Meddling with a Millionaire

by Cat Schield

  And more than anything, she longed to be that right woman.

  Her heart stopped. Something inside her clicked into place. The final piece of a puzzle that made the picture whole.

  No wonder she was considering marrying him when she’d determined from the first that she wanted a fairy-tale ending. That she deserved to marry a man who adored her.

  She loved Nathan.

  What she’d feared would happen had come to pass. She’d fallen for him. Hard. And Nathan wasn’t ready to let her in. To love her. He might never be. Was she really prepared to settle for that?

  Her cell phone rang. She plucked it from her purse and answered it.

  “Are you done with your errands?”

  Despite the long hours spent stretched out in bed beside him, beneath him, on top of him the previous evening, hearing Nathan’s voice awakened that familiar ache in her body.

  “All done.”

  “Can you meet me in an hour?”

  “What did you have in mind?” Despite her somber mood a moment ago, salacious thoughts began a slow striptease in her head. It did no good to wallow in misery when just talking to Nathan aroused her.

  “I had been thinking about lunch, unless you had a little afternoon delight in mind.”

  “Why couldn’t we do both? Surely there’s a hotel somewhere nearby your office that offers room service.” A picture formed in her mind. She took a moment and savored the fantasy while Nathan’s voice rumbled in her ear.

  “Are you listening to me?”

  “No, sorry. I was mentally undressing you. What was that you were saying?” she asked.

  A muffled curse filled her ear. “Pack a bag. I’ve booked a suite at the Four Seasons.”

  “I’m on my way.”

  Emma ended the call and touched her lips, fingertip gliding from one end of her wide grin to the other. She should be worried that the man made her wild with anticipation after just a phone call. He was a heartbreak ready to happen, but she’d promised herself no more worrying about the future. Just live in the moment.

  Easier said than done, but an hour later she strolled into the hotel lobby and spotted Nathan. He sat on one of the comfortable couches, reading the newspaper and looking every inch the corporate executive. For a moment she stopped and stared at him, her heart pounding.

  Gone was her sexy seducer in jeans and bare chest. In a custom-tailored navy suit with a crisp white shirt and butter-yellow silk tie, he’d become a tycoon once more. The exact sort who’d be in business with her father. Her heart hit her toes.

  Nathan looked up and caught her staring at him. His eyebrows rose slowly, giving her blood a chance to heat. The lazy smile that followed became her undoing.

  “Hello, handsome,” she said, sauntering over on shaky legs to sit beside him on the couch. She angled her body toward him and crossed one leg over the other, trying her best to look seductive. She’d worn an emerald-green sheath that skimmed her curves and bared her arms. “Come here often?”

  His gaze toured her ankles and calves before taking in the rest of her Dior-clad body. By the time he reached her face, she buzzed with desire. He folded the paper and used it to tap her bare knee.

  “Obviously not often enough if you represent their clientele. I have a suite reserved. Could I interest you in a drink?”

  “While that sounds lovely, I’m afraid I’m waiting for my lover. We rendezvous every Thursday at one. He is very handsome and very sexy.”

  “And very late. It is already five minutes after one.” Nathan flicked his cuff over his watch and his lips curved in a his-loss-my-gain smile. “Have a drink with me. A man should never keep a beautiful woman waiting.”

  “Well, since you put it that way.”

  Emma laughed as Nathan pulled her to her feet.

  He sent a bellboy to fetch her things. In the suite, while Nathan tipped the man and sent him on his way, Emma pulled out the room service menu and flipped through it. Nathan came to stand behind her, his fingers grasping the zipper at her nape.

  “Hungry?” He slid the zipper down her back and bent to kiss her shoulder.

  Emma turned in his arms, letting the dress fall to her feet. “Dessert first.”

  Wrapped in a plush towel provided by the hotel, Emma dried her hair and regarded her reflection. Her eyes sparkled with secret delight and an irrepressible smile lifted the corners of her mouth. She glowed the way a woman who’d spent the afternoon being the object of a man’s adoring caresses ought to. Thank goodness it wasn’t illegal to feel this wonderful.

