Meddling with a Millionaire (10 page)

With the back of her hand, she brushed her bangs off her face. “How long have you been standing there?”

“A couple of minutes. You certainly seem preoccupied by what you were doing.” He gestured with the long tube he carried.

“I have a lot to do and only ten days to get it done.” She held up a half-finished necklace for his inspection, pleased by how well her design looked in gold. The light clipped to the side of her worktable made the diamonds sparkle. “But I'm doing some of my best work ever.”

He cocked his head as he surveyed the necklace. “I'm glad to hear that.”

Her insides twisted into an uncomfortable knot. To her dismay, she realized that she'd expected his eyes to light up with pride at her accomplishments. She wanted him to appreciate her craft and to understand how important this show was to her, not just because she needed to restore the money to her account, but also because it would prove that
she could take care of herself by doing something she was great at.

What an idiot she was. Bad enough that he whipped her into a sexual frenzy with his lazy smiles. She'd really be setting herself up for heartache if his opinion of her started to matter.

Nathan tapped a roll of blueprints out of the tube he was holding and spread them across her worktable, using pliers, the box that held her loose stones, and the necklace she'd shown him to weigh down the corners.

“I brought you some sketches for the remodel on your loft.”

She shook her head. Exhaustion dragged at her shoulders. “I don't have the money or the time to think about remodeling my loft right now.”

“Let me do it.”

“No.” Emma bristled. He wanted to fix up her place to sell it. “Why won't you listen to me?”

Instead of reacting negatively to her sharp tone, Nathan left the sketches and circled her worktable. He'd come within reach before she caught the intent in his eye. Back against the wall, surrounded by equipment, she had no place to flee. She held up her tweezers.

Ignoring her defensive stance, he spun her around on her stool. His hands settled on her shoulders, thumbs rolling deep pressure into her muscles. Rather than feeling sexual, his touch pleasured her on a whole different level. She groaned her appreciation and let her head drop forward.

“You should take some time off,” he told her, massaging his strong fingers down either side of her spine. “You're working too hard.”

“I have to get ready for the show.”

“You'll concentrate better if you're not so tired.”

Did he know she wasn't sleeping? Crashing on Addison's couch wasn't ideal. Between staying up late to sketch new
designs and her best friend's early-rising brood, she was lucky to snag four hours of shut-eye. The first few nights it hadn't been bad, but now, in the second week, she was feeling the effects of weariness. She'd messed up an important piece yesterday afternoon for that very reason, but she couldn't stop, much less slow down.

“I'll sleep when the show's over,” she said, pulling away from his invigorating massage before he convinced her to take a break. His hands on her back made her long for him to apply that healing touch to other parts of her body, parts that were achy for reasons having nothing to do with jewelry-making. She fussed with the gems on her worktable. “Until then, I intend to work until I drop.”

“Take five minutes and look at what my architect came up with.”

Exhausted and awash with conflicting desires, she gave him a taste of her frustration. “What part of ‘I'm not going to sell my condo' aren't you getting?” she muttered crossly. “Did it ever occur to you that I don't like being told what to do? You bullied me into moving out of my loft and now you tell me that you're going to remodel it so I can sell it because we're getting married. You've never once thought about what's best for me.” Emma's chest heaved as she drew breath for her next onslaught of temper. “Go away, Nathan, and take your plans with you.”

She indicated the ones he'd spread over the table, but really meant all his plans—the ones for her loft, the ones for her future and, most important, the ones for her heart. She moved the weights that held the floor plans flat and they curled up on themselves.

Emma returned to sorting sapphires, her hands shaking hard enough that she could barely pick up the pink gem she intended to place into the gold setting. Although Nathan was a difficult man to ignore, she put her heart and soul into it. He stood beside her for a long moment, impatience rolling
off him, before he dropped a perfunctory kiss on the top of her head and walked out of the room.

 

An insistent ringing disturbed Nathan's grim thoughts. The meeting with Lucas Smythe had gone worse than he'd expected. The guy was definitely considering selling his company and offering Case Consolidated Holdings first crack at it. Sebastian and Max were full of smug delight and Nathan was fighting hard to stop them from shutting down his venture with Montgomery Oil. With three weeks to go until Valentine's Day, the only thing keeping his deal with Silas alive was the fact that Smythe was not one hundred percent ready to let go of the business his family had owned for the last hundred years.

