Meddling with a Millionaire (Case Brothers 1)

He frowned. “Emma—”

“One way or another, in six weeks I’m no longer your responsibility, Daddy,” she said. “It’s past time you start letting go.”

“Of course it is.” He kissed on the top of her head and retreated down the hall.

In her bedroom, Emma stripped out of her dress, being extra careful with it even in her haste. She’d borrowed both the dress and her shoes from Jaime, and would never forgive herself if she returned the designer original with any damage. As she zipped the gown into its protective bag, she contemplated her shift in perspective. A year ago she wouldn’t have taken such care with her clothes. Any tear, stain, sometimes even a single wearing would prompt her to shift the outfit to the back of her closet. Funny…what Jaime had given her with so little concern, Emma now treated like a magical gown from her fairy godmother.

Thank goodness this dress hadn’t disappeared at the stroke of midnight. A wry smile formed despite her turbulent emotions.

She donned jeans and a sweater, and then tossed the rest of her clothes into her overnight bag. Until her encounter with Nathan, she’d intended to stay the night, but after what had almost happened between them again, she needed some time to think, and the four and a half hours back to Houston would be just about right.

She didn’t worry about falling asleep at the wheel. The encounter with Nathan ensured that the adrenaline pumping through her veins would keep her awake. As for being sober, she’d wanted a clear head in case he’d shown up tonight and hadn’t allowed herself a single sip of champagne.

Feeling like a cat burglar, she hugged the wall as she descended the back stairs. She pictured her earrings resting in Nathan’s pocket. What a lousy thief she would make, coming away from the house with lighter pockets than when she’d arrived.

Not until she turned left out of the driveway and followed the moonlit road back to the highway did the pressure in her chest lessen. Whatever it took, she’d put the money back in her account. She’d prove to her father that she could take care of herself and avoid the marriage net he’d woven to snare her. Nathan Case would have to figure out some other way to do the deal with Silas Montgomery.

“What do you mean she’s not here? When did she leave?” Nathan glared around the quiet, empty cavern of a foyer that showed no signs it had been occupied by party guests a few hours earlier.

The maid clasped her hands before her. “I’m not sure.”

“Hey, Nathan.” Cody Montgomery trotted down the grand staircase. Dressed in jeans and a navy sweater, he advanced with a huge smile. “What are you doing here?”

The maid faded away as Nathan shook his best friend’s hand. “Your sister and I were supposed to have breakfast this morning.”

“Are you sure? Dad told me she headed back to Houston last night.”

“Quite sure,” Nathan said, indulging in a frustrated exhale. She’d disappeared on him again. He should have listened to his instincts last night and persuaded her to go back to his hotel room with him. “We had some things to discuss.”

“Like setting a wedding date?” Cody chuckled as Nathan raised his eyebrows. “Dad told me you two are getting married. Never thought I’d see the day when you’d finally admit my sister has had you wrapped around her finger since she was sixteen.”

Nathan held a growl between his clenched teeth while his best friend had a good laugh at his expense. “I wouldn’t go that far.”

Cody frowned. “But you love her.”

Nathan wasn’t surprised by the question. After five years of marriage, Cody and Jaime were still crazy about each other as they awaited the birth of their first child. Nathan wasn’t sure what sort of water the two were drinking, but he intended to stick with whiskey.

“You know how I feel about love,” Nathan said. He wasn’t looking to fall into that trap. “It’s never going to happen for me.”

“But you’re getting married.” Cody gaze shifted away from Nathan. With a glance over his shoulder, he edged Nathan toward the front door, but didn’t speak until the two men stood outside in the brisk January wind. “Does Emma know you’re not in love with her?”

Nathan wasn’t going to lie to his best friend. “She knows.”

“I can’t believe it’s okay with her. After watching her mother’s marriage to Dad fall apart, she’s pretty determined not to marry unless the guy’s crazy in love with her.”

Cody made no secret of his belief that Silas’s third wife had married her billionaire husband for financial rather than romantic reasons.

“She’ll come around.”

Cody shot his friend a skeptical look. “I don’t think she will. You’ve been on her radar since she was a teenager, but she’s got this whole fairy-tale happily-ever-after thing going. She’s not going to marry you unless she thinks you’re madly in love with her.”

“Have a little faith in my powers of persuasion.” Nathan offered his friend a slow grin.

A grin that faded as he strode to his car and gave his best friend a farewell salute. Cody’s words poked at him like a burr long after the wheels of the BMW 650i coupe hit the main road.

Love.

Emma wasn’t going to marry without it. Nathan wouldn’t marry with it. Stalemate.