  Just thinking about the exquisite way Nathan had plied her body made her shiver anew at the realization that they had all night to indulge in more such perfect loving. Of course, if they continued at their current pace, she might be dead of exhaustion by morning. But what a way to go.

  “What are you thinking about?” Nathan returned from the bedroom where he’d been ordering room service. He stepped behind her and met her gaze in the mirror.

  “You,” she replied, her smile turning salacious. “On the dining table in the other room, covered in whipped cream and chocolate sauce.”

  His brows rose. “I think it’s your turn.” His hands snaked around her waist to loosen the robe’s belt.

  “We can’t,” she protested, turning off the hair dryer so she could clutch the robe closed. “Dinner first. I’ve got to eat to keep my strength up.”

  “You don’t need strength for what I have in mind. Just lie back and let me do all the work.” His grin was pure wolf.

  She laughed, but continued to defend herself from his questing hands. Breathless with rising desire and from resisting his efforts to separate her from the robe, she was only half-relieved when a knock on the door announced room service.

  While Nathan went to let the waiter in, Emma quickly checked her voice mail. She was hoping for a call from a woman who’d been interested in commissioning a piece of jewelry from her. Granted, it was too late for her to use the money toward winning the wager with her father, but this sort of business would provide a whole new source of income.

  She wondered how Nathan would take the news that she intended to keep designing and producing jewelry after they married. He’d told her over and over that he wanted to take care of her, but she’d proved that she could take care of herself. She was proud of the business she’d started and the success she’d had. She had no intention of giving it up because she no longer needed the money she made from it.

  Two messages had come in during the afternoon. One from Addison, wishing her good luck on her evening with Nathan. The second was from Thomas McCann at Biella’s. She’d called him earlier, hoping against hope that he’d had some luck selling the pieces that hadn’t sold at the Baton Rouge show. He’d been out, so she’d had to leave a message. Crossing her fingers, she listened.

  “Emma, I’m glad you called. I have good news. We’ve sold all the new stuff you brought us. The buyers mentioned seeing your work at a recent charity event. I have a check for almost $11,000 waiting for you. And we’d really like it if you’d bring us more of your jewelry.”

  In stunned disbelief, Emma ended the call. She set the phone on the dresser, scarcely able to wrap her head around what she’d heard. She’d done it. She’d met her goal by the deadline.

  She would get her trust fund back. She could remodel her loft. Buy new equipment. Secure studio space. Market her designs and grow her business.

  She was no longer obligated to marry Nathan.

  Emma’s stomach muscles clenched in distress.

  She loved Nathan. She might not have come to terms with marrying a man who couldn’t or wouldn’t love her, but she’d accepted that she was going to honor the bet with her father.

  Now everything was different. She was free to choose whether or not to marry Nathan.

  In some ways, things had gotten much worse. Free will left her wide open to mistakes.

  Before coming here tonight, she’d accepted that he didn’t love her and had grown ac
customed to the idea of marrying him anyway. No, more than that, a part of her wanted to be his wife. She couldn’t imagine living without him.

  But if she followed her heart and married him, would she eventually grow dissatisfied and spend the rest of her life angry at herself and resenting him? All she needed was some sign, some admission, that his feelings for her were stronger than affection.

  And if he didn’t love her? Was she prepared to walk away?

  She stared around the bedroom. Nathan had staged the perfect romantic scene with roses, candles and chocolate-covered strawberries. She took in the unmade bed, where they’d spent the afternoon in sensual decadence, and the red roses on the dresser.

  Instead of opening into full blossoms, the buds drooped on their sturdy stems. Emma knew the flowers were dying. They’d looked so beautiful, so perfect this afternoon when she and Nathan had first entered the lavish suite. But their loveliness had been an illusion. They were never going to last.

