Megan locked her front door, then turned to watch Ean hook his winter jacket onto her coat tree. “I know what you were doing.”
His smile wavered. “You do?”
“Your firm wants you back.” Megan stepped away from the door. She crossed her foyer, past her cheery if overdecorated Christmas tree, into her living room.
“What makes you think that?” His voice seemed cooler.
“Their suits.” Megan faced him. More than the width of the living room separated them. “If they were here to visit with you, they would have worn casual clothes. Since they wore business suits, it was obviously a business meeting.”
Ean had changed his clothing since she’d seen him at lunch earlier today. At the restaurant, he’d worn a gunmetal gray suit. His cool green shirt and dark green tie had complemented his olive green eyes. Now, in addition to his dark blue jeans, he wore a bronze sweater that spanned his broad pectorals and hugged his washboard abs.
His smile disappeared. “And that business was offering me my old job back.” Ean paused in the archway between the two rooms, ironically beneath the mistletoe.
“What other business could they have with you?” Megan narrowed her eyes. What does he have to be angry about? I’m the one being misled.
“They couldn’t have any other reason for meeting with me. And, of course, I’d accept their offer, even though I’ve signed a yearlong contract on my town house and a three-year lease on office space.” Ean shoved his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “You’re very insightful to deduce all of that from our business suits.”
Megan frowned. “Why are you angry?”
“What makes you think I’m angry? Is it because I’m wearing a bronze sweater?”
Megan crossed her arms over her chest. “Are you mocking me?”
“Yes.”
“Why?” She hadn’t expected Ean to be happy to have her confront him, but she hadn’t expected mockery, either.
“Because your suit theory is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” He dragged both hands over his hair.
“What?” Megan dropped her arms and clenched her fist.
“I’ve told you that I’m staying. I’ve shown you. I’ve even asked you to live with me. What more do I have to do to convince you that I’m not leaving?”
“How can you go from always wanting a successful career in New York and leaving that career to return to Trinity Falls, Ohio?”
“I’m fourteen years older.” Ean stood with his legs braced and his hands planted on his hips. “You’re the one who told me people don’t stay the same. Why won’t you believe that I’ve changed?”
“Everyone leaves, Ean.”
“Not me. And, obviously, not you.”
Megan spread her arms. “What was I supposed to think when I saw you having lunch with your former bosses?”
“That I’d tell you later why I met with them. That I’d have a damn good reason not to tell you in advance about the meeting.” Ean tugged his jacket from her coat tree. “I never thought you’d consider me a liar.”
Megan gritted her teeth. “All right. Tell me now. Why were you meeting with them?”
Ean regarded her in silence as he zipped himself into his coat. “I asked you to move in with me. Did you tell me you wouldn’t because you didn’t have faith that I’d stay in Trinity Falls?”
“You’re changing the subject.” Megan’s cheeks burned.
“Am I?” There was pain in Ean’s eyes. “All this time we’ve been together, I thought we were in a relationship.”
“We were.... We are.” What was he saying?
“But you never trusted me.”
“I . . .” All her anger drained away. Is that how it seemed?