Once More (Mercy Heart #1) Read Free

remembered.  Marc pulled out her chair and then sat beside her with his arm draped over the back of her chair as he leaned over to whisper in her ear, something that brought a smile to her face.  Clem suspected they were a couple, which affected him more than he had expected it to.  He knew coming here was a risk, but when he heard she was still with Mercy Heart and was the director of nursing, he had to see her again.  Just one of the perks of owning the company that recently signed an $8 million dollar contract with the hospital.   He was surprised to hear she had been promoted to director of nursing from the emergency department, considering how she had looked forward to working with oncology patients the last time he had seen her.  He knew she still used her maiden name, so he had assumed she was single.  Seeing her today without a wedding ring on was a small victory in his book.  But seeing her with this Marc fellow made him curious about the seriousness of their relationship.  Even though seven years had passed, not a day went by that he didn’t think about how they had ended things.  Through the years, he had kept up with her, and when he heard Mercy Heart was in the market for a complete overhaul of their current health information technology systems, he himself underbid the competition by close to $3 million to insure he’d get the contract.  Even after all this time, his heart still belonged only to her, whether she knew it or not, and he’d do just about anything to convince her to give him another chance.
    Giving his spiel was like second nature.  Clem was in his element, his confidence in his company perhaps coming off as cocky to some, including a few members of the Mercy Heart IT department, especially Gary Smart, a programmer who didn’t attempt to hide his displeasure with having the homegrown accounting system that he personally designed and maintained replaced.  Gary sat with his arms folded, trying and failing to come across as intimidating.  Clem anticipated few issues with making the change, and his team had already begun preliminary analysis, so far having found only minor discrepancies in the data that could most likely be explained away. 
    What is he doing here? Katelyn was still reeling from seeing Clem again.  The last time she saw him was through her tears in the rearview mirror as she pulled away from his fraternity house.  He had gotten on his knees to beg her forgiveness, but she left him anyway, so hurt by his actions and bowled over by his announcement that he was leaving town.  She had no idea what he had been up to the past seven years, and never in a million years would she have guessed that he was the CEO of a software company, much less a company she’d have to work closely with.  She watched him as he was speaking, his smooth voice having an effect on her that she hadn’t felt in a very long time.  Leading the presentation, he exuded a cool confidence that he had always naturally possessed but had since honed to almost an art form in the time they had been apart.  He kept his hair much shorter now, without a hint of the curl he had when he had kept it long.  His tan was still the same as she had remembered, though his cheeks carried more stubble, like he’d forgotten to pack his razor for the trip into town.  In a black suit that was anything but simple, he oozed confidence and wealth.  Occasionally, Marc would whisper in her ear, but all she could muster was a smile and nod, as her mind was working in overdrive, trying to process this situation.  In order to keep her job, she’d have to get her emotions under control and work with him.  She had no choice.  Avoiding him was going to be impossible.  The implementation was slated to take eighteen months, at least.  Her mind wandered to the past, to when she was almost certain he was the love of her life.  How quickly that changed.  She still thought of him often, wondered how their lives would have