Girls' Guide to Flirting with Danger

by Kimberly Lang

  The booth might have been soundproof, but he could still see the crowd outside take a collective breath, even if he couldn’t hear it. Everything seemed to freeze.

  “Megan, I’m not sure this is the right forum—”

  “I’m sorry, Dev. I was wrong and I’m sorry and I miss you and I’d really like to talk about possibilities.” She paused, and her voice seemed to shrink. “If you’re still willing, that is.”

  Devin swallowed hard, unsure if he’d heard her right. “Megan—”

  Mike’s voice came through his headphones. “Damn, they just crashed the server. Your site’s down.”

  Devin ignored him. “We need to talk, but this probably isn’t the best venue.”

  “God, you’re right. I’m sorry, Dev. I’ll wait down here until you’re done.”

  Down here? “Megan, where are you?”

  “The lobby on fourteen. The security guard wouldn’t let me up and the receptionist—”

  “Stay there.” He was on his feet and taking off his headphones before the words were fully out of his mouth. “Go to commercial,” he barked at Mike, who nodded, his eyes wide. Outside the booth he passed his slack-jawed audience without pausing on his way to the stairwell.

  When he opened the door to the fourteenth-floor lobby, Megan was easy to spot. She stood in the middle of the room with half a dozen people staring wordlessly at her, keeping a safe distance as if she was a ticking time bomb. When she spied him, a small smile tried to form, then faded.

  Every eye in the room turned to him at that moment, and he froze, unsure of what to do next.

  Dev looked much like the wrath of God bearing down on her, and Megan worried she’d handled this situation all wrong. Devin stopped about five feet from her and those rich brown eyes nearly stared her into the ground.

  “Hi, Dev,” she said feeling lame and embarrassed at the same time.

  “What are you doing here?”

  “I tried calling you all morning, but you never answered and you never called me back….”

  “You’re not the only one who can ignore a telephone after an interview draws attention.”

  “And then the receptionist was supposed to tell you I was here and I just couldn’t wait any longer. So I called. I didn’t mean to raise a ruckus on your show. I’m sorry about that, too. Jeez, can I just do a blanket apology for everything and start over?”

  For the first time she could ever remember, Dev seemed shocked speechless. Finally he managed, “What?”

  Their audience was now staring openly, avidly hanging on every word. Somewhere a phone rang, unanswered. She could feel heat creeping up her neck. “Umm… Well…”

  Dev looked at the crowd, then reached for her hand. “Come on.”

  She followed him without question as he led her back into the stairwell. The gray walls echoed the sound of the door closing, and she turned to find Dev leaning against it. Now or never. “Dev, I’m sorry about everything. You were right about—”

  Devin moved like a streak of lightning, pinning her against the wall before she realized it. A second later his mouth landed on hers in a kiss that stole her breath and made her scalp tingle in delight.

  She was left gasping when he finally broke away and ran a hand over her hair. “I’ll accept your apology if you’ll accept mine.”

  “Yours?”

  “You were right about a few things, too. In fact, I was headed to Carbondale after the show to tell you exactly that.”

  Hope kindled in her chest. “You were?”

  “I was being a selfish jerk. Again.”

  “Well, I wasn’t doing much better,” she admitted.

  “See, we’re meant to be together. No one else would put up with us.”

  “About Carbondale, though…”

  “As you said, it’s six months, maybe less. We’ll work it out. You tell me what you need, and I’ll do my part.”

  That was too easy. “Just like that?”

  “Just like that.”

  Her world clicked into place. Maybe it was that easy. “I love you, Dev. I don’t think I ever stopped.”

  “Good. Because I know I never stopped loving you.” Dev’s smile made her heart melt into a warm puddle. She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close for another kiss. As the kiss deepened, Dev pressed her back against the cinder block wall. She threaded her fingers through his hair and let him catch her happy sigh in his mouth. Then his lips moved to her neck….

  The loud crash of the door above opening forcefully into the wall caused her to jump. Devin’s flustered producer started down the stairs two at a time before he saw them and skittered to a stop. The shocked look on his face melted into a grin. “Well, this answers one question.” He cleared his throat. “Devin, it’s a zoo up there. What do you want me to do?”

  Devin pressed a kiss to her forehead, but didn’t move from his position or even look behind him. “Megan, you remember Mike?”

  Feeling a little embarrassed at the position she was currently in, Megan managed to lift her hand and wave her fingers. “Hi, Mike. Sorry about the commotion.”

  “Hi, Dr. Megan. Glad you’re back. Well, Devin?”

  “Tell the listeners Devin and Dr. Megan will be back in a few minutes with a—” Dev paused and smiled at her “—big announcement.”

  Speaking of big announcements…

  “Will do.” Mike was gone before the words stopped echoing off the walls.

  When Devin leaned in for another kiss, she stopped him with a hand on his chest. He changed direction and went for her earlobe. She fought back her shiver at the touch. “Dev, there’s something I need to tell you.”

  “Now?” he murmured against the sensitive skin of her neck.

  She debated, but the need to lay everything out on the table won. “Yeah.”

  Concern was etched on his face as he pulled back and his eyes met hers. “What?”

  Cupping her hands under his jaw, she met his eyes steadily. “Before I tell you, though, know that it has nothing to do with anything I’ve just said. I’d be here regardless. I just want you to know everything before we go any further.”

  She could tell her words worried him. His eyebrows drew together in a V. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing’s wrong. At least not to me. I mean, I’m okay—more than okay, actually. It’s just…”

  “Then quit dancing around the subject and tell me.”

  She took a deep breath and prayed this happy moment wasn’t going to be short-lived because of her announcement. “I’m pregnant.”