Glancing at his cell phone's display, he took the call. “Hey, Dad.”

Brandon Case's rich chuckle filled Nathan's ear. “Don't you sound cheerful. Your brothers giving you trouble?”

Nathan gestured to the bartender to bring him another whiskey and stared at the hockey game on the television behind the bar. “You know they are.”

“How's the deal going with Montgomery?”

“We're talking a couple times a week. He's got his people confirming our financial forecast. Cody's looking into possible locations for the production facility.”

“Sounds promising.”

“Yeah.” Nathan knew his dad couldn't possibly miss the lack of enthusiasm in his voice. He was under the gun from two quarters. His brothers were awfully enamored of Smythe's company. How long before they convinced the guy to sell? Nathan had little trouble imagining a scenario in which he convinced Emma to marry him, and then couldn't do the deal with her father because his brothers bought Smythe Industries. “But it all might be a big waste of time.”

“Let me guess—Lucas Smythe's company?”

A cheer went up behind Nathan. Someone must have scored.

“It balances our product mix and provides Case Consolidated Holdings with conservative but steady growth,” he muttered.

“I was right to convince you to come home. I love those boys, but neither one has any instincts when it comes to taking risk. Too much education.”

Nathan rolled his head from side to side in an attempt to loosen the knots in his shoulders. “I don't think having advanced degrees in business makes Max and Sebastian risk-adverse.”

“It's because they take after their mother,” Brandon said. “Whereas you take after me and your mother. Never met anyone as strong and brave as Marissa.”

It wasn't the first time Nathan had heard his father's tone grow wistful when he spoke about Marissa Connor, but it was the first time Nathan asked a particular question. “Did you love her?”

He had no idea what had prompted him to delve into the relationship between his parents after avoiding the topic for so many years. Maybe he'd been thinking too much about Emma this trip and pondering how to overcome her determination to marry for love. He'd called her each day he'd been gone, getting her voice mail and leaving messages both times. She'd returned his calls, but he'd been in meetings and she hadn't left a voice mail. He craved the sound of her voice right now. It bugged him just how much he wanted to talk to her.

“Love her?” Brandon sounded surprised. “I adored her.”

Was that true? Or was it a man's fond remembrance of the woman he'd lost before he could grow tired of her?

“I only wished I'd met her before Susan and I got married,” Brandon continued. “I would have saved everyone a lot of heartache if I'd held out for the girl of my dreams instead of deciding it was time to settle down.”

His father's words were like a left jab that came out of nowhere. His father had settled for marriage without love and lived to regret it. Nathan lurched back from the uncertainty that had appeared before him like a sinkhole. “But you didn't leave Susan.”

Brandon sighed. “I wanted to, but Marissa wouldn't let me. She said I had a family who needed me.”

Unexpected pain blossomed in Nathan's chest. What about him and his mom? They'd needed Brandon, too. “You're lying,” he growled. “She loved you. She'd smile and hum for days after you visited. Why would she tell you to stay married?”

“Because she was stronger than me. Than Susan. Than your brothers. You both were.” Brandon's voice grew melancholy. “They needed me. You didn't. Not really. Together the two of you could take on the world. It's why I wanted you to work with your brothers. They need your strength. Your confidence. The three of you will do great things with the business.”

“Maybe, but we have to learn to work together first,” Nathan muttered bitterly.

“Do you want me to talk to them?” his dad asked, his voice gaining an edge. “They need to understand you're an equal partner.”

Nathan knew his father was feeling restless since retiring. Brandon liked keeping tabs on the business and voicing his opinions. He didn't understand how much that irritated his eldest son.

“Thanks, Dad, but this is something I need to handle.”

After hanging up, Nathan sipped his drink and let his thoughts drift toward Emma as they'd been doing all too often lately. Never before had he struggled so hard to keep his attention on business.

From the moment he'd boarded the plane in Houston, it had occurred to him that he was worried about leaving her to her own devices. Her inability to understand the limitations of her
energy and strength irritated him. In the last glimpse he'd had of her before leaving on this trip, he'd seen that Emma was driving herself toward exhaustion.

