Meddling with a Millionaire (Case Brothers 1)

“I already have plans for dinner,” she hedged as he advanced toward her. Emma backed up. If she didn’t get out of here fast, he’d figure out how effortlessly he made her pulse race and her willpower waver. “How about we meet at nine tomorrow morning after my yoga class?” Preferably at a place where she couldn’t be persuaded to take her clothes off. “I go to Carley’s Café quite a bit.”

“I don’t think so.” He shook his head. “You stood me up for breakfast once.”

Emma doubted that he’d ever been stood up before. Cody had regaled her with enough of Nathan’s conquests for her to recognize that he kept a woman around as long as it suited him to do so. He determined the length of the relationship, not the other way around.

She’d understood that three weeks ago when she’d left the party and gone to his penthouse condo overlooking downtown Houston. But that didn’t mean she had to wait for him to grow tired of her, like all the other women who fell for his charms.

She shrugged. “Sorry about that. I had to get back to Houston right away.”

“And the reason you didn’t call and give me a heads-up?”

What could she say to that? “Because you don’t take no for an answer.”

“Funny,” he murmured, his gaze trailing over her features, “that doesn’t stop you from saying no to me.”

With her heart thundering in her ears, she pressed her lips together to keep from spilling the truth. In the weeks since he’d taken her hard and fast against the front door of his condo, she’d been consumed with a crazy, irrational desire to see where dating him might lead. She’d been on the verge of returning his phone calls when her father had interfered and saved her from making a huge mistake.

“Until three weeks ago, you never gave me the chance,” she said, immediately regretting both the statement and her aggrieved tone.

“I didn’t realize you were that interested,” he said, taking a step toward her.

His predatory intent induced Emma to take a step back. “I wasn’t.”

“No?”

Emma’s pulse kicked up a notch, intensifying her need to retreat. When her back collided with something solid, she brushed aside her bangs in acute frustration. She’d misjudged her direction and missed the doorway. The wall kept her from escaping.

“Look.” She tugged on her earring. “The night of Grant’s party was nice.”

“Nice?” he echoed, his tone neutral.

“It gave me closure.”

He set his hand on the wall above her shoulder and leaned in. “Closure?”

“I wondered what…being with you would be like.” She took a deep breath. “Now I know, and…”

His nostrils flared. “Let’s see if I have this straight. You’d been curious what sex with me would be like? And now that you know, you’re done with me?” Gray ice melted as heat blazed in his eyes. The rest of his expression remained frozen, but his searing, penetrating gaze heated places that would inspire her to surrender if she wasn’t careful. “Well, let me set the record straight. I’m not done with you.”

Traitorous impulses surged through Emma’s body, undermining her resistance. She shoved Nathan’s business deal with her father to the furthest reaches of her mind and gathered handfuls of his lapels, but before she could draw him closer, a tall brunette breezed into the office as if she belonged there.

“Nathan, I hope you’re free to take me to lunch.”

At the interruption, Emma’s hands fell to her sides. Nathan shifted his gaze to follow the newcomer across his office and pushed away from the wall.

He smoothed his tie and straightened his suit coat. “Gabrielle, what are you doing here?”

“I’ve been craving Rolando’s crab bisque all morning.” The brunette set her purse on his desk and pulled out a compact, appearing oblivious to the charged atmosphere.

A wave of nausea pounded through Emma. She’d been a fool to think for even one second that she was the only woman Nathan was interested in. Scanning Gabrielle from her elegant haircut to her expensive shoes, Emma recognized that Nathan’s taste in women ran to sophisticated, pampered brunettes with large bank accounts.

Nathan looked from her to Gabrielle and back again. Was he comparing his women? Who would he choose? The tense, pale girl in a simple beige dress or the accomplished flirt in the pencil-slim skirt, cowl-neck halter top and Manolo sandals?

“Nathan?” the brunette asked, sensing that she hadn’t captured his complete attention. “Are you listening to me?” She turned around and spotted Emma. “Oh, is this your new assistant? I’m glad you finally listened to Sebastian and hired someone. Tell her to make reservations for us at Frey’s.”

“Gabrielle, this is Emma Montgomery. She is not my new assistant. Her father is Silas Montgomery of Montgomery Oil.”

“Really?” Gabrielle turned the full power of her aquamarine eyes on Emma and perused her appearance with amusement. “Well, my daddy is chairman of the board and CEO of Parker Corporation.”