She listened. Committed to memory things she thought Marco might want to consider later. Quietly translated an occasional word or two when it seemed important to do so. And when the business portion of the evening ended, she smiled and exchanged pleasantries with the others.
At last, chairs were scraped back and handshakes were exchanged. Air kisses from the French CEO and his wife for her, a second set of air kisses from the CEO’s wife for Marco, a friendly slap on the back from the CEO.
A deal had been cinched.
Then they were in the limo and Charles was taking them back to the hotel.
“Well,” Marco said, smiling, “that went very well.”
Emily looked at him. “You think?”
“I know. You did an excellent job.”
She breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”
“For what? It is the truth.” He grinned. “The Frenchman said that if ever I decided to part with you, he would hire you in a heartbeat at twice whatever I’m paying you.”
She laughed. “You don’t think it’s dangerous to tell me that?”
His smile tilted. “I think that everything about you is dangerous, cara.”
She felt her pulse skitter.
“Not to worry,” she said lightly, deliberately misunderstanding what he’d just said and the smoldering look that was suddenly in his eyes. “I’d need all kinds of fancy documents and permits to take him up on his offer.”
“I would not let that happen.”
His voice was low, his expression intense. It didn’t take a genius to know they weren’t talking about documents and permits.
He reached for her hand. She caught her breath as he stroked his thumb over the delicate skin on the inside of her wrist.
“Don’t.”
He answered by taking her hand in his and bringing it to his lips.
“Please…”
“Please, what?
” he said in a husky whisper.
“Please—please stop. This isn’t a good idea.”
His eyes searched hers. That muscle in his jaw knotted.
“Emily…”
She shook her head, tugged her hand free.
She didn’t want this.
All right. She wanted it and that was exactly why it was a bad idea.
Marco was her employer. One benefit of having held zillions of jobs was that you knew from the dubious pleasure of firsthand observation that a disaster resulted when a woman slept with her boss.
More to the point, did she want to be just another in the string of women who passed through his life? No matter that Jessalyn was a bitch. Did she want to end up like her, dumped without any concern for her feelings?
Even if that didn’t happen for weeks, even a few months, was it better than a hookup?