Until he'd surprised her over lunch, he'd assumed that the only work she'd been doing had been at his condo, but seeing how pale she'd become since he'd moved her out of her loft, he'd gotten her to admit that she spent her nights crafting her designs.

Things were going to change when he got back. He was going to convince her to move in so he could keep an eye on her and make her slow down. It was past time she started accepting that her future was with him. Once they were married, she wouldn't need to make jewelry or worry about money. He would take care of her the way she deserved to be cared for.

“Y
ou have to eat something,” Nathan said, standing bare-chested before her worktable, his dark hair wet from the shower. Worn denim rode low on his hips, and he'd brought the scent of lavender into the spare room.

He'd returned home from his business trip an hour ago, more grim than she'd ever seen him, and commenced badgering her to take a break as soon as his overcoat hit the hall closet.

Avoiding Nathan's gaze, Emma eyed the plate he held. Although the fat strawberries tempted her, her stomach shifted uncertainly. She hadn't been interested in food lately. She blamed it on anxiety. Progress was much slower than she'd anticipated, due to the intricate nature of her newest designs. Of course, the finished product made the extra hours worthwhile, but she was overwhelmed with the amount of work still to be done.

“I ate before you came home.” Fatigue threatened to tip
her off the stool. She'd been perched on it so long her behind had gone numb.

“What time?” he demanded.

“What time is it now?”

Nathan glowered at her. “Seven o'clock.”

That meant she'd been sitting at her worktable for twelve hours straight with only bathroom breaks and a quick snack sometime around one. For the last three days, she'd been practically living in this room, taking advantage of his absence to execute one piece of jewelry after another. Never in her life had she put so much effort into anything. It was as exhilarating as it was exhausting.

She'd jump for joy if she could summon the energy.

“A couple hours ago.”

“You are many things, Emma Montgomery, but a skillful liar you are not.”

“I'll eat in a minute.” In truth, she was afraid to stop working. Afraid, because she was so exhausted, that she might never start again. The long hours were taking their toll on her mind as well as her body, but she had a significant inventory of jewelry to show for all her effort. Yet, so much remained unfinished and with the clock ticking down, her nerves were stretched as thin as onionskin.

“You keep saying that and yet you don't.” Radiating frustration, he arched his eyebrows at her. Crossing his arms over his chest made his biceps bulge. “I'm not leaving here until I see you eat every bite of that sandwich.”

“Which I'll do as soon as I finish this ring.” Her hands trembled as she struggled to fix a tiny diamond into place on the platinum band she was working on. She hissed a curse. “I promise.”

Tears gathered in her eyes. If the stupid diamond didn't settle into the cradle she'd crafted for it, she was going to scream.

The ring blurred. She blinked away the weariness eating
into muscle and bone. Just a couple more hours, and she could knock off for the night. A couple more hours and she could stumble back to Addison's couch.

All too aware of Nathan's keen watchfulness, she clenched her teeth against a yawn. The struggle was brief, and in the end, she lost.

“Enough. You're dead on your feet.” He circled the worktable, handed her the plate and plucked her off the stool as easily as if she'd been a child.

“Put me down.”

Her stomach growled while she glared at him. “I don't have time for this. I need to work.”

“You need to eat and rest.” He swept her out of the room and strode down the hall, passing the guestroom he'd repeatedly offered.

Her heart bounced fretfully in her chest as he passed the living room and kept going. “Where are you taking me?”

“Bed.”

“Not your bed.”

His answer was a slow smile.

She made her displeasure known by spouting objections and shoving the heel of her palm against his steely shoulder, but despite her resistance, desire awakened and banished her earlier tiredness. How could she continue to want him with such intensity when he acted like such a domineering oaf? Yet, even as she fought for independence, the heat of his skin penetrated her annoyance and a sensual longing defused her protests.

By the time he lowered her to the bed, she'd relaxed her fists, sent her palms coasting along the silken skin of his upper back and let her fingers tangle in his dark hair.

Catching the change in her mood, he joined her on the mattress, and reclined on his side. She set the plate between them.

