He reached over and took her hand, squeezing it before taking hold of the wheel again. "You're sweet to think about it, but no. She was only in town for the day to pick up some trial packets."

Megan made a whooshing motion over her head.

"That's right. I haven't told you." He glanced at her, flashing a smile. "I think about telling you so much that I forget what we haven't talked about."

The meaning of those words filled her with joy, and she sighed happily as she told him to go ahead and tell her right then.

"Did you pay attention to the charity list?"

She shook her head. "Probably should have, what with my job and all. But I've been a little distracted."

"My donation went to the International Center for the Treatment and Study of Autism. I'm no longer on the board, but five years ago, I was one of the founding board members."

She stayed quiet, anticipating where he was going, but not wanting to interrupt.

"Becky--my sister--well, her daughter is autistic. Severely so."

"What's her name?"

"Cecily" he said, his face lighting up. "She's my only niece, so maybe I'm biased. But I'm pretty sure she's the most adorable little girl on the planet. She's eight now. Diagnosed at three. And she's one of the reasons I founded PCM. We manufacture a wide range of pharmaceuticals, but most of our R&D goes to autism. And Cecily is in all the trials. Right now, we're testing a topical treatment, and although the data hasn't been fully analyzed, based on Becky's anecdotal evidence, I think we may have found something."

"A cure?"

He shook his head. "No. But a treatment. And that's something."

She reached over and pressed her hand to his thigh. "I had no idea. I'm sorry about Cecily, but I'm so glad she has an uncle like you. And I'm sorry I didn't get to meet Becky."

He took his eyes off the road long enough to meet her eyes. "I promise," he said, his voice heavy with meaning. "You will."

They drove in silence the rest of the way, until he turned off the highway and maneuvered his way over surface streets to finally park in front of Amy's Ice Cream in the Arboretum parking lot.

A high end outdoor shopping center, the Arboretum had become popular with everyone from little kids to high schoolers to college students not only because of its variety of stores and restaurants, but because of the carved stone cows that dominated a grassy area near the center of the property.

They found the rest of the group already there, with Eva walking around the cows as Reece--Mr.

January--sat atop one, his shirt off and his incredible tats gleaming in the morning sunlight that came dappled through the trees.

That's why they were starting here; Eva wanted the effect of the light piercing the canopy of leaves. Sunset would be for the shot at the bridge.

"That's good," Eva was saying as Parker and Megan stepped beside Spencer and Brooke. "Just lean forward a bit." Spencer had won the title of Mr. February and was the co-star of The Business Plan with Brooke.

"I never would have thought straddling a cow would be hot," Mina said, coming over with Cameron, who was Mr. March. "But I gotta admit it works."

"We should have it on video," Brooke added, shooting Megan a grin. "Those things are slippery. You should have seen the trouble Reece had getting on."

She laughed, but Parker just said, "Great," then went to take a seat on blanket someone had spread on the grass. Tyree was already there, his chin perched on his fist as he watched Eva work. He might be Mr. May, but Megan was certain he would have come even if he wasn't taking a turn in front of the camera. And as for Mr. April, Nolan, the local drive time DJ was sprawled on the blanket, eyes closed, with headphones tight on his ears. Probably he was listening to whoever was standing in for him on the radio this morning.

When Eva finished with Reece and called Spencer up to the cows, Brooke sidled closer to Megan. "I keep wanting to talk to you, but every time I see you Parker is right there next to you."

A niggle of worry tugged at Megan, but she shoved it down. "What about?"

Brooke laughed. "Nothing bad," she said, apparently hearing the trepidation in Megan's voice. "It's just that I went to high school with Parker. So I saw him for years, you know? But I've never seen him lit up like this." Her smile widened. "You must have really gotten under his skin."

Megan sighed happily, appreciating the woman's words. "I don't know about that," she said, glancing sideways to where Parker sat chatting with Tyree. "But he definitely got under mine."

Chapter Thirteen

"I can't believe you're just blithely abandoning me," Parker said, tugging her fingers lightly as if to draw her back into bed.

Tags: J. Kenner Man of the Month Romance
Source: readsnovelonline.net