his racing pulse and lingering hard-on were sending a different message. He didn’t want to let her go. That’s why he was standing in the stairwell debating something that he knew he should drop. It made no sense that just as he was finally reaching his life’s goal, he’d find time to pursue this. To pursue her. Her?
Was he really doing this?
“I don’t know. I have no idea what that was about. I haven’t been attracted to anyone since Helio.”
With those few words she made Kell feel something for her. She was young, widowed and he’d recently outmaneuvered her in the corporate world. He understood that a gentleman would back away. There was no sense in chasing her.
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. I honestly thought I’d never feel anything for a man again.”
“Silver lining?” he asked, sardonically.
“In a way. I’m sorry I enticed you to kiss me,” she said. “I had been a little curious about you since we were interns together.”
He arched one eyebrow at her. He liked Emma when she forgot to be all buttoned up and cool. He had a feeling she wasn’t going to ever be this honest with him again because it left her vulnerable. But he definitely liked seeing her this way.
“Me too. But your grandfather was always watching us back then,” Kell said.
“Yes, he was. I wanted to make a good impression and you were always Johnny-on-the-spot with everything. You were a very hard act to follow.”
He felt a flush of pride at what she said. When he’d been an intern he’d still had a few dreams that the world wasn’t the bitter place his grandfather had always made it seem. Of course after his experience with Gregory Chandler his entire perspective had changed. It was odd to think of those days now. Kell had been a completely different man.
“What can I say? I like to be the best at everything.”
“You certainly are good at kissing,” she said, and then flushed and groaned. “I’m going home now. Don’t follow me.”
He nodded. She was cute when she was flustered. Why was he just now seeing this? Probably because he’d taken over her company, his lethal focus on revenge had shifted somewhat.
“I won’t. I’ll see you at the meeting in two days,” he said, pushing his hands into his pockets. He had another meeting of his own in twenty minutes; he needed to start thinking about that instead of how good she’d felt in his arms and the fact that he could still taste her on his lips.
“Thank you,” she said, turning to walk down the stairs. Seeing the sway of her hips and the way the black Chanel dress clung to them made his breath catch.
“Emma?”
She paused but didn’t turn, just glanced over her shoulder at him. “Yes?”
“I...I don’t know if I’ll be able to resist you if you fall into my arms again.”
There. He’d said it. He felt better for having warned her. “I’m not saying that I want anything to develop between us. But I’m attracted to you and given how much time we spend together I wanted to be honest. If that happens again I don’t know if I’ll be able to stop.”
She gave him a smile that was at once the sweetest expression and the saddest. He’d have to analyze it later because right now he knew he was missing something really important in it.
“Fair enough,” she said.
“But then we both know that life isn’t fair, don’t we?” he asked.
“Yes,” she said in the quietest of voices.
He realized that she’d been hurt more than he wanted to acknowledge. Part of it no doubt had come from him and his hostile takeover but more of it had come from the personal tragedies in her life. And where she was right now.
He wanted to apologize but he wasn’t truly sorry for anything. If that elevator door hadn’t opened, who knew how much further the embrace would have gone. He hadn’t wanted it to end when it had. He was still on fire for her. But earlier she’d pointed out that he was a man of his word in business and he knew he was going to have to be the same when it came to this area too. He wasn’t going to be able to just go after her like any other woman he was attracted to.
It wasn’t fair to her or to him. And despite what the world had taught him, he was beginning to want life to be fair for her. She deserved it.
“See you at the board meeting,” he said, turning and going back up the stairs to the executive floor. When he got there, he walked through the massive reception area. Everywhere around him were the fruits of his labor. The signs of the success that he’d made from the broken dreams of his grandfather.
Usually this walk made him proud but today it felt a little hollow. When he entered the executive corridor and saw his cousins standing around talking and smiling, he felt left out again. And realized revenge hadn’t brought him what he’d thought it would.
* * *
Emma drove back to Infinity Games’ old headquarters, which now served as the satellite location for the merged company. Even in the middle of the day, the drive from downtown Los Angeles to Malibu wasn’t great. The traffic in this part of the world was ridiculous. By the time she got back, she was ready to call it quits but when she headed up to her office, she found her sisters waiting for her.
Clearly they were here on a mission. She suspected they wanted to help her, and that was touching but also annoying. She was the eldest. The one they turned to for advice and support. She didn’t like seeing them both sitting there looking at her as if she was the fragile one.
“How did we beat you back here?” Cari asked. “You left twenty minutes before we did.”
“Kell and I got stuck in the elevator together. At least I had a chance to talk to him about a new idea,” she said. Then he’d kissed her and made her forget her name.
“Good,” Jessi said. “He can be a dic—dictator but I think he’s fair.”
Fair. If she heard that word again today she was going to pick up the crystal paperweight her grandfather had given her on her twenty-fifth birthday and heave it at the wall.
“Nice,” Cari said. “You usually call him other things.”
“Yeah, I know, Jessie said. “But ever since Allan and I got together he said I couldn’t call Kell Darth-Sucks-A-Lot anymore.”
“Probably a good idea,” Emma said. “Don’t you two have work to do?”
“Why, yes, we do. Are you trying to get rid of us?” Jessi asked.
“Why, yes, I am. I need a few minutes to myself.”
Cari came over and patted her on the back. “We’re not leaving you alone until we’re sure you’re okay. You know you’d do the same if it were either of us in your position.”
“But that’s because I’m the oldest