He picked up a strawberry and offered it to her. “Please eat.”

Emma pushed herself up on her elbow and opened her mouth. He set the fruit between her lips, approval and lust glowing in his eyes as her teeth sank into the ruby flesh. Luscious and sweet, it exploded on her tongue like a sensual bomb, awakening her senses. She licked juice off her lips as he picked up another strawberry. Long before she finished the last one, she had a thundering need to get her hands on the erection straining against Nathan's zipper.

Putting the uneaten sandwich on the nightstand, she brushed her fingers down the front of his jeans, watching his pupils dilate and his nostrils flare. Wicked delight rippled through her as she drew her nails upward along the same path. His hips shifted as she plucked at the button that held his jeans closed. Thrilled by his harsh breathing, she found the tab of his zipper and began to slide it down, one millimeter at a time.

“Emma.” Her name erupted out of him like a plea.

“Yes, Nathan?”

Pushing her hands away, he unzipped and stripped off his jeans. In turn, she shimmied out of her shirt, sweatpants and underwear, flinging them aside in her impatience. In less than a minute they knelt on the mattress facing each other, naked, inches apart, lungs burning with the rush of air that flowed in and out.

Emma was the first to move. She reached down and took Nathan's hard length, sliding her hand up, then down. A roar rumbled in his chest. His shaft pulsed in response to her caress. Satisfaction blazed as he threw back his head and bared his teeth. Raw need poured from his throat, arousing her still further.

Longing to give him the same sort of pleasure he'd given her, she lowered her head. Before she could put her mouth on him and taste the silken texture of his erection or run her tongue around the head and up the sensitive vein on the underside, Nathan tumbled her onto the mattress.

Startled, Emma scraped the hair away from her face and searched his expression. Nathan knit their fingers together and rested their joined hands on the pillow beside her head. His stillness left her awash in uncertainty. Need pulsed through her. Days apart made her frantic for his long, deep kisses. Hungry for the possessive caress of his hands against her hot skin. She craved their joining as she had craved nothing ever before. Didn't he want that, too?

Something in Nathan's half-lidded gaze held her trans-fixed.

Emotion.

He dropped his lips to hers and made slow work of exploring her mouth. Lost in the stroke of his tongue, the sweet seduction of his breath against her neck, his teeth on her earlobe, she realized that it wasn't all about physical desire for him. He cared for her. Maybe not to the point of love, but this was neither casual nor forgettable for him. She'd tasted the truth in his kisses and the way he made sure she was completely satisfied before he took his own pleasure.

A knot formed in her chest. Pretending this was just sex between them was going to be a lot harder with what she'd just realized. And her heart was more at risk than ever. Because hope had been awakened. Hope that caring could become more. Could become love. Anything less would shred her heart.

Shoving away her worries, she concentrated on the heat building in her loins as his tongue swirled around her breast in languid circles. A gasp tore from her throat as his mouth settled over her hard nipple and suckled her. Pleasure shot straight to her core. His hand followed, stroking down her body, sweeping away her last coherent thought. He explored her with delicate care, finding a host of sensitive spots that inflamed her yearning for him to touch where she burned.

Nathan had always been a considerate lover, but today she
was too impatient, her desire too fiery, spiraling out of control. She wanted him to take her hard and fast.

“I need you.” Emma's fingers bit into his shoulders. His weight pinned her to the mattress, but she could wiggle her hips, make him notice her hunger. “Inside me,” she gasped as his fingers slid between their bodies and found her heat. “Now.”

He obliged by shifting between her parted thighs, his knees against hers, opening her for his possession. Murmuring words of encouragement and appreciation against her hot skin, he braced his hands above her shoulders and rocked his hips forward, penetrating her with a quick, deep thrust. She arched her back and gripped his wrists as her world exploded in a dazzling shower of sensation. She opened her soul to the shattering wonder of their coming together and groaned in pleasure as her body expanded to accommodate his size.

When he was completely encased in her, he stilled, and dropped his cheek against hers. “Woman, you feel marvelous. Are you okay?”

With his weight pinning her to the mattress, their bodies fitted together as nature designed, she knew she'd never been better.

