Free Running From Fate by Rose Connelly Page A

.  T his would not go over well .   Apparently, though, she had been silent too long because Lily was already making her own speculations and she was scarily accurate.
    “ With your talent you could have gone anywhere in the world,” Lily mused.   She tapped one manicured nail against her chin.  “What reason could you have for choosing to move to Raleigh when you could have gone to New York, London, or even Paris?” Apparently struck by some horrible thought, her eyes widened and she bolted upright . “James Kelly has a company here, doesn’t he? Please tell me that you’re not still pining after that dreadful man.”
    “I could never understand why you hated him so much,” Mira hedged. “You’ve never even met the man.”
    “Maybe not him, but I know his type. You were obsessed with him when we went to St. Cat’s so I did a little research. It wasn’t just you that he abandoned.  At 22 he seemed to be determined to sleep with every girl at Cornell so I’m sure he left dozens of broken hearts behind. ”
    “ Where do you get your information? ” Mira shook her head in wonder.
    Ignoring the interruption, Lily continued her tirade. “ From what I’ve read, he hasn’t changed much since then .” She paused briefly to take a breath and took a fortifying drink . “I had hoped, when I read in a magazine that he was engaged to some socialite, that he would disappear from your radar, but that didn’t work out and apparently he left that poor girl devastated. ”
    “You really shouldn’t believe everything you read in those rags. ”  Mira waved her finger . “ Very little of it is actually true.”
    “ I’ve also heard ,” Lily continued , completely ignoring her comment. “H e has a fierce business reputation.” Her voice dropped and she leaned forward . “ It’s been said,” she whispered. “That he can fell an opponent with just a look from his glacial eyes.”
    “That’s just ridiculous! ” Mira retorted . Yes, she had been slightly intimidated by James, but she had also been fighting an intense attraction. She also felt like she had been operating under an assumed iden tity . There was bound to be some fear caused by that, but it didn’t make the man a monster. Memories of the jeers that he had faced as a young teenager because of his strange accent and odd ways reared their head and she felt her temper begin to boil at the unjust accusation. It was time to set Lily straight. “I don’t know what people are talking about. All of t hose business men must be coward s because he didn’t seem very frightening to me.”
    “Wait a second.” Her friend sat down her empty cup and slowly stood up. In a patented Lily Parsons move, she put her hands on her shapely hips and narrowed her eyes. “How can he seem to be anything? You have n’t seen him in almost 15 years. ”
    Mira sank deeper into the sofa. It was time to face the music. “That’s not exactly true,” she replied softly. “The job I took .  It’s at EcoSpace.”
    The explosion wasn’t long in coming.
    “You idiot! Have you completely lost your mind ?”  She started pacing, her long legs carrying her quickly from door to couch and back again. For having consumed more than half a bottle of bubbly she was pretty stable.  “I take it from your comments that you’ve already seen him.” She stopped in front of Mira and took a cleansing breath and he r curiosity overcame her anger.  “Well?” she asked. “W hat did he say?”
    “We talked,” Mira hedged.   “ And he gave me the job so he must have liked my work.”
    Lily waved her arm imperiously.  “Of course he liked your work .  You’re a brilliant artist and designer. I want to know what he said about you.  Was he surprised to see you after so long?”
    “Actually.”  She paused.  “H e didn’t recognize me.”
    “I suppose that makes some kind of sense.  I mean, y ou have changed a lot since then .” She grinned .  “ What did he think when