by Cat Schield
She’d bought it a year ago, loving the high ceilings and the industrial feel of the exposed ductwork and brick walls. The front door opened into a large space she used as a combination living room and dining room. Shortly before she’d moved in, she’d had the hardwood floors refinished and they gleamed as they stretched across the inviting space. She’d furnished the living room with a comfortable gray couch and two blue armchairs the shade of Texas bluebonnets. The same blue broke up the expanse of white walls in the form of landscape photographs.
Her phone rang again as she washed her bowl and glass by hand. The dishwasher had died two months ago. Yet another thing that needed fixing.
She let this call go to voice mail as well. She guessed it was Nathan calling to badger her about moving in with him again. Well, that wasn’t going to happen.
Returning to her workroom, she surveyed her equipment and the supplies scattered around the space. It would take her a day or more to get everything organized to move. She didn’t have that much time to waste.
Nathan was just going to have to accept that she wasn’t going to pack and she wasn’t going to move. He wasn’t her boss.
With a dismissive snort, she returned to her project and banished a tall, hunky millionaire from her mind.
“What do you mean she refuses to go anywhere?” Nathan barked into his cell phone. The mover he’d hired sputtered excuses as Nathan strode through Case Consolidated Holdings’ parking garage toward his car. Two days ago his contractor had told her it was dangerous for her to remain in the loft, exposed to the mold.
Stubborn woman. He’d been all set to head home and find Emma all settled in, only to hear that she continued to defy him.
Nathan unlocked his car and tossed in his briefcase, breathing deeply to calm down. He was taking his frustrations out on the wrong person. “Why don’t you guys grab dinner on me while I sort every thing out?”
Ten minutes later he advanced down the hallway toward her loft. When Emma answered his impatient summons, she actually looked surprised to see him. Then, a mutinous expression settled over her beautiful face.
“What are you doing here?”
Despite her unfriendly question, his nerve endings sizzled and popped. She’d pulled her long, dark hair into a ponytail. Worn denim hugged her hips and a baggy sweater dipped off one golden shoulder, baring a purple bra strap.
He leaned his shoulder against the wall, realizing that he’d rather hear “no” from her than “yes” from any other woman.
“Nice to see you, too,” he purred. Arguing with her was getting him nowhere. He needed to switch tactics. “Get changed. I’m taking you to dinner.”
“I don’t have—”
“Time. Yes, I know. But you have to eat, and I doubt there’s anything edible in your refrigerator. Take a little break. You’ll feel more up to working when you get back.”
“And spend the whole meal being bullied by you into doing what you want me to do? No thanks.”
“How about we only talk about the things you’re interested in?” He offered her a neutral smile.
“No badgering?” she prompted. “No attempts at persuasion?”
He raised his right hand as if he was swearing in a court of law. “None.”
“Oh, all right,” she muttered ungraciously. “Give me a couple minutes to change.”
While Emma retreated into her bedroom, Nathan called the movers and gave them new instructions.
For two days, he’d spent a good chunk of his time imagining the changes she would make in his life. His decision to marry her might have been born out of necessity, but lately he found himself thinking less about business and more about pleasure.
Unfortunately, standing in the way of those days and nights of unbridled passion was her stubbornness and this ridiculous wager with her father that she couldn’t hope to win.
There was no way she could put the money back in her account by Valentine’s Day, but that wouldn’t stop her from trying. And he had his own deadline to worry about. He’d convinced his brothers to give him until the middle of February to secure the deal with Montgomery Oil. He couldn’t do that without marrying Emma. The best way to do that was to make sure she had no way to win her wager. And the best way to do that would be to keep her too busy to work.
His groin stirred at the notion of all the things he would do to her once he moved her under his roof. She’d been without a decent bathroom for quite a while. Wait until she set eyes on the whirlpool tub in his master bathroom. It was made for long, romantic soaks. With candles burning, he’d even let her put bubble bath in the water. Hell, he’d do whatever it took to encourage her to join him.
He was still grinning ten minutes later when she crossed the living room toward him, her hips swaying in that natural motion that drove him crazy.
She’d donned a narrow, caramel-colored skirt with a wide ruffle that kissed her knees and a blouse of cream lace that revealed flirtatious hints of her creamy skin. Her brown hair had been twisted into a loose knot atop her head. She carried a brown velvet jacket that matched the color of her eyes.
“Where to?” she asked, fastening intricately woven earrings of gold wire studded with green freshwater pearls to her earlobes. They tapped against her neck, drawing Nathan’s attention to the tender, sensitive skin.
“It’s a surprise,” he answered.
She didn’t press him for details as he took her keys and inserted them in the dead-bolt lock. She didn’t utter a word until they were in his car, heading away from downtown. Then, she took hold of the conversational reins and steered them toward a safe topic.
“How do you like working with your brothers?”
“That question might take me all night to answer,” he retorted.
“We don’t have all night,” she reminded him. “So you’d better get started now.”
“We could have all night.”