“Perfect.” She breathed the word reverently and rocked her hips, taking him even more deeply inside until he rested against her womb. She felt a flutter of delight. The first promise of her climax to come.

He slid one hand beneath her, cupping her derriere in his palm as he began that incredible slide in and out of her body. Pressure built faster than she thought possible and lifted her high into the sky where she fractured and rained back to earth in a thousand pinpoints of light. She returned to her body, drawn back by Nathan's deep kisses.

“Next time we'll go together,” he promised, resuming the long, slow thrusts that had pushed her over the edge the first time.

“I promise to try to be more patient,” she panted, soothing his cheeks with her fingers. “It will help if you don't make me wait so long next time.”

“Make
you
wait?” he growled, moving powerfully against her, driving deep into her core with spectacular results. “You've been avoiding me—” A groan escaped his lips as she tightened her internal muscles and felt him shudder in response.

It was so easy to please him. Everywhere she touched invoked a reaction. He seized her lips in a passionate kiss as their lovemaking became more and more frenzied. Then, a guttural roar proclaimed his own release as he surged into her one last time, before collapsing onto her.

With her arms wrapped around his shoulders, her legs around his hips, Emma savored the peaceful aftermath of their lovemaking, knowing the cease-fire wouldn't last. Soon he would slip out of her body and move away from her embrace, shattering the fragile intimacy created by the compelling attraction that exploded between them in bed.

Too soon, she would return to work and he would renew his efforts to distract her, but for now, she surrendered to the moment, feeling lazy and oh so very satisfied.

“Now, can we talk about how
I
made
you
wait,” he murmured, kissing his way down her neck.

Despite being exhausted from the long hours she'd spent hunched over her worktable, Nathan's touch aroused her all over again. She'd spent so much time imagining the things she wanted to do in this bed. She had a dozen fantasies to live out.

“I'm not feeling much like talking,” she said, rolling him onto his back and straddling him. Her breath hitched as he reached up and gently weighed her breasts in his hands.

“In other words, just enjoy this?”

She bent forward, her lips hovering just above his, and smiled. “Exactly.”

 

Now this was more to his liking.

Nathan listened to the deep, steady breathing and inhaled the warm scent rising off the skin of the soft, naked woman sleeping in his arms. He took a long moment to savor the press of her full breasts against his chest and the tangle of their legs beneath the covers. Then, he opened his eyes and feasted on her passion-bruised mouth and long lashes. In the predawn light, with her mussed hair and naked shoulders rising out of the sheets, she appeared well-loved. His lips curved in a satisfied smirk.

When he'd first awakened, any thought of moving had been immediately rejected. The need for activity that drove him relentlessly had been tempered by the previous night's lovemaking. He wanted nothing more than to enjoy having Emma stretched out beside him. Parts of him, however, proved to have an abundance of energy. Blood surged into his groin, signaling a lust he'd thought well-sated.

Nathan slid his hand up her thigh and across her backside. He spread his fingers over the curve, applying pressure to ease her against his hard-on. Her lashes flickered, telling him she was awake. He nuzzled her temple.

“I have to go,” she murmured, her muscles tensing as she braced to move.

He tightened his grip. If he let her escape, his contentment would go with her. What was happening to him that he could think of nothing better than spending the entire day in bed with her, just reading the paper or enjoying the feel of her body against his?

“Just stay a little longer.”

“I've stayed too long already,” she retorted, squirming against his grip, arousing him still more with her wriggling. “I've got work to do.”

“Forget about the show. You'll never make your father's deadline.”

“I'll make it.” She glared at him and wedged her hands between their bodies to push him away. “I will make it.”

“Why don't you just give up and marry me? You know I'll take care of you the way you were meant to be taken care of.”

“I don't want to be taken care of.”

Says the girl who wants a fairy-tale marriage,
Nathan thought. If she'd give him half a chance, he could change her mind on that score, show her how thoroughly he could spoil her.

“Why are you fighting this so hard? We're great together. Last night was amazing.”

Nathan rolled her beneath him, pinning her wrists above her head. Her muscles melted, body yielding. But her lips thinned in mutiny, and a resentful tempest darkened her eyes.