  Was that a sign that she and Nathan weren’t going to last, either?

  Ten

  Wondering what could be keeping Emma, Nathan reentered the bedroom and found her standing, lost in thought. Taking her by the hand, he drew her into the suite’s main room, where dinner awaited. Candlelight sparkled off the cut-crystal glassware and highlighted the gold pattern on the china.

  Nathan pulled out a chair and Emma sat down. His heart bucked as he knelt beside her chair, but other than that, he felt remarkably calm. This was the moment he’d been anticipating all day. “I have something for you.” Still holding her hand, he turned her palm up. “Marry me.”

  Silence filled the room while Emma stared at a magnificent diamond glittering on her palm. Despite the uncertainty in her eyes, her lips twitched. “Most men propose with a ring.”

  “I figured you’d rather design your own.”

  “You’d be right.”

  “You haven’t answered my question,” he prompted.

  She closed her fingers, trapping the diamond in her fist. “Funny, I didn’t hear a question.” She raised her chin and met his gaze. The hope and wariness at war in her dark brown eyes didn’t ease the tightness in his chest. “It sounded more like a demand.”

  And it had been. Nathan immediately recognized his mistake. She was a fanciful girl who believed in fairy tales. He’d offered her practicality. He turned over the hand clenched around the diamond and dusted a reverent kiss across her knuckles. “Emma Montgomery, will you marry me?”

  “Can you promise me I’ll never regret it?”

  “No.”

  At last she smiled. But it was a pale representation of true happiness. “You could have lied and told me yes.”

  “I’d rather be honest with you.” He cupped her face in his hands. “I want our marriage to be based on respect and trust.”

  “But if there was no deal with my father you wouldn’t be marrying me.”

  “Deal or no deal, if I didn’t want to marry you, I wouldn’t.”

  An intense light entered her eyes. Her whole body vibrated with tension. “Do you think you could ever love me?”

  Here was the question he’d been dreading. The businessman in him counseled lying to her, but that would mean he would spend the rest of his life living a sham. He needed to be truthful, even if he risked losing her.

  “I can’t promise you a happily-ever-after, but you’ll never question my commitment to you or our life together.” He released her chin to coast a gentle caress against her cheek. “Marry me.”

  She deflated beneath his words. “I don’t have to.”

  “What do you mean?” he demanded.

  “My jewelry sold at Biella’s. It’s enough to replace all the money in my account. I won the bet with my father.” Her voice shook. “I no longer have to settle for a marriage based only on trust and respect.”

  “You want love.” He dragged his hand though his hair. A muscle ticked in his jaw.

  “More than anything.” Her warm chocolate eyes cooled as his scorn struck her.

  “There is no such thing as a fairy-tale ending, Emma.”

  “Not for us,” she whispered. “Not if you can’t love me. But maybe someday for me if I don’t marry you.”

  “You’re a fool.”

  She pushed his hands away and stood. “No, I’m not.”

  Nathan got to his feet as well, but slowly, uncoiling one muscle at a time while he fought to keep his frustration in check. “You’ll spend the rest of your days chasing rainbows only to have them fade before you catch them. That’s what love is. An illusion.”

  “You’re wrong. Love is what keeps us together through the worst life throws at us. It’s hope and faith. It makes us strong. And you’d see that if you’d just stop expecting to be disappointed.”

  “You’re the one who’s wrong if you think I don’t feel something for you.”

  “Not love—” She gasped as he caught her upper arms and pulled her flush against him.

  A long silence followed her statement, punctuated only by their ragged breathing. Despite being angry with her, desire sank long talons into him. He could take her to bed and make love to her until she stopped thinking. He’d bring her to the edge of orgasm over and over until she admitted that he was the only man she would ever belong to like that.

  But eventually they would have to leave the bed and the arguments would begin all over again. He wouldn’t compromise, and neither would she. Round and round with no hope that either one would bend.

