Reluctant Lover — Deirdre Mardon

Did they meet by chance--or was it fate?

For Astrid Rasmussen, meeting Derek McKenna was a fluke. She was entertaining a client for the Chicago-based department store where she worked and saw Derek across the room. The attraction she felt was immediate.

Until then, Astrid's uneventful life comprised her career as an accessories buyer and Sunday-afternoon dinners at her father's house. So when Derek contacted her later that day, she was stunned. There had been a mix-up with their credit cards, he explained, and then lie invited her to meet him for a drink and an exchange.

Astrid was intrigued--but only Derek knew how carefully planned this encounter had been!