couple of chances before deciding to break things off.

But Alex had married his college sweetheart and hadn’t looked at another woman since. Trevor wished he’d been so lucky. Every woman he dated left him cold because no one could live up to the memory of the one who got away—breaking his heart and ruining him for anyone who came after her.

“Give me a break. You like how much money I bring in and that takes up all my time.” Trevor walked around his desk and placed a hand on the other man’s back. “So it’s time for you to let me do my thing before the reporter arrives.” In fact, she was due any minute.

“Fine. Subject dropped. For now. But Emma insists you come to dinner Saturday night at our penthouse. She said she won’t take no for an answer.”

“As long as she’s not trying to set me up with one of her friends,” Trevor said, accepting. He loved Alex’s wife and wouldn’t deny her a thing.

“The fact that you’re free on such short notice just backs up my point. You need—”

“—to get to work,” Trevor said. “Tell Emma I’ll see her on Saturday.”

Before Alex could depart, a knock sounded on Trevor’s office door. “Come in.”

His secretary, Collette, opened the door. “Mr. Dane, your nine-thirty appointment is here.”

Trevor nodded. “Show her in, please.”

“I’ll just stay and say hello to the reporter,” Alex said, puffing out his chest a bit.

Trevor grinned. The man did love publicity.

“Right this way,” Trevor heard Collette say before she stepped back in. “Mr. Dane, Mr. Wittman, this is Ms. Elisabetta Gardelli from the
News Journal
.” Collette stepped aside.

And the woman who’d haunted his dreams for the past ten years took his middle-aged secretary’s place in the doorway.

“Hello, Mr. Wittman.” Elisabetta nodded at Alex. “Hi, Trevor.” Her husky voice had only grown deeper, sexier.

He immediately found himself sucked into those green eyes, the color of freshly cut grass. Just the sight of her was a sucker punch to his stomach as memories that still had the power to gut him swept over him like a tsunami. “Oh, no. No fucking way.”

Lissa paled at the words that slipped from his mouth.

Alex stepped back, his expression full of stark disbelief. Trevor was sure the man had never heard him speak that way.

“You two obviously know each other,” Alex said.

“From high school,” Lissa said, her voice not as steady anymore. “It’s been awhile.” She met his gaze, giving him time to adjust to the shock.

He tried to find his composure but surprise made it impossible. Since she blatantly stared at him, he returned the favor. Here in a professional capacity, she wore a simple black dress obviously meant to give her a professional yet elegant appearance, but her body outshone any dress and her cropped jacket showcased her full breasts and indented waist. Time had brought changes to the girl he’d known—and they were good ones.

Curves he’d felt in his hands as a teenager had only blossomed over the years. Glossy hair he’d once wrapped around his fingers fell over her shoulders, while her face had filled out in a way that highlighted her cheekbones and full lips. She was still beautiful. And there was no way he could deal with her on a professional level and remain immune. No way he could let her trail after him for days and go back to his solitary life afterward.

“I can’t do this,” Trevor said into the uncomfortable silence. He didn’t care how juvenile or unprofessional he sounded.

“You two obviously have some things to work out,” Alex said. “But Trevor, I don’t need to remind you how important this interview is to you and to the firm.” With that parting shot, Alex inclined his head to Lissa and stepped out of the office, pulling the door closed behind him.

Trevor pulled in a deep breath. “Some warning would have been nice.”

Lissa had the good grace to duck her head in embarrassment. “I didn’t think you’d see me if I put my name on the proposal. And I’d have been right.”

“So you ambushed me.”

“This interview is important for us both. We’re adults now. Can’t we find a way to get through it?” she asked.

Trevor knew he didn’t have a choice. Alex had implied as much and Lissa knew it, too. Now that the shock was wearing off, he realized what an ass he’d been. Completely unprofessional—and if Trevor prided himself on anything, it was his professional demeanor.

“Fine. Have a seat,” he said, gesturing to a chair.

She’d had time to think about this meeting, plan for the occasion, and prepare. He hadn’t. In return, he intended to unsettle her as much as she unsettled him. So, instead of retreating behind his massive cherry desk, he settled himself on the corner of the desktop, directly across from Lissa and definitely in her personal space.

“So how have you been?” he asked, shifting so his pant leg brushed her bare one.

Her cheeks flushed in response. “I’m good. And yourself? Is life in the city as fun as I imagine?”

“More,” he lied. It was cold, lonely, and filled with work—not that he’d give her the satisfaction of that truth. “So. The
News Journal
. I’m impressed.”

He’d been rocked when he’d read her interview with Faith Harrington last month, surprised to see her name after all these years. He’d also been proud of her, at least until painful memories replaced the warmth he’d been feeling.

“Thank you. After my divorce, I didn’t think I’d get beyond writing obits for the
Serendipity Gazette
, but Faith Harrington changed my life.”

Trevor couldn’t get past the word
divorce
.

His family, his mother and sister in particular, filled him in on Serendipity gossip, but they’d both learned long ago not to try and feed him information about Lissa. Their phone calls were more enjoyable that way.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “About the divorce.” Another lie. His heart hadn’t stopped pounding in his chest since he’d realized she was free.

“I’m not. It was a long time in coming.” She glanced down, then looked at him again. “It wasn’t love, Trev. It never was.”

