A Win-Win Proposition (Case Brothers 2)

“I’m sorry if I’ve caused problems. It wasn’t my intention to put her health at risk.”

“You didn’t.” Emma returned and nudged her husband with her hip.

Nathan’s hand settled on her round belly. ?

?You’ve barely rested all week.”

“I’m pregnant,” she said, covering his hand with hers. “Not an invalid.”

“What did you make for him?”

“Sebastian asked me not to say anything to anyone.” She handed Sebastian a box and wrapped her arms around her husband’s waist.

Nathan visibly relaxed in his wife’s embrace. “I’m your husband. You should be able to tell me everything.”

“Nice try.” She reached up on tiptoe and kissed his chin. “Would you make me a snack while I walk Sebastian out? I bought some fresh strawberries today.”

“We’re out of whipped cream.”

“But there’s chocolate sauce.” Her eyes took on a particular softness as she gazed up at her husband.

“Fine.” Grumbling, Nathan headed deeper into the condo.

Watching Nathan and Emma awakened Sebastian to envy. After his disastrous first marriage, he’d refused to let emotion lead him back to the altar. He’d approached his personal relationships more like business deals, analyzing, weighing the pros and cons of each potential merger.

Until that night in Las Vegas with Missy.

Missy was real and endlessly fascinating. He adored her ability to sit back and observe and then arrow straight to the heart of someone’s character. How many times had he brought her into his office and wrestled an opinion out of her when a problem came up in one of their divisions?

She dismantled his restraint with her audacious opinions of him and her enthusiasm for adventure. His desire for her astonished him, but he could no more fight it than stop an avalanche.

Tonight, what he’d learned of her past left him with concerns. She’d obviously suffered at the hands of a teenage idiot with no thought of anyone but himself, but how badly damaged was her ability to trust? She claimed she didn’t view him in the same light as her high school boyfriend, but Sebastian wondered if she intended to hold his wealth and position against him.

He’d thought a lot about Missy during the four weeks she’d been gone. And that had led to missing her. He’d invented excuses to call her once, even twice, a day, just so he could hear her voice.

The behavior struck him as unnecessary, yet he couldn’t stop himself from dialing. He hated that she was on his mind all day long. He wasn’t in control of his actions or his thoughts, and fighting the need to connect with her a dozen times a day warned him he might be on the path to even more disastrous tendencies like skipping work to spend the day in bed with her or clearing his schedule so he could enjoy her company over a long lunch.

Her new job might have created a wall between them, but it was a flimsy barrier to Sebastian’s desires. A more formidable impediment was convincing her to trust him to keep her safe in his social circles.

It was a task he was up to. Tonight had demonstrated how much he wanted her in his life.

“Sorry about my husband,” Emma said with an apologetic shrug. “He’s become a little unreasonable since our last doctor visit.”

Sebastian was on the verge of telling his sister-in-law that her husband had a knack for being unreasonable when he realized that a certain woman had accused him of the exact same failing. Maybe all the Case men were cursed with a gene that made them more of a handful than the average man.

While Emma walked him to the front door, Sebastian cracked the lid on the box and stared at the contents. Diamonds shot sparks at him from their nest of black velvet.

“This is incredible,” he told her. “The sketches don’t do your work justice.”

Emma sagged into her smile. “Thank you. With all the success I’ve had you’d think I’d get used to people liking my work. But this piece is special. It’s going to sound silly but working on it felt magical.”

“Not silly at all. You are a true artist.” He leaned down and kissed his sister-in-law on the cheek. “Thanks, Emma. I hope my brother knows how lucky he is to have you.”

“I know.” Nathan stood just inside the foyer, arms crossed, eyes flashing with annoyance. “And as soon as you get the hell out of here, I’m going to give her a demonstration she won’t soon forget.”

Her new office as the director of communications gave Missy less square footage than the cubicle she’d had outside Sebastian’s executive suite. But it had a door. And a window.

At the moment, she was enjoying both.