  “I guess we’re at an impasse then,” he said. His hands fell away. She’d gotten what she wanted. She had no reason to marry him, which made his deal with her father null and void. He had nothing more to fight for. “I hope you don’t regret this decision.”

  Emma turned her back to him, but not before he saw her mouth twist into a grim line. “Why would I?”

  “Because with me, for better or worse, you know exactly what you get. Will you be so sure of the next guy?”

  When she didn’t answer, Nathan retreated to the bedroom to gather his things. He dressed quickly and came to stand before her. She hadn’t moved while he was packing, but now, her hand lifted toward his sleeve.

  Before she touched him, he spoke. “Goodbye, Emma.”

  He gave the words a ring of permanence. He wanted her to understand that he was leaving her for good. No turning back.

  “Goodbye, Nathan. Be happy.”

  Snarling at her parting words, he walked out of the hotel suite and out of her life.

  The second half of February was busy for Emma. Unenthusiastic about tackling the major remodeling job it needed, she put her loft up for sale, marketing it as is, and moved her things into a tiny two-bedroom apartment. With her jewelry selling well at Biella’s, she expanded into a couple stores in Dallas and Austin. Losing herself in work might not be a cure for heartbreak, but driving herself to exhaustion was a boon to her jewelry inventory.

  Nathan never showed up at her door. She wasn’t surprised. She’d refused to marry him. His deal with her father was done. So he was done with her.

  She forced herself to eat even though her stomach protested at the mere thought of food. Every morning as she brushed her teeth, she confronted her ghost in the mirror. If she’d had the energy, she would have laughed at the contrast between the glowing, animated woman she’d been at Nathan’s condo and the shadowy creature she’d become.

  But nights were the worst. Questions haunted her. Had refusing Nathan been the right thing to do? Was a lifetime of heartache worth her self-respect? Did he think of her? She wanted to marry for love. By standing up for what she believed in, she’d gained her self-respect and lost her heart.

  Only time would tell if she’d made the right choice.

  March rolled in, bringing sunshine and warmer temperatures. A day came when Emma dressed in jeans and her favorite purple blouse and went shopping. She needed groceries and one special item.

  An hour later, Emma stood in her bathroom and stared at the pr
egnancy test in her hand. The instructions on the box said the test was ninety-nine percent accurate, but Emma wanted to be absolutely positive—scratch that, confident about the results.

  What if she was pregnant?

  Horrified brown eyes stared back at her from the mirror.

  Pregnant with Nathan’s baby.

  After the way he’d walked out on her, she knew he never wanted to hear from her again. A pregnancy would bring him back into her life. What would that mean?

  She took the test, set the stick on the toilet tank, and left the bathroom in a daze. She needed to talk to someone, and with Addison out of town, she picked up the phone and dialed her sister-in-law, Jaime.

  “Hi, stranger,” Jaime said. “Haven’t heard from you lately.”

  “I’ve been sort of busy. How are you feeling?”

  “I’ll be better in a week when the baby comes. Ouch. He’s active today. Lately he gets restless at night.”

  Emma lifted her shirt and fanned her fingers over her still-flat midsection. She stared at her navel.

  Was she going to be a mother?

  “I had hoped to be in our new house before he was born, but it’s not going to work out,” Jaime continued. “I can’t wait to get out of here. Living with your father means living where there’s no privacy and no peace. He tells Cody what to do about everything. It drives me crazy. I don’t know why I let that husband of mine talk me into moving in here while our house was being built. We’d have been better off in a hotel.”

  “I’m sure the maid service isn’t nearly as good at the Lancaster as it is at Chateau Montgomery.”

  “True, but at least I could have my husband to myself.” Jaime continued her one-sided conversation, then must have noticed she no longer had an audience. “Emma, are you okay?”

  “I think I’m pregnant.”

  “Pregnant?”

  Emma winced as Jaime’s voice shrilled in her ear.

  “Emma, pregnant? Are you sure?”