Not bothering with the chair in front of his desk, she walked straight to him and settled in his lap. Formality was a thing of the past with them. “Yeah, she just left. I witnessed the strangest encounter in the hallway on the way here though and I can’t figure out what’s going on.”
Pushing the hair back from her face, Jason kissed the tip of her nose and asked, “Who was Suzy torturing?”
Claire elbowed him lightly laughing. “It wasn’t Suzy this time. She only tortures the people in maintenance, by the way. It was between Julie and Declan.”
“He’s never been the most talkative person so it’s not unexpected that he wouldn’t stick around long for small talk, babe.”
Waving him off, she said, “No, it’s not that. It was the fact that he did stick around. They know each other somehow. She looked like she had seen a ghost and he seemed to be trying to piece something together. She asked to meet him later and he agreed. Does that sound like Declan to you?”
Jason raised an eyebrow in surprise. “No, it definitely doesn’t. Isn’t he involved with Ella now?”
“From the look on her face this morning, I would say they are very involved. I don’t think Julie asked him to get together to hit on him though. I didn’t get that vibe. Besides, she’s engaged to Graham and is the happiest I have ever seen her. I think there’s something else going on there. I asked her how she knew him before she left and she mumbled something about going to school with him which was obviously a lie.”
Sighing, Jason said, “Well, I hope Ella doesn’t get hurt. This is why so many companies have policies against dating in the workplace, but that would be a bit pot and kettle of me wouldn’t it?”
Wrapping her arms around his neck, Claire laughed softly. “Yep, it sure would. If I hadn’t been your assistant, we might have never met.”
Jason stroked the curve of his wife’s beautiful face and said, “I’d have found you, never doubt that. It would just have taken longer.” As he pulled her into a kiss, he idly wondered which meeting that afternoon he could cancel. Once you had children, you never missed an opportunity for some alone time with your wife. “Could you cancel my one o’clock?”
Chapter Twelve
Declan walked around the corner from the office to meet Julie for lunch. Other than being sure he had slept with her, he was no closer to remembering exactly where and when. There had been far too many occasions when he had drank too much with the guys, and then found a willing woman to chase away a few hours with. It hadn’t been any time in recent memory though. It was sheer curiosity that had brought him here to meet her.
He should have gone with his first inclination and blown her off. Ella’s polite manner seemed to be rubbing off on him. Remembering the strange looks she had been shooting him earlier, he knew she had picked up on his preoccupation. He felt guilty like he was cheating on her, which was absurd. He had no interest in the woman he was meeting and he had made no promises to Ella. Even as he thought it, though, he knew that with a woman like Ella, the first time he had slept with her had been a promise of sorts. He would just get this over with and move on. He sincerely hoped that Claire didn’t mention anything to her.
As he walked in the door and scanned the tables, he saw Julie tentatively wave to him from a back table in the corner. He pasted on a polite smile that he was far from feeling and made his way over to her. “Nice to see you again, Julie.” Ah hell, Ella really was getting to him. Next he would be asking her about the weather. Get to the point, Stone! Luckily, Julie seemed to read his mind and took a direct shot.
“You have no idea who I am, do you?”
“You look familiar, but no, I can’t place you. Should I?” Declan took a moment to study her reaction to his answer. She didn’t appear upset, just rather resigned. He’d have felt better if she had upended the water glass she had in front of her in his lap. Feminine outrage was easier to deal with.
Julie looked down at the hands she was twisting in her lap and appeared to be talking to them instead of him. “After the first two attempts, I never thought this day would come again. I had accepted that and put it down to fate. I never regretted it and, if anything, I owe you a huge debt of gratitude. Now that this moment is here, I don’t know where to begin.” Then, raising pleading eyes to his, she asked, “Should I just blurt it out, or do you want the whole story?”
What he really wanted was to get up and run like hell. His internal warning system was beeping loudly in alarm. Even though he had no desire to hear a long drawn-out story, he thought that he might need time to compose himself. “Just start at the beginning, whatever that might be.”
Julie took a deep breath and asked, “You did sort of recognize me this morning, right? You might not remember from where, but I look familiar?”
“Yeah, I’ll give you that. I’ve obviously met you before.”
After briefly closing her eyes, she opened them again and he could see the resolve there. Gone was the uncertainly of a few moments ago. Somehow, he preferred nervous Julie to the determined version looking him squarely in the eyes now.
“Declan, we met over five years ago at a party. I don’t even remember who was hosting it. I was there with a few friends and I believe you were there with some of your buddies from the military. You were all in uniform and had just gotten into town. I . . . I was in a bad place that night. My mom had been battling cancer for a year and had just passed away. My friends had insisted I get out of the house because they were worried about me. I reluctantly agreed to go to a party with them where I drank way too much and, um . . . met you.”
Declan scanned his memory vaguely remembering a few parties that he had attended over the years like the one she had described. Like Julie, he had drunk way too much at them and barely remembered the person or even persons that he ended up with for a few hours. “If you were that drunk, how do you even remember what I look like, much less my name? I wasn’t in the habit of giving out contact information back then.”
“We had sex that night, Declan, and then both passed out. When I woke up the next morning, you were still out. I got dressed as quietly as I could, just wanting to get out of there before you woke up. When I was picking up my clothes, I saw your wallet lying on the floor beside them. I picked it up with the intention of putting it back in your pocket before it was lost. Out of curiosity, I opened it just so that I could say I at least knew the name of the man I had slept with. Your military ID was in there. Your name is rather unusual so it was hard to forget.”
Swiping an impatient hand through his hair, Declan asked, “So this entire covert meeting is just a trip down memory lane? If you’re looking to appease your conscience over having a one-night stand, honey, you’ve come to the wrong place. I’ve got enough shit of my own to wade through. It happened, it’s fine, now move past it. I have.” He rose to his feet and threw some bills down on the table intending to finally put an end to this awkward meeting.
Julie sprang to her feet and clutched his arm. “Wait! You have a son! Oh God, I’m sorry to blurt that out, but I owe it to Evan to try.” Then he was aware that she kept talking, but he couldn’t hear past the roaring in his ears. He hadn’t felt this shell-shocked since he left active duty in Afghanistan. Julie finally took mercy on him and pulled him back down in his chair.
Even though he knew in his gut that she wasn’t lying, he couldn’t stop himself from snapping, “No fucking way, lady. I always use protection.”
“Well, if you can remember all of the details of that night then you are doing better than I am. Before you even make your next comment let me say that, I . . . hadn’t been with a man since my mom got sick so you were it, Declan. Even if I were in doubt, which I’m not, there is no question that Evan is your son. He is the spitting image of you. I had no idea how much until I saw you again walking down the hall this morning. If was like looking at an older version of my son . . . your son. Um . . . are you alright?”