A Dad At Last by Marie Ferrarella Read Free Book Online Page A

was a million miles away. She flushed. “Oh, right. The producer. Sorry, I guess I’m a little preoccupied at the moment.”
    With what? Chelsea wondered. “No problem, I understand.” She cleared away a few papers, then stepped back, letting Lacy sit down at the desk. “Now, want me to hover around as a consultant, or do you want to do this in private?”
    Lacy bit her lower lip, hesitating. This was Chelsea’s laptop. She couldn’t very well tell her to go away. On the other hand, she didn’t want to have to be in a position to deal with questions before she was sure she had the right answers. “I—”
    Chelsea had gone far in her field because of her acute ability to read a person’s body language and subtle shifts in mood. She saw her answer in Lacy’s eyes.
    â€œGotcha.” She smiled. “I’m into privacy a lot more since I’ve left ‘Tattle Today.’” Moving in closer for a second, she typed something on the upper portion of the screen, then stepped aside again. “Okay, there’s the Web address. Have fun.”
    Chelsea left and closed the door behind her, consumed with curiosity but bound by her word. Sometimes, she mused, being honorable had its drawbacks.
    Â 
    M EGAN COULDN’T help herself. Having finished dressing for dinner, she stopped by Lacy’s room and rapped lightly before peeking in.
    What she saw warmed her heart. The inner loveliness she’d been aware of since the first moment she’d met Lacy was most definitely shining through.
    â€œYou certainly are a knockout.” Circling the other woman slowly, Megan nodded. “I knew that dress was perfect for you the second we saw it in the store window.”
    Pleased, Lacy ran her hands over the skirt of the sheath she was wearing. The amount on the price tagshe’d glimpsed while trying it on in the store was more than her entire wardrobe had cost back when she’d worked as a cook for Connor and his mother on their ranch.
    But Megan had insisted on buying it for her, and Lacy couldn’t seem to make herself resist. She had already turned down Megan’s generosity several times. It was one thing for the woman to buy clothes for her grandnephew, but Lacy knew she wasn’t anything to the family. Just a woman caught up in things, nothing more.
    Still, the gesture touched her heart, just as the dress had won it.
    Beaming, Lacy turned to catch a glimpse of herself in the mirror. The deep green sheath was beautiful. “I’ll pay you back as soon as I can.”
    â€œDon’t you dare,” Megan warned sternly. “I’ll be extremely hurt if you do, Lacy. One of the nice things about having money is that I get to spend it the way I want on the people I want. Now stop being difficult and smile, dear. You look positively radiant when you do.” When the shy smile appeared, Megan nodded, pleased. “Easy to see why Connor lost his head over you.”
    The misbegotten observation sobered her. “Connor didn’t lose his head,” Lacy corrected Megan quietly. “He was grief-stricken over the loss of his mother and he’d had a little too much to drink that night.”
    As she spoke, it all came vividly back to her. The words, the moment, the look in his eyes as he took her into his arms and kissed her. She could almost feel his lips on hers. She’d never felt so happy in her life. Before or since.
    â€œWhen I tried to comfort him, well, one thing just seemed to lead to another….” She let her voice drift off.
    Megan tried to read between the lines and wasn’t sure she liked what she was reading. “He forced himself on you?”
    Lacy’s mouth dropped open. “Oh, no, no,” she protested quickly. “He’s never been anything but a complete gentleman.” A sad smile teased the corners of her mouth. “A little too much so. I’ve always had feelings for