  This time Dev really did seem speechless. In fact, as his jaw dropped, Megan was afraid she’d really stepped in something.

  “You’re sure?”

  “Positive.” When Devin didn’t say anything, her heart started to crumple in on itself. “Dev? Are you okay?” Devin’s frown reversed itself into a smile that caused her stomach to flutter. “I know we’ll need to talk about the whole where-I’m-living issue, but—”

  He cut her off with another soul-stirring kiss that removed all her doubts. “Like I said earlier, we’ll work it out.”

  Yesterday she wouldn’t have believed it, but today she did. It was that simple.

  “Marry me.”

  It was her turn to be shocked nearly speechless. She swallowed hard. “I didn’t tell you about the baby to get a proposal.”

  “And I’m not proposing because of the baby. He’s just a bonus.”

  “It could be a girl,” she reminded him.

  Dev grinned. “I guess anything is possible.” With a sigh, he looked at the stairs and the door above. “Come on,” he said, threading his fingers through hers. “Let’s go save Mike and tell the listeners the news.”

  Last month, even contemplating such a thing would have convinced her she was certifiably insane. But things had changed, and, as always, change brought possibilities.

  Anything is possible.

  Maybe even a happy ending for them.

  EPILOGUE<
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  WHEN MEGAN CAME OUT of the bedroom in search of something to drink, she was surprised to find Devin fully dressed as he flipped through the paper. She’d heard him get up and she’d promptly gone back to sleep, but she didn’t think she’d snoozed for that long. She was sleeping almost as much now as she had in her first trimester. So much for those “bursts of nesting energy” she was supposed to be getting the closer she got to her due date.

  He looked up as she waddled in. The deep gold of his tie brought out the color of his eyes, and the starched white shirt contrasted nicely with his dark hair. “Good morning.”

  “Look at you, all dressed up to impress the judges. You look sexy in a tie, you know.”

  He pulled at the knot at his throat as if it was uncomfortable. “Rumor has it you have to wear a tie when you appear in front of the State Supreme Court. I sincerely hope it’s not because the judges find it sexy. That’s just too disturbing to think about.”

  “Doesn’t matter. It’s still sexy to me.” To prove her point, she tugged on the tie until his lips met hers for a good-morning kiss. “Good luck today.”

  “Thanks, but I don’t need luck. I have the Constitution backing me up.” Devin reached for something next to his briefcase. “This came for you yesterday. You fell asleep before I could mention it.”

  The sight of the long white envelope had her heart pumping before she even confirmed the return address as the Department of Professional Regulation. This is it. Moment of truth. Her mouth went dry and she refused to take it. “I can’t open it. You read it.”

  “Eight months ago you were positive you’d ace this thing with your eyes closed and your couch tied behind your back.”

  “That was bravado talking. Now I’m not so cocky about it.”

  Dev studied the envelope. “I don’t even need to open it. Congrats, Meggie.”

  Aw. “Thanks for the vote of confidence, but…”

  He held it out again, an exasperated look on his face. “Read who it’s addressed to.”

  She took the envelope and looked at it. Her heart started to beat double time. She looked again to be sure and read it aloud. “‘Dr. Megan Lowe, LCP.’”

  “Nice set of letters you got there.”

  “I did it.” She could feel the goofy grin stretching across her face. “I actually did it. Dr. Megan Lowe, Licensed Clinical Psychologist, at your service. How can I serve your mental-health needs today?”

  Dev put his arms around her waist—or what was left of it. “Well, you could give me some reassurance.”

  “My pleasure. Want some positive affirmations?” She looked into the beautiful brown eyes she hoped the baby would inherit and grinned. “Repeat after me. ‘I am a great lawyer. I will knock the Supreme Court dead with my arguments today.’”

  Dev shook his head. “I was thinking more along the lines of ‘Yes, Dev, I will marry you before I give birth to your child.’”

  “Yes, Dev, I will marry you before I give birth to your child,” she parroted. “Now that I have this—” she shook the envelope “—checked off my to-do list, you can name the date.”

  “Next week,” he challenged.

  If he was trying to bluff her, he was in for a big surprise. “Deal. But I can’t change my name until it’s time to renew my license.”

  “Fair enough.”

  “Really?” That was too easy.

  “I don’t care which name you use professionally—Dr. Lowe, Dr. Kenney, Dr. Megan… Hell, call yourself Dr. Zhivago, for all I care.”

  She smacked his arm. “Not Dr. Zhivago. Or Dr. Megan. Although it’s going to be weird to be Megan Kenney again.”

  “Weird how?”

  “How many times can one person change her name back and forth? It took me forever to get everything switched back to Lowe last time. I was still getting catalogs addressed to Megan Kenney last year.”

  “Well, whatever you decide, you’ll never have to change your name again.” He winked. “Or move to Canada.”

  For someone who’d made a small fortune from being the world’s biggest cynic on marriage, Dev had pitched his tent in the other camp pretty quickly. “You really don’t have a preference about me changing my name?”

  Devin placed a kiss on her forehead. “You can call yourself anything you want. I just want to call you mine.”

  Tears burned in the corners of her eyes. “That’s probably the sweetest thing you’ve ever said to me.” Great, now this baby is making me all weepy, too.

  Dev looked shocked. “That’s very sad. No wonder you divorced me.”

  “No, I divorced you because I thought you weren’t giving me what I needed.”

  “And now?” he prompted.

  She pretended to think on his question, but the answer really didn’t require thought, soul-searching, or discussion with a counselor of any sort.

  “I couldn’t ask for anything more.”

  ISBN: 978-1-4268-8797-0

  GIRLS’ GUIDE TO FLIRTING WITH DANGER

  First North American Publication 2011

  Copyright © 2011 by Kimberly Lang

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