“In storage. Your clothes are in my guestroom.”
Hadn’t he heard a word she said? “I’ll stay with Addison until the mold is cleaned up, then I’m moving back into the loft. Call your contractors and cancel them. I’m not going to do any remodeling on the loft because I’m not going to sell it.” Her jaw hurt from clenching her teeth, but she managed to add, “I’ll have someone in here either this afternoon or tomorrow to move my things out.”
“And where do you plan to work? You’d better not go back to the loft.”
“I’ll find studio space I can rent.”
“You can work here.”
His offer was grudging at best. He didn’t want her working at all. And Emma couldn’t imagine getting anything done with his presence distracting her.
“You don’t need to worry about me,” she said, and wished her wo
rds would convince him.
“How can I help it?”
“Easy. Just remind yourself that I’m not your responsibility.”
His dark eyebrows arched. “Not yet.”
“Not ever.”
“We’ll see.”
Nathan realized that he’d been staring at the set of financials for half an hour without making any sense of the numbers. In fact, he’d been distracted all morning. After five days of searching, Emma had been unable to find space to work. Desperate and running short on time, she’d ungraciously reconsidered her refusal of his spare bedroom as her studio, but spent her nights at her friend’s house.
Despite knowing that he was her last option, he’d been pleased that Emma had stayed within his grasp, even if she’d wrung a promise from him not to sabotage her jewelry or interfere with her workspace.
This meant the only way to keep her from working would be to distract her with kisses and lovemaking, but like the shoemaker’s elves, she was both industrious and elusive. In the four days since she’d been working in his condo, he had yet to catch sight of her.
Every night when he arrived home, he went straight to the spare room where her equipment was set up and noticed new sketches pinned to the walls and glittering works in progress scattered across her worktable.
And the more jewelry she finished, the more likely it was that she would make good on her threat to sell enough at the show to meet her goal. He needed to slow her down. An impossible task with all the long hours he was working at rehashing the numbers for the venture with Montgomery Oil.
Maybe he should take work home. Lord knew he could use a break from the office. His brothers’ negative attitudes were getting on his nerves more than ever. For the last week, he’d been as surly as a bear awakened in the middle of winter.
He checked his watch. He could head home for lunch and surprise her with a little afternoon delight. Decision made, he grabbed his keys and the tube containing the architect’s plans for her loft that he’d commissioned. Anticipation kicked him hard as he headed for the door. He dodged the implication that not seeing Emma was what accounted for his foul mood, but it dogged his heels in a relentless bid for attention.
He was moving briskly down the hall when Sebastian called after him. “Nathan, got a minute?”
Hissing in exasperation, Nathan turned and spied his older brother standing just outside his office. Sebastian must have seen him going by. “Sure,” he said, retracing his steps. “What’s up?”
“Max and I are heading out to meet with Lucas for a couple days.” Sebastian gestured Nathan into his room. “I wondered if you had any input for us before we go.”
Nathan noticed that he hadn’t been included in the meeting. Resentment burned. They’d regret cutting him out of the decision-making process. He’d make sure of it. “I don’t see the point. You won’t like what I have to say.”
Sebastian’s mouth tightened at Nathan’s sarcasm, but he wasn’t as reactive as Max. “Maybe you should come along and say it in person.”
Sebastian’s offer surprised Nathan. Obviously, he and Max were still determined to persuade Lucas to sell his company, but it also appeared that they were willing to listen to Nathan’s analysis of the business.
Or at least Sebastian was. Max hadn’t voiced his opinion. But if Nathan could get one Case brother on his side, chances were the other one would come around in time. Divide and conquer.
Or was it possible that they were interested in finding some middle ground and starting a dialogue?
“When are you thinking of going?” Nathan asked, curious as to what his brothers were up to.
“We thought we’d go this week,” Sebastian said.