As her gaze played hide-and-seek with his from beneath her long bangs, he tightened his grip on the steering wheel to resist the urge to brush the sable locks away from her eyes. He had the crazy idea that if he looked deep enough, he would find that they wanted the same things, only she was too afraid to admit it.
“How long have you worked at Case Consolidated Holdings?” she asked, avoiding being pulled into flirting with him.
For the moment Nathan gave up trying to provoke her into a sexy repartee. He knew two ways to convince her that marriage between them made sense: to get to know her better and to get her back into bed. Since the latter was out of the question at the moment, he decided to focus on something that held equal appeal, making a connection.
“Six months.”
“What did you do before that?”
So it was to be the third degree. Nathan split his attention between the road and the sexy lady sitting beside him. “I was in New York.”
“That answers where you were, not what you were doing.”
“I was making money in the stock market and attending auctions.”
“Is that where you learned so much about art?”
“I had some good teachers. One woman I met loved the galleries and supported quite a few new artists. She had an eye for gifted young talent.”
Emma hummed knowingly. “And were you one of the talented young men she had an eye for?”
“Are you asking if we were lovers?” he asked, amused by her perception of him as an innocent youth being corrupted by an older, more experienced woman. “No. She wasn’t my type. I like curvy brunettes, remember?”
“And she wasn’t either of those things?”
“No, Madeline had the look of a half-starved jungle cat. And she could be equally dangerous. Lucky for me she took a shine to my Texas accent and deep pockets. We were great friends. She had a ball trying to polish all my rough edges.”
“I can’t picture you in New York.”
She squinted at him as if trying to put him in different clothes. He’d prefer if she’d just strip him out of the ones he cur
rently had on. That pesky desire stirred again.
“I didn’t blend in well,” he agreed.
“Is that why you left?”
“No, I left because my father had a heart attack earlier this year and his doctor told him if he didn’t slow down, the next one might kill him. He asked me to come work with Sebastian and Max. He thinks all three Case brothers belonged at the company our grandfather built.” A thread of self-disgust ran through his explanation. “They certainly belong there. However, they’re not convinced that I do.”
“And why is that?”
He looked askance at her, wondering how much she knew about him. “Sebastian and Max are my half brothers.”
“Cody said your father was having an affair with your mother and that you came to live with your father and half brothers after she died.”
Just like that, his past was on the table, and his illegitimacy didn’t seem to bother Emma one bit. “I was twelve when she died. Sebastian and Max weren’t exactly thrilled to find out they had a half brother.”
“I’m sure it was hard on all of you.” There was understanding in her voice and comfort in the hand that covered his. “I’m sorry you lost your mom so young.”
Something unraveled in his chest. Her sympathy exposed a place he’d walled up the day his mother died, a place he guarded against intruders. For a split second he wanted to share with her how much it had hurt to lose the one person in the world who’d loved him.
Instead, he shrugged.
“My brothers made my life hell. I moved out when I turned eighteen, kept moving after college.”
“I’m surprised you came back after all these years.”
“I wouldn’t have if Dad hadn’t called me.”
Her eyes narrowed as she gazed his way. “I think there’s more to it than that.”
Did she see how much he wanted to best his brothers? To wipe Max’s smirk right off his face and know he was responsible for the defeat in Sebastian’s eyes?
“Maybe I want a chance to prove they’ve been wrong about me all these years. To make them admit I’m the one who should be running the family business. That’s why this deal with your dad is so important.”
Her hand fell away from his. Watching her knit her fingers in her lap, Nathan knew he shouldn’t have resurrected the idea that his reasons for pursuing her were more practical than personal. But her compassion had touched a tender spot, and he’d flinched.
Nathan passed a semi and returned to the right lane. Time to change the subject. “How did you get into jewelry making?”
“I have a degree in sculpture from the University of Houston. I knew I wanted to make jewelry from the time I was six and I got one of those bead kits for Christmas. I drove everyone crazy with my necklaces and bracelets. I made one for my father. He even wore it once.”
Nathan tried to imagine Silas Montgomery, the stiff, forceful businessman, wearing a necklace of bright-colored plastic beads around his neck. “So that’s how you know so much about early Texas artists. I’m assuming your curriculum included a little art history.”
“It did. But you’ve made me realize that I need to expand my knowledge base.”
“I’d be happy to take you to an auction at Sotheby’s. We could retrace my plunge into the dissolute world of art collecting.”
“A trip to New York to gallery-hop.” Her voice softened with longing. “That sounds like heaven.”
Nathan glanced at her and wished he hadn’t. The dreamy expression on her face reminded him of how she’d looked moments before her friend had interrupted them. His chest tightened. His groin stirred. And he heaved a sigh.
Tonight, whether she was ready for it or not, he was going to make something memorable happen.
Six
Emma watched Nathan navigate the Houston traffic and tried to harden her heart against the lost boy she’d glimpsed a moment earlier. An impossible task now that she understood a little bit more about what made him tick. He wasn’t the unfeeling businessman who thought only of money and deals. But that didn’t mean he wouldn’t ruthlessly stomp all over her heart in pursuit of his agenda. Which meant, the more charming he became, the more she needed to be wary.
