things out, but trust me, you don’t need to hear the gory details.”
“Isn’t that my decision?”
“No, it’s not. You might as well get used to guessing what’s happening because no one tells the whole story. Not even Jim.”
“Great. I ought to be crazy in about twenty-four hours.”
“Slacker. I was there in twelve. But then I learned I was better off. And you, the biggest worrywart on the planet—”
“Ha,” Emma said. “As if I don’t have reason. Especially where you’re concerned.”
“You’re just spoiling for a fight, aren’t you?” Anthony challenged, sliding her a plate. He had the gall to smile at her as if it were cute that she was still angry after two years.
“I wasn’t until you said that. Now that you mention it, maybe I am. I can’t believe you’re acting like nothing happened.”
Anthony hooked his foot through the rungs of a stool and pulled it up to the island counter. “Fine. You want to yell? Go ahead.”
Emma gaped at him for a moment, then said, “I hate it when you condescend.”
“I wasn’t condescending. If you want to yell, feel free. Get me mad enough and I might even yell back.”
“Oh, can I?” she asked sarcastically, annoyed that she’d actually missed the way they used to bicker over nothing. Only this wasn’t nothing.
“All right, Emma, listen. What’s done is done. Neither one of us can go back and undo what we did to each other—”
“As if I have anything to take back,” she muttered, and took a bite of her sandwich.
“You have plenty to take back. Like shooting your mouth off and being a tease just for extra revenge. Not very nice after being Miss Don’t-Touch-Me for a week.”
“And that compares to what you did?”
“I never said it did. I’m just saying you didn’t play fair, either.”
“Do you think I’m proud of that?” she asked, wondering just how obtuse the man was.
“Are you saying you’re not?”
They stared at each other for a moment, and Emma noticed Anthony squirming a bit. His shoulder itched.
Let him suffer.
“No, I’m not proud of it,” she sighed. “What about you? If you could do it all over again would you bribe your way into owning my company?”
“Honestly?”
Emma let out a groan of sheer disgust. “You would!”
“In a heartbeat.”
Rolling her eyes, she said, “Some people never learn.”
“Right. So how would you do away with me this time?” he asked, flexing his left arm.
Emma took another bite of melon, wondering how long he could stand it before he scratched. “This time I’d probably sink you up to your thick skull in lawyers. What about you? How would you do it differently?”
“This time I’d bribe the entire building inspector’s office so they couldn’t tip you off.”
Emma laughed. “That was your own fault, you know. Should have done your homework. The guy who told me someone must have faked the asbestos samples was my father’s best friend.”
“Live and learn,” Anthony said. “Almost pulled it off, though. My people were all set to come in and look busy doing nothing. You never would have known I’d set the whole thing up if you hadn’t replied to their noncompliance letter with a huge temper tantrum.”
“Humph. I can’t believe you thought you’d get away with it. I would’ve gone nuts being shut down for months. And even though you said you’d pay for everything, I never would have given you controlling interest,” Emma said.
He laughed and Emma’s throat tightened at the sight. She’d forgotten how utterly gorgeous he could be when he laughed. Smiling was bad enough.
Emma jumped when the phone rang. She stared at it a moment, debating whether to ignore it. This conversation was far too interesting to let drop, but no one ever called during lunch unless it was urgent.
“Hang on a minute,” she said, fighting the impulse to scratch his shoulder as she passed.
Anthony’s shoulder was on fire but he refused to contort himself into scratch position. It would remind her of the scar, and he didn’t want to erase this last half hour’s progress. They’d somehow managed to joke about the past in a way he never had, not even with Geoff, his stepfather, whose sense of humor had been Anthony’s saving grace during the last two years.
But then it had always been easy to talk around touchy subjects with Emma, because she was always quick to smooth over unwanted topics herself.
Eavesdropping shamelessly as she picked up the phone, he heard her say, “Hey Brady.”
With her back to him, Anthony felt free to scowl. But it melted from his face as Emma’s voice turned sharp. “What? You’ve got to be kidding me! Put him through.”
There was a pause and the scar began to itch again in earnest as Emma said, “Hi, Peter.”
Peter was Peter Carlson, Emma’s insurer, and a huge danger to Anthony and Charles. They’d made absolutely certain the New York auction house would keep their mouths shut about enhancing Emma’s bid, but Peter’s appraised value of the stones and metals would be way more than she’d paid.
Charles had been soothing Peter for a couple months now, telling him these things sometimes happened. But Peter wasn’t on the phone with Charles this time. He was talking to Emma. And she wasn’t known for being careless.
If either one of those two got nervous enough to dig deeper into that appraisal discrepancy, Anthony and Charles were toast.
“What do you mean we won’t have them today?” Her voice was level but he could see her back tighten with tension.
Anthony, on the other hand, blew out a quiet sigh of relief. With Emma in no-excuse mode, Peter wouldn’t dare hint at another delay.
“Yes, well that’s what you said last week. I don’t care how many stones there are. There’s no way it takes three months to appraise one auction lot. With what I’m paying you… Well, are you sure your people aren’t overvaluing the uncut stones? It’s happened before, and our bid couldn’t be that far off the value.”
Oops. Holding his breath, Anthony watched as she put a hand on her hip and stretched sideways. He almost felt sorry for her.
But he could imagine how she would react if he told her the stomach problem and knotted muscles would disappear as soon as she stopped letting her career run her life.
She’d
