The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero: The Engagement Project / Her Surprise Hero

“How about a cup of coffee to warm you up?”

Gage Richmond was asking her to have coffee with him? Megan couldn’t believe it.

“Or don’t you drink coffee?” he prompted.

“No,” she said. “I mean, yes. I do drink coffee. But I’m not drinking coffee now. I mean, I don’t want any coffee. I want to go home.”

Megan could hear the words tumbling out of her mouth, but didn’t seem able to stop them. If they’d been in California, she could hope that the ground would open up and swallow her whole. But in Pinehurst, New York, earthquakes were extremely rare, so she was forced to live with the humiliating knowledge that she’d made a complete fool of herself in front of her boss’s son.

But Gage either didn’t notice or didn’t care that she was rambling almost incoherently, because he asked, “Is there anything I can say that would talk you into hanging around for another half an hour or so?”

“Why do you want me to hang around?” she asked bluntly.

He lifted one broad shoulder in a half shrug. “I’m kind of stuck trying to figure out a birthday present and I would really appreciate a woman’s input.”

“A birthday present?”

“For my seven-year-old niece,” he clarified.

“I don’t know a lot about kids,” she told him.

“Yeah, but you probably know more than me. Please?”

It wasn’t the word so much as the silent entreaty in those golden brown eyes. And if there was a woman alive who could say “no” to such a plea—and Gage’s reputation led her to believe that there wasn’t—she’d have to be a stronger woman than Megan because, even while her mind was scrambling for a reason to refuse, she was nodding her head.

Between his four nieces, Gage had garnered a lot of experience in gift buying over the past several years, most of it successful. But he always seemed to strike out where Lucy was concerned.

His youngest niece was a mystery to him. With the other girls, at least when they were younger, he could usually go into any store and pick up the newest and hottest toy. Of course, Gracie was almost a teenager now, so gift certificates to her favorite clothing stores were an obvious solution. The twins, Eryn and Allie, were close to the double digits and though they had little in common aside from their golden hair and green eyes, were both easily pleased. But Lucy, on the verge of her seventh birthday, continued to baffle him.

She was quiet—which maybe wasn’t so unusual considering that she was the youngest of four sisters—and very intense. Whatever she did, she did with 100 percent of her attention on the task, whether that task was reading a book, building a LEGO sculpture or kicking a soccer ball. He’d never known anyone—especially not a child—with such focus.

But the first time he’d met Megan Roarke, he’d been struck by the uncanny sense that he’d just been introduced to the woman his youngest niece would be twenty years in the future. It was more than that they were both blue-eyed blondes—it was the quiet intelligence that shone in their eyes and the concentrated intensity with which they applied themselves to a challenge. So he figured it had to be some kind of sign that he’d arrived at the mall to search for a birthday gift and he’d found the research scientist instead.

He led the way to the toy store and she followed. He knew she wasn’t the type to talk unless she had something to say and he didn’t mind the silence. It was a pleasant change from frivolous conversation, although he did wonder why she didn’t seem to want to talk to and flirt with him, as most women—and particularly those who knew him as the boss’s youngest and only unmarried son—were inclined to do.

He pondered this thought as he negotiated through the maze of promotional displays and sale items toward the back section of the store. Then he wondered why he was pondering. So what if Megan wasn’t interested in him? He wasn’t interested in her, either. She was far too staid, too serious, not at all the type of woman he usually dated.

Of course, he hadn’t dated much at all in the past year and he wasn’t looking for a date now. He was just looking for help in picking out a birthday gift for his niece.

Megan’s eyes widened as she turned down an aisle that was stacked floor to ceiling with pink packages of various shapes and sizes.

“This is where I generally start,” he told her. “Usually as long as it’s something new and in a big box, Eryn and Allie are happy.”

“Then why do you need my help?”

“Because it’s Lucy’s birthday.”

“How many nieces do you have?”

“Four,” he answered. “Lucy, who’s going to be seven, is the youngest, the twins—Eryn and Allie—are almost ten and Gracie is twelve.”

“I really don’t know a lot about kids,” Megan said again.

“But you have an advantage over me in that you were once a seven-year-old girl yourself.”

“A very long time ago.”

He didn’t believe it was so very long ago. In fact, considering that she’d completed her master’s degree in biochemistry at Columbia University just shortly before she’d started working at Richmond Pharmaceuticals, he would bet she couldn’t be more than twenty-eight.

She looked younger, though. Both younger and prettier than he’d expected. Certainly prettier than any woman hiding in a lab should be, even with the thick-framed glasses. She wore little if any makeup, but her features didn’t need much artificial enhancement, and the ponytail she habitually wore emphasized the creamy complexion of her skin.

But there was a sweetness about her, too. A gentle innocence that was somehow both intriguing and intimidating. In any event, she was definitely too sweet for a guy like him.

Maybe that was why, prior to their paths crossing unexpectedly tonight, he’d barely given a second thought to Megan Roarke. In fact, he’d never thought about her at all except in relation to her work in the lab.

But their chance meeting—revealing unexpected evidence of her dry sense of humor—had snagged his attention. Or maybe it was the garment bag that had piqued his interest.

His mother bought a lot of her clothes from Chaundra’s Boutique, and it surprised him to learn that Megan shopped at the exclusive women’s store, too. She seemed more like the type to buy what she needed from Lab Coats ‘R’ Us, and it made him wonder exactly what was in the bag draped over her arm.

But he forced his attention away from the woman and to the task at hand.

“Anything bring back fond memories?” he asked, gesturing to the toys that surrounded them.

She paused in front of an elaborate three-story doll-house, her brow furrowed, as if she was trying to remember. “I didn’t play with Barbies. Well, sometimes with my sister,” she amended. “But only if I didn’t have a choice.”

“What did you play with?”

“My all-time favorite gift was a chemistry set—at least until I blew up the kitchen and my mother took it away from me.”

“I’ll bet that’s not a story you told when you interviewed for your job at R.P.”

Her lips tilted up at the corners. “Actually, I didn’t really blow up the kitchen at all. I just mixed together some ingredients that reacted violently and spewed a sticky mess all over everything.”

“Mentos and Coke?” he guessed.

“It was a slight variation on that,” she told him, her eyes sparkling behind the lenses of her glasses. “And the explosion much more spectacular.”

Gage lost track of what she was saying, stunned by the realization that her eyes weren’t blue, as he’d always assumed, but violet.

In the almost three years they’d worked in the same lab—albeit in different areas—he’d never noticed the unique color. On the other hand, there was probably a lot about her that he’d never noticed because she wasn’t the type of woman who usually drew his attention. And he was starting to think that might have been a distinct oversight on his part.

“I’m not sure if chemistry is Lucy’s thing,” he said now, forcing his attention back to the matter at hand. “Although my sister-in-law probably wouldn’t appreciate kitchen explosions any less than the bugs her youngest daughter is always bringing into the house.”

“She’s into bugs?” Megan asked, sounding intrigued.

He nodded. “Completely fascinated by anything creepy-crawly.”

“Then that’s where you start looking for a gift.”