Until this moment he hadn’t stopped to regret his decision.
“Hello, Evan,” she said, her voice smooth and modulated. It was familiar but, at the same time, unfamiliar. “It’s been a long time.”
He was as paralyzed with surprise—no, shock—as he would be if he’d been looking at a ghost. In a way, in fact, he felt like he was. He felt like he should say something profound, but only one word came to mind.
“Meredith?”
She nodded, but no smile touched that beautiful mouth. “You recognize me.”
“Of course I recognize you. You look.” Beautiful. Stunning.
Haunting.
“You look the same as you always did.” But she didn’t. She didn’t look the same at all. She looked like a sleek, sophisticated version of her old self.
This was awkward. Really awkward.
But Evan still didn’t know what to say. Unfortunately the momentary uncomfortable pauses weren’t buying him enough time to come up with something pithy.
She smiled. And for just a moment, he could see the high-school girl inside the woman.
“Clearly you weren’t expecting to see me.” There wasn’t a trace of self-consciousness in her voice. “I was hoping Ms. Hanson would have let you know I was coming.”
This wasn’t making any sense. “Ms. Hanson?”
“Yes, Helen Hanson.” Meredith nodded. “She just hired me in PR and has asked me to assist you in promoting this division.”
A pause dropped between them like a tennis ball and bounced awkwardly into several silent seconds.
“Are you serious?” he asked after a moment. How was this possible? Of all the people Helen could have hired, and all the places within the company she could have placed a new employee, how on earth had it happened that she’d hired Meredith and wanted her to work with Evan?
Meredith’s smile froze a little. “Yes. Will that be a problem for you?”
Damn right it was a problem. It was hard enough to be back in Chicago and working in the Hanson offices. He was running up against memories—including lots of unpleasant ones—at virtually every turn.
But this? This was too much.
“No, it’s not a problem at all,” he lied. Then he forced what he hoped looked like a casual smile, though it felt more like he was grimacing. “I’m sorry, I must seem rude. It’s just that it’s been more than twelve years since I’ve been in Chicago, and I’m still trying to orient myself. Needless to say, I’ve been seeing a lot of people I haven’t seen in a long time and it’s disconcerting each time I get one of these blasts from the past.”
“I understand,” Meredith said, her tone cool, professional. Clearly she’d grown far, far beyond the awkward kid he’d once known. She was detached in her interaction with Evan now. It was very clear that this wasn’t personal for her.
Hell, maybe she didn’t even remember what they’d once been to each other.
For that matter, maybe he’d imagined it. Maybe this thumping in his chest at the sight of her was just the remembrance of a dream he’d once had. His life had taken so many surreal turns at this point that he wasn’t sure of anything at the moment.
“I do hope we’ll be able to get past any awkwardness and work effectively together,” Meredith went on, but for the first time her voice betrayed the merest trace of a waver.
“Absolutely.”
“Good. So let’s get to work on our plan to raise the profile of Hanson Broadcasting.” She glanced at her watch. “Do you have time to talk about it now? I’d like to get up to speed on your plans so I can start my work as soon as possible.”
There was no way Evan could just leap into this now. He needed a little time to collect his thoughts.
He’d begun outlining a mission already, of course, but it would have taken some time to prepare to discuss it even if it wasn’t Meredith waiting for it, but the fact that it was. Well, he just needed a little time to get used to the idea.
“I’m about to have a meeting,” Evan said, trying to sound regretful rather than unprepared. “Are you free later this afternoon?”
Meredith shook her head. “I told David I’d be available to talk to him this afternoon.”
Another pause spread between them.
“So maybe tomorrow—” Evan began.
“I am available at lunch,” Meredith suggested at the same time.
They looked at each other for a second before Evan said, “Lunch is fine.”
“Okay, great.”
“How about the Silver Car Diner around noon?”
The Silver Car Diner. As soon as the words were out of his mouth he regretted them. That was a place they’d been to together quite a few times in high school. In fact, it was his former familiarity with the place that made it the first thing out of his mouth, yet he couldn’t have picked a more pointedly sentimental place unless he’d suggested the backseat of his ancient Chevy Monte Carlo.
Before he could retract the offer and suggest something less personal, Meredith, with what could have been a look of surprise in her eyes, nodded and said, “Okay. Sounds fine.”
“Great.” Evan reached for some papers to straighten. “See you there at noon.”
She gave a small smile and nod and turned to leave. Evan continued to straighten his pile of papers, half watching her go, until she was finally down the hall and out of sight.
Working with her wasn’t going to be easy.
Meredith had felt Evan’s eyes on her as she’d walked away. For a moment or two she’d actually worried that she might trip or stumble, betraying her nervousness.
How in the world was she going to work with Evan Hanson? It was preposterous! If she wasn’t already so committed, she would have walked away from the job the moment she knew he was involved. But a lot of people were counting on her. This went far deeper than mere PR for Hanson Media Group.
Before she’d agreed to this job, she’d done some investigating and learned that Evan was hopping all over Europe and the Caribbean. She’d actually taken the care to make sure he wasn’t going to be around if she had to get involved in his family business. It never even occurred to her that he might end up coming back to Hanson Media Group—which she knew he’d always disliked—the moment she was hired.
If someone had offered her a bet, she would have bet everything she had that he wasn’t going to be there.
“Everything all right?” David Hanson asked her when she got back to their promotions.
“What? Oh, fine. Fine. I was just thinking about something.”
David looked skeptical. She’d already learned he wasn’t an easy one to fool. “You sure?” he asked. “There’s nothing I can do to help?”
She smiled at him. “Actually, I could use some information on how the television stations have been doing over the past year or so.”
He looked puzzled. “I thought you were working with Evan on the broadcasting division.”
“I am,” she said quickly. “But I think it will be helpful to know how Hanson Media is doing in other arenas. Maybe we can learn from other divisions’ successes and mistakes.”
David gave a dry laugh. “Hanson Media