“Where are we headed?” she asked, her stomach seizing up with hunger pangs and anxiety.
He’d been a little too nonchalant about her continued determination not to move out of the loft. She knew he’d arrived tonight because she’d stonewalled the men sent to remove her things, but he hadn’t mentioned it, and that aroused her suspicions.
“I thought we’d try Mark’s American Cuisine.”
Knowing their destination was a public place didn’t settle her nerves the way it should have. She’d been convinced he was taking her to his condo to ply her with red wine and sex appeal until her resistance dissolved. To her immense shock, she was disappointed that he had no such nefarious plans.
“I haven’t been there,” she admitted. “But the food is supposed to be wonderful.”
“I hadn’t heard about the food,” he said, casting a wry grin her way. “I was taking you there for the ambiance.”
Mark’s had been voted Houston’s most romantic restaurant. “Is that so?” she quizzed, her tension unraveling beneath his flirtatious smile. “That’s so.”
At the restaurant she waited while he came around the car and opened her door. As he pulled her to her feet, her heel caught in a hole. Unbalanced, she stumbled against his long frame. He caught her by the shoulders. Her heart stopped as the heat of his body enveloped her.
He hummed. “You know, we could grab some takeout and head back to my place.”
Now, that was the Nathan she knew and…
“You were bringing me here for the ambiance,” she reminded him, her eyes half closing as his warm breath stroked her cheek.
“My place has a great ambiance. Perfect for just the two of us.”
And she wanted to go. So much. Despite the warnings from her rational side. Giving in now would signal Nathan that he’d won. He’d become even more relentless.
Her earrings tickled her neck as she shook her head. “Now that we’re here, nothing could persuade me to leave without tasting Chef Mark’s food.”
“What about a chance to taste me?” The dare in his quicksilver-gray eyes touched her like a caress. She trembled.
What madness had led her to believe she could master her attraction to Nathan? It throbbed in her body like a drumbeat, insistent, steady, increasing to a heady climax.
“You can be dessert,” she whispered.
His eyes widened at her response. “After dinner we’ll stop and buy some whipped cream.”
Gulping, she grasped at something to defuse the sudden influx of sexual tension. Teasing him seemed to be the best way. “You don’t think you’re sweet enough for me?”
His grin blindsided her.
“Not by a long shot.”
Emma gave him a shaky smile in return and lifted onto the balls of her feet to kiss him on the chin. “Then bring on the whipped cream.”
“Dammit, woman,” he muttered, guiding her inside the restaurant. “How the hell am I supposed to enjoy dinner when all I can think about is dessert?”
He sounded as disturbed as she felt. Emma’s head spun at the notion that she had some power over him. He wasn’t completely in control. Knowing that leveled the playing field a bit and relaxed her.
“You’ll just have to manage,” she said, squeezing his arm. “This is beautiful.”
Located in a renovated church, the restaurant lived up to its reputation for romantic dining. The soaring cathedral ceiling, awash in golden light, arched over candlelit tables with white tablecloths and elegant place settings. A graceful staircase curved upward to what had once been the choir loft, now open to the tables below and edged with simple wrought-iron railing. The ceiling’s line was echoed in the detailing above the doorways, drawing the eye upward.
The dining experience was everything she expected it to be. Won over by the
candlelight, her charismatic dinner companion and way too much food, Emma set down her fork and spread her fingers over her stomach.
“That was delicious,” she said, feeling sleepy despite turning down the wine Nathan had ordered. Although the evening had taken on an enchanted glow, she needed to return to her loft and get back to work. Alcohol would have made that task impossible. “I can’t recall the last time I ate so much.”
“I have to admit, I do enjoy watching you eat. There’s something so very sexy about it.”
She made a face at him.
“Did you save room for dessert?” their waiter asked.
Emma welcomed his arrival because it kept her from having to answer Nathan. “I’m afraid I couldn’t eat another bite.”
Then she remembered her earlier dessert conversation with Nathan and her cheeks warmed. She glanced his way. A silver flame kindled in his eyes. Despite the large amount of food he’d consumed, there remained a hungry look about him. He appeared ready to devour her. A slow, steady heat crept through her, moving with determination to the parts of her most vulnerable to the persuasive power of desire.
“About dessert,” she began, sounding unsteady and breathless.
The way his eyes slid over her made her quake. Traitorous longings weakened her resolve to go back to work tonight. Nathan Case, covered in whipped cream, was too much temptation for her to resist. And Emma had never been one to deny herself something she wanted. Hence, her current predicament.
She cleared her throat and tried again. “I really have a lot of work to do tonight. I should get back to my loft. There’s so much to be done for the show. I’m starting with almost no inventory. The more pieces I make, the more I will have to sell and the better the show will go.” She was babbling, but stopping the words from flowing off her tongue was nearly impossible, pierced as she was by those quicksilver eyes dancing with carnal promises.
“I understand,” he said. “As long as you promise to give me a rain check on dessert.”