Her honest words startled him. From the minute she’d told him she was pregnant with Bradley Banks’s baby, all he could think about was that his greatest fear had come true. Lissa had gone out with Brad, the high school quarterback and rich boy, and after they’d broken up, Trevor had made his move on the girl he’d always wanted. Though they’d fallen in love and made plans for the future, he’d still been insecure about his place in her life. Back then he hadn’t been able to give her what Brad could, the things she deserved that money could buy.

Not that she’d ever asked for or coveted them, he realized now.

But his inadequacies had always marked him. It was the way of things in Serendipity and his dad, bless him, was the high school janitor. It didn’t make Trevor’s life easy. So when he and Lissa had a stupid teenage argument, they’d broken up. And when she’d turned back to Brad, even for one night, all Trevor could think was that she’d proven him right. And when she’d ended up pregnant, all hope of fixing things came to an abrupt and ugly end.

Trevor met her gaze. She’d waited quietly as he processed her words. “It’s in the past,” he said gruffly.

But was it?

“So you’ll do the interview?” she asked, hope shining in her eyes.

While he’d been rehashing the pain, she’d been worried about her career. Okay, that made sense. It wasn’t like she was here for a personal reason. “Yeah. I’ll do it.”

“Thank you!” She squealed and impulsively jumped up from her chair, throwing her arms around him in gratitude. In that instant, she was the Lissa he remembered, the full of life, go for the gusto, happy girl he’d fallen for.

And when she pulled him into an embrace, he buried his face in her hair and her familiar scent enveloped him. Desire licked at him, scorching him from the inside out. He remembered how good they’d been together and suddenly he knew what that empty hole was in his life. He missed her, the girl he’d told everything, including his dreams, hopes, and secrets. Since Lissa, he’d never let anyone get that emotionally close, afraid of experiencing that kind of pain and loss again.

She pulled back, an embarrassed flush on her cheeks. “Sorry. I got carried away, but this series of interviews means so much to me. I mean, I didn’t think I’d ever get to stop slinging coffee for a living and now…” She trailed off. “I’m rambling.”

He laughed for the first time since she’d walked in. “You think?”

He couldn’t stop thinking about her words. Serving coffee? Didn’t Banks have so much money that after any divorce settlement, she should be able to sit back and eat bonbons if she chose?

Clearly Trevor had a lot to catch up on, and suddenly he wanted to. Now that he’d seen Lissa again, his curiosity was piqued and he wanted the information he’d deliberately ignored over the years. Thinking back to the schedule his secretary had handed him first thing this morning, he figured they had time. Because if Lissa was going to pump him for information about who he was and what made him tick, damned if he wasn’t going to do the same thing to her.

“So when do we get started?” he asked her. “On the interview.”

Her eyes opened wide. “Right now, if you’re ready. I’ll do a combination of observing you at work and, when we’re alone and you aren’t busy, asking questions and talking.”

“Now is fine,” he said, suddenly revved up and exhilarated. “Did Collette give you a copy of my schedule for the next few days?”

“She handed me a sheet of paper when I walked in. I haven’t had time to go over it.”

He nodded. “You might want to. There’s a formal event on Friday night and a dinner party Saturday,” he said, deciding that wherever he was going, so was Lissa.

She paled visibly. “Formal events and dinner parties?”

“All part of the life you need to write about,” he reminded her. “What’s wrong?”

“It’s just that…” She drew a deep breath. “I didn’t bring those kinds of dress clothes with me. But I’m staying at the Marriott on Broadway and this is Manhattan, right? I’m sure I’ll find something.” Her voice trembled and he couldn’t understand the cause.

“You sure?”

She nodded, putting on a bright but clearly forced smile. He still knew her well enough to pinpoint that.

“I’ll just leave after lunch and go shopping.”

“Okay.” He narrowed his gaze, knowing that as soon as she left, he’d be on the phone with his mother to find out exactly what had gone on in Lissa’s life that he deliberately hadn’t wanted to hear.

Now he wanted to know everything.

Trevor didn’t understand his sudden turnaround, not completely. But one thing was clear. Their forced time together would provide him with a way to get Lissa out of his system and allow him to move on with his life.

One way or another.

TWO

L
issa checked into her hotel room, needing time to regroup after this morning. No matter how well she thought she’d prepared herself, the meeting had been worse than her most awful nightmare. She’d pictured their reunion often over the years, sometimes in wistful daydreams, more recently since Trevor had become her assignment. In none of them had his explosive reaction been part of the scenario.

Anger she’d accounted for, but one look at his disgusted expression and Lissa’s knees had nearly buckled and tears had threatened. Somehow she’d held herself together. Then he’d surprised her again, going from “No fucking way” to all in—and she had to wonder why.

But she couldn’t worry about his motives now. She had a full schedule ahead of her. After their initial reunion, Lissa had sat through a typical morning in Trevor’s life, which consisted of nonstop phone calls, paperwork, a few confidential meetings for which she’d had to step out of the room, and more phone calls. As a result, she’d had plenty of time to observe him and view the man he’d become.

Of course Lissa had researched her subject and she’d read about Trevor’s basic background, much of which she already knew: scholarships to Columbia undergrad and business school, where he’d worked his way through, earning the rest of his way while maintaining stellar grades; internships at the top financial firms in Manhattan; and a job waiting for him when he graduated.

The man was brilliant—something she’d always known—but what he’d accomplished on his own was simply amazing. She was proud of him. So proud, she couldn’t stop the warmth fluttering through her even now. But she’d known all about his golden accomplishments and understood his inner drive to make things happen. As a kid, the arrogance he projected had been an act, a cover for insecurities about where he’d come from.