Free Too Charming by Kathryn Freeman Page A

and asked him to stroke my belly as soon as he’s shown an interest.’
    Ann burst out laughing. ‘I have to admit, if his eyes had wandered in my direction, I might have found myself doing exactly that. And purring, too.’
    Megan’s eyes rounded in horror. ‘God, please don’t tell me you’re another one of Scott’s fan club? What does the guy do to create such a following?’
    ‘What, you mean aside from being drop-dead gorgeous, with the body of an athlete and a smile that melts a woman’s insides?’ Ann shrugged her shoulders. ‘I haven’t a clue.’
    Looking down at her glass, Megan wiped at the small beads of condensation clinging to the outside. ‘That’s all about what he looks like, Ann,’ she replied quietly. ‘Nothing about the man himself.’
    Ann frowned. ‘Why are you so against him, Megan?’
    And why haven’t I changed the subject? Megan berated herself. Now she was stuck with the impossible task of explaining her feelings about Scott to Ann, when she couldn’t even explain them to herself. ‘I guess he’s everything I’ve told myself I should dislike in a man,’ she replied with a sigh. ‘He’s a charmer, a smooth talker, very aware of his own good looks.’ It sounded so simple. Except … Except when he smiled at her, really smiled, not the cocky veneer of a smile but the boyish grin that made his eyes crinkle … when he smiled at her like that, she went weak at the knees.
    ‘I’ll admit he has an almost breathtaking confidence about him,’ Ann conceded. ‘But frankly, that’s all part of his appeal. Who wants quiet and shy when you can be swept off your feet by bold and dazzling?’
    ‘Being swept off your feet isn’t what it’s cracked up to be,’ Megan muttered, annoyed to find the bitterness creep into her voice. Three years later and she still couldn’t think about that part of her life without feeling humiliation and pain.
    Ann regarded her thoughtfully. ‘You’ve never really talked about Sally’s father. I presume that’s who you’re talking about when you mention being swept off your feet?’
    Trying to lighten the mood, Megan cocked her head to one side. ‘I should know better than to make an ambiguous statement to a fellow detective.’
    ‘And now you’re trying to change the subject.’
    Megan glanced up to find Ann pinning her with the type of death stare she usually reserved for juvenile delinquents. Only a select few knew that she wasn’t nearly as stern as she sometimes appeared. ‘It showed, huh?’ She tried a smile, but Ann wasn’t in the mood to be fobbed off. ‘To be honest, there isn’t much to tell.’
    ‘Then why does it still hurt to talk about it?’
    Megan couldn’t help but laugh. ‘Maybe because I’m such a total fool when it comes to matters of the heart?’
    ‘Aren’t we all?’
    Deciding that Ann wasn’t going to let the matter drop, Megan settled back against her chair. ‘I met Luke when I was at school. He was my first boyfriend, my first love, my first everything.’ Her friend nodded, encouraging her to continue. ‘After school he went away to university and I stayed here and joined the police force, but at the end of each term he’d come back and we’d pick up where we left off. He was—’Megan closed her eyes and instantly recalled his face ‘—beautiful, I suppose is the word for it. Dazzling, as you’d call it. Blonde hair, eyes the colour of the sky on a sunny day. Girls flirted with him wherever we went, but for some strange reason he seemed to prefer me. I was too scared to question it, worried that if I did, I’d find a secret ulterior motive for him being with me. Instead, I just thanked my lucky stars that it was me that went home with him.’
    ‘He should have been thanking his lucky stars,’ Ann countered.
    Megan smiled. ‘That’s one of the things I love about you, your blind loyalty.’ Before Ann could interrupt, Megan held up her hand. ‘It isn’t false modesty. You didn’